A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Mar 1 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--do-all X-Bonus: We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found. -Tzvetan Todorov, philosopher (1 Mar 1939-2017) This week's theme: Tosspot words do-all (DOO-ahl) noun A person who does all kinds of work in a job. [From do, from Old English don (to do) + all, from Old English eall (all). Earliest documented use: 1631.] "'He is a do-all guy for us and is a critical component to what we are doing.'" Dirk Facer; Utah Football: Covey Is Doing This and That for the Utes; Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah); Oct 30, 2018. -------- Date: Mon Mar 4 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mondegreen X-Bonus: It took less than an hour to make the atoms, a few hundred million years to make the stars and planets, but five billion years to make man! -George Gamow, physicist and cosmologist (4 Mar 1904-1968) Next week we complete 25 years of Wordsmith.org. To celebrate, we are organizing contests https://wordsmith.org/25years with lots of exciting prizes. For A.Word.A.Day this week, we have decided to take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of the words we have featured in the past. It's hard to pick just five words out of thousands that have appeared here during the last 25 years. So we decided to go by reader feedback: we selected words that have generated the most enthusiastic responses. If you have been around here for a while you may have met some of these words earlier. Well, say hello to them again. What favorite words have you discovered or seen in A.Word.A.Day? Write to us at words@wordsmith.org or post at https://wordsmith.org/words/mondegreen.html Also share your favorite examples of mondegreens and other words featured this week. mondegreen (MON-di-green) noun A word or phrase resulting from mishearing a word or phrase, especially in song lyrics. Example: "The girl with colitis goes by" for "The girl with kaleidoscope eyes" (in the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"). [Coined by author Sylvia Wright when she misinterpreted the line "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen" in the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of Murray". Earliest documented use: 1954.] Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly: https://amazon.com/dp/0060952938/ws00-20 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mondegreen.jpg "Sometimes in musical announcements, words lose their meaning, or are misheard, resulting in a delightful mondegreen. ... The audience thought Walter Love had said: 'We are beginning tonight with Howard Ferguson's overture 'Fornication'.'" [instead of "Overture for an Occasion"]. Paul Clements; An Irishman's Diary; Irish Times (Dublin); Oct 5, 2016. "[Tim Minchin's] elocution is so exquisite there's not a mondegreen in earshot." Suzanne Simonot; Tim and Tom Show a HOTA Opening Act; The Gold Coast Bulletin (Southport, Australia); Mar 19, 2018. -------- Date: Tue Mar 5 00:04:02 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--resistentialism X-Bonus: Scratch a pessimist and you find often a defender of privilege. -William Beveridge, economist and reformer (5 Mar 1879-1963) This week's theme: Words from previous years resistentialism (ri-zis-TEN-shul-iz-um) noun The theory that inanimate objects demonstrate hostile behavior toward us. [Coined by humorist Paul Jennings as a blend of the Latin res (thing) + French resister (to resist) + existentialism (a kind of philosophy). Earliest documented use: 1948.] NOTES: If you ever get a feeling that the photocopy machine can sense when you're tense, short of time, need a document copied before an important meeting, and right then it decides to take a break, you're not alone. Now you know the word for it. As if to prove the point, my normally robust DSL Internet connection went bust for two hours just as I was writing this. I'm not making this up. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/resistentialism_large.jpg Cartoon: Kipling West https://www.flickr.com/photos/kipling_west/9579620502 "Scornful and uncooperative objects -- pianos that mock our sausage fingers; computers that develop transient but alarming hypochondria; keys, socks, and teaspoons that scurry off to their secret covens and never return. There are certainly days when resistentialism seems the only explanation." Michael Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan; Bozo Sapiens: Why to Err Is Human; Bloomsbury; 2009. "Resistentialism also has a long history in our literature. In his 'Ode (Inscribed to W.H. Channing)' (1846), Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the resistentialist writing on the wall and proclaimed that 