A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Sep 1 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--therefor X-Bonus: Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear. -Harry S. Truman, 33rd US president (1884-1972) If you use spellcheckers in your day-to-day affairs, you know they are not a panacea for cacography (bad spelling). We all have seen spellcheckers approve "their" where "there" was intended, and learned the hard way that there is no substitute for good old eyeballing. This week's AWAD will feature five words that are spelled only slightly differently from many everyday words. Let's look at these words that render your spellchecker less effective. therefor (ther-FOR) adverb For that; in return or exchange for something, e.g. "placing an order and sending payment therefor". [From Middle English therefor, from there + for. The word 'therefore' arose as a variant spelling of this word.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Thrice thereafter the temple was rebuilt, each time greater and more elaborately than before, but always on the site of the original shrine, though men forgot the reason therefor." Robert E. Howard; The Bloody Crown of Conan; Del Rey; 2004. -------- Date: Tue Sep 2 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prorogue X-Bonus: So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable. -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspellings. prorogue (pro-ROHG) verb tr. 1. To discontinue a session of something, for example, a parliament. 2. To defer or to postpone. [From French proroger (to adjourn), from Latin prorogare (to prolong or defer), from pro- (before) + rogare (to ask). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reg- (to move in a straight line, to lead or rule) that is also the source of regime, direct, rectangle, erect, rectum, alert, source, and surge.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera told The Sunday Times, 'I did not go to Parliament since it was prorogued on May 6.'" Manmohan to Meet Pillayan; The Sunday Times (Colombo, Sri Lanka); Jul 27, 2008. -------- Date: Wed Sep 3 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dissert X-Bonus: Like a lawyer, the human brain wants victory, not truth; and, like a lawyer, it is sometimes more admirable for skill than virtue. -Robert Wright, author and journalist (b. 1957) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspellings. dissert (di-SUHRT) verb intr. To speak or write at length on a subject. [From Latin disserere (to arrange in order), from dis- (apart, away) + serere (to join). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ser- (to line up), that is also the source of words such as series, assert, desert (to abandon), desert (a dry sandy region), sort, consort, and sorcerer.] Here are various words with similar looks and sounds, some related, some not: dessert (di-ZUHRT), as in "fat-free dessert", from French desservir (to clear the table) desert (DEZ-uhrt), as in "the Sahara", from Latin deserere (to abandon) desert (di-ZUHRT), as in "to desert the army", from Latin deserere (to abandon) desert (di-ZUHRT), as in "to receive just deserts", from Latin deservire (to serve zealously) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "There is no small amount of allure in hearing Evan dissert brusquely on his rationale for keeping certain women in the game." Scott Feschuk; Reality Chicks; National Post (Canada); Jan 15, 2003. -------- Date: Thu Sep 4 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ressentiment X-Bonus: If a man should importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no otherwise be expressed, than by making answer: because it was he, because it was I. -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspellings. ressentiment (ruh-san-tee-MAH [the final syllable has a nasal sound]) noun A feeling of resentment and hostility accompanied by the lack of means to express or act upon it. [From French ressentiment, from ressentir (to feel strongly), from sentir, from Latin sentire (to feel). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sent- (to head for or to go), that is also the source for send, scent, sense, sentence, assent, and consent.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "It is fair enough to say that Gass intends Kohler as a representative modern middling man seething with ressentiment." Robert Alter; The Tunnel; The New Republic (Washington, DC); Mar 27, 1995. "Don is an extraordinary amalgam of ressentiment and rage." Carl Bromley; The Limeys; The Nation (New York); Jul 9, 2001. -------- Date: Fri Sep 5 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--recision X-Bonus: Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she marries him and what she thinks of him a year afterward, and you will have the truth about him. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspellings. recision or rescission (ri-SIZH-uhn) noun An act of canceling. [From Latin recision (cutting back), from recidere (to cut back), from caedere (to cut).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Democrats want to limit cancellations to the first 18 months of coverage and require insurers to obtain approval from regulators before revoking a policy. Schwarzenegger wants to let insurers keep the recision option but impose new rules intended to thoroughly vet people's medical histories." Jordan Rau; Health Insurance Ambition Narrows; Los Angeles Times; Aug 4, 2008. -------- Date: Mon Sep 8 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Chinese puzzle X-Bonus: You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. -John Bunyan, preacher and author (1628-1688) A reader sent this query: Hi, Our elementary PTA is hosting a Chinese Auction. A parent who has two Chinese children has contacted us indicating that she feels this term is offensive. What is the origin of this term? Before changing the event name, we wish to educate ourselves on this issue and make an informed decision. Can you help me understand this term? A Chinese auction is a combination of auction and raffle. You can buy one or many tickets and bid them on various items. All the bidding tickets for an item are kept in a box. At the end of the event the owner of the ticket that's drawn from a box gets the item. The more tickets you bid on an item, the more your chances of winning, but the bidder with the most tickets is not guaranteed to be the winner. I believe the term is no more offensive than, say, Chinese checkers. Having said that, I must mention that many of these stereotypical terms associated with nationalities are indeed offensive. It's often because the English didn't particularly like the Dutch or the Irish or the French. Many years of hostility, war, and antagonism have taken toll on the language. These disparaging terms are not unique to English though. The French have perhaps as many terms for the English, "filer à l'anglaise" (English leave), the French equivalent of the British expression "French leave", for example. This week we'll look at a few words marking various countries and cities. Chinese puzzle (CHAI-neez PUZ-uhl) noun A very intricate puzzle or problem. [From the allusion to the complexity of puzzles from China.] Pictures of a Chinese puzzle box https://wordsmith.org/words/images/chinese_puzzle_large.jpg (Image credit: Hordern-Dalgety Collection puzzlemuseum.com) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In this psychological mystery, a Chinese puzzle of a movie, Deneuve plays dual roles." Kevin Thomas; Deneuve Triumphs in 'Crime'; Los Angeles Times: Apr 10, 1998. -------- Date: Tue Sep 9 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Toronto blessing X-Bonus: You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet. -Hal Borland, journalist (1900-1978) This week's theme: Toponyms. Toronto blessing (tuh-RON-toh BLES-ing) noun A form of religious rapture marked by outbreaks of mass fainting, laughter, shaking, weeping, fainting, speaking in tongues, etc. [After Toronto, Canada, where the phenomenon was experienced in a church in Jan 1994.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[The movie Pan's Labyrinth] was received in awestruck rapture by the world's press, and left me feeling a little like a Roman Catholic prelate at a Pentecostal ceremony, smiling with thin politeness while all around congregants were getting a Toronto Blessing full in the face." Peter Bradshaw; Hellboy II: The Golden Army; The Guardian (London, UK); Aug 15, 2008. "We'd have the Toronto Blessing 24/7, hooting away at our own puffed-up selves, and our imagined separation from others -- and laughing in the final realization that we're all in this together." Geoff Olson; The Great Whatever; Vancouver Sun (Canada); Apr 14, 2001. -------- Date: Wed Sep 10 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Bristol fashion X-Bonus: The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. -Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction writer (1917-2008) This week's theme: Toponyms. Bristol fashion (BRIS-tl FASH-uhn) adjective In good order. [We know the term is coined after Bristol, England, but we are not so certain why. Some believe the term alludes to the prosperity of the city from its flourishing shipping business. Others claim that the term arose as a result of the very high tidal range of the port of Bristol: at low tides ships moored here would go aground and if everything on the ship was not stowed away properly, chaos would result. The term is often used to describe boats and typically used in the phrase "shipshape and Bristol fashion".] