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Jun 23, 2017
This week’s theme
Words derived from the names of parts of the body

This week’s words
caltrop
chagrin
sinewy
repugn
rubberneck

rubberneck
Image: Mark Rain

This week’s comments
AWADmail 782

Next week’s theme
Terms from law
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

rubberneck

PRONUNCIATION:
(RUHB-uhr-nek)

MEANING:
verb tr., intr.: To look or stare with undue curiosity.
noun: A person who stares in such a way.

ETYMOLOGY:
From the idea of twisting one’s neck to stare at someone or something. Earliest documented use: 1892.

NOTES:
The word has been applied to a tourist and to going on a sightseeing tour. Francis Scott Fitzgerald in Tender Is the Night (1934):
“At Mr. Bill Driscoll’s invitation she went on an excursion to Versailles next day in his rubberneck wagon.”

USAGE:
“I’m not in the mood to rubberneck, so I leave the gawkers and the chaos of the accident behind and continue on my way.”
S.G. Browne; Less Than Hero; Gallery Books; 2015.

See more usage examples of rubberneck in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change. -Richard Bach, writer (b. 23 Jun 1936)

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