A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 00:03:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pixy X-Bonus: What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. pix.ie or pixy \'pik-se_-\ n : FAIRY; esp : a gay mischievous sprite -------- Date: Sat, 2 Jul 1994 00:03:07 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--wormwood X-Bonus: Journalism is literature in a hurry. -Matthew Arnold worm.wood \'w*rm-.wu_.d\ n 1: any of several aromatic woody herbs related to the daisies; esp : a European plant used in making absinthe 2: something bitter or grievous : BITTERNESS -------- Date: Sun, 3 Jul 1994 00:03:12 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lenitive X-Bonus: Minds are like parachutes - they function only when open. len.i.tive \'len-*t-iv\ adj : alleviating pain or acrimony -------- Date: Mon, 4 Jul 1994 00:03:10 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--embouchure X-Bonus: Toe: A part of the foot used to find furniture in the dark. - Rilla May em.bou.chure \.a_:m-bu_.-'shu_.r\ n : the position and use of the lips in producing a musical tone on a wind instrument -------- Date: Tue, 5 Jul 1994 00:03:18 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--interregnum X-Bonus: People usually get what's coming to them... unless it was mailed. in.ter.reg.num \.int-*-'reg-n*m\ n, pl -nums or -na \-n*\ 1: the time during which a throne is vacant between two successive reigns or regimes 2: a pause in a continuous series -------- Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 00:03:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--brougham X-Bonus: Let's hope God grades on a curve. brougham \'bru_[-*)m, 'bro_-(-*)m\ n 1: a light closed horse-drawn carriage with the driver outside in front 2: a coupe automobile; esp : one electrically driven 3: a sedan having no roof over the driver's seat -- incidentally, "brougham" has 4 silent letters in a row (ugha). does anyone know of another word with 4 or more consecutive silent letters? - anu -------- Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 16:29:05 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--brougham I received a torrent of messages after today's mailing. Thanks to all those who wrote. The most popular response was the word "queue" sent in by a line of subscribers that include Brian Battles of arrl.org, L. Singh of jhu.edu Marty Fuchs of mdc.com and Cheryl Southard of caltech.edu. Jerri Sparks-Kaiser, calling in from ucla.edu, reminded me that word "ghoti" can be pronounced as fish (if you don't know how ghoti = fish, look under G.B. Shaw in your nearest library, don't ask me). Speaking of pronunciation, Hillel Bromberg (no, it's not Broughamberg (-: ) an avid subscriber from babson.edu, cited Dr. Seuss: "The tough coughs as he ploughs the dough." He pointed out that the sentence has, "Four words with the same sequence of four letters yielding four different pronunciations." On a rather unrelated note, Observant subscriber Alan Ezust at mcgill.ca remarked that the definition "2: a coupe automobile; esp : one electrically driven" "sounds like an old word for a relatively new concept..." I guess those were some farsighted folks when they coined this term in mid-nineteenth century. (-; Any EV guys out there? George Demarest of novell.com and Daniel Terner of rutgers.edu shared this response for a word with four or more consecutive silent letters. They offered: "Shhhhhhh." Probably that's what lexicographers said to the word "brougham" and quieted down poor u and g and h and a... Anu -------- Date: Thu, 7 Jul 1994 00:03:26 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--agoraphobia X-Bonus: I would like to help you out. Which way did you come in? ag.o.ra.pho.bia \.ag-*-r*-'fo_--be_--*\ n : abnormal fear of being in open spaces -- ag.o.ra.pho.bic \-'fo_--bik, -'fa_:b-ik\ adj -------- Date: Fri, 8 Jul 1994 00:03:06 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--orthoepy X-Bonus: Where there is a will, there is an Inheritance Tax. or.tho.epy \'o_.r-th*-.wep-e_-\ n : the customary pronunciation of a language -- or.tho.ep.ist \-.wep-*st\ n -------- Date: Sat, 9 Jul 1994 00:03:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--imbrication X-Bonus: God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. - Voltaire im.bri.ca.tion \.im-br*-'ka_--sh*n\ n 1: an overlapping of edges (as of tiles) 2: a decoration or pattern showing imbrication -- im.bri.cate \'im-br*-.ka_-t\ adj -------- Date: Sun, 10 Jul 1994 00:03:13 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--loggia X-Bonus: Know thyself -- but don't tell anyone. log.gia \'la_:j-(e_--)*, 'lo_.-.ja_:\ n : a roofed open gallery -------- Date: Mon, 11 Jul 1994 00:03:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--malapert X-Bonus: I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. mal.a.pert \.mal-*-'p*rt\ adj : impudently bold : SAUCY -------- Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 00:03:16 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cenobite X-Bonus: Give a skeptic an inch and he'll measure it. cen.o.bite \'sen-*-.bi_-t\ n : a member of a religious group living together -- cen.o.bit.ic \.sen-*-'bit-ik\ adj -------- Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 00:03:13 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eleemosynary X-Bonus: The chief cause of problems is solutions. el.ee.mos.y.nary \.el-i-'ma_:s- *n-.er-e_-\ adj : CHARITABLE -------- Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 00:03:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jalousie X-Bonus: Multitasking allows screwing up several things at once. jal.ou.sie \'jal-*-se_-\ n : a blind, window, or door with adjustable horizontal slats or louvers for control of light and air -- notice anything special about the word? it has all the vowels in its spelling. and only once. - anu -------- Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 09:24:54 -0400 Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--jalousie I didn't intend to send a followup on today's mailing but looking at the volume and enthusiasm of replies, I couldn't keep without sharing them with you. Many suggested the words facetious, abstemious and arsenious all of which have all the vowels occuring only once and in order. Among those who sent in one or more of these words are: Linguaphiles Martha (albion.edu), Pete Cottrels (umd.edu), Zach (att.com), Marc Picard (concordia.ca), Brian Battles (arrl.org), Mortnsue (aol.com), Garthe Nelson (ucsb.edu), C. Sudhama (mot.com), Evan Robinson (mit.edu), Ullas Gargi (psu.edu), Guy Jacobs (ukans.edu), David Powers (flinders.edu.au) Miriam Shlesinger (biu.ac.il, Israel) and Manojkumar Saranathan (washington.edu). In addition, Saranathan came up with this word with all the vowels in reverse order: duoliteral. Linguaphile Tim Lee from datapath.co.uk recalled a vacation he took years ago in California, where he saw the giant red-woods, the sequoia trees. He points out that "Not only does 'sequoia' have all the vowels and only once, it also has only two consonants." Now, how about a crash course in French? Linguaphile Jean Wilmotte hailing from ucl.ac.be ("be" is the country code for Belgium) wrote to inform that jalousie has a second meaning in French -- jealousy. It had me thinking what jealousy had to do with venetian blinds. But I didn't have to wait for long. Manfred Borzechowski of alcatel.de (de = Germany) piped in with the etymology. Here is a peek at the historical roots of the word: Such blinds served in old Arabic ages to protect from being seen when having an intimate relationship, so that nobody else would become jealous. Frits Stuurman from ruu.nl (nl = Netherlands, which incidentally, is written as Nederland in Netherlands/Nederland/Holland) was reminded of James Joyce's Ulysses where "there is also something about aeiou = a.e. [initials of one of Joyce's friends, I seem to remember] I owe you;" Bruce Nevin of lightstream.com greped (grep is computerese for search) in /usr/dict/words and sent a list of 54 words with all the vowels. Did I say all the vowels? A couple of linguaphiles expressed doubt whether I was forgetting `y' when I said the word `jalousie' has all the vowels in it. Garthe of ucsb.edu had probably already thought of it. He wrote: "the most remarkable word of this kind that I've found is `facetious' which not only has all the vowels exactly once but also in alphabetical order. It can even accommodate the `sometimes y' clause with the addition of `ly' to form `facetiously', still in alphabetical order." On a cool, cloudy morning on the shore of Lake Erie... Anu -------- Date: Fri, 15 Jul 1994 00:03:26 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spelunker X-Bonus: If laws were