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Everything was shipshape and Bristol fashion, the parallel bars looked spruce, the leaves had been raked out of the swimming pool, there was not a drop of horse poo on the riding course." Patsy Crawford; Olympic Gold is a Little Tarnished; Sunday Tasmanian (Australia); Jul 18, 2004. -------- Date: Thu Sep 11 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Roman nose X-Bonus: A city that outdistances man's walking powers is a trap for man. -Arnold Toynbee, historian (1889-1975) This week's theme: Toponyms. Roman nose (RO-muhn noz) noun A nose having a prominent bridge. Also known as a hook nose or aquiline nose. [From the belief that this type of nose was common among the Romans.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Picture of a girl with a Roman nose: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/roman_nose.jpg (source: Klaus D. Peter) "The question is: Will Mr. Morales, a strapping Aymara Indian with a Roman nose, an infectious smile and a shock of long black hair, catch on as a durable fashion influence?" Juan Forero; The Fashion of the Populist; The New York Times; Feb 2, 2006. -------- Date: Fri Sep 12 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Glasgow kiss X-Bonus: I see that sensible men and conscientious men all over the world were of one religion, -- the religion of well-doing and daring, men of sturdy truth, men of integrity and feeling for others. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) This week's theme: Toponyms. Glasgow kiss (GLAS-go kis, GLAZ-) noun A headbutt: a strike with the head to someone's sensitive area (such as the nose). [This slang for headbutt is relatively recent. The OED shows this 1982 citation from the Daily Mirror as the first printed use of the term: "Glasgow has its own way of welcoming people ... There is a broken bottle gripped in the fist of greeting. Or there's the Glasgow Kiss -- a sharp whack on the nose with the forehead." The term arose from allusion to violence in part of the city. An earlier term is a Liverpool kiss.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The General Medical Council, the most useless body in Britain, can't even get the name of their new boss right. If John Reid is half as tough as he pretends, he'll give this rotten lot a Glasgow kiss!" David Mellor; Man of The People: Headbangers; People; Jun 15, 2003. -------- Date: Mon Sep 15 00:01:10 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mainstay X-Bonus: There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all. -Robert Orben, magician and author (b. 1927) "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." These timeless words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the French author and aviator, sum up what it means to lead. How tight a ship do you run? Are you the mainstay for your organization or just a figurehead? This week we'll feature five words that have their origins in nautical terminology. mainstay (MAYN-stay) noun A chief support or main part. [On a sailing ship, the mainstay is a strong rope that secures the mainmast. The noun stay (a heavy rope) is from Old English.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Syria's oil used to be the mainstay of the government's income, providing 70 percent of the country's export earnings. Now it is drying up so fast that Syria is expected to be a net importer of crude oil in just two years." Nawara Mahfoud and Robert Worth; Syrians See an Economic Side to Peace; Daily News Egypt (Cairo); Aug 17, 2008. -------- Date: Tue Sep 16 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--figurehead X-Bonus: The soul is healed by being with children. -Fyodor Dostoyevsky, novelist (1821-1881) This week's theme: Words with nautical origins. figurehead (FIG-yuhr-hed, FIG-uhr-hed) noun A person who is head of a group in name only, having no authority or responsibility. [The term is derived from the figurative use of the term figurehead which is an ornamental carving, usually of a human figure, on the bow of a ship. From Latin figure (form, shape) + Old English heafod (top of the body).] A picture of a figurehead: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/figurehead_large.jpg (Image source: BoatNerd.Com) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Recent years have seen rectors elected who take a more active role, rather than simply being a figurehead." Fiona Macleod; Call for 'Student Champion' Rectors to Be Part of All Scots Universities; The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland); Sep 8, 2008. -------- Date: Wed Sep 17 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--steerage X-Bonus: We have in fact, two kinds of morality, side by side: one which we preach, but do not practice, and another which we practice, but seldom preach. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970) This week's theme: Words with nautical origins. steerage (STEER-ij) noun The part of a ship offered to those traveling at the cheapest rate. [From the fact that originally this section was located near the rudder of the ship.