A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Jan 1 00:01:02 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--altricial X-Bonus: Ring out false pride in place and blood, / The civic slander and the spite; / Ring in the love of truth and right, / Ring in the common love of good. -Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet (1809-1892) This week's theme: Words to describe people altricial (al-TRISH-uhl) adjective Born in an undeveloped and helpless condition and requiring parental care and feeding for some time. [From Latin altrix (foster mother or wet nurse), 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 palimony https://wordsmith.org/words/palimony.html . Earliest documented use: 1869.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/altricial NOTES: The counterpart of today's word is precocial (requiring little parental care), from Latin precox (early ripening), which also gave us precocious https://wordsmith.org/words/precocious.html . Also see nidifugous https://wordsmith.org/words/nidifugous.html and nidicolous https://wordsmith.org/words/nidicolous.html . "But the girls ... are probably more developed than the relatively altricial boys they're competing against. If anything, these girls might have an advantage. And many young women, even with the species-wide size disparity, have proven themselves on varsity-level teams, especially in lightweight wrestling brackets." Gooding Needs to Let the Girls Play; McClatchy-Tribune Business News (Washington, DC); Sep 12, 2013. "Around Maria Izabelle he felt more like a newly hatched altricial bird -- blind and helpless." George R. Hopkins; Collateral Consequences; Xlibris; 2009. -------- Date: Mon Jan 4 00:01:02 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--approbation X-Bonus: People who demand neutrality in any situation are usually not neutral but in favor of the status quo. -Max Eastman, journalist and poet (4 Jan 1883-1969) When we feature a word, we include one or more examples from a published work. The point is to show that it's a word in actual use. This week we are showing those words in use, not in transient writing, but in lines that we quote again and again, sometimes over hundreds of years. Consider these a bonus THOUGHTS FOR TODAY. We'll feature examples from the works of Richard Steele, John Donne, Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare, and Norman Angell. approbation (ap-roh-BAY-shuhn) noun Approval, praise, commendation, or official sanction. [From Latin approbation, from ad- (toward) + probatus, from probare (to test the goodness of). Earliest documented use: 1393.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/approbation "Whenever you commend, add your reasons for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and admiration of fools." Richard Steele; The Art of Conversation; The Spectator; 1711. -------- Date: Tue Jan 5 00:01:02 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--promontory X-Bonus: It is our belief that social justice begins at home. We want those who have helped us to produce this great institution and are helping to maintain it to share our prosperity. We want them to have present profits and future prospects. ... Believing as we do, that a division of our earnings between capital and labor is unequal, we have sought a plan of relief suitable for our business. -James Couzens, Ford Motor Company treasurer, announcing the doubling of wages to $5/day on Jan 5, 1914 [The Wall Street Journal said it is "to apply biblical or spiritual principles into a field where they do not belong ... (Ford has) committed economic blunders, if not crimes." Ford actually doubled its profits in two years.] This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought promontory (PROM-uhn-tor-ee, -tree) noun 1. A point of high land projecting into a body of water. 2. A projecting part of the body, for example, of a bone. [From Latin promontorium, alteration of promunturium, influenced by mons (mountain). Ultimately from the Indo-European root men- (project), which is also the source of menace, mountain, eminent, promenade, demean, amenable, mouth, and minatory https://wordsmith.org/words/minatory.html . Earliest documented use: 1548.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/promontory Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria, Australia https://wordsmith.org/words/images/promontory_large.jpg Photo: Diliff / Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wilsons_Promontory_National_Park#/media/File:Wilson's_Promontory_-_Tidal_River_from_Mt_Oberon_-_Dec_2004.jpg "No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee." John Donne; Devotions upon Emergent Occasions; 1624. -------- Date: Wed Jan 6 00:01:02 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--exigency X-Bonus: Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country. -Kahlil Gibran, poet and artist (6 Jan 1883-1931) This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought exigency (EK-si-jen-see, eg-ZIJ-uhn-see) noun An urgent need or requirement. [From Latin exigere (to demand, to drive out), from ex- + agere (to drive). