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Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--linsey-woolsey We're advised not to wash our dirty linen in public. Our leaders seek to project a homespun image, even though they may be shrewd, dyed-in-the-wool politicians. Well, you may have cottoned on to the fact that today I'm talking about words related to fabrics. Clothing is one of the three basic necessities in life and it's no wonder that our language has many idioms based on words related to cloths. This week's A.Word.A.Day is woven around words related to fabrics that are often used metaphorically. linsey-woolsey (LIN-zee WOOL-zee) noun 1. A strong, coarse fabric of wool and cotton or wool and linen. 2. An incongruous mix. [From Middle English linsey (linen, or from Lindsey, a village in Suffolk, UK) + woolsey (a rhyming compound of wool).] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "This is no linsey-woolsey, tawdry romance: rather, it is the credible story of two people who must be together, whatever the enormous costs to them and those they love." Valerie Ryan; An Affair To Remember; The Seattle Times; Jan 2, 2000. X-Bonus It is a very lonely life that a man leads, who becomes aware of truths before their times. -Thomas Brackett Reed, politician (18391902)

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