A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Thu Dec 1 00:19:22 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hegemony X-Bonus: My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened. -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592) This week's theme: Illustrated words hegemony (hi-JEM-uh-nee, HEJ-uh-moh-nee) noun Predominance over others, especially of a country over other countries. [From Greek hegemonia (leadership), from hegemon (leader), from hegeisthai (to lead). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sag- (to seek out), which is also the source of seek, ransack, ramshackle, and forsake. Earliest documented use: 1567.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hegemony_large.jpg [Illustration: Leah Palmer Preiss http://oddments.blogspot.com/] "US hegemony is declining -- the era of overbearing US power is coming to an end." End Looks Near for American Hegemony; New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia); Nov 10, 2009. -------- Date: Fri Dec 2 00:13:04 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antediluvian X-Bonus: He who has a why can endure any how. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900) This week's theme: Illustrated words antediluvian (an-tee-di-LOO-vee-uhn) adjective Extremely old; old-fashioned; primitive. [The word literally means before the flood, referring to the Biblical story of Noah and his flood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_myth . From Latin ante- (before) + diluvium (flood), from diluere (to wash away), from dis- (away) + -luere (to wash), combining form of lavere (to wash). Earliest documented use: 1646. The opposite is postdiluvian https://wordsmith.org/words/postdiluvian.html .] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/antediluvian_large.jpg [Illustration: Leah Palmer Preiss http://oddments.blogspot.com/] "Despite the appearance of modernity, management remains antediluvian." Asian Banks Hold on to Their Antediluvian Ways; South China Morning Post (Hong Kong); Sep 10, 1997. -------- Date: Mon Dec 5 00:01:05 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--baldachin X-Bonus: It is my belief that the writer, the free-lance author, should be and must be a critic of the society in which he lives. It is easy enough, and always profitable, to rail away at national enemies beyond the sea, at foreign powers beyond our borders who question the prevailing order. But the moral duty of the free writer is to begin his work at home; to be a critic of his own community, his own country, his own culture. If the writer is unwilling to fill this part, then the writer should abandon pretense and find another line of work: become a shoe repairman, a brain surgeon, a janitor, a cowboy, a nuclear physicist, a bus driver. -Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989) The US military pulls out of Iraq this month. And that marks the beginning of the end of a more than eight-year-long misadventure that resulted in hundreds of thousands dead, millions of displaced/refugees, trillions of dollars down the drain, and both countries -- the attacker and the attacked -- damaged. The only thing we learn from history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War is that we learn nothing from history. What a dreary topic this is. What do we have to show for all that? Nothing, except perhaps a little better knowledge of the geography of the region. To add to that, this week we bring five words that have their origins in Iraq. baldachin (BAL-duh-kin, BOL-) noun, Also, baldacchino, baldachino (bal-duh-KEE-noh) 1. A rich embroidered fabric of silk and gold. 2. A canopy. [English baldachin is derived from Italian baldacchino which is from Baldacco, the Italian name for Baghdad. The city was once known for this fabric and earlier canopies were made of it. Earliest documented use: 1598.] "A rabbi married the couple a few weeks later, under a baldachin made of four brooms and an old blanket." Henryk M. Broder; Holocaust Survivor Becomes YouTube Star; Der Spiegel (Germany); Aug 12, 2010. -------- Date: Tue Dec 6 00:01:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tabby X-Bonus: Only those things are beautiful which are inspired by madness and written by reason. -Andre Gide, author, Nobel laureate (1869-1951) This week's theme: Words having origins in Iraq tabby (TAB-ee) noun 1. A domestic cat with a striped or brindled coat. 2. A domestic cat, especially a female one. 3. A spinster. 4. A spiteful or gossipy woman. 5. A fabric of plain weave. 6. A watered (having a wavy appearance) silk fabric. [From French tabis, from Medieval Latin attabi, from Arabic attabi, from al-Attabiya, a suburb of Baghdad, Iraq, where silk was made, from the name of Prince Attab. Cats got the name tabby after similarity of their coats to the cloth; the derivations of words for females are probably from shortening of the name Tabitha. Earliest documented use: 1638.] 