Tergiversation - 01/27/01 10:23 PM
Someone recently mentioned having been 'punished' in grammar school by being forced to photocopy pages from a dictionary, saying that they received additional reprimands for pausing to *read* the pages they copied, and it reminded me of my love, as a child, for thumbing through a dictionary for pleasure (and no, i wasn't just looking up the naughty words).
i'm wondering if this was something that many of us have in common? has the love of words been a lifelong passion for all of us?
i remember my favorite word as a very young child being "tergiversate", and i used it every chance i could. i've never heard it used, nor seen it in print, so i'm curious... has anyone else ever encountered this word? anyone use it? it means 'to make use of subterfuge; to be shifty or vacillating'
i've always wondered if i even use it in the right context; i think of it now most often when my children try to wrangle their way out of a sticky situation.
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
i'm wondering if this was something that many of us have in common? has the love of words been a lifelong passion for all of us?
i remember my favorite word as a very young child being "tergiversate", and i used it every chance i could. i've never heard it used, nor seen it in print, so i'm curious... has anyone else ever encountered this word? anyone use it? it means 'to make use of subterfuge; to be shifty or vacillating'
i've always wondered if i even use it in the right context; i think of it now most often when my children try to wrangle their way out of a sticky situation.
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon