A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Tue Jan 1 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--numpty
X-Bonus: We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. -Joseph Campbell, professor and writer (26 Mar 1904-1987)
This week's theme: Words to describe people
numpty (NUHMP-tee) noun
A fool.
[Of uncertain origin. Perhaps alteration of numbskull, remodeled after
Humpty Dumpty. Earliest documented use: 1985.]
"Go see Raw before some Hollywood numpty tries to remake it."
A Smart and Hilarious Horror Movie; Dominion Post (Wellington,
New Zealand); Apr 22, 2017.
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Date: Wed Jan 2 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rentier
X-Bonus: There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (2 Jan 1920-1992)
This week's theme: Words to describe people
rentier (ran-TYAY) noun [the first syllable is nasal]
A person who lives on income from rent, interest, etc.
[From French rentier (a person of independent means), from rente (private
income). Earliest documented use: 1650.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/rentier
Rentier relaxing in Hanover: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/rentier_large.jpg
Reindeer in Germany live off the land (presumably renting it out to other grazing animals)*
Photo: Zweer de Bruin https://www.flickr.com/photos/bzd1/37791531796/
*Rentier is German for a reindeer
"It is she, the landlady, who makes the observation from her situation
as the comfortable rentier."
Ann Blake; Christina Stead's Politics of Place; University of Western
Australia Press; 1999.
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Date: Thu Jan 3 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fink
X-Bonus: Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest. -Douglas William Jerrold, playwright and humorist (3 Jan 1803-1857)
This week's theme: Words to describe people
fink (fink)
noun: 1. A contemptible person.
2. An informer.
3. A strikebreaker.
verb intr.: 1. To inform against someone.
2. To fail to do something promised.
3. To stop working.
[The origin of the term is not certain. One theory suggests it's named after
Pinkerton, a private security company whose agents were hired to break up
strikes late in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Another possibility is that
it's from German slang Fink (finch), used by students for other students who
were not affiliated with a fraternity (i.e., they were free birds). Earliest
documented use: 1903.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/fink
"Lucy Goes on Strike" episode of the TV show "Here's Lucy" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/fink_large.jpg
Photo: CBS/Wikimedia
"There is also inside the compound walls a fink, or someone who's had
enough, or a conspirator who's sold out the mayor for far less than
30 pieces of silver."
Rosie DiManno; Mayor Needs Help to Get Off the Crazy Train; Toronto Star
(Canada); Nov 8, 2013.
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Date: Fri Jan 4 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--swellhead
X-Bonus: It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor. -Max Eastman, journalist and poet (4 Jan 1883-1969)
This week's theme: Words to describe people
swellhead (SWEL-hed) noun
A vain, conceited person.
[Alluding to a person's having a high opinion of themselves, as having a big
swelled head. From swell, from Old English swellan + head, from Old English
heafod (top of the body). Earliest documented use: 1845.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/swellhead
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/swellhead_large.jpg
Image: DC Database http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/The_Flash_Vol_1_177
"Flynn's Corbett, who has been an overbearing swellhead through
most of the film, shows humility and compassion."
Bob Bloom; History of CIA Brought to Life in 'Good Shepherd';
Journal & Courier (Lafayette, Indiana); Mar 29, 2007.
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Date: Mon Jan 7 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rurban
X-Bonus: You cannot begin to preserve any species of animal unless you preserve the habitat in which it dwells. Disturb or destroy that habitat and you will exterminate the species as surely as if you had shot it. So conservation means that you have to preserve forest and grassland, river and lake, even the sea itself. This is not only vital for the preservation of animal life generally, but for the future existence of man himself -- a point that seems to escape many people. -Gerald Durrell, naturalist and author (7 Jan 1925-1995)
A portmanteau is a word coined by fusing two or more words, such as motel
from motor + hotel. Portmanteauing is a popular way to coin words (see
here https://wordsmith.org/words/voluntourism.html, here https://wordsmith.org/words/glocalize.html,
and here https://wordsmith.org/words/lunkhead.html) , but some
people get carried away.
Meet Dr. Thomas Walter Murphy VII, a computer scientist from Pittsburgh.
He gathered all the words he could find (more than 100,000) and jammed
them into a single portmanteau to come up with a word 611,820 letters long.
