A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed May 1 00:41:41 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hebdomad X-Bonus: You can't direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails. heb.do.mad \'heb-d*-.mad\ n [L hebdomad-, hebdomas, fr. Gk, fr. hebdomos seventh, fr. ]hepta seven : a group of seven -------- Date: Thu May 2 00:41:47 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lustrum X-Bonus: Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven. -Yiddish proverb lus.trum \'l*s-tr*m\ \-tr*\ n or lustrums or lus.tra [L; akin to L lustrare to brighten, purify] pl 1a: a purification of the whole Roman people made in ancient times after the census every five years 1b: the Roman census 2: a period of five years : QUINQUENNIUM 1901 M. T. F. McCARTHY, Five Yrs. Irel. xxiv. 343 "There were, during the lustrum under review, 1077 men in Ireland who had been called to the Bar." -------- Date: Fri May 3 00:49:50 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--duodecimal X-Bonus: Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words. -Spinoza duo.dec.i.mal \.d(y)u:-*-'des-*-m*l\ aj [L duodecim - more at DOZEN] : of, relating to, or proceeding by twelve or the scale of twelves - duodecimal n -------- Date: Sat May 4 00:49:42 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--senary X-Bonus: The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own. -Disraeli se.na.ry \'sen-*-re-, 'se-n-\ aj [L senarius, fr. seni six each, fr. sex six - more at SI]X : of, based upon, or characterized by six : compounded of six things or six parts {~ scale ~ division} -------- Date: Sun May 5 00:50:26 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--quinquennial X-Bonus: No one would talk much in society if he knew how often he misunderstands others. -Goethe quin.quen.ni.al \kwin-'kwen-e--*l, kwin-\ \-e--*-le-\ aj 1: consisting of or lasting for five years 2: occurring or being done every five years - quinquennial n -------- Date: Mon May 6 00:49:47 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shylock X-Bonus: Whenever you fall, pick something up. -Oswald Avery Shy.lock \'shi--.la:k\ n 1: a revengeful moneylender in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice 2: an extortionate creditor 1976 Sunday Times (Lagos) 1 Aug. 21/4 "They are expected to alleviate the suffering of the common man who for long has been a victim of Shylock landlords." -- Perhaps one of the signs of an enduring work of fiction is the words from it that become alive in the language. Here are seven such words for this week, each coined after a fictitious character. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 7 00:56:27 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--yahoo X-Bonus: Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them. -Samuel Butler, novelist, essayist, and satirist (1835-1902) ya.hoo \'ya--(.)hu:, 'ya:-\ n cap 1: a member of a race of brutes in Swift's Gulliver's Travels who have the form and all the vices of man 2: an uncouth or rowdy person HARRISON, in Fortn. Rev. Nov. 681 "Pessimist pictures of human and Yahoo theories of human life." -------- Date: Wed May 8 01:26:48 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scrooge X-Bonus: Seek the wisdom of the ages, but look at the world through the eyes of a child. -Ron Wild scrooge \'skru:j\ n [Ebenezer Scrooge, character in A Christmas Carol, story by Charles] often cap Dickens : a miserly person 1980 Times 5 Dec. 5/8 "Scrooges who wish to prove their repentance this Christmas should send out for woodcock, the most expensive delicacy." -- With the opening word of this week, I have managed to offend some people on the list. If anything, the selection of the word shows my ignorance, and hints at the relatively short time I have been in the US to understand derogatory connotations of some words here. I'm sure those who have been on this list for sufficient time (to enjoy Yiddish-words-in-English week over Chanukah last December, for example) know that there was no malice. -Anu -------- Date: Thu May 9 00:56:07 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--babbitt X-Bonus: Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born. -Dale E. Turner 1. bab.bitt \'bab-*t\ n : a babbitt-metal lining for a bearing 2. babbitt vt : to line or furnish with babbitt metalBab.bitt \'bab-*t\ \-*-tre-\ n [George F. Babbitt, character in the novel Babbitt (1922) by Sincla]ir Lewis : a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards - Bab.bitt.ry n 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 5 Mar. 179/3 "Engrossed in intellectual matters and contemptuous of the Babbittry around them." -------- Date: Fri May 10 00:49:43 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--svengali X-Bonus: If you continually