A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Jul 1 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--zig X-Bonus: The American who first discovered Columbus made a bad discovery. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1 Jul 1742-1799) This week's theme: Back-formations zig (zig) noun: A sharp turn or angle in a zigzag course. verb intr.: To make a sharp turn. [Back-formation from zigzag, from French zigzag, from ziczac, from German Zickzack (zigzag), perhaps a reduplication of Zacke (peak, tooth, or nail). Earliest documented use: 1894. Zigzag is from 1712.] "The state senator ... zigged to the right in order to appeal to primary voters, pledging to abolish the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency." Ben Jacobs; Sarah Palin's Hog Castrating Clone May Cost GOP Iowa's Senate Seat if She Wins Primary; The Daily Beast (New York); Jun 3, 2014. -------- Date: Thu Jul 2 00:01:04 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rort X-Bonus: We must dissent from the fear, the hatred, and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that buried its head in the sand waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away. We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education, or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and timeless absence of moral leadership. We must dissent, because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better. -Thurgood Marshall, US Supreme Court Justice (2 Jul 1908-1993) This week's theme: Back-formations rort (rort) noun 1. A fraudulent scheme or practice. 2. A wild party. [Back-formation from rorty (boisterous, lively, jolly), of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1926. Rorty is from 1868.] "What a rort -- being paid to swim in a private session!" Euan Mitchell; Feral Tracks; OverDog Press; 2015. -------- Date: Fri Jul 3 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--couth X-Bonus: A book must be an axe for the frozen sea inside of us. -Franz Kafka, novelist (3 Jul 1883-1924) This week's theme: Back-formations couth (kooth) adjective: Cultured; refined; sophisticated. noun: Refinement; sophistication. [Back-formation from uncouth, from Old English uncuth (unknown), from un- (not) + cuth (known), past participle of cunnan (to know, be able). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gno- (to know), which also gave us know, recognize, acquaint, ignore, diagnosis, notice, normal, anagnorisis https://wordsmith.org/words/anagnorisis.html , prosopagnosia https://wordsmith.org/words/prosopagnosia.html , agnosia https://wordsmith.org/words/agnosia.html , cognize https://wordsmith.org/words/cognize.html , gnomon https://wordsmith.org/words/gnomon.html , kenning https://wordsmith.org/words/kenning.html , and unco https://wordsmith.org/words/unco.html . Earliest documented use: 1896. Uncouth is from 1732.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/couth "In public life, brassy, unclassy, light on couth. In private life, elegant home, antiques, Tiffany dinner service." Cindy Adams; You Can't Find a Better Lady; New York Post; Sep 2, 2014. -------- Date: Mon Jul 6 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--redshirt X-Bonus: In an earlier stage of our development most human groups held to a tribal ethic. Members of the tribe were protected, but people of other tribes could be robbed or killed as one pleased. Gradually the circle of protection expanded, but as recently as 150 years ago we did not include blacks. So African human beings could be captured, shipped to America, and sold. In Australia white settlers regarded Aborigines as a pest and hunted them down, much as kangaroos are hunted down today. Just as we have progressed beyond the blatantly racist ethic of the era of slavery and colonialism, so we must now progress beyond the speciesist ethic of the era of factory farming, of the use of animals as mere research tools, of whaling, seal hunting, kangaroo slaughter, and the destruction of wilderness. We must take the final step in expanding the circle of ethics. -Peter Singer, philosopher and professor of bioethics (b. 6 Jul 1946) What's common between a shirt and shorts? They make for an appropriate summer attire. Both are one-syllable words and sound similar, but there's more to it. Both share the same root. The word shirt came to us from Old English scyrte and short(s) from Old English sceort, but both are ultimately from the same Indo-European root sker- (to cut).