'Things are in the saddle, / And ride mankind.'" Charles Harrington Elster; Are Things Sometimes Against Us?; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania); Sep 21, 2003. -------- Date: Wed Mar 6 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spoonerism X-Bonus: "Yes," I answered you last night; / "No," this morning, Sir, I say. / Colours seen by candlelight, / Will not look the same by day. -Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (6 Mar 1806-1861) This week's theme: Words from previous years spoonerism (SPOO-nuh-riz-em) noun The transposition of (usually) the initial sounds of words, typically producing a humorous result. Examples: "It is now kisstomary to cuss the bride." (Spooner while officiating at a wedding) "Is the bean dizzy?" (Spooner questioning the secretary of his dean) [After William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), clergyman and educator, who was prone to this. Earliest documented use: 1900.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/spoonerism https://wordsmith.org/words/images/spoonerism_large.jpg Image: Colin / Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/People%27s_Vote_March_2018-10-20_-_BUCK_FREXIT_I_LOVEU.jpg "Charles enjoyed spoonerisms: He would often order 'chish and fips' in a restaurant to see if the waitress was listening, and when his oldest son, Ralph, had a daughter, Charles started referring to his other children (Mark and Jean) as Uncle Jark and Aunt Mean." Jean L. Manore; Husband. Father. Veteran. Hiker; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Jan 15, 2019. "As for her own red-faced moment on air, Hudson recalled how she coined a somewhat racy spoonerism in a reference to Killorglin's Puck Fair." Seán McCárthaigh; AA Roadwatch Broadcasters Celebrate 21 Years; Irish Examiner (Cork, Ireland); Aug 31, 2010. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puck_Fair -------- Date: Thu Mar 7 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--petrichor X-Bonus: If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weeds. -Luther Burbank, horticulturist (7 Mar 1849-1926) This week's theme: Words from previous years petrichor (PET-ri-kuhr) noun The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell. [Coined by researchers I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas in 1964, from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that supposedly flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). Earliest documented use: 1964.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/petrichor_large.jpg Image: patrice-photographiste https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrice-photographiste/42211013924/ "Verity could smell the heavenly scent of petrichor rising up from the damp, hot summer pavement." Annie Darling; True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop; HarperCollins; 2018. -------- Date: Fri Mar 8 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--omphaloskepsis X-Bonus: Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves. -Gene Fowler, journalist and author (8 Mar 1890-1960) This week's theme: Words from previous years omphaloskepsis (om-fuh-lo-SKEP-sis) noun 1. Contemplation of one's navel. 2. Complacent self-indulgent introspection. [From Greek omphalos (navel) + skepsis (act of looking, examination). Ultimately from the Indo-European root spek- (to observe), which also gave us suspect, spectrum, bishop (literally, overseer), despise, espionage, telescope, spectator, and spectacles. Earliest documented use: 1925.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/omphaloskepsis https://wordsmith.org/words/images/omphaloskepsis_large.jpg Image: Garth Herrington https://www.flickr.com/photos/click_bunny/20696383999/ "[The club's] demise has acted as a trigger for one of those periodic outbreaks of omphaloskepsis about the present and future of clubland." Jim Carroll; Ibiza's Clubs May Be Following the Money -- But There's No Substitute for Great Music; Irish Times (Dublin); Sep 23, 2016. -------- Date: Mon Mar 11 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--upcycling X-Bonus: I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer. -Douglas Adams, author (11 Mar 1952-2001) Language is time's court reporter. What happened? Ask language. It picks up new inventions and customs and ideas. It also makes notes of boils and warts that bubble up on the face of humanity from time to time. Language etches it all in its vocabulary. You can distill an era by its words. This week we celebrate 25 years of Wordsmith.org (check out contests with exciting prizes https://wordsmith.org/25years) and we'll feature five words that have become part of the language during the last 25 years. Note: What we have listed are the earliest documented dates for these words, as we know now. Antedating -- discovery of an earlier citation of a word -- happens all the time, so it's highly likely someone would find even an earlier usage. Also, most words have been in oral use for years before being written down, chiseled on a rock, or flickering on a Kindle. (OMG for "Oh, My God!" has been around since 1917, first recorded in a letter to Winston Churchill.) upcycling (UHP-sy-kling) noun The conversion of a discarded object into something of higher value. [A blend of up + recycling. Earliest documented use: 1994.] NOTES: Reduce, reuse, recycle. The perfect mantra for the modern times where people are called "consumers". Recycling is good. Upcycling is better. Bicycling is best. What about upcycling a bicycle? https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=bicycle+upcycle Some examples of upcycling are turning old tires/tyres into a bench https://www.google.com/search?q=tyres+bench&tbm=isch , old shoes into flower pots https://www.google.com/search?q=+flower+pot+shoes&tbm=isch , and so on. The ultimate in upcycling is turning an old airplane into a house or a hotel. A retired Boeing 727 upcycled into a hotel (Costa Rica) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/upcycling_large.jpg https://costaverde.com/accommodations/727-fuselage-home/ Photo: Jay Kleeman https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkleeman/6885849042/ "Clever bargain hunting and upcycling are evident: a G Plan dining table bought on eBay for £9 was laminated a fabulous ochre by car mechanics." A Weekend in... Deal, Kent; The Times (London, UK); Feb 16, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Mar 12 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--selfie X-Bonus: All of life is a foreign country. -Jack Kerouac, author (12 Mar 1922-1969) This week's theme: Words that have entered the language during the last 25 years selfie (SEL-fee) noun A self-portrait, typically taken with a phone camera. [From Old English self. Earliest documented use: 2002.] A selfie with President Obama on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson https://wordsmith.org/words/images/selfie_large.jpg Photo: Pete Souza/The White House https://www.flickr.com/photos/obamawhitehouse/6538199423 NOTES: A photograph taken by a cell phone is called a selfie, not cellfie (or cellphie), though that would make sense too. The selfie craze has spread widely. Other species have gotten into the game as well, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_dispute , though it's not known whether they post those pictures on their Instagram (and make a living as an influencer). Robots too have caught the selfie bug (see the usage example below)! Not sure about other robots, but let's not be too hard on InSight, the Mars lander. If I traveled 300 million miles to reach some place, I too might take a selfie or two. "On December 11, engineers directed InSight [NASA's Mars lander] to take its first selfie." Chelsea Gohd and Jake Parks; InSight Sets up Shop on Mars; Astronomy (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Apr 2019. -------- Date: Wed Mar 13 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mansplain X-Bonus: Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life. -Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (13 Mar 1900-1971) This week's theme: Words that have entered the language during the last 25 years mansplain (MAN-splayn) verb tr. To explain something, especially to a woman, in a condescending manner assuming ignorance on the part of the person spoken to, while the reverse is often true. [A blend of man + explain, from Latin explanare (to make level), from ex- (intensive prefix) + planus (level, flat, plain). Earliest documented use: 2008.] NOTES: Mansplaining brings to mind what Bertrand Russell once said: "The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." The canonical example of mansplaining is when, at a party, a man learns that a woman has written a book on the photographer Eadweard Muybridge. He cuts her short and starts explaining to her about an important book that came out on the photographer that year, not knowing that he was talking to the author of that very book. https://www.guernicamag.com/rebecca-solnit-men-explain-things-to-me/ https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mansplain_large.png Illustration: Dylan Thurgood https://www.instagram.com/an.illustrated.word.a.day/ "The way Ireland sees it, male attitudes to women are akin to the rest of the UK's attitude to Northern Ireland. They listen but don't hear, brutalise but plead innocence, call for conversation but merely mansplain." Mark Fisher; Ulster American Review; The Guardian (London, UK); Aug 7, 2018. -------- Date: Thu Mar 14 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gamification X-Bonus: The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (14 Mar 1879-1955) This week's theme: Words that have entered the language during the last 25 years gamification (gay-mi-fi-KAY-shuhn) noun The application of game-related elements to an activity to make it more engaging. [From game, from Old English gaman (entertainment) + -fication (making), from facere (to do or make). Earliest documented use: 2008.] NOTES: Typical elements of gamification include progressively increasing challenges, awarding of points or rewards, adding surprises, etc. Should we offer badges and points to readers who send out gift subscriptions of A.Word.A.Day? https://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html Badges or not, please do send it to friends and family. That's the only way the word spreads. Help us in our mission of spreading the joy of words. Gamification Sartre Way https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gamification_large.jpg Image: cea + https://www.flickr.com/photos/centralasian/8218050435/ "Part of its approach involves gamification -- necessary, Neoma says, to hold those wandering minds." Helen Barrett; The Gamified Generation Has Hit Business School; Financial Times (London, UK); Sep 10, 2018. -------- Date: Fri Mar 15 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bingeable X-Bonus: It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. -Cesare Beccaria, philosopher and politician (15 Mar 1738-1794) This week's theme: Words that have entered the language during the last 25 years bingeable (BIN-juh-buhl) adjective Able to be consumed in rapid succession; typically said of entertainment, such as movies, television, streaming video, etc. [From English dialect binge (to soak). Earliest documented use: 2013. The term binge-watching has been around since 1996.] NOTES: GoT bingeable? An example of something bingeable could be a television show with multiple episodes that can be watched one after another, especially on a streaming video service. Better to snack than binge, if you ask me. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bingeable_large.jpg Text: Lisa https://twitter.com/xliserx/status/985529179075563521 "Its format, as a halfhour drama with four episodes a week, makes it very bingeable." Steve Faguy; Why Not Vary Your Program?; Montreal Gazette (Canada); Jan 26, 2019. -------- Date: Mon Mar 18 00:01:05 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--reveille X-Bonus: Smaller than a breadbox, bigger than a TV remote, the average book fits into the human hand with a seductive nestling, a kiss of texture, whether of cover cloth, glazed jacket, or flexible paperback. -John Updike, writer (18 Mar 1932-2009) This week's theme: Words that violate the i-before-e rule I before E, except after C, Or when sounded as A, As in neighbor and weigh. So goes the ancient rhyme many of us learned in school. It was supposed to help us rein in the ogreish beast that is English orthography and help us attain spelling proficiency. Like all rules, however, this one is no exception to exceptions. It has so many exceptions that the rule is really counterfeit. It's actually disproven by science: Nathan Cunningham, a feisty PhD student in statistics, has hard numbers. http://www.nathancunn.com/2017-06-26-i-before-e-except-after-w/ More words break the rule than follow it. Some do it twice, for example, oneiromancies https://wordsmith.org/words/oneiromancy.html and kriegspiel https://wordsmith.org/words/kriegspiel.html . (Also consider Einstein.) This week we look at five words that show what the i-before-e rule really is: Fake news! PS: That said, it's recommended to consult (at least twice) this rule and any other rules you can find before writing something permanent, as in, written in stone. Consider this grave marker ("neice") https://www.flickr.com/photos/16498755@N07/8465460926/ or this tattoo ("Carpe deim") https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhapp40/212717137/ . reveille (REV-uh-lee, ri-VAL-ee) noun 1. A signal to wake up in the morning, using a bugle, trumpet, etc., at military installations. 2. Any signal to get out of bed. 3. The hour at which a wake-up signal is sounded. [From French réveillez (wake up!), from réveiller (to awaken), from re- (again) + eveiller (to rouse), from Latin exvigilare (to keep watch), from ex- (out) + vigilare (to be awake or keep watch), from vigil (awake). Ultimately from the Indo-European root weg- (to be strong or lively), which also gave us vegetable, vigor, velocity, watch, vigilante, vedette https://wordsmith.org/words/vedette.html , vegete https://wordsmith.org/words/vegete.html , and velitation https://wordsmith.org/words/velitation.html . Earliest documented use: 1633.