7. A building material made of lime, oyster shells, and gravel. [From Gullah tabi, ultimately from Spanish tapia (wall). Earliest documented use: 1802.] "I was playing whist with the tabbies when it occurred, and saw nothing of the whole matter." Charles James Lever; Jack Hinton, The Guardsman; 1857. "Kay Sekimachi uses tabby and twill weaving to contrast black and beige linens." Stunning 30-year Retrospective at San Jose Museum of Quilts Textiles; Independent Coast Observer (California); Jan 4, 2008. "Mayor Carl Smith suggested that tabby fence posts be used around the cemetery's perimeter because the oyster-based concrete would better fit the island's character." Jessica Johnson; Group Restoring Cemetery; The Post and Courier (South Carolina); Jan 21, 2010. -------- Date: Wed Dec 7 00:01:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--babylon X-Bonus: For every prohibition you create you also create an underground. -Jello Biafra, musician (b. 1958) This week's theme: Words having origins in Iraq Babylon (BAB-uh-luhn, -lawn) noun A place of great luxury and extravagance, usually accompanied with vice and corruption. [After Babylon, an ancient city of southwestern Asia, on the Euphrates River, now the site of Al Hillah city in Iraq http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Hillah . It was the capital of Babylonia and known for its opulence and culture. It was the site of the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Earliest documented use: around 1225.] Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a 16th century engraving: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/babylon_large.jpg [Artist: Martin Heemskerck] "Tsuyoshi Morimoto said that when the economic crisis hit the international market, many big companies turned to Iraq in hopes that it would save them. 'Big companies talked a lot about Iraq and paid a huge amount of attention to it. It is just like we suddenly built a Babylon, and now the Babylon is collapsing.'" Qassim Khidhir; "Don't Expect Too Much From Iraq"; Kurdish Globe (Arbil, Kurdistan); Jan 16, 2010. -------- Date: Thu Dec 8 00:01:04 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--muslin X-Bonus: War is terrorism, magnified a hundred times. -Howard Zinn, historian, professor, author, playwright, and social activist (1922-2010) This week's theme: Words having origins in Iraq muslin (MUHZ-lin) noun A plain-woven cotton fabric made in various degrees of fineness. [From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo (Mosul, Iraq) which was known for this fabric. Earliest documented use: 1609.] NOTES: Earlier sheer muslin was used for women's dresses and as a result, the word muslin was used collectively for women. Today muslin is mostly used for curtains, sheets, tablecloths, etc. Marie Antoinette in a muslin dress: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/muslin_large.jpg Art: Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun "What goes on in Brussels is glimpsed through a veil of muslin. Late night wheeler-dealing is not always recorded." Stephen Glover; Let's Send More Reporters to Brussels; The Independent (London, UK); Nov 2, 2009. -------- Date: Fri Dec 9 00:01:04 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--babel X-Bonus: Money. You don't know where it's been, / but you put it where your mouth is. / And it talks. -Dana Gioia, poet, critic, and translator (b. 1950) This week's theme: Words having origins in Iraq babel (BAB-uhl, BAY-buhl) noun 1. A confused mixture of noises or voices. 2. A scene of noise or confusion. [From Hebrew Babhel (Babylon) https://wordsmith.org/words/babylon.html . In the Old Testament (Genesis 11:4-9), people united in an attempt to build a city with a tower that reached the heavens. This displeased god who halted the project by confounding people's speech so they wouldn't understand one another. Earliest documented use: before 1382.] The Tower of Babel https://wordsmith.org/words/images/babel_large.jpg [Painting: Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1569)] "While an excited babel of Spanish, German, Japanese, and Hindi emanated from the dozens of television news crews in the street, the response to Charles and Camilla's 'I do's' among locals was mostly 'We Don't.'" Glenda Cooper; In Windsor, a Royal Pain; The Washington Post; Apr 10, 2005. -------- Date: Mon Dec 12 00:01:05 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nosh X-Bonus: That action is best which accomplishes the greatest happiness for the greatest numbers. -Francis Hutcheson, philosopher (1694-1746) We are taught to use the right tool for the right job. And when it comes to conferring insults, there's no better tool than Yiddish. It's the language that has given us such terms as schlemiel https://wordsmith.org/words/schlemiel.html and schlimazel https://wordsmith.org/words/schlimazel.html , nudnik https://wordsmith.org/words/nudnik.html and schmendrik https://wordsmith.org/words/schmendrik.html , schmegeggy https://wordsmith.org/words/schmegeggy.html and yenta https://wordsmith.org/words/yenta.html . There are also schnook https://wordsmith.org/words/schnook.html and meshuga https://wordsmith.org/words/meshuga.html and schlub https://wordsmith.org/words/schlub.html . The list is seemingly endless. While Yiddish speakers may seem to have specialized in the art of insult, they do much more than that. Their language, like all languages, has to help them go on with their daily lives. In this week's A.Word.A.Day we'll see five words that English has borrowed from Yiddish. nosh (nosh) verb tr., intr. To snack or eat between meals. noun: A snack. [From Yiddish nashn (to nibble). Earliest documented use: 1873.] "We drank from a thermos of sweet tea and noshed on brown bread." Josh Tapper; In Siberia; Toronto Star (Canada); Nov 3, 2011. -------- Date: Tue Dec 13 00:01:04 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--naches X-Bonus: One must pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while still alive. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900) This week's theme: Words borrowed from Yiddish naches (NAKH-es) noun Emotional gratification or pride, especially taken vicariously at the achievement of one's children. [From Yiddish (nakhes), from Hebrew nakhat (contentment). Earliest documented use: 1929. Also see kvell https://wordsmith.org/words/kvell.html .] "So while I love living in this adopted country of mine, I will never get the naches from shopping here that I do in America." Ann Kleinberg; Confessions of a Mad Shopper; The Jerusalem Post (Israel); Sep 5, 2003. -------- Date: Wed Dec 14 00:01:04 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schmutz X-Bonus: If you pray for rain long enough, it eventually does fall. If you pray for floodwaters to abate, they eventually do. The same happens in the absence of prayers. -Steve Allen, television host, musician, actor, comedian, and writer (1921-2000) This week's theme: Words borrowed from Yiddish schmutz or shmutz (shmuhts, shmoots) noun Dirt, filth, or any undesirable substance. [From Yiddish shmuts. Earliest documented use: 1968.] There's a law firm called Schmutz & Schmutz http://www.schmutzlaw.com/ . "The Broadway local line has the dirtiest cars -- with only 27 percent of them rated as 'clean' in a new subway seat and floor 'schmutz survey'." Vinita Singla and Jeane MacIntosh; R Gets 'F' For Filth; New York Post; May 6, 2011. -------- Date: Thu Dec 15 00:01:06 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kosher X-Bonus: To a clear eye the smallest fact is a window through which the infinite may be seen. -Thomas Henry Huxley, biologist and writer (1825-1895) This week's theme: Words borrowed from Yiddish kosher (KO-shuhr) adjective 1. Conforming to the dietary laws of Judaism. 2. Proper; genuine; permissible. [From Yiddish, from Hebrew kasher (fit, proper). Earliest documented use: 1851.] What's kosher and what's not? Check it out, even if you don't follow a kosher diet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_foods "Tobias Geffen was an Orthodox rabbi who was pestered with questions from his congregants about whether Coke was kosher." Karen Burshtein; Passover Pepsi; Winnipeg Free Press (Canada); Apr 25, 2011. "It is only when The Guardian determines a story is kosher that the BBC jumps in." Stephen Glover; Patten and Cameron May be on Collision Course; The Independent (London, UK); Mar 14, 2011 -------- Date: Fri Dec 16 00:01:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schlockmeister X-Bonus: If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all. -Booker T. Jones, musician and songwriter (b. 1944) This week's theme: Words borrowed from Yiddish schlockmeister (SHLOK-my-stuhr) noun One who deals in inferior goods. [From Yiddish shlak (evil, nuisance) + German Meister (master). Earliest documented use: 1965.] "Schlockmeister Ed Wood was supposedly the world's worst director." Philippa Hawker and Jake Wilson; Top 10 Films; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Jul 17, 2010. "You're a Harvard historian, for god's sake, not a pop schlockmeister looking for a quick buck." Dan Brown; The Da Vinci Code; Doubleday; 2003. -------- Date: Mon Dec 19 00:01:04 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--callipygous X-Bonus: Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the 'transcendent' and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. -Christopher Hitchens, author and journalist (1949-2011) We spend billions modifying them. We want them longer, shorter, bigger, smaller, lighter, darker, pointier, or plumper. I'm talking about body parts. These alterations can be as innocuous as clipping hair to as drastic as foot-binding. They can range from shaping belly buttons to stretching ear lobes. To each his own, but I draw the line at clipping my nails. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, we help you stretch one part of your body every day -- your mind. This week in A.Word.A.Day we'll look at five words that describe various bodily configurations. callipygous (kal-uh-PY-guhs) adjective Having well-shaped buttocks. [From Greek calli- (beautiful) + pyge (buttocks). Earliest documented use: 1923.] Another form of this word is callipygian. Two related words are: dasypygal: https://wordsmith.org/words/dasypygal.html steatopygia: https://wordsmith.org/words/steatopygia.html "The boys knew that if they could remember the details of their school work only half as vividly as they recalled every detail of the callipygous Kathy, they would all be eligible for full college scholarships." John H. Steinemann; Handstand; Askmar; 2010. "'Pick me,' Aphrodite says, arching her back and turning slightly to present to him under her robe a callipygous formation more perfect than ever he has seen." Joseph Heller; Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man; Simon & Schuster; 2000. -------- Date: Tue Dec 20 00:01:04 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prognathous X-Bonus: My stories run up and bite me in the leg -- I respond by writing them down -- everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off. -Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (b. 1920) This week's theme: Words to describe various bodily configurations prognathous (PROG-nuh-thuhs, prog-NAY-thuhs) adjective 1. Protruding outwards. 2. Having a jaw that protrudes outwards. [From Greek pro- (before) + gnathos (jaw). Ultimately from the Indo-European root genu- (jawbone, chin), which is also the source of chin and Sanskrit hanu (jaw). Hanuman (literally, having a large jaw) was the name of a monkey god in Hindu mythology. Earliest documented use: 1836.] A sculpture of Hanuman in terra cotta https://wordsmith.org/words/images/prognathous_large.jpg [Photo: Pamri] "Nature had given Smith an enormous prognathous jaw. It was wide and heavy, and protruded outward and down until it seemed to rest on his chest." Jack London; White Fang; Macmillan; 1906. -------- Date: Wed Dec 21 00:01:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mammose X-Bonus: A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others. -William Faulkner, novelist (1897-1962) This week's theme: Words to describe various bodily configurations mammose (MAM-ohs) adjective Having large breasts. [From Latin mammosus (having large breasts), from mamma (breast) + -osus (full of). Earliest documented use: 1857.] "Wanda Clouston, a mammose wench in third year, waddled to the door of a cubicle." George Friel; Mr Alfred, MA; Calder and Boyars; 1972. -------- Date: Thu Dec 22 00:03:05 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--platyrrhine X-Bonus: Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm -- which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to be wasted and to pollute the water supply, nor depended on such quantities of commercial fertilizer. The genius of American farm experts is very well demonstrated here: they can take a solution and divide it neatly into two problems. -Wendell Berry, farmer and author (b. 1934) This week's theme: Words to describe various bodily configurations platyrrhine (PLAT-i-ryn, -rin) adjective Having a broad, flat nose. [From Greek platy- (flat) + rhin (nose). Earliest documented use: 1842.] NOTES: New World monkeys, known for broad, flat noses and prehensile https://wordsmith.org/words/prehensile.html tails are called Platyrrhini. Golden lion tamarins: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/platyrrhine_large.jpg Photo: Matt Reinbold http://www.flickr.com/photos/furryscalyman/480811775/ "Again that terse, crisp sound lashed the clear air and one nostril of her platyrrhine nose became a bloody pockmark. She ceased to move." Russell H. Greenan; It Happened in Boston?; Random House; 2003. -------- Date: Fri Dec 23 00:04:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lissotrichous X-Bonus: There is nothing so despicable as a secret society that is based upon religious prejudice and that will attempt to defeat a man because of his religion. -William Howard Taft, 27th US president (1857-1930) This week's theme: Words to describe various bodily configurations lissotrichous (li-SO-tri-kuhs) adjective Having straight or smooth hair. [The origin of this word isn't hairy at all. It's pretty straightforward -- the word is from Greek lissos (smooth) and thrix (hair). Some cousins of this word are cymotrichous (having wavy hair), trichotillomania https://wordsmith.org/words/trichotillomania.html (the compulsion to pull out one's hair), and its end result atrichia (baldness). Earliest documented use: 1880.] "Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour notwithstanding, women really aspire to be lissotrichous brunettes, since sleekness and shine - the season's chief criteria - show much better on dark hair." Pamela Swanigan; Blondness: It's Probably Not the Real Thing; Vancouver Sun (Canada); Jun 16, 2001. -------- Date: Mon Dec 26 00:09:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mickle X-Bonus: Guard within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. -George Sand [pen name of Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin], novelist (1804-1876) Archaisms are grizzled old words that have continued to do their job despite their age even though they don't appear as much as they used to. They are old-fashioned but serviceable and that's the reason they still pop up from time to time. They serve a purpose, to give an aura of an earlier period and evoke a sense of historical setting, in novels, religious writing, poetry, ads, and so on. What's old for one is new for another, so there's no consensus as to which words are archaic. Before the new year begins, let's take a look at some of these old words. mickle (MIK-uhl) noun: A large amount. adjective: Great, large. adverb: Much. [From Old English micel (much). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meg- (great), which is also the source of magnificent, maharajah, mahatma, master, mayor, maestro, magnate, magistrate, maximum, and magnify. Earliest documented use: 9th c.] NOTES: The word appears in the proverb "Many a little makes a mickle" and sometimes in its corrupted (and meaningless) form: "Many a mickle makes a muckle." "While blessed with an abundance of natural beauty and resources, Chatham County is also burdened with the task of dealing with a mickle of vegetative waste." Robert Drewry and Virginia Lamb; County Develops Yard Waste Program; Public Works Magazine (Chicago, Illinois); May 2000. -------- Date: Tue Dec 27 00:06:06 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--inwit X-Bonus: A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution. -Jean-Paul Sartre, writer and philosopher (1905-1980) This week's theme: Archaic words inwit (IN-wit) noun 1. Conscience. 2. Reason, intellect. 3. Courage. [From Old English inwit, from in + wit (mind, thought). Earliest documented use: 1230.] Notes: The word is usually seen as part of the phrase agenbite of inwit. Agenbite (remorse) is literally, again-bite, a variant of ayenbite, from ayen (again) + bite. James Joyce reanimated this ancient term back into the language when he used it in Ulysses. "The Journals of Sylvia Plath may be intensely introspective, full of the agenbite of inwit, but they are just as intensely external, describing -- with an attentiveness one can't imagine in any male diarist -- food, furniture, hair, flowers, colours, and clothes." Blake Morrison; Love at First Bite; Independent On Sunday (London, UK); Apr 2, 2000. -------- Date: Wed Dec 28 00:01:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--reechy X-Bonus: Men shout to avoid listening to one another. -Miguel de Unamuno, writer and philosopher (1864-1936) This week's theme: Archaic words reechy (REE-chee) adjective Smoky, dirty, or rancid. [From Old English rec (smoke). Earliest documented use: before 1475.] "The writing is fast and punchy, the gore reechy, the science mad as HG Wells." Meet 007 Jr; The Times of India (New Delhi, India); Apr 25, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Dec 29 00:01:05 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aby X-Bonus: A poet should be of the / old-fashioned meaningless brand: / obscure, esoteric, symbolic, -- / the critics demand it; / so if there's a poem of mine / that you do understand / I'll gladly explain what it means / till you don't understand it. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996) This week's theme: Archaic words aby or abye (uh-BY) verb tr.: To pay the penalty for. verb intr.: To suffer, to endure. [From Old English abycgan (to pay for), from bycgan (to buy). Earliest documented use: before 1225.] "'But we have you -- and you shall aby it.' There were knives drawn on every side of him as these words were spoken." Walter Scott; Quentin Durward; 1823. -------- Date: Fri Dec 30 00:01:03 EST 2011 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mazard X-Bonus: Wandering in a vast forest at night, I have only a faint light to guide me. A stranger appears and says to me: 'My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly.' The stranger is a theologian. -Denis Diderot, philosopher (1713-1784) This week's theme: Archaic words mazard (MAZ-uhrd) noun Face, head, or skull. [From Middle English mazer (a large wooden drinking bowl), from mazer (a hardwood, especially maple). It's not clear how we got from the bowl to the head, perhaps from the shape of the bowl. Earliest documented use: 1584.] Maplewood with silver-gilt mounts https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mazard_large.jpg [Victoria and Albert Museum, London] "Shakespeare is really clear that the skull is handled roughly. You know, there's a line about being knocked about the mazard." Barry Edelstein; On London's West End, 'Hamlet' With Human Skull; National Public Radio: All Things Considered (New York); Jun 4, 2009.