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The seats in steerage are too small and close together, and spending nine hours in one is a dreadful way for a big guy to start a vacation." Christopher Elliott; Don't Always Rely On Awards Miles; The Sacramento Bee (California); Aug 17, 2008. -------- Date: Thu Sep 18 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--limpet X-Bonus: My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) This week's theme: Words with nautical origins. limpet (LIM-pit) noun 1. Any of various low conical-shelled marine mollusks that adhere tightly to rocks. 2. One that clings stubbornly. [From Middle English lempet, from Latin lampreda (lamprey).] A picture of a limpet: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/limpet_large.jpg (Image credits: Sharyn R. Jones, PhD) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "If your child becomes a limpet, the teacher will peel him off your leg." Kevin Harcombe; Learning to Let Go; The Guardian (London, UK); Sep 2 2008. -------- Date: Fri Sep 19 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--keelhaul X-Bonus: There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. -Logan Pearsall Smith, essayist (1865-1946) This week's theme: Words with nautical origins. keelhaul (KEEL-hawl) verb tr. 1. To haul under the keel of a ship. 2. To rebuke sharply. [From Dutch kielhalen, from kiel (keel) + halen (to haul). In the olden times this form of punishment was inflicted in the Dutch and British navies. The punished sailor was tied to a rope looped under the ship and thrown in the water. Then he was dragged along the bottom of the ship to the other side. The result was either severe injuries from brushing against the barnacles on the ship's bottom or death from drowning. Thankfully, in modern times keelhauling is performed only metaphorically.] An illustration of keelhauling: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/keelhaul_large.jpg (Image credit: Bournville Village Trust, UK) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "A determined farmer named Taggart is out to keelhaul the varmint that carried off his youngest son." Gene Seymour; Unnecessary Sequel Creeps in Once Again; Los Angeles Times; Aug 29, 2003. -------- Date: Mon Sep 22 00:01:12 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--archipelago X-Bonus: Let your capital be simplicity and contentment. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides... they all make news from time to time. Some see them as the payoff for offending their God. That especially applies to some televangelists here in the US, who pronounce such a verdict after each catastrophe. What a vengeful God they must subscribe to! Others see these events as evidence of nature's wrath, but lawyer and orator Robert Green Ingersoll put it best when he said, "In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences." We may mess with an ecosystem and then we have to face the consequences. What a pity that often those who make a mess stay far behind, in space and time, to face the consequences. This week we'll see five terms to describe earth's features, many of which you can use metaphorically. archipelago (ahr-kuh-PEL-uh-go) noun A large group of islands. [From Italian arcipelago (the Aegean Sea), from Latin Egeopelagus, from arkhi- (chief) + pelagos (sea). Ultimately from the Indo-European root plak- (to be flat) which is also the source of words such as flake, flaw, placate, plead, please, and plank. Originally the term referred to the Aegean Sea (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Turkey) that has numerous islands.] An aerial picture of the Archipelago Sea (part of the Baltic Sea), Finland: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/archipelago_large.jpg A map of the Archipelago Sea: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/archipelago_map_large.jpg (Image source: Wikipedia) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'The Hungry Tide' is an archipelago of stories braided by the tidal channels that weave among them." Richard Eder; In the Mouth of the Ganges; Los Angeles Times; May 22, 2005. -------- Date: Tue Sep 23 00:01:07 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--monadnock X-Bonus: I don't trust a man who uses the word evil eighteen times in ten minutes. If you're half evil, nothing soothes you more than to think the person you are opposed to is totally evil. -Norman Mailer, author (1923-2007) This week's theme: Words from geology and geography. monadnock (muh-NAD-nok) noun An isolated hill or mountain that, having resisted erosion, rises above a plain. [After Mount Monadnock, a peak in New Hampshire, whose name in Algonquian means isolated mountain.] Also see peneplain: https://wordsmith.org/words/peneplain.html -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Almost every Concord street has one: a household that leaves a monadnock of trash bags beside the road each week." Pay-to-throw is Right Way For Concord to Go; Concord Monitor (New Hampshire); Feb 1, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Sep 24 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shoal X-Bonus: If the truth doesn't save us, what does that say about us? -Lois McMaster Bujold, writer (b. 1949) This week's theme: Words from geology and geography. shoal (shol, rhymes with hole) noun 1. A shallow area in a body of water. 