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This week's theme Metaphorical descriptions of people. This week's words paper tiger loose cannon Today's word in Visual Thesaurus Missed a word? Check the archives chronological alphabetical thematic Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg loose cannon PRONUNCIATION: (loos KAN-uhn) MEANING: An uncontrollable or unpredictable person, often causing damage to his own faction. ETYMOLOGY: From allusion to a cannon broken loose on the deck of a rolling ship. USAGE: "Another remarked: '[Sean Connery]'s a loose cannon, we can't control anything he says, but he thinks he's speaking for us." Meg Henderson; Sean Connery's Book Leaves His Story Untold; The Sunday Times (London, UK); Jul 20, 2008. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting. -George Orwell, writer (1903-1950)

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