* So far so good. Let's make things a little more interesting. The word skirt also came from the same root, but it came to us via Old Norse skyrta where it meant a shirt. If you thought the change in fashion was fickle, you should meet etymology. A lot can happen as a word travels in time and distance. It can change as it makes a jump from one language to another and from one time period to another (more examples: https://wordsmith.org/words/parboil.html https://wordsmith.org/words/ingenuous.html and https://wordsmith.org/words/harbinger.html). This may be a good time to make a public service announcement. Do not insist that a word should mean today what it meant originally. What a word means today is what it really means. Pronunciation, meaning, or spelling can change, and often do, over time. Embrace change. Live in the present. Not past or future. Who knew etymology could lead to zen? Enough enlightenment for today. Let's get back to the mundane. This week we share five words that originate in shirts and pants. *How did we get the words skirt and shirt (and shorts) from the Indo-European root sker (to cut)? Who knows! Perhaps it refers to a cut piece used to make such a piece of clothing. Or maybe both are short pieces of clothing, compared to a long robe more common in the past or perhaps cut from such a dress. redshirt (RED-shuhrt) noun: A college athlete who practices with the team, but does not take part in official games. verb tr., intr.: 1. To extend eligibility by a year by making an athlete practice, but not participate, in official games. 2. To delay enrolling a child by a year to avoid their being one of the youngest in the class. [From the red jersey typically worn by such an athlete. Earliest documented use: 1950.] NOTES: Why hold back an athlete in college? It may be to help the student develop and mature so that they can play their eligible full four years successfully. In such cases, the student finishes college in five years, instead of four. It may also be done if an athlete is injured. Should you delay enrolling your little one in kindergarten just so they are not the youngest? Experts say not. See here https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/redshirting-kindergarten-backfire-education/ "'Nothing new.' John shrugged. 'School's going well, football, too.' 'He's a redshirt this year, isn't he?' 'He is. It'll give him an extra year of eligibility.'" Karen Kingsbury; A Time to Embrace; Thomas Nelson; 2010. "My own son was born in August, so he is a prime candidate for redshirting. ... We're not going to be holding him back, though." Leah McLaren; Holding Children Back Is Not the Right Start; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Sep 11, 2015. -------- Date: Tue Jul 7 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--smarty-pants X-Bonus: People's souls are like gardens. You can't turn your back on someone because his garden's full of weeds. You have to give him water and lots of sunshine. -Nancy Farmer, author (b. 7 Jul 1941) This week's theme: Shirts and pants as metaphors smarty-pants (SMAR-tee-pants) noun Someone who presents as being obnoxiously clever. [From smart, from Old English smeart + pants, short for pantaloons, plural of pantaloon. St. Pantaleone/Pantalone was a popular saint in Venice. As a result, it was also a common name among the Venetians. As a result, a comic character in the Italian commedia dell'arte was named Pantalone. The leggings this character wore became known as pantalone (plural pantaloni). And that became pantaloons in English. Earliest documented use: 1932.] "There's satisfaction in seeing a smarty-pants taken down a peg." Hadley Freeman; The Critical Drubbing for Will Self's Book Shows There's a Subtle Art to Memoir; The Guardian (London, UK); Nov 16, 2019. -------- Date: Wed Jul 8 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sansculotte X-Bonus: The court is like a palace built of marble; I mean that it is made up of very hard and very polished people. -Jean de La Bruyère, moralist (1645-1696) This week's theme: Shirts and pants as metaphors sansculotte or sans-culotte (sanz-kyoo-LOT) noun A radical or revolutionary. [From French, literally, without knee breeches. In the French Revolution, this was the aristocrats' term of contempt for the ill-clad volunteers of the Revolutionary army who rejected knee breeches as a symbol of the upper class and adopted pantaloons. As often happens with such epithets, the revolutionaries themselves adopted it as a term of pride. Earliest documented use: 1790.] Sansculotte (left), culottes (right) http://wordsmith.org/words/images/sansculotte_large.jpg Image: "Mitglieder Der Kommune" (NYPL) NOTES: You don't have to be a radical or a revolutionary to go without pants. Take part in the No Pants Subway Ride https://improveverywhere.com/missions/the-no-pants-subway-ride/ "[Steven] Pinker is not a sansculotte running amok with a box opener through handbooks. Instead he simply advocates cutting free from prescriptive ancien grammatical regimes." Sam Pickering; The Essence of Style; Sewanee Review (Baltimore, Maryland); Spring 2015. -------- Date: Thu Jul 9 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--descamisado X-Bonus: I wanted to live my life so that people would know unmistakably that I am alive, so that when I finally die people will know the difference for sure between my living and my death. -June Jordan, writer, teacher, and activist (9 Jul 1936-2002) This week's theme: Shirts and pants as metaphors descamisado (des-ka-mee-SAH-doh) noun A very poor person. [From Spanish descamisado (shirtless), from des- (dis-) + camisa (shirt). Earliest documented use: 1821.] NOTES: Over the years, the term has been applied to various