2. A sandbank or sandbar in the bed of a body of water, constituting a navigation hazard. [From Middle English shold, from Old English sceald (shallow). The homonym shoal, referring to a school of fish or a crowd, has a different origin, probably from Dutch schole (band or troop).] A shoal in the Yasawa Islands, Fiji: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/shoal_large.jpg (Image source: Wikipedia) -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[Thomas] Jefferson says, 'I've found the art of living is avoiding the shoals and the rocks. But the truth of the matter is none of us can avoid the shoals and the rocks.'" Joe Kovac Jr.; This I Know: Max Cleland; Macon Telegraph (Georgia); Sep 14, 2008. -------- Date: Thu Sep 25 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--col X-Bonus: True remorse is never just a regret over consequences; it is a regret over motive. -Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983) This week's theme: Words from geology and geography. col (kol, rhymes with doll) noun A mountain pass. [From French col (neck), from Latin collum (neck). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwel- (to revolve) that is also the source of words such as colony, cult, culture, cycle, cyclone, chakra, and collar.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Car rental presented the first obstacle. No major company allows its vehicles on Saddle Road, which runs across the 6,600-foot-high col between the two peaks, much less anywhere near the summits themselves." James Dannenberg; Trying for a peak experience on Big Island; San Francisco Chronicle; Aug 24, 2008. -------- Date: Fri Sep 26 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--isthmus X-Bonus: Modern technology / Owes ecology / An apology. -Alan M. Eddison This week's theme: Words from geology and geography. isthmus (IS-muhs) noun 1. A narrow strip of land with water on each side, joining two larger land masses, for example, the Isthmus of Panama. 2. A narrow strip of tissue joining two large organs or cavities. [From Latin isthmus, from Greek isthmos (a neck of land).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "As a young man [Nathaniel] Hawthorne had been a recluse. His gift of vision made him different, as he walked an isthmus between time and eternity." Patrick J. Walsh; Hawthorne's God; Weekly Standard (Washington, DC); Jan 2, 2006. -------- Date: Mon Sep 29 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--politicaster X-Bonus: Corporation: n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. -Ambrose Bierce, author and editor (1842-1914) The pejorative suffix -aster (meaning something that is inferior, small or shallow) gives us some delightful words when it comes to name-calling. A reviewer brands a poet a poetaster (an inferior poet) and the reviewee might return the favor by calling the former a criticaster (an incompetent critic). In the same vein, we can have a philosophaster, an astrologaster, and a theologaster. Lest we get carried away here, let's remember that a grandmaster is not an inferior grandma. This week we'll review five words you can use to put people down. politicaster (PUH-LIT-i-kas-tuhr) noun A petty politician. [From Italian politicastro, from Latin politicus (political), from Greek politikos, from polites (citizen), from polis (city) + Latin -aster (pejorative suffix).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The politicaster is looking for small opportunities -- for such pickings and stealings as a careless public may leave for those of his kind. The great politician is looking for great opportunities." Samuel McChord Crothers; In Praise of Politicians; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Jan 5, 2004. -------- Date: Tue Sep 30 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--quidnunc X-Bonus: Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-1974) This week's theme: Insults. quidnunc (KWID-nungk) noun A nosy or gossipy person. [From Latin quid nunc (what now), implying someone constantly asking "What's new?"] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Naturally, the only time these messages pop up is when quidnunc co-workers are nearby." Christopher Muther; Entertainment by the Foot; The Boston Globe; Jul 10, 2003.