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A.Word.A.Day--redoubtable redoubtable (re-DOU-tuh-buhl) adjective Arousing fear or awe; evoking respect or honor. [From Middle English redoubtabel, from Old French redoutable, from redouter (to dread), from re- (again) + douter (to doubt, fear).] Redoubtable ultimately derives from Indo-European root *dwo-, meaning two. A person of two minds about something is in doubt or dubious. The uncertainty of doubt can give rise to fear, even dread. Thus, a redoubtable person is to be feared, or at least respected. In contrast, a fact too apparent even to be doubted is indubitable. Others in this *dwo- family that are not obvious include "tw" words betwixt, between, twig, twilight, twist, twine, intertwine, twill, and twinkle. Numerous "bi" words are in this family, but it would be a cruel April Fool's joke to suggest that bikini is among them. Bikini is an atoll in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific, where the U.S. exploded an atomic bomb in 1946. The next year, this bathing suit was named not for its dual covering but rather for its supposed explosive effect on males' libidos. "But Charles having got over to Scotland, where the men of the Solemn League and Covenant led him a prodigiously dull life, and made him very weary with long sermons and grim Sundays, the Parliament called the redoubtable Oliver home to knock the Scottish men on the head for setting up that prince." Charles Dickens; A Child's History Of England; 1854. "Even the redoubtable Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers, whom the Jets beat last Sunday to win the American Football Conference East, has a losing road record for his career (41-46)." Gerald Eskenazi; Less Booing and More Believing; The New York Times; Jan 2, 2003. This week's theme: words based on numbers by guest wordsmith Stewart Edelstein. X-Bonus You think your pains and heartbreaks are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who have ever been alive. -James Baldwin, writer (1924-1987)

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