people, such as a revolutionary in the Spanish Revolution of 1820-23 and a supporter of Argentinian President Juan Perón. "Oscar and Jesse James walked past cardboard and blanket in a dry outflow wall-pipe, which was some descamisado's home." Robert Newman; The Fountain at the Center of the World; Soft Skull Press; 2004. -------- Date: Fri Jul 10 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bloody shirt X-Bonus: The truth is that every morning war is declared afresh. And the men who wish to continue it are as guilty as the men who began it, more guilty perhaps, for the latter perhaps did not foresee all its horrors. -Marcel Proust, novelist (10 Jul 1871-1922) This week's theme: Shirts and pants as metaphors bloody shirt (BLUHD-ee shuhrt) noun A symbol used to incite people to partisan outrage or animosity. [The term is typically used as "to wave the bloody shirt" and alludes to the literal or metaphorical symbol of a supposed injury that needs to be avenged. Earliest documented use: 1586.] NOTES: In modern times, masks are apparently the new bloody shirt: https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/1264197952270106625 "His impeachment would be a bloody shirt that Republicans would wave to justify their intransigence for decades to come." Geoffrey Kabaservice; Removing Trump Wouldn't 'Overturn' 2016; The Washington Post; Feb 2, 2020. -------- Date: Mon Jul 13 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scansorial X-Bonus: The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny. -Wole Soyinka, playwright, poet, Nobel laureate (b. 13 Jul 1934) The novelist Evelyn Waugh once said, "One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die." Here at Wordsmith.org we do our best to fertilize, water, and refresh your vocabulary. Take this week's five miscellaneous words, plant them in your mind's garden, and let your vocabulary bloom. scansorial (skan-SOHR-ee-uhl) adjective Related to climbing. [From Latin scandere (to climb). Ultimately from the Indo-European root skand- (to leap or climb), which also gave us ascend, descend, condescend, transcend, echelon, scale, and scandent https://wordsmith.org/words/scandent.html . Earliest documented use: 1804.] "After one heavy night's drinking a student of one of the colleges had returned to find the gates of his college firmly closed against him. Undaunted, he proceeded to climb the towering, wrought-iron obstacle ... The ascent went well and he even paused momentarily to celebrate his achievement sitting aside the summit of the college crest with its Latin motto which encouraged such metaphorical, if not literal, scansorial achievements." Hadyn J Adams; The Spinner of the Years; AuthorHouse; 2013. -------- Date: Tue Jul 14 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stridor X-Bonus: The power to define the situation is the ultimate power. -Jerry Rubin, activist and author (14 Jul 1938-1994) This week's theme: Misc. words stridor (STRY-duhr) noun A harsh, grating or creaking sound. [From Latin stridere (to make a harsh sound). Earliest documented use: 1632.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/stridor NOTES: The word is often used for the harsh vibrating sound produced when breathing with an airway obstruction. "Abruptly the stridor yielded to a cadence of almost tender mellowness." Curt Maury; The Glitter and Other Stories; iUniverse; 2010. -------- Date: Wed Jul 15 00:01:04 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--disquisition X-Bonus: Choose only one master -- Nature. -Rembrandt, painter and etcher (15 Jul 1606-1669) This week's theme: Misc. words disquisition (dis-kwuh-ZISH-uhn) noun A formal discussion on a subject: discourse or dissertation. [From Latin disquirere (to investigate), from dis- (intensive prefix) + quaerere (to seek or ask). Earliest documented use: 1605.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/disquisition "Boris Johnson's disquisition to the United Nations described potential futures in which 'your fridge will beep for more cheese', 'pink-eyed terminators' are sent back in time to 'cull the human race', and synthetic biologists create 'terrifying limbless chickens'." Weekly Review; Harper's Magazine; Oct 1, 2019. -------- Date: Thu Jul 16 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sanguinary X-Bonus: Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality. -Sheri S. Tepper, novelist (16 Jul 1929-2016) This week's theme: Misc. words sanguinary (SANG-gwuh-ner-ee) adjective 1. Relating to blood. 2. Blood-red. 3. Involving bloodshed. 4. Bloodthirsty. [From Latin sanguis (blood). Earliest documented use: 1540.