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tom7/portmantout/
Nice, but what a half-assed effort! I mean, where are the definition and the
pronunciation of this new baby? And how about having the courtesy to include
a usage example or two from a newspaper, magazine, or a book?
Seriously though, it's splendid -- the idea as well as the execution. Tom 7
can chillax (chill + relax) https://wordsmith.org/words/chillax.html now.
We'll wait to feature his coinage in A.Word.A.Day until it gains wider
acceptance and we can find a citation for the word from "The Economist" or
even a Mills & Boon romance https://wordsmith.org/words/molotov_cocktail.html .
Until then, we'll share with you other portmanteaux that *are* already a
part of the English language.
rurban (RUHR-buhn) adjective
Having characteristics of both rural and urban life.
[A blend of rural + urban, from Latin rus (country) and urbs (city).
Earliest documented use: 1915.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/rurban_large.jpg
Image: R-Urban http://r-urban.net/en/
"Finance Minister Doug Horner ... calls himself a rurban MLA because
he lives in an urban riding [district] but has land in rural area."
Darcy Henton; Cuts to Farming 'Slap in the Face'; Calgary Herald
(Canada); Mar 9, 2013.
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Date: Tue Jan 8 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--squiggle
X-Bonus: When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see. -Baltasar Gracian, writer and philosopher (8 Jan 1601-1658)
This week's theme: Portmanteaux (blend words)
squiggle (SKUI-guhl)
noun: An irregularly curling or looping line, string, etc.
verb tr., intr.: 1. To make an irregularly curling or looping line.
2. To squirm or wriggle.
3. To scribble.
[Perhaps a blend of squirm + wriggle. Earliest documented use: 1804.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/squiggle
Chihuly https://wordsmith.org/words/images/squiggle_large.jpg
Image: Cibelle Estrelinha https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramier/35773593520/
"There was nothing I wouldn't eat. Well, apart from tinned spaghetti, that
is, whose loops and squiggles slopping around in that fluorescent orange
sauce somehow managed to turn my stomach when nothing else did."
Fionnuala Ward; I Was Fin-ish, But Now I'm Finished with Fish; Irish Times
(Dublin, Ireland); Nov 20, 2018.
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Date: Wed Jan 9 00:01:02 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palimony
X-Bonus: One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, and compassion. -Simone de Beauvoir, author and philosopher (9 Jan 1908-1986)
This week's theme: Portmanteaux (blend words)
palimony (PAL-uh-moh-nee) noun
Financial support or other compensation given by one member of an
unmarried couple to another after separation.
[A blend of pal and alimony, from Latin alimonia (sustenance), from alere
(to nourish). Ultimately from the Indo-European root al- (to grow or to
nourish), which also gave us adolescent, adult, old, alumnus, altitude,
enhance, coalesce, prolific,
hauteur https://wordsmith.org/words/hauteur.html , and
outre https://wordsmith.org/words/outre.html . Earliest documented use: 1977.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/palimony
https://www.zazzle.com/valentine_now_suing_sue_palimony_holiday_postcard-239195400717871885?CMPN=share_bplpf&lang=en&rf=238211321748808438&social=true
Cartoon: rexfmay https://www.zazzle.com/rexfmay
"NBA star Blake Griffin is being sued for palimony by his former girlfriend
Brynn Cameron, who alleges he abandoned her and their children to pursue a
relationship with Kendall Jenner."
Did Blake Griffin Slam-Dunk His Ex-Girlfriend for Kendall Jenner?; The Sun
(Lowell, Massachusetts); Feb 16, 2018.
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Date: Thu Jan 10 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--guesstimate
X-Bonus: Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. -Lord Acton, historian (10 Jan 1834-1902)
This week's theme: Portmanteaux (blend words)
guesstimate (GES-ti-mayt for verb; -muht for noun)
verb tr.: To make an estimate based on guesswork.
noun: An estimate based on guesswork.
[A blend of guess + estimate. Earliest documented use: 1936.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/guesstimate
NOTES: A well-known example is the Drake equation which guesstimates the
number of intelligent, communicative civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation
Drake equation https://wordsmith.org/words/images/guesstimate_large.jpg
Image: Kevin Gill https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/14486519161
"When the measuring cap that comes with the medicine bottle gets gooey and
gummed up, the temptation is to grab a kitchen spoon to guesstimate a
teaspoon's worth of liquid medicine. It doesn't really work."
