A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Mar 3 00:01:07 EST 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prepone X-Bonus: I believe I found the missing link between animal and civilized man. It is us. -Konrad Lorenz, ethologist, Nobel laureate (1903-1989) Have you ever asked yourself "If I can postpone something why can't I prepone it?" Well, you definitely can. It's just that sometimes we are not aware of the word. Prepone is an everyday word in India, where meetings, elections, weddings, movie releases, exams, court cases, and more are preponed all the time: http://google.com/news?q=prepone%7Cpreponed%7Cprepones%7Cpreponing This week's collection features five words that are lesser-known counterparts of more common words. prepone (pree-PON) verb tr. To reschedule an event to an earlier time. [Modeled after the word postpone, from Latin pre- (before) + ponere (to put).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Realising a long gap, the Election Commission today decided to prepone to February 23 the counting of votes ... which was originally scheduled for February 27." Counting in Haryana Advanced to Feb 23; Outlook (New Delhi, India); Feb 17, 2008. -------- Date: Tue Mar 4 00:01:06 EST 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nocebo X-Bonus: I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969) This week's theme: lesser-known counterparts of common words. nocebo (no-SEE-bo) noun A substance producing harmful effects in someone because it is believed to be harmful, but which in reality is harmless. [From Latin nocebo (I will harm), from nocere (to harm). Modeled after placebo (I will please).] An article with many interesting examples of nocebo effect: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2709-2002Apr29 -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Both groups who received nocebos showed elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood." James Morgan; Is Your Pain a Trick of the Mind? The Herald (Glasgow, UK); Jan 12, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Mar 5 00:01:06 EST 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dystopia X-Bonus: We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983) This week's theme: lesser-known counterparts of common words. dystopia (dis-TO-pee-uh) noun An imaginary place where everything is very bad, as from oppression, disease, deprivation, etc. [From Greek dys- (bad) + utopia (an ideal place). Modeled after Utopia, an imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More's 1516 book Utopia as a place enjoying a perfect system in law, politics, etc. The word utopia is from Greek ou (not) + topos (place).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a good model of the technological dystopia we should fear: Instead of social control enforced from the outside, Huxley envisioned a world enervated from within." Jeffrey Klein; Billing Us Softly; Mother Jones (San Francisco); Jan 11, 1998. -------- Date: Thu Mar 6 00:01:05 EST 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--inhume X-Bonus: The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal. -Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and author (1900-1980) This week's theme: lesser-known counterparts of common words. inhume (in-HYOOM) verb tr. To bury. [From Latin inhumare (to bury), from in- (in) + humus (earth). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dhghem- (earth) that also sprouted human, homicide, homage, chameleon, chamomile, and Persian zamindar (landholder).] Would someone who inhumes be called inhuman? Only if trying to hide the result of a homicide. A quick search of news articles shows that people exhume things 60 times as often as inhuming. And what do they exhume? Dead bodies, of course. We can't exhume anything more often than we inhume. It's just that the exhuming makes more news. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "NAACP officials staged a rather bizarre funeral this week in Detroit. They buried a word. With thousands of eager onlookers cheering the cause, the civil-rights organization symbolically inhumed the N-word." James Ragland; Funeral is Not Enough to Put N-word to Rest; Dallas Morning News; Jul 14, 2007. -------- Date: Fri Mar 7 00:01:05 EST 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prequel X-Bonus: To hurry pain is to leave a classroom still in session. To prolong pain is to remain seated in a vacated classroom and miss the next lesson. -Yahia Lababidi, writer (b. 1973) This week's theme: lesser-known counterparts of common words. prequel (PREE-kwuhl) noun A book, movie, drama, etc. set in a time preceding that of an existing work. [From Latin pre- (before) + sequel, from Latin sequi (to follow).] There are other variants: midquel, sidequel, threequel, ad nauseam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequel#Chronologies -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Author Budge Wilson admits writing Before Green Gables -- a prequel to Anne of Green Gables -- was a daunting task." Maria Kubacki; How Anne became Anne; Calgary Herald (Canada); Feb 10, 2008. -------- Date: Mon Mar 10 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--acritochromacy X-Bonus: The knife disappears with sharpening. -James Richardson, poet, professor (b. 1950) Back in 1994, when I founded Wordsmith.org on a Pi Day (March 14), I had no idea that one day we'd be celebrating its quadridecennial. Here's what the last 14 years look like in numbers: So far we have sent out 3,782 unique words and 297 AWADmail compilations to 640,000 present subscribers in 200 countries, that is more than 1.6 billion pieces of email. Well, this week we're seeing all things 14. We'll feature words that are 14 letters long, and define each of them in 14 letters. acritochromacy (uh-KRIT-o-kro-muh-see) noun Color blindness. [From Greek akritos (undistinguishing) + chroma (color).