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sanguinary "The blood of their victims paints a mask of sanguinary celebration on their visages." Stephen Stuart; Pax; Trafford Publishing; 2010. -------- Date: Fri Jul 17 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--concupiscence X-Bonus: Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time rich and cash poor. -Cory Doctorow, author and journalist (b. 17 Jul 1971) This week's theme: Misc. words concupiscence (kon-KYOO-pih-suhns) noun Strong desire; lust. [From Latin concupiscere (to desire ardently), from con- (intensive prefix) + cupere (to desire). Earliest documented use: 1340.] NOTES: Why use a four-letter word when you can use a four-syllable word? "So, Seb's kiss hadn't actually settled a day and a night later. Certainly, it had made her body feel very good, cranking those long dormant cogs of concupiscence back into motion." Freya North; Secrets; Sourcebooks; 2012. -------- Date: Mon Jul 20 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Goldilocks X-Bonus: The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace. -Carlos Santana, musician (b. 20 Jul 1947) They have been around for thousands of years. They are called fairy tales, even though most don't have any fairies. Nor do they have anything to do with fairs. The term comes to us from French conte de fées (fairy tales). French fairy tales apparently did include fairies. A better term might be folk tales that include talking animals with a sprinkling of magic and enchantment. We have the term "fairy-tale ending" which implies a happily-ever-after, but what we have these days is really a sanitized version of the stories. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/fairy-tales-started-dark-got-cute-and-are-now-getting-dark-again/257934/ Originally, fairy tales rarely had a fairy-tale ending, a reflection of hard life in those days. After years of telling and retelling, these stories have left a mark on the language. Many of the characters have stepped out from the pages of the books and walked into the language. This week we'll meet five terms coined after fairy-tale characters. Goldilocks (GOL-dee-lahks) adjective Just right; a happy medium; optimal; not at either extreme. [After Goldilocks, a golden-haired girl in the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". In the story, she visits a bear house and chooses Baby Bear's chair, bed, and porridge because they are just right. Papa Bear's porridge is too hot, Mama Bear's too cold, for example. Earliest documented use: 1949. The story was first published in 1837. The earliest documented use in the literal sense of the word is from 400 years earlier.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Goldilocks NOTES: Trespass much? What would have happened if, instead of Goldilocks, the protagonist was a boy named Dreadlocks? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/goldilocks.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. The word is often seen in astronomy, as the Goldilocks zone, meaning an area that's at just the right distance from a star for a planet there to support life. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/goldilocks_large.jpg Illustration: Jessie Willcox Smith, from "A Child's Book of Stories", 1911 by Penrhyn W. Coussens https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Three_Bears#/media/File:A_Child's_Book_of_Stories_Goldilcks,_or_The_Three_Bears.jpg "'That's our Goldilocks locomotive,' Executive Director Mark Bassett says. 'No. 93 is too big for what we do, and it's a gas guzzler. No. 40 is too small for what we do. No. 81 is in the middle. It should be just right.'" Jim Wrinn; Five Ways Nevada Northern Highballs History; Trains (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Jul 2020. "Swirling around a red-dwarf star about 110 light-years away from Earth the distant world sits in a so-called Goldilocks zone -- not close enough to its host star to be too hot and not far enough away to be too cold -- that could allow liquid water to flow across its surface." Blue World; The Economist (London, UK); Sep 14, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Jul 21 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Cinderella X-Bonus: The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without. -Ernest Hemingway, author, journalist, Nobel laureate (21 Jul 1899-1961) This week's theme: Words coined after fairy-tale characters Cinderella (sin-duh-REL-luh) noun 1. One who deserves success or recognition, but instead suffers from neglect or obscurity. 2. One who achieves sudden triumph or recognition, especially after a long period of neglect or obscurity. [After Cinderella, the fairy-tale character who is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. With a little help from a fairy godmother, she attends a royal ball thrown by a prince. Ultimately, she marries the prince and lives happily ever after. What's behind the name Cinderella? It's a pseudo-translation of the French name of the girl, Cendrillon, from cendre (cinder), perhaps an allusion to her day-to-day existence, tending to the fireplace and hearth, and as a result she has cinders all over her. It may also be a hint to the hidden spark in her otherwise dismal life. Earliest documented use: 1840.] "Cinderella: A Perfect Match", 1818 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cinderella_large.jpg Art: Jean-Antoine Laurent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella#/media/File:Jean-Antoine_Laurent_-_Cinderella,_a_perfect_match.jpg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Cinderella "Perhaps because dentistry is the Cinderella of the public health system, receiving little attention, these problems have been allowed to persist." Paul Cullen; Grindingly Slow Progress on Inquiry into Children’s Orthodontic Damage; Irish Times (Dublin); Apr 2, 2019. "The Badgers are the Cinderella of the Final Four thanks to toppling a national championship winner." Ben Steele; Sconnie Final Four Is Set; Green Bay Press Gazette (Wisconsin); Apr 1, 2020. -------- Date: Wed Jul 22 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ugly duckling X-Bonus: What's done to children, they will do to society. -Karl A. Menninger, psychiatrist (22 Jul 1893-1990) This week's theme: Words coined after fairy-tale characters ugly duckling (UHG-lee DUHK-ling) noun One that seems unattractive or unpromising at first but has great potential and later turns out to be quite attractive or successful. [From the protagonist of the story "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen, in which a young bird believes himself to be a duck and is unhappy because he doesn't look like a duck, only to later learn that (spoiler alert) he is a beautiful swan. Earliest documented use: 1877.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ugly%20duckling https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ugly_duckling_large.jpg Illustration: Milo Winter https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Ugly_Duckling#/media/File:The_Ugly_Duckling_cropped.jpg From the book "Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales", 1916 "Nearly every transport advocacy group in Melbourne bemoans a lack of investment in our bus network. The ugly duckling of the transport network, and a mode that fails to attract attention on the front pages of newspapers, it is perhaps the cheapest and most obvious way to tackle congestion." Stuart James; Fork in Road for Public Transport Solutions; Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia); May 21, 2020. -------- Date: Thu Jul 23 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sleeping beauty X-Bonus: At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable. -Raymond Thornton Chandler, writer (23 Jul 1888-1959) This week's theme: Words coined after fairy-tale characters sleeping beauty (SLEE-ping BYOO-tee) noun Someone or something that lies dormant for a long time. [After the princess of a fairy tale who is cursed by a wicked fairy. The princess pricks her finger on a spindle and sleeps for 100 years until awakened by the kiss of a prince. Earliest documented use: 1729.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sleeping%20beauty https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sleeping_beauty_large.jpg Art: Marie Antoinette Victoire Petit-Jean, 1821 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sleeping_Beauty#/media/File:Sleeping_Beauty_LACMA_M.2012.61.jpg NOTES: In finance, a sleeping beauty is an asset, for example, a startup, that is an attractive target for takeover, but that has not yet been approached by someone. Also see Rip Van Winkle https://wordsmith.org/words/rip_van_winkle.html "Eighty fatalities and 1,000 wounded citizens later, a pall had descended on Prague, which would now be a sleeping beauty for more than two decades." Amotz Asa-El; The Prague Spring at 50; Jerusalem Post (Israel); Aug 24, 2018. -------- Date: Fri Jul 24 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Prince Charming X-Bonus: There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money, either. -Robert Graves, poet and novelist (24 Jul 1895-1985) This week's theme: Words coined after fairy-tale characters prince charming (prins CHAR-ming) noun A suitor who fulfills the expectations of his beloved. [After Prince Charming, the fairy-tale hero of many stories, such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Earliest documented use: 1850.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Prince%20Charming https://wordsmith.org/words/images/prince_charming_large.jpg Illustration: Heinrich Leutemann or Carl Offterdinger https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Prince_charming#/media/File:Dornroschen_(1).jpg "Judith reluctantly attends a cocktail party where she meets Howard Rose, a charismatic lawyer ... But Judith will come to realize Howard is no prince charming." Adriana Delgado; Beachy Books (Even If You're Not Going Near the Beach); The Palm Beach Post (Florida); May 28, 2020. -------- Date: Mon Jul 27 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--corroborate X-Bonus: In any free society, the conflict between social conformity and individual liberty is permanent, unresolvable, and necessary. -Kathleen Norris, novelist and columnist (1880-1966) Where I live here in the Seattle area, fruit trees dot the whole neighborhood and they seem to take turns being in the spotlight. Last year it was the sweet juicy plums https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/50146251808/ , so many that if you stood near a tree, opened your palm, and closed your eyes, the tree might put plums in your hand and whisper in your ear, "Please enjoy some plums and help lighten my load." There's also a lone cherry tree and this year it was the cherry's turn. https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/50147048242/ So many! Birds swooped in. The way I see it, they have as much right to the fruit as we do. They eat, rejoice and make noise, and also leave pits around. The whole fruiting season doesn't last very long, just a few weeks. The other day I went to the homeowners' association office, and as it happened, someone else was also visiting the office. I caught the tail end of the conversation. They were talking about cutting down the cherry tree. "What?" I said. "It makes too much of a mess," she said. I'd rather we not cut any trees, but if you really are itching to kill a tree, maybe chop down that hemlock tree on the other side. But no! It's the cherry tree that's making the mess. What kind of a Trumpian world do we live in? A sweet cherry tree? Kill it! Hemlock? No problem. I'd rather we not cut a tree. But if we have to, let it not be the lone cherry tree. And in any case, we should not be paying for the killing through the homeowners' association. The woman left the association office with the approval, saying that she'd be getting a quotation from a tree-cutting company. After that, every morning when I'd come out for a walk, I'd be holding my breath, half-fearing to find the cherry tree murdered with a stump left behind. It has been many weeks, but the tree is still standing. I'm hoping my gentle, yet firm, protest worked, but who knows. Next year or the following year the cherry tree might bloom again and ripened cherries might fall on the ground, birds might come to enjoy their share and leave pits behind. And thus the tree might again invite the wrath of someone who doesn't like the "mess". Trees sustain life. They also sustain language. We use many of the tree-related terms metaphorically,* for example, the verb to cherry-pick https://wordsmith.org/words/cherry-pick.html . This week we'll see five more such words. *Benjamin Franklin once said, "Little strokes, Fell great oaks." He said much that's worth putting into practice, but don't start felling trees, please. I'm pretty sure here he was speaking metaphorically, just as when he said "Fatigue is the best pillow." Yes, it's the best pillow, especially after making many little strokes on your way to success. corroborate (kuh-ROB-uh-rayt) verb tr. To confirm or support a claim, theory, etc. [From Latin corroborare (to strengthen), from com/cor- (together) + roborare (to make strong), from robur (oak, strength). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reudh- (red), which also gave us red, rouge, ruby, ruddy, rubella, robust, rambunctious, roborant https://wordsmith.org/words/roborant.html, and russet https://wordsmith.org/words/russet.html . Earliest documented use: 1530.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/corroborate https://wordsmith.org/words/images/corroborate_large.jpg Photo: Pascal Dihé / Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Quercus#/media/File:Naturdenkmal_Galgeneiche_bei_Bell.jpg https://wordsmith.org/words/images/corroborate_oak_leaf_large.jpg Photo: AJ Cann https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/44318192652/ "Previously, it was not possible to corroborate the claims due to a lack of evidence." Biochemical Weapons Expert Flees N. Korea; The Philippines News Agency (Manila); Jul 3, 2015. -------- Date: Tue Jul 28 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palmary X-Bonus: We are social creatures to the inmost centre of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong. -Karl Popper, philosopher and professor (28 Jul 1902-1994) This week's theme: Words having origins in tree names palmary (PAL-muh-ree) adjective Of supreme importance; outstanding; praiseworthy. [From Latin palmarius (deserving or carrying the palm), from palma (palm). The branches of the palm tree were carried as symbols of victory in ancient times. The name of the palm tree derives from the resemblance of the shape of its frond to the palm of a hand. Earliest documented use: 1646. Two related words are palmy https://wordsmith.org/words/palmy.html and palmer https://wordsmith.org/words/palmer.html .] "Allegory of Victory", c. 1635 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/palmary_large.jpg Victory holds a palm branch and tramples a figure variously identified as Deceit, Intrigue, or Rebellion Art: Mathieu Le Nain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_branch#/media/File:Le_Nain,_Mathieu_-_All%C3%A9gorie_de_la_Victoire_-_c.1635.jpg "The edition is a palmary achievement both in Johnsonian scholarship and in book production." Mary, Viscountess Eccles; The Times (London, UK); Sep 1, 2003. -------- Date: Wed Jul 29 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--willowy X-Bonus: If only I may grow: firmer, simpler, -- quieter, warmer. -Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary General of the United Nations, Nobel laureate (29 Jul 1905-1961) This week's theme: Words having origins in tree names willowy (WIL-oh-ee) adjective 1. Of or related to a willow tree. For example, bordered, shaded, or covered by willows. 