Roni Caryn Rabin; Health; International Herald Tribune (Paris, France);
Jan 14, 2010.
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Date: Fri Jan 11 00:01:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--contraption
X-Bonus: We worry more about the purity of dogma than about the integrity of love. -Abraham Joshua Heschel, rabbi and professor (11 Jan 1907-1972)
This week's theme: Portmanteaux (blend words)
contraption (kuhn-TRAP-shuhn) noun
A device that appears to be strange, makeshift, or complicated.
[Perhaps a blend of contrive + trap + invention. Earliest documented use: 1825.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/contraption
"Utopian flying machines of the previous century" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/contraption_large.jpg
Image: Romanet & cie./Wikimedia/LOC, c. 1890
"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's just a police officer on a hoverbike.
Dubai's cops are training on the hi-tech contraptions."
Cops Putting Crims in Spot of Hover; The Daily Telegraph (Surry Hills,
Australia); Nov 10, 2018.
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Date: Mon Jan 14 00:04:02 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--allicient
X-Bonus: In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (14 Jan 1875-1965)
The adjective is the new noun.
Last month when I was in India, one morning I noticed this billboard in
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/46363196662/
Mumbai encouraging people to "Find a pair of awesome." I stopped right
there on the sidewalk and checked mine. You may not think it was a pair
of awesome, but it did the job. Thank you very much!
They meant: a pair of awesome [socks].
I don't know... maybe these days billboard companies are charging by the
number of words and Jockey's ad budget simply didn't allow for an extra
word and they had to press the adjective into double duty.
Purists might get their socks in a twist on seeing this new incarnation of
the adjective, but they need a history lesson.
The adjective is the new noun. Not really.
The adjective has been moonlighting for a long time, taking second and
third jobs to make its ends meet. How long? About as long as English has
been around. Take the word fat, for example. The Oxford English Dictionary
shows its first citation from the year 893 as an adjective. Then, about
500 years later, it took a side job as a noun. Since then it has been
happily balancing its dual careers in the English language.
This week we'll present five adjectives and we'd like you to press them
into a noun's job. Post your examples on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/allicient.html
or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Also, feel free to share any other
nouning of adjectives you have, whether homegrown or found in the wild.
allicient (uh-LISH-uhnt) adjective
Having the power to attract; appealing.
[From Latin allicere (to entice). Earliest documented use: 1613.]
"And yet Fiben's heart beat faster as he watched her allicient movements."
David Brin; The Uplift War; Phantasia; 1987.
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Date: Tue Jan 15 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cernuous
X-Bonus: The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit. -Moliere, actor and playwright (15 Jan 1622-1673)
This week's theme: Adjectives
cernuous (SUHR-noo/nyoo-uhs) adjective
Drooping, nodding, or bending forward.
[From Latin cernuus (bowing). Earliest documented use: 1653.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/cernuous
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cernuous_large.jpg
Photo: Benson Kua https://www.flickr.com/photos/bensonkua/2736418852
"Her body was half turned away, her neck stretched forward, head cernuous."
Mary Travers; Litany; Smashwords; 2011.
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Date: Wed Jan 16 00:04:02 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--xanthic
X-Bonus: Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe. -Robert Service, writer (16 Jan 1874-1958)
This week's theme: Adjectives
xanthic (ZAN-thik) adjective
Yellow or yellowish.
[From Greek xanthos (yellow). Earliest documented use: 1817. Two related
words are xanthodontous https://wordsmith.org/words/xanthodontous.html
(having yellow teeth) and Xanthippe https://wordsmith.org/words/xanthippe.html
(a nagging woman).]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/xanthic
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/xanthic_large.jpg
Photo: Mary Bailey Thomas https://www.flickr.com/photos/marybaileythomas/2920719676/
"It became denser, became a yellow fog of tiny, xanthic atoms, dancing endlessly."
Jack Williamson; Golden Blood; Tamerland Press; 1978.
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Date: Thu Jan 17 00:04:02 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--predaceous
X-Bonus: Little Strokes, Fell great oaks. -Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (17 Jan 1706-1790)
This week's theme: Adjectives
predaceous or predacious (pri-DAY-shuhs) adjective
1. Preying on other animals.
2. Seeking to exploit others.
[From Latin praedari (to prey upon), from praeda (booty). Ultimately from
the Indo-European root ghend-/ghed- (to seize or to take), which is also
the source of pry, prey, spree, reprise, surprise, osprey, prison,
impregnable https://wordsmith.org/words/impregnable.html ,
impresa https://wordsmith.org/words/impresa.html ,
prise https://wordsmith.org/words/prise.html , and
reprehend https://wordsmith.org/words/reprehend.html .
Earliest documented use: 1665.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/predacious
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/predaceous_large.jpg
Photo: Christoph Strässler https://www.flickr.com/photos/christoph_straessler/10142109363/
"'The Break' speaks to the experiences of mothers who, while knowing that
their children are made increasingly vulnerable to predacious forces
almost immediately as they are let out of the house, must nevertheless
find the courage to propel them into the world."
Kristy Taylor; One Girl's Trauma Exposes Plight of Nations; Canadian
Dimension (Winnipeg); Spring 2017.
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Date: Fri Jan 18 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hortative
X-Bonus: Everyone has a belief system, B.S., the trick is to learn not to take anyone's B.S. too seriously, especially your own. -Robert Anton Wilson, novelist (18 Jan 1932-2007)
This week's theme: Adjectives
hortative (HOHR-tuh-tiv) adjective
Strongly urging.
[From Latin hortari (to urge). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gher-
(to like or want), which also gave us yearn, charisma, greedy, and exhort.
Earliest documented use: 1623.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hortative_large.jpg
Art: James Montgomery Flagg, 1916
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hortative
"Nick Groom's stated aim is hortative: in the face of climate change,
local homogenisation, and galloping species loss, he wants culture to
be 'enlisted in the defence of the environment'."
Melissa Harrison; Lore of the Land; Financial Times (London, UK); Dec 14, 2013.
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Date: Mon Jan 21 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aubade
X-Bonus: Walking is also an ambulation of mind. -Gretel Ehrlich, novelist, poet, and essayist (b. 21 Jan 1946)
You probably stop by your neighborhood grocery store to buy a pound of
sugar and don't think twice about it, but that sweet white sand has
traveled a lot of miles to dulcify your lemonade or tea.
The word started out from Sanskrit sarkara. Persians came to India for
other reasons, but developed a sweet tooth and took the word back as shakar.
It became sukkar in Arabic, zucchero in Italian, zuccarum in Latin, sucre
in French, before spilling into English as sugar.
People travel. Words travel. People settle in new lands and so do words.
Did I hear someone say they wanted to make walls, close off people from
one another? Here's to more travel, more mixing, more migration, more
import and export, and more sweetness in our lives.
This week we'll feature five words that have traveled far and wide among
languages before reaching the English language.
aubade (O-bahd) noun
Morning song, poem, or music.
[From French aubade (dawn serenade), from Spanish albada (aubade), from Latin
albus (white). Ultimately from the Indo-European root albho- (white), which is
also the source of oaf, albino, album, albumen, elflock https://wordsmith.org/words/elflock.html ,
and albedo https://wordsmith.org/words/albedo.html . Earliest documented use:
1678.]
"Lovers heard the stern aubade -- the watchman on the tower: 'Up! Thou
rascal, rise, I see the dawning light; the night doth fly.'"
Peter James Merrington; Zebra Crossings; Jacana; 2008.
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Date: Tue Jan 22 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prosopography
X-Bonus: Death is a friend of ours and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (22 Jan 1561-1626)
This week's theme: Well-traveled words
prosopography (pros-uh-PAH-gruh-fee) noun
A study of people in a group, identifying patterns, connections, etc.:
a collective biography.
[From German Prosopographie, from Latin prosopographia, from Greek prosopon
(face, mask), from pros- (facing) + ops (eye) + -graphy (writing). Earliest
documented use: 1577.]
"William Lubenow's book examines the society's first century via a
prosopography of its 255 members."
Christopher Kent; Review; Canadian Journal of History (Toronto); Apr 2000.
