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Oct 6, 2011
This week's theme
There is a word for it

This week's words
hebephrenia
retrodiction
onomasticon
anosognosia
keening

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

anosognosia

PRONUNCIATION:
(uh-no-sog-NOH-zee-uh)

MEANING:
noun: Unawareness of one's disease, disability, or a defect.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek a- (without) + nosos (disease) + gnosis (knowledge). Earliest documented use: 1915. Also see agnosia.

NOTES:
Read these fascinating stories of anosognosia at The New York Times.

USAGE:
"When I weigh up how much we have achieved in 50 years in spite of our collective anosognosia, the thought of what we could have achieved, had we displayed an ounce of sanity, is enough to drive me nuts."
Munir Attaullah; Games People Play; Daily Times (Lahore, Pakistan); Aug 18, 2004.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We're here to put a dent in the universe. -Steve Jobs, entrepreneur and inventor (1955-2011)

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