2. Gracefully tall, slender, and lithe. [Gracefully drooping branches of a willow have, for more than two centuries, inspired people to evoke the tree when describing a woman. The word willow is from Old English welig, ultimately from the Indo-European root wel- (to turn or roll), which also gave us waltz, revolve, valley, walk, vault, volume, wallet, helix, voluble https://wordsmith.org/words/voluble.html, welter https://wordsmith.org/words/welter.html, and devolve https://wordsmith.org/words/devolve.html. Earliest documented use: 1766.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/willowy https://wordsmith.org/words/images/willowy_large.jpg Photo: Leimenide https://www.flickr.com/photos/24350382@N07/14911375248/ https://wordsmith.org/words/images/willowy2_large.jpg Sculpture: Anna & the Willow http://www.annaandthewillow.co.uk/willow-work/sculptures/ "As soon as Steve Jobs learned that his beautiful, willowy, blonde girlfriend, Laurene Powell, was pregnant in 1991, he began musing that he might still be in love with the previous beautiful, willowy, blonde girlfriend, Tina Redse." Maureen Dowd; Limits of Magical Thinking; The New York Times; Oct 25, 2011. -------- Date: Thu Jul 30 00:01:03 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--birch X-Bonus: If there were dreams to sell, / What would you buy? / Some cost a passing bell; / Some a light sigh, / That shakes from life's fresh crown / Only a rose-leaf down. -Thomas Lovell Beddoes, poet, dramatist, and physician (30 Jun 1803-1849) This week's theme: Words having origins in tree names birch (buhrch) noun: 1. Any of various hardy trees or shrubs of the genus "Betula". 2. A birch twig or a bundle of them. verb tr.: 1. To beat with (or as if with) a birch. 2. To admonish or to punish. [From Old English berc/beorc. Earliest documented use: 700.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/birch https://wordsmith.org/words/images/birch_large.jpg Photo: Ramin Shirsavar https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Betula#/media/File:%D8%A2%D8%B3%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86_-_panoramio_(1).jpg Mother uses a birch rod to punish her son, 1880 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/birch_punishment_large.jpg Art: Pavel Kovalevsky (1843-1903) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9._%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B0.jpg "Even after it became aware of suspected money-laundering in accounts, CBA [The Commonwealth Bank of Australia] didn’t monitor its customers ... [Nicole Rose, CEO of AUSTRAC, the anti-money-laundering unit] had time yesterday for a thorough birching of the nation's biggest financial institution." Richard Gluyas; Everything Failed, but Now Comyn Can Start Rebuilding; The Australian (Canberra); Jun 5, 2018. -------- Date: Fri Jul 31 00:01:04 EDT 2020 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fig X-Bonus: Trust is the first step to love. -Premchand, novelist and poet (31 Jul 1880-1936) This week's theme: Words having origins in tree names fig (fig) noun 1. A tree or shrub of the genus "Ficus" or its fruit. 2. Something of little value. 3. A gesture of contempt. [From Old French fige, from Provencal figa, from Latin fica (fig, ficus). Earliest documented use: 1225. Also see fig leaf https://wordsmith.org/words/fig_leaf.html .] verb tr.: To dress up. noun: Dress or array. [Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1839.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/fig NOTES: It's not clear why the fig has suffered such an undervaluation, historically speaking. The OED lists the first citation in this sense from "The Court of Love" (1450): "A Figge for all her chastite!" The word is also used for the obscene gesture of a fist with the thumb sticking out between two fingers. Another word given to us by the lowly fig is sycophant https://wordsmith.org/words/sycophant.html . https://wordsmith.org/words/images/fig_large.jpg Photo: Pinke https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/48252682357/ Fig gesture, center: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/fig_gesture_large.jpg Pietà with the Symbols of the Passion Art: Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, 1405-06 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niccol%C3%B2_di_pietro_gerini,_cristo_in_piet%C3%A0_tra_i_simboli_della_passione,_1405-06,_da_s..a_nnunziata_01.JPG "We already knew that Mr. Trump cared not a fig for human rights in China. He reportedly told Mr. Xi last year that he would soften the US response to a crackdown in Hong Kong in order to get a trade agreement, his singular pursuit." Mr. Trump and China's Camps; The Washington Post; Jun 21, 2020. "The Australian Army Fanfare Team ... cut a vividly colonial set of figures in the public galleries, fully figged in scarlet tunics and pipeclayed helmets." Jonathan Green; The Last Word Express; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Jun 3, 2003.