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ag- (to drive, draw), which also gave us act, agent, agitate, litigate, synagogue, ambassador, exiguous https://wordsmith.org/words/exiguous.html , incogitant https://wordsmith.org/words/incogitant.html , intransigent https://wordsmith.org/words/intransigent.html , cogent https://wordsmith.org/words/cogent.html , axiomatic https://wordsmith.org/words/axiomatic.html , ambagious https://wordsmith.org/words/ambagious.html , ambage https://wordsmith.org/words/ambage.html , agonistes https://wordsmith.org/words/agonistes.html , and actuate https://wordsmith.org/words/actuate.html . Earliest documented use: 1588.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/exigency "How happy is the little stone That rambles in the road alone, And doesn't care about careers, And exigencies never fears; Whose coat of elemental brown A passing universe put on; And independent as the sun, Associates or glows alone, Fulfilling absolute decree In casual simplicity." Emily Dickinson; Poems by Emily Dickinson: Second Series; Roberts Brothers; 1891. -------- Date: Thu Jan 7 00:01:02 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--construe X-Bonus: There are years that ask questions and years that answer. -Zora Neale Hurston, folklorist and writer (7 Jan 1891-1960) This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought construe (kuhn-STROO) verb tr., intr. To interpret, understand, analyze, or explain. [From Latin construere (to construct), from con- (with) + struere (to pile up or arrange). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ster- (to spread), which also gave us structure, industry, destroy, street, stratagem, stratum https://wordsmith.org/words/stratum.html , stratocracy https://wordsmith.org/words/stratocracy.html , and Russian perestroika. Earliest documented use: 1362.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/construe "But men may construe things after their fashion, clean from the purpose of the things themselves." William Shakespeare; Julius Caesar; 1623. -------- Date: Fri Jan 8 00:01:03 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--disinterested X-Bonus: Those who insist on the dignity of their office show they have not deserved it. -Baltasar Gracian, philosopher and writer (8 Jan 1601-1658) This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought disinterested (dis-IN-truh-stuhd, dis-IN-tuh-res-tid) adjective 1. Free of bias or self-interest; impartial. 2. Indifferent or not interested. 3. No longer interested. [From Latin dis- (apart, away) + interesse (to be in between), from inter- (between) + esse (to be). Earliest documented use: 1631.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/disinterested NOTES: Some people, defending the purity of language, would insist that: Disinterested = impartial Uninterested = not interested If you come across someone using the word disinterested to mean not interested, don't let it bother you too much. That's what the word originally meant. And the word uninterested meant impartial. Over time the usage flipped, but the original meaning of the word disinterested is still not uncommon. As long as the meaning is clear from the context, take a long deep breath. The English language is just fine, thank you, and doesn't need its honor defended. "The force which makes for war does not derive its strength from the interested motives of evil men; it derives its strength from the disinterested motives of good men." Norman Angell; Peace and the Public Mind (Nobel lecture); Jun 12, 1935. -------- Date: Mon Jan 11 00:01:02 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vardy X-Bonus: Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is. -William James, psychologist and philosopher (11 Jan 1842-1910) How would you feel if the word "though" were shortened to "tho"? Your reaction might range anywhere on the spectrum, from "Blasphemy!" to "Why not?" Based on your response I might predict your age, political persuasion, and maybe even the number of dictionaries in your home. If that respelling/shortening sounds too far-fetched, how about "thru" for "through"? You may still not be convinced that a shortening or alteration of a word is a good idea. All I can say is that this shortening (or respelling of a word based on its pronunciation) happens more often than you might think. Chances are you