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'But why should the chronicle of a lovely lady's catastrophic impact upon Oxford be likely to illuminate this affair of bedaubed busts and pulverising meteorites? And why--acritochromacy,' said a voice almost in Appleby's ear." Michael Innes; The Weight of the Evidence; HarperCollins; 1983. -------- Date: Tue Mar 11 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tintinnabulate X-Bonus: There is no greater gift to an insecure leader that quite matches a vague enemy who can be used to whip up fear and hatred among the population. -Paul Rusesabagina, humanitarian (b. 1954) This week's theme: 14-letter words, 14-letter definitions. tintinnabulate (tin-ti-NAB-yuh-layt) verb intr. To ring; to tinkle. [From Latin tintinnabulum (bell), from tintinnare (to jingle).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "There is no music, but that's no matter because the dresses tintinnabulate with copious garlands of small brass bells." David Rakoff; An American in Paris; Harper's Bazaar (New York); Oct 2000. -------- Date: Wed Mar 12 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tinctumutation X-Bonus: If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. -Desmond Tutu, clergyman (b. 1931) This week's theme: 14-letter words, 14-letter definitions. tinctumutation (tingk-tu-myoo-TAY-shuhn) noun Change of colors. [From Latin tinctus (a dyeing) + mutation (changing).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Neither is tinctumutation the result of the direct influence of light." The Popular Science Monthly; 1895. -------- Date: Thu Mar 13 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--brobdingnagian X-Bonus: Wars are the side-effects of nationalism. -Yahia Lababidi, writer (b. 1973) This week's theme: 14-letter words, 14-letter definitions. Brobdingnagian (brob-ding-NAG-ee-uhn) adjective Of gigantic size. [After Brobdingnag, the fictional region where everything was enormous, in Jonathan Swift's satire Gulliver's Travels.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "It never ceases to amaze me how people with seemingly Brobdingnagian egos are absolutely convinced that their supreme qualities will only become apparent to the rest of the world if they are seen in a so-called luxury car bought with taxpayers' money." The Year 2010 and Bérenger is Prime Minister; Mauritius Times; -------- Date: Fri Mar 14 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--circumbendibus X-Bonus: I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784) This week's theme: 14-letter words, 14-letter definitions. circumbendibus (sur-kuhm-BEN-duh-buhs) noun Circumlocution. [From Latin circum- (around) + English bend + Latin -ibus.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "There are times when [George] Steiner does the exact opposite, dressing up banalities in the most clotted, Latinate and circumbendibus waffle in order to make them appear profound." Christopher Hart; Speaking in Tongues; Sunday Times (London, UK); Jan 6, 2008. -------- Date: Mon Mar 17 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vegan X-Bonus: The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes. -Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (1821-1881) Guest wordsmith Matt Ball (veganpa at comcast.net) writes: Growing up, I was a big fan of Carl Sagan, and I dreamed of exploring the universe, expanding the frontier of human knowledge and vision. I started my college to become a rocket scientist, with the plan of working for NASA. But fate intervened on the first day of college when I met my roommate, a big, strong guy, who was not shy about explaining his vegetarianism or what hidden realities my eating meat supported. After a false start, I went vegetarian -- I simply found the cruelties of meat production too severe to continue to rationalize away. Shortly thereafter, I met Jack Norris and started learning more about animal exploitation in this world. I decided I needed to do more than be a vegetarian. With ten other activists, Jack and I held a three-day Fast for Farm Animals in front of a Cincinnati slaughterhouse (three days being the amount of time farmed animals often go without food before slaughter). After the fast, Jack and I formed a group which eventually became Vegan Outreach, dedicated to preventing the most suffering possible. You can order a free copy of our Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating at: http://veganoutreach.org/starterpack/ (This week's guest wordsmith Matt Ball is co-founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Vegan Outreach.) vegan (VEE-guhn) noun One who does not consume animal products. adjective Made with no animal ingredients. [Coined in 1944 by Donald Watson (1910-2005) to describe a "non-dairy vegetarian"; formed from the first three