outlawed, only outlaws would be lawyers. spe.lunk.er \spi-'l*n_e-k*r\ n : one who makes a hobby of exploring caves -- spe.lunk.ing n -------- Date: Sat, 16 Jul 1994 00:03:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--grommet X-Bonus: Gentleman: Knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn't. grom.met \'gra_:m-*t\ n 1: a ring of rope 2: an eyelet of firm material to strengthen or protect an opening -------- Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 00:03:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--acrophobia X-Bonus: Apathy Error: Don't bother striking any key. ac.ro.pho.bia \.ak-r*-'fo_--be_--*\ n : abnormal dread of being at a great height -------- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 00:03:28 -0400 (EDT) Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oratorio X-Bonus: Be consistently persistent. -Dick Hannula or.a.to.rio \.o_.r-*-'to_-r-e_--.o_-\ n : a choral work usu. on a scriptural subject -------- Date: Thu Jul 21 07:59:56 EDT 1994 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pharmacopoeia X-Bonus: If you're going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance. phar.ma.co.poe.ia \-k*-'pe_--(y)*\ n 1: a book describing drugs and medicinal preparations 2: a stock of drugs -- there were no postings on Jul 19 & 20 due to system outage. -------- Date: Fri Jul 22 00:19:38 EDT 1994 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--generalissimo X-Bonus: My name is Annie Key. Ouch! Why are you hitting me?! gen.er.a.lis.si.mo \.jen-(*-)r*-'lis-*-.mo_-\ n : the chief commander of an army : COMMANDER IN CHIEF -------- Date: Sat, 23 Jul 1994 00:03:07 -0400 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--presbyopia X-Bonus: It is bad luck to be superstitious. -Andrew Mathis pres.by.o.pia \.prez-be_--'o_--pe_--*\ n : FARSIGHTEDNESS -- pres.by.op.ic \-'a_:p-ik, -'o_-p-\ adj -------- Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 08:35:16 -0400 Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--presbyopia A short note about yesterday's word - presbyopia. Linguaphile Howard M. Moss, MD wrote to clarify that presbyopia is the word used to describe "farsightedness due to old age," as opposed to the general condition of farsightedness which is known as hypermetropia or hyperopia. Thank you Dr. Moss, for putting the word in proper focus. While we are on the topic of farsightedness, here is an interesting quote -- a gem, I came across recently in a book of mine: "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." It was said by Ken Olsen, then president of Digital Equipment Corporation, in 1977. Incidentally, there are millions of computers in homes all across USA as of now. So much for the "farsightedness," never mind the fact that he was speaking at the convention of the World Future Society! On a lazy Sunday morning near Lake Erie... Anu -------- Date: Sun Jul 24 00:03:06 EDT 1994 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--soubrette X-Bonus: He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead. sou.brette \su_:-'bret\ n : a coquettish maidservant or a frivolous young woman in a comedy; also : an actress playing such a part -------- Date: Mon Jul 25 00:03:05 EDT 1994 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--flibbertigibbet X-Bonus: Can you think of another word for "synonym"? flib.ber.ti.gib.bet \.flib-*rt-e_--'jib-*t\ n : a silly restless person -------- Date: Tue Jul 26 00:03:04 EDT 1994 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--burgomaster X-Bonus: If you do not consciously form good habits, you will unconsciously form bad ones. bur.go.mas.ter \'b*r-g*-.mas-t*r\ n : the chief magistrate of a town in some European countries -------- Date: Wed Jul 27 00:03:04 EDT 1994 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chiaroscuro X-Bonus: "I'd love to go out with you, but I'm converting my calendar watch from Julian to Gregorian." chiar.oscu.ro \ke_--.a_:r-*-'sk(y)u_.r-o_-\ n 1: pictorial representation in terms of light and shade without regard to color 2: the arrangement or treatment of light and dark parts in a pictorial work of art -------- Date: Thu Jul 28 00:03:05 EDT 1994 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--holograph X-Bonus: The best labor saving device is doing it tomorrow. hol.o.graph \-.graf\ n : a document wholly in the handwriting of the purported author