already use such words without a second thought. Examples: ornery (from ordinary) http://wordsmith.org/words/ornery.html , raiment (from arrayment) http://wordsmith.org/words/raiment.html , and donut (from doughnut). Enuf talk. This week we've brot you five words that are derived from the respelling of other words. vardy (VAHR-dee) noun Judgment or opinion. [A dialect variant of verdit, from verdict, from Anglo-Norman ver (true) + dit (statement, speech), from dicere (to say). Ultimately from the Indo-European root deik- (to show, to pronounce solemnly), which also gave us judge, verdict, vendetta, revenge, indicate, dictate, paradigm, interdict https://wordsmith.org/words/interdict.html , fatidic https://wordsmith.org/words/fatidic.html , diktat https://wordsmith.org/words/diktat.html , retrodiction https://wordsmith.org/words/retrodiction.html , and interdigitate https://wordsmith.org/words/interdigitate.html . Earliest documented use: 1738.] "O! miss, you must give your vardi too!" Jonathan Swift; A complete collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, According to the Most Polite Mode and Method Now Used at Court, and in the Best Companies of England; B. Motte & C. Bathurst; 1738. -------- Date: Tue Jan 12 00:01:03 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--juberous X-Bonus: It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. -Sydney Smith, writer and clergyman (1771-1845) This week's theme: Words with variant spellings juberous (JOOB-uhr-uhs) adjective Doubtful; undecided; hesitating. [An alteration of dubious. Earliest documented use: 1871.] https://wordsmith.org/words/dubious.html "The most commonly cited justifications are docket pressure and overburdened prosecutors and judges, Goodwin said. I am juberous of these assertions." Erin Beck; Federal Judge Rejects Drug Plea; Charleston Gazette-Mail (West Virginia); Jun 27, 2017. "Makes me feel a little juberous, though, knowin' he might be around here somewhere." Jetta Carleton; The Moonflower Vine; HarperCollins; 2009. -------- Date: Wed Jan 13 00:01:03 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scrooch X-Bonus: Sometimes laughter hurts, but humor and mockery are our only weapons. -Cabu (pen name of Jean Cabut), cartoonist and co-founder of Charlie Hebdo (13 Jan 1938-2015) This week's theme: Words with variant spellings scrooch (skrooch) verb intr.: To crouch or huddle. verb tr.: To squeeze. [A dialect variant scrouge (to squeeze or crowd), perhaps influenced by crouch. Earliest documented use: 1844.] "We asked the model to scrooch down so we didn't see so much of the leggings." Elizabeth Thomas; Project Child's Play; The Horn Book Magazine (Boston, Massachusetts); Sep/Oct 2011. "What Kilgore Trout did with that cigar was scrooch it out in the saucer. He scrooched and scrooched and scrooched it, by his own admission to Monica and me, as though it were responsible not only for the yelling of the smoke alarm, but for all the din outside as well." Kurt Vonnegut; Timequake; Putnam; 1997. -------- Date: Thu Jan 14 00:01:01 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--meech X-Bonus: Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (14 Jan 1875-1965) This week's theme: Words with variant spellings meech (meech) verb intr. 1. To move in a furtive manner. 2. To loiter. 3. To whine. [A variant of mitch (to steal, hide, shirk), from Old French muchier (to hide). Earliest documented use: 1624.] "It never occurred to the legions of Allied intelligence agents meeching through the shadows of neutral Lisbon that he was a fellow operative." Howard Blum; Night of the Assassins; Harper; 2020. "If I ever come right again, she won't have anything to feel meeching about." William Dean Howells; The Rise of Silas Lapham; Penguin; 2014. -------- Date: Fri Jan 15 00:01:02 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--snoot X-Bonus: We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor. -Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader (15 Jan 1929-1968) This week's theme: Words with variant spellings snoot (snoot) noun: 1. A snob. 2. A nose or snout. verb tr.: To treat with disdain. [A variant of snout, of German/Dutch origin. Earliest documented use: 1861.] "Both are snoots sneering down from a pedestal of their own construction." Catherine Shoard; Satire to Tortures; The Guardian (London, UK); Sep 12, 2014. "The young man rose from his stool, walked around the counter, and busted Brother Lester on the snoot with a solid right." William W. Johnstone; The Devil's Cat; Lyrical Press; 2015. "He is a really good artist. ... if folks snooted at what I do, well, there was always his stuff that they could approve of." Hope Holland; What I Did in the Park Last Weekend; Carroll County Times (Westminster, Maryland); Jun 10, 2017. -------- Date: Mon Jan 18 00:01:01 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--diversivolent X-Bonus: The main problem in any democracy is that crowdpleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage and whup their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy -- then go back to the office and sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece. -Hunter S. Thompson, journalist and author (18 Jul 1937-2005)