and last two letters of the word vegetarian.] "Kitsch, lively and glamorous, Canadian food writer Sarah Kramer bucks all the vegan stereotypes." Leonie Cooper; The Garden of Vegan; The Guardian (London, UK); Feb 6, 2008. -------- Date: Tue Mar 18 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--speciesism X-Bonus: Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. -William James, psychologist (1842-1910) speciesism (SPEE-shee-ziz-uhm, -see-ziz-uhm) noun The assumption of superiority of humans over other animal species, especially to justify their exploitation. [Coined by psychologist Richard D. Ryder (born 1940) in 1973. From Latin species (appearance, kind, form), from specere (to look). Ultimately from the Indo-European root spek- (to observe) which is also the ancestor of such words as suspect, spectrum, bishop (literally, overseer), espionage, despise, telescope, spectator, and spectacles.] "At one point in Darwin's voyage to South America, James Moore told me, the naturalist stopped in Brazil, where his blood ran cold to see slaves in manacles being tortured by Catholic traders. Darwin was enraged as a Christian, but also as a scientist, because he recognized that the slave trade relied on the false notion that slaves were a different, inferior and exploitable species. "Upon his return to England, Darwin extended the idea to the way people treated animals, an early precursor to Richard Dawkins's argument about speciesism. 'To say man is the pinnacle of creation and all things were created for him ... Darwin says that is the same arrogance we see in the slave master,' said Moore." Shankar Vedantam; Eden and Evolution; Washington Post; Feb 5, 2006. -------- Date: Wed Mar 19 00:01:07 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--factory farming X-Bonus: There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. -Sun Tzu, general (6th century BCE) factory farming (FAK-tuh-ree FAHR-ming) noun An industrialized system of producing meat, eggs, and milk in large-scale facilities where the animal is treated as a machine. [From the idea of operating a large-scale farm as an efficient factory.] Some of the characteristics of a factory farm include intensive crowding of animals, trimming of birds' beaks, cutting pigs' tails, force-feeding of ducks, injecting artificial growth hormones, restricting mobility, etc. "'When you look at environmental problems in the U.S.,' says [geophysicist Gidon] Eshel, 'nearly all of them have their source in food production and in particular meat production. And factory farming is 'optimal' only as long as degrading waterways is free." Mark Bittman; The Meat of the Matter; The Dallas Morning News; Feb 10, 2008. -------- Date: Thu Mar 20 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cartesian X-Bonus: When the oak is felled the whole forest echoes with its fall, but a hundred acorns are sown in silence by an unnoticed breeze. -Thomas Carlyle, historian and essayist (1795-1881) Cartesian (kar-TEE-zhuhn) adjective Of or relating to Descartes, his theories, methods, or philosophy, especially its emphasis on mechanistic interpretation. [From Cartesius, Latin form of Descartes, after philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650).] "To visit a modern CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) is to enter a world that, for all its technological sophistication, is still designed according to Cartesian principles: animals are machines incapable of feeling pain. Since no thinking person can possibly believe this any more, industrial animal agriculture depends on a suspension of belief on the part of the people who operate it and a willingness to avert your eyes on the part of everyone else." Michael Pollan; An Animal's Place; The New York Times; Nov 10, 2002. -------- Date: Fri Mar 21 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--karuna X-Bonus: When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion. -Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the U.S. (1809-1865) karuna (KUH-roo-na) noun Loving compassion. [From Sanskrit karuna (compassion).] "Once we experience and feel this inter-dependence of all living beings, we will cease to hurt, humiliate, exploit and kill another. We will want to free all sentient beings from suffering. This is karuna, compassion, which in turn gives rise to the responsibility to create happiness and its causes for all." Suresh Jindal; Interdependence of All Living Beings; The Times of India (New Delhi); Nov 13, 2003. -------- Date: Mon Mar 24 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schnorrer X-Bonus: What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970) A language is the soul of its people. This is nowhere illustrated more profoundly than in the Yiddish language, the language of Jews of eastern and central Europe and their descendants. A tongue full of wit and charm, Yiddish embodies deep appreciation of human behavior in all its colorful manifestations. The word Yiddish comes from German Judisch meaning Jewish. But it is not the same as Hebrew, even though it is written in Hebrew script. Here's what Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer had to say about the language in his 1978 Nobel Prize acceptance speech: "Yiddish language - a language of exile, without a land, without frontiers, not supported by any government, a language which possesses