give you will continually have. Sven.ga.li \sfen-'ga:l-e-\ n [Svengali, maleficent hypnotist in the novel Trilby (1894) by Georg]e du Maurier : one who attempts usu. with evil intentions to persuade or force another to do his bidding 1972 Maclean's Mag. Mar. 41/2 "He had a strange hypnotic power-not that he was a Svengali, but when he spoke people listened." -------- Date: Sat May 11 00:56:38 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tartuffe X-Bonus: He then learns that in going down into the secrets of his own mind he has descended into the secrets of all minds. -Emerson tar.tuffe \ta:r-'tu.f, -'tu:f\ n [F Tartufe] cap 1: a religious hypocrite and protagonist in Moliere's play Tartuffe 2: HYPOCRITE 1824 Examiner 594/1 "That alliance so tartuffishly termed 'holy`." -------- Date: Sun May 12 01:19:54 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lothario X-Bonus: The Unspeakable Law. As soon as you mention something ... if it is good it goes away, ... if it is bad it happens. lo.thar.io \lo--'thar-e--.o-, -'ther-, -'tha:r-\ n [Lothario, seducer in the play The Fair Penitent (1703) by Nicholas] often cap Rowe : SEDUCER 1849 LYTTON, Caxtons XVIII. vi. III. 278 "No woman could have been more flattered and courted by Lotharios and lady-killers than Lady Castleton has been." -------- Date: Mon May 13 01:12:31 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--conversazione X-Bonus: Law...begins when someone takes to doing something someone else does not like. -Karl Llewellyn con.ver.sa.zi.o.ne \.ka:n-v*r-.sa:t-se--'o--ne-\ \-ne-z\ \-(.)ne-\ n or con.ver.sa.zi.o.nes or con.ver.sa.zi.o.ni [It, lit. conversation, fr. L conversation-, conversatio] pl : a meeting for conversation esp. about art, literature, or science 1864 A. MCKAY, Hist. Kilmarnock (ed. 3) 276 "The organizing of conversazioni for more familiar and popular addresses on scientific subjects." -------- Date: Tue May 14 00:49:45 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hebetate X-Bonus: Yes, you can be a dreamer and a doer too, if you will remove one word from your vocabulary: impossible. -H. Robert Schuller heb.e.tate \'heb-*-.ta-t\ \.heb-*-'ta--sh*n\ vt [L hebetatus, pp. of hebetare, fr. hebet-, hebes dull] : to make dull or obtuse - heb.e.ta.tion n 1851 CARLYLE, Sterling I. viii. (1871) 51 "Men's souls were blinded, hebetated." -------- Date: Wed May 15 00:49:45 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sinecure X-Bonus: The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self-awareness. -the character Annie Savoy in the film Bull Durham si.ne.cure \'si--ni-.kyu.(*)r, 'sin-i-\ n [ML sine cura without cure of souls] 1: an ecclesiastical benefice without cure of souls 2: an office or position that requires little or no work 1885 'E. GARRETT`, At Any Cost vi, "Grace's duties were never oppressive, but on Sunday they were a sinecure." -------- Date: Thu May 16 00:49:46 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sempiternal X-Bonus: The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it. -Abbie Hoffman sem.pi.ter.nal \.sem-pi-'t*rn-*l\ \-*l-e-\ \-'t*r-n*t-e-\ aj [ME, fr. LL sempiternalis, fr. L sempiternus, fr. semper ever], always, fr. sem- one, same (akin to ON samr same) + per through - more at SAME, FOR : of never-ending duration : EVERLASTING, ETERNAL - sem.pi.ter.nal.ly av 1884 World 20 Aug. 8/1 "We have discovered the elixir of sempiternal juvenility." -------- Date: Fri May 17 00:49:57 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--paladin X-Bonus: An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last -Winston Churchill pal.a.din \'pal-*d-*n\ n [F, fr. It paladino, fr. ML palatinus courtier, fr. L, palace offic]ial - more at PALATINE 1: a champion of a medieval prince 2: an outstanding protagonist of a cause 1879 B. TAYLOR, Stud. Germ. Lit. 65 "The 'Chanson de Roland` is no longer read, except by scholars, but the famous paladin still lives." -------- Date: Sat May 18 00:49:45 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rugose X-Bonus: Be nice to people on your way up because you'll need them on your way down. -W. Migner ru.gose \'ru:-.go-s\ \ru:-'ga:s-*t-e-\ aj [L rugosus, fr. ruga] 1: full of wrinkles {~ cheeks} 2: having the veinlets sunken and the spaces between elevated {~ leaves of the sage} - ru.gose.ly av 1942 A. L. ROWSE, Cornish Childhood vi. 133 "Old Sidney was a rugose personality... I am bound to say that, rough-edged as he was with everybody, he was always very kind to me. -------- Date: Sun May 19 00:49:47 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scion X-Bonus: It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book. -Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) sci.on \'si--*n\ n [ME, fr. MF cion, of Gmc origin; akin to OHG chi-nan to sprout,]split