"To give too much away would be to spoil the fun for those keen to delve
into Wheen's enthrallingly seedy prosopography. Suffice to say that Hajdu
(hoy doo) was a remarkably protean creature set on fame and wealth above
all else. Morality, it would seem, assumed less a back seat than a separate
car altogether in a lifelong career of self-aggrandisement."
Chris Power; The Great Pretender; The Times (London, UK); Oct 19, 2002.
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Date: Wed Jan 23 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kurbash
X-Bonus: If you don't love me, it does not matter, anyway I can love for both of us. -Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), novelist (23 Jan 1783-1842)
This week's theme: Well-traveled words
kurbash or kourbash (KUHR/KOOR-bash)
noun: A whip, especially one made of hippopotamus or rhinoceros hide.
verb tr.: To whip with a kurbash.
[From Arabic kurbaj, from Turkish kırbaç. Earliest documented use: 1814.]
"The officer was a lithe, dark woman marked by two ostrich plumes,
and a leather kurbash hung on her left wrist."
Clayton Emery; Star of Cursrah; Wizards of the Coast; 1999.
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Date: Thu Jan 24 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--postiche
X-Bonus: There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. -Edith Wharton, novelist (24 Jan 1861-1937)
This week's theme: Well-traveled words
postiche (poh-STEESH) noun
1. A hairpiece.
2. An imitation or sham.
[From French postiche (hairpiece, fake), from Italian posticcio (counterfeit),
from Latin appositus, past participle of apponere (to put near), from ponere
(to put). Ultimately from the Indo-European root apo- (off or away), that also
gave us after, off, awkward, post, puny,
aphelion https://wordsmith.org/words/aphelion.html ,
apheresis https://wordsmith.org/words/apheresis.html ,
apograph https://wordsmith.org/words/apograph.html ,
apopemptic https://wordsmith.org/words/apopemptic.html ,
apophasis https://wordsmith.org/words/apophasis.html , and
aposematic https://wordsmith.org/words/aposematic.html .
Earliest documented use: 1854.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/postiche
A wig shop in Kyoto, Japan https://wordsmith.org/words/images/postiche_large.jpg
Photo: sprklg https://www.flickr.com/photos/sparklig/26845584844
"America that forgot the lessons of Vietnam, plunging ever recklessly into
a protracted Iraqi conflict, notwithstanding the electoral postiche of a
Middle East democracy."
Rotan E. Lee; Press Must Be Free to Expose the Muck; Philadelphia Tribune
(Pennsylvania); Feb 11, 2005.
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Date: Fri Jan 25 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--safari
X-Bonus: It is a funny thing about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the best you very often get it. -William Somerset Maugham, writer (25 Jan 1874-1965)
This week's theme: Well-traveled words
safari (suh-FAHR-ee)
noun: An expedition to observe (or, in the past, to hunt) wild animals
in their natural habitat.
verb intr.: To go on such an expedition.
[From Swahili safari (journey), from Arabic safari (of a journey), from
safar (journey). Earliest documented use: 1859.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/safari
Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya https://wordsmith.org/words/images/safari_large.jpg
Photo: Ray in Manila https://www.flickr.com/photos/rayinmanila/43837384641/
"In this vision, the arrival of a wandering tiger becomes a positive
event for villagers, an opportunity to offer tourists homestays, or
put on small-scale safaris."
A Tiger's Tale; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 23, 2017.
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Date: Mon Jan 28 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gob
X-Bonus: Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it. -Colette, author (28 Jan 1873-1954)
Imagine just 50 years ago, you met someone who told you that in the future
you'd be carrying a radio, a television, a record player, a calculator,
a clock, a camera, a photo album, a library, not to mention a telephone,
with you every day, everywhere. And all this would nicely fit in your
pocket.
You'd have looked at them in disbelief. How technology can advance so much
in just a few decades!
This week's words are somewhat like that gadget in your pocket. They pack a
whole bunch of meanings in just a few letters.
gob (gob) noun
1. Lump or a large amount of something.
2. Mouth.
3. Sailor.
[For 1: Probably from Middle French gobe/goube (mouthful, lump). Earliest documented use: 1382.
For 2: Probably from Irish and/or Scottish Gaelic gob (beak, mouth). Earliest documented use: 1568.