High though his titles, proud his name, / Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; / Despite those titles, power, and pelf, / The wretch, concentred all in self, / Living, shall forfeit fair renown, / And, doubly dying, shall go down / To the vile dust from whence he sprung, / Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung. -Walter Scott, novelist and poet (15 Aug 1771-1832) It's a transient world. We fill a role and then go away. In an office, in a relationship, in a neighborhood. Did we think beyond ourselves? Is anyone better having come in contact with us? That's the question. What legacy are we leaving? It doesn't have to be something giant. Did we leave some corner of the world -- maybe as small as one person, maybe as big as a country -- a bit better than how we found it? Something to think about. Meanwhile, in this week's A.Word.A.Day we'll look at some words to describe people. diversivolent (dy-vuhr-SIV-uh-luhnt) adjective Desiring strife. [From Latin diversus (diverse), from divertere (to turn aside), from di- (away, apart) + vertere (to turn) and volens, present participle of velle (to wish). Earliest documented use: 1612.] "No more diversivolent or superficial creature have I ever known." Stephen Marche; Shining at the Bottom of the Sea; Riverhead; 2007. -------- Date: Tue Jan 19 00:01:04 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--smatchet X-Bonus: When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 Oct 1869-1948)

America has changed over the years. But these values my grandparents taught me -- they haven't gone anywhere. They're as strong as ever; still cherished by people of every party, every race, every faith. They live on in each of us. What makes us American, what makes us patriots, is what's in here. That's what matters. And that's why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles of other countries, and blend it into something uniquely our own. That's why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe to build new factories and create new industries here. That's why our military can look the way it does -- every shade of humanity, forged into common service. That's why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end. -Barack Obama, 44th US President (b. 4 Aug 1961) This week's theme: Words to describe people smatchet (SMACH-uht) noun An insignificant contemptible person. [Of Scottish origin. Earliest documented use: 1582.] "Again he wondered how Mieka could be such an infuriating, impossible little smatchet one moment and so gentle and thoughtful the next." Melanie Rawn; Touchstone; Tom Doherty Associates; 2012. -------- Date: Wed Jan 20 00:01:04 EST 2021 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mensch X-Bonus: Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses. It is time for our better angels to prevail. -Joe Biden, 46th US President (b. 20 Nov 1942) This week's theme: Words to describe people mensch (mench, mensh) noun, plural menschen (MEN-chuhn, MEN-shuhn) or mensches A decent, upright, honorable person. [From Yiddish mentsh (man, human being), from Middle High German mensch, from Old High German mennisco. Earliest documented use: 1911.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mensch NOTES: The same root gives us another eminently useful Yiddish term luftmensch, literally an airman. A luftmensch is an impractical dreamer (think Laputans of "Gulliver's Travels"). The word could also refer to one with no visible means of support. Yet another term with a mensch connection is superman. It comes to us from German Übermensch by a process known as loan translation. Übermensch was Friedrich Nietzsche's term for an ideal superior man (from German über above, beyond, superior). In 1903 when George Bernard Shaw needed an English equivalent, he came up with superman. "A mensch is a good man, a loyal man, an honest man. A mensch is the answer to the question, 'What do women really want from men?' ... A mensch is not usually interested in fame. ... A mensch is a veterinarian who will meet you at his office late at night when your cat is sick." Ira Wood; The Kitchen Man; Leapfrog Press; 1998. "'You're a mensch,' Mr Eizenstat told Mr Biden. But probably not a president." Biden Ridin'; The Economist (London, UK); Sep 4, 2015.