open, OE ci-nan to gape 1: a detached living portion of a plant joined to a stock in grafting and usu. supplying solely aerial parts to a graft 2: DESCENDANT, CHILD {a ~ of a royal stock} 1869 FREEMAN, Norm. Conq. III. 22 "No son of a kingly father, no scion of legendary heroes." -------- Date: Mon May 20 00:49:48 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nocuous X-Bonus: Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. -Robert H. Schuller noc.u.ous \'na:k-y*-w*s\ aj [L nocuus, fr. noce-re to harm - more at NOXIOUS] : likely to cause injury : HARMFUL - noc.u.ous.ly av 1890 C. LUMHOLTZ, Cannibals 23 "This change is due..to a nocuous kind of grass, namely the dreaded spear-grass." -------- Date: Tue May 21 00:50:00 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--peccable X-Bonus: Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. -Albert Camus pec.ca.ble \'pek-*-b*l\ aj [MF, fr. L peccare] : liable or prone to sin 1857 H. MILLER, Test. Rocks iii. 154 "Fitting and preparing peccable, imperfect man, for a perfect impeccable future state." -------- Date: Wed May 22 00:49:47 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--orientate X-Bonus: We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world. -Helen Keller ori.en.tate \'o-r-e--*n-.ta-t, 'o.r-, -.en-\ vt : ORIENT to face or turn to the east 1877 J. D. CHAMBERS, Div. Worship i. 1 "The Church should Orientate, that is, should be built from West to East, the entrances..being at the West end." -------- Date: Thu May 23 00:49:48 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--argufy X-Bonus: When we ask advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. -Marquis de la Grange ar.gu.fy \'a:r-gy*-.fi-\ vt : DISPUTE, DEBATE, WRANGLE 1865 Sat. Rev. 12 Aug. 197/2 "People who are always arguefying are the..worst of bores." -------- Date: Fri May 24 00:49:47 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--illume X-Bonus: Nothing contributes more to peace of soul than having no opinion at all. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg il.lume \il-'u:m\ vt : ILLUMINATE -------- Date: Sat May 25 00:49:46 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nocent X-Bonus: Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others. -Oscar Wilde no.cent \'no-s-*nt\ aj [ME, fr. L nocent-, nocens, fr. prp. of noce-re to harm, h]urt 1: HARMFUL archaic 2: GUILTY, CRIMINAL -------- Date: Sun May 26 00:49:49 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--agon X-Bonus: Fear is a darkroom for developing negatives. agon \'a:g-.a:n, a:-'go-n\ \a:-'go--.nes, *-'go--(.)ne-z\ n or agons also ago.nes [Gk ago-n] pl : CONTEST, CONFLICT; specif : the dramatic conflict between the chief characters in a literary work 1918 R. C. FLICKINGER, Greek Theater & its Drama 41 "The agon, a 'dramatized debate` or verbal duel between two actors, each supported by a semi-chorus." -------- Date: Mon May 27 00:49:50 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--febrile X-Bonus: If you board the wrong train, it's no use running along the corridor in the other direction. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer fe.brile \'feb-r*l, 'fe-b-, -.ri-l\ aj [ML febrilis, fr. L febris fever - more at FEVER] : of or relating to fever : FEVERISH -------- Date: Tue May 28 00:49:49 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--famulus X-Bonus: Look at everthing as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory. -Betty Smith fam.u.lus \'fam-y*-l*s\ \-.li-, -.le-\ n or fam.u.li [G, assistant to a professor, fr. L, servant] pl : a private secretary or attendant 1852 THACKERAY, Esmond I. v, "Faithful little famuli see all and say nothing." -------- Date: Wed May 29 00:50:35 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--agley X-Bonus: If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done. agley \*-'gla--, -'gle-\ av [Sc, lit., squintingly, fr. 1a- + gley to squint] chiefly Scot : AWRY, WRONG -------- Date: Thu May 30 00:51:02 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--abrade X-Bonus: I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me the most civilised music in the world. -Peter Ustinov abrade \*-'bra-d\ vb [L abradere to scrape off, fr. ab- + radere to scrape - mor]e at RAT 1a: to rub or wear away esp. by friction : ERODE 1b: to irritate or roughen by rubbing 2: to wear down in spirit : IRRITATE : to undergo abrasion - abrad.er n -------- Date: Fri May 31 00:51:21 EDT 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rufous X-Bonus: If it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. ru.fous \'ru:-f*s\ aj [L rufus red - more at RED] : REDDISH 1977 Time 3 Jan. 21/1 "The flat kindly face of Mr. Earl's photographs has made no print on any of them except the rufous Billy, a wily jester."