For 3: Probably from gobshite (a worthless person), from gob (lump) + shite (feces). Earliest documented use: 1910.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/gob
Poster of the 1941 film "A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gob_large.jpg
"We learned that spending gobs of time together is marvelous."
Ted Paul; Can Love Be an Open Book?; Los Angeles Times; Dec 22, 2018.
"I'd ... do anything other than watch you shovel pizza in your gob."
Jill Poulsen; Unpaid Minions Must Say No to Working Like Slaves;
The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Australia); Oct 27, 2018.
"'A Girl, A Guy And A Gob' (1941) is a delightful slapstick farce ...
Never mind the plot (Lucy pursued by a wealthy snob and a boisterous
sailor); just enjoy the fast pace and the many sight gags."
Ted Gilling; Having a Ball; Toronto Star (Canada); Jan 7, 1990.
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Date: Tue Jan 29 00:04:02 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--skelf
X-Bonus: A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against its government. -Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (29 Jan 1927-1989)
This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings
skelf (skelf) noun
1. A splinter.
2. A tiny amount of something.
3. A thin or slight person.
4. An annoying or troublesome person.
[Probably from Middle Low German or obsolete Dutch schelf (flake, splinter,
or scale). Earliest documented use: 1610.]
"Trying to get the garden in order, I got a skelf in my finger."
Neil McIntosh; Road to Skelf-Destruction; Daily Record (Glasgow, UK);
Jul 7, 2016.
"A skelf of doubt has entered the thought processes of SNP supporters,
leading many of them to question whether their most basic political
assumptions still hold true."
Kenny Farquharson; Existentialists and New Youth Hold SNP Key; The Times
(London, UK); Jun 7, 2017.
"For Ferguson, physically still a skelf, a 22-year-old who made his home
Scotland debut less than 12 months ago, it is some responsibility."
Jonathan Northcroft; Ferguson Shoulders Extra Load; Sunday Times
(London, UK); Nov 5, 2000.
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Date: Wed Jan 30 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shingle
X-Bonus: The power to command frequently causes failure to think. -Barbara Tuchman, author and historian (30 Jan 1912-1989)
This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings
shingle (SHING-guhl)
noun: 1. A tile laid in overlapping rows to cover walls or roofs.
2. A small signboard indicating a professional office. Used in the phrase "to hang one's shingle".
3. A woman's close-cropped haircut tapering from the back of the head to the nape.
verb tr.: 1. To cover with shingles or to lay out something in an overlapping manner.
2. To cut hair in a shingle.
[From Latin scindula (a thin piece of wood). Earliest documented use: 1200.]
noun: 1. Waterworn pebbles found on a beach.
2. A place where such pebbles are found.
[Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1513.]
verb tr.: To squeeze or hammer puddled iron to remove impurities.
[From French cingler (to whip or beat), from German zängeln, from Zange
(tongs). Earliest documented use: 1674.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/shingle
"[Limited license legal technicians] apprentice under a lawyer for
3,000 hours before they hang their shingles."
Robert Ambrogi; Who Says You Need a Law Degree to Practice Law?;
The Washington Post; Mar 15, 2015.
"Some decisions are carefully constructed towers of logic framed in
lists of pros and cons, shingled in trusted advice."
G.P. Ching; The Grounded Trilogy Book One; Carpe Luna; 2014.
"Officers tracked the woman down using the car's registration number
and gave her advice that taking shingle from the beach was illegal."
Woman Who 'Stole' Pebbles from a Beach; The Mirror (London, UK);
Oct 2, 2013.
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Date: Thu Jan 31 00:04:03 EST 2019
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--plenum
X-Bonus: To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged. -Norman Mailer, author (31 Jan 1923-2007)
This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings
plenum (PLEE-nuhm, PLEN-uhm) noun
1. A assembly in which all members are present.
2. A space in which air or another gas is at pressure greater than the atmospheric pressure.
3. A space filled with matter, as contrasted with vacuum.
4. A space, above the ceiling or below the floor, that serves as a receiving chamber for heated or cooled air.
[From Latin plenus (full). Earliest documented use: 1674.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/plenum
"The plenum passed a resolution requiring his resignation and ditched him."
Frederick Forsyth; Icon; Bantam; 1996.