no words for weapons, ammunition, military exercises, war tactics ... There is a quiet humor in Yiddish and a gratitude for every day of life, every crumb of success, each encounter of love. The Yiddish mentality is not haughty. It does not take victory for granted. It does not demand and command but it muddles through, sneaks by, smuggles itself amidst the powers of destruction, knowing somewhere that God's plan for Creation is still at the very beginning ... In a figurative way, Yiddish is the wise and humble language of us all, the idiom of frightened and hopeful Humanity." Many of the everyday English language words such as bagel, klutz, and kibitz are terms from Yiddish. This week we'll look at a few other Yiddishisms that have enriched the English language. schnorrer (SHNOR-uhr) noun One who habitually takes advantage of others' generosity, often through an air of entitlement. [From Yiddish, from German schnurren (to purr, hum, or whir), from the sound of a beggar's musical instrument.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Wilberforce opens his dining room to every schnorrer who appears at the door." Jan Stuart; Fighting a Good Fight; Newsday (New York); Feb 23, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Mar 25 00:11:07 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--megillah X-Bonus: We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves. -Francois, duc de La Rochefoucauld, moralist (1613-1680) This week's theme: Words from Yiddish. megillah (meh-GIL-uh) noun A long, tedious account. [From Yiddish megile (scroll), from Hebrew megillah, from galal (to roll). The term alludes to the length of the text in the Book of Esther which is read in its entirety, twice, during Purim, a Jewish festival.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "But the obvious challenge was to go through the whole megillah -- to begin with the Andante in C Major, which Mozart wrote when he was five, and proceed to the bitter end, the Requiem." Alex Ross; The Storm of Style; The New Yorker; Jul 24, 2006 -------- Date: Wed Mar 26 00:01:07 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schnook X-Bonus: I come from a people who gave the Ten Commandments to the world. Time has come to strengthen them by three additional ones, which we ought to adopt and commit ourselves to: thou shall not be a perpetrator; thou shall not be a victim; and thou shall never, but never, be a bystander. -Yehuda Bauer, professor (b. 1926) This week's theme: Words from Yiddish. schnook (shnook) noun A stupid, easily deceived person. [From Yiddish shnuk (snout) or from German schnucke (a small sheep).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "A gun-toting schnook became an embarrassing crook when he robbed a Spokane dollar store Sunday. Seriously, if you're going to commit a Class A felony, you might as well rob a Class A joint." Frank Sennett; Dollar-Store Thief Bucks Common Sense; Spokesman Review (Washington); Mar 9, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Mar 27 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--meshuga X-Bonus: Here lies, extinguished in his prime, / a victim of modernity: / but yesterday he hadn't time--- / and now he has eternity. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996) This week's theme: Words from Yiddish. meshuga or meshugga (muh-SHOOG-uh) adjective Crazy; stupid. [From Yiddish meshuge, from Hebrew meshugga.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Plenty of hip-hoppers want to be considered insane, but only Paul Barman wants to be known as meshuga." David Segal; The Weirder, the Better; The Washington Post; Jun 25, 2000. -------- Date: Fri Mar 28 00:01:07 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schlump X-Bonus: It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1742-1799) This week's theme: Words from Yiddish. schlump (shlump) noun A dull or slovenly person. [From Yiddish shlumperdik (unkempt, sloppy).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'You don't want to dress up too much, but you don't want to be a schlump,' says Michael Kors." Hal Rubenstein; Terrific Style by Age, by Size, by Shape, by Color; In Style (New York); Aug 2006. -------- Date: Mon Mar 31 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--druthers X-Bonus: All living souls welcome whatever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952) Could the word fugetaboutit -- a contraction of "forget about it" -- find its way into dictionaries some day? It sounds unlikely, but that sort of thing happens all the time in languages. The everyday word "goodbye" was earlier "God be with you". By association with greetings such as "good day", God morphed into good and the whole phrase became goodbye. Another such term is the informal greeting "Howdy" which in its former life was known as "How do ye?" or "How do you do?" This week we'll look at five terms that were once longer phrases but are now condensed. druthers (DRUTH-uhrz) noun One's own way; preference. [Plural of druther, contraction of "'d rather", as in "I/he/etc. would rather ..."] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "If I had my druthers I would go, but I don't think I would a) be able to get my innings over there that I would be able to get here, and b) get the treatment I need." Rob Bradford; Road Back Unfamiliar; Boston Globe; Mar 18, 2008.