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Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--pollicitation A bunch of little strokes make a letter and those letters come together to make words. We assign meanings to the words. Often those are simple ideas: tree, wall, laugh, etc. Fun begins when we give a word a meaning that conveys a rather complex idea. If you've ever ever asked yourself, "Wouldn't it be nice if there were a word for this?" you'll find this week's words answering that question with a "yes". Some of the usage examples will be from works published long ago. Don't let that discourage you from using them. That's all the more reason to bring them back from their retirement. pollicitation (puh-lis-i-TAY-shuhn) noun A promise or an offer made but not yet accepted. [From Latin pollicitation, from polliceri (to promise).] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "With what broad gestures of invitation, and also with what subtle almost imperceptible hints and suggestions and pollicitations, she lays herself out to cajole us, to notify her eagerness." Christopher Morley; Inward Ho!; Doubleday; 1923. X-Bonus If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. It it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. -E.B. White, writer (1899-1985)

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