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Nov 4, 2010 This week's theme Back-formations This week's words comminate aesthete dentulous buttle emote Read it today Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg buttle PRONUNCIATION: (BUT-l) MEANING: verb intr.: To do a butler's work. ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from butler, from Old French bouteillier (cup-bearer), from bouteille (bottle). Originally, a butler was in charge of the wine. Earliest recorded use: 1867. USAGE: "The top hotels in Saudi Arabia are staffed by foreign men -- something I realized must be the case when my butler at the Al Faisaliah folded my underwear unprompted. If I were buttled by a Saudi, we'd probably be shuttled to Deera Square -- or Chop Chop Square, as it's better known -- where the public beheadings occur." Maureen Dowd; A Girls' Guide to Saudi Arabia; Vanity Fair (New York); Aug 2010. Explore "buttle" in the Visual Thesaurus. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Insanity - a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. -RD Laing, psychiatrist and author (1927-1989)

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