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/reveille "Eye before flea, except after sea" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/i_before_e5_large.jpg Cartoon: Dan Piraro https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics/photos/a.201038986595829/2337392606293779/?type=3&theater "An alarm clock that wakes you with the scent of chocolate? It sounds like something Willy Wonka would create, but the Sensorwake Olfactory Alarm Clock is available from Harrods. Within two minutes of reveille, one of seven fragrances (including seaside, croissants, espresso, and grass) will intensify gradually until you are ready to face the day." Katrina Burroughs; Katrina Burroughs Rounds Up the Latest and Cleverest Gadgets You Didn't Know You Needed; Sunday Times (London, UK); Sep 18, 2016. -------- Date: Tue Mar 19 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--facies X-Bonus: It's best to give while your hand is still warm. -Philip Roth, novelist (19 Mar 1933-2018) This week's theme: Words that violate the i-before-e rule facies (FAY-shee-eez, -sheez) noun 1. General appearance. 2. In medicine, a distinctive appearance associated with a pathological condition. 3. In geology, a body of rock with specific characteristics. [From Latin facies (face). Earliest documented use: 1398.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/i_before_e4_large.jpg Photo: Ryan Leighty https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighty/2040088897/ "The cholera victim no longer has any face: he has a facies -- a facies that could only mean cholera. The eye, sunk deep in its socket and seemingly atrophied." Jean Giono; The Horseman on the Roof; North Point Press; 1982. -------- Date: Wed Mar 20 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mythopoeic X-Bonus: Money may be the husk of many things but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not loyalty; days of joy, but not peace or happiness. (Author Unknown, but often misattributed to Henrik Ibsen) This week's theme: Words that violate the i-before-e rule mythopoeic or mythopeic (mith-uh-PEE-ik) also mythopoetic (-po-ET-ik) adjective Relating to the making of myths. [From Greek mythos (myth) + poiein (to make). Earliest documented use: 1846.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mythopoeic_large.png Illustration: Dylan Thurgood https://www.instagram.com/an.illustrated.word.a.day/ "The work ... is rich with literary and mythopoeic allusions. The story of Jonah's sojourn in the whale's belly comes readily enough to mind -- and Pinocchio's too." Gary Michael Dault; Venture into the Belly of a Whale; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Nov 22, 2008. -------- Date: Thu Mar 21 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--obeisance X-Bonus: Our shouting is louder than our actions, / Our swords are taller than us, / This is our tragedy. / In short / We wear the cape of civilization / But our souls live in the stone age. -Nizar Qabbani, poet and diplomat (21 Mar 1923-1998) This week's theme: Words that violate the i-before-e rule obeisance (o-BAY/BEE-sans) noun 1. A gesture of submission, such as a curtsy. 2. Deference or homage. [From Old French obeissance, from obeir (to obey), from Latin oboedire (to obey, to listen to), from ob- (toward) + audire (to hear). Ultimately from the Indo-European root au- (to perceive), which also gave us audio, audit, obey, auditorium, anesthesia, aesthetic, synesthesia https://wordsmith.org/words/synesthesia.html , and clairaudience https://wordsmith.org/words/clairaudience.html . Earliest documented use: 1382.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/i_before_e1_large.jpg Image: Brian Morrell https://www.flickr.com/photos/153108067@N03/29452996848 See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/obeisance "It was a squabble over $2.9 million in property-tax breaks -- small change for ExxonMobil, a company that measures its earnings by the billions. But when the East Baton Rouge Parish school board rejected the energy giant's rather routine request last month, the 'no' vote went off like a bomb in a state where obeisance to the oil, gas, and chemical industries is the norm." Richard Fausset; Daring to Say No to Big Oil; The New York Times; Feb 5, 2019. -------- Date: Fri Mar 22 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--conscientious X-Bonus: There is far too much law for those who can afford it and far too little for those who cannot. -Derek Bok, lawyer and educator (b. 22 Mar 1930) This week's theme: Words that violate the i-before-e rule conscientious (kon-shee-EN-shus) adjective 1. Meticulous or painstaking. 2. Following one's conscience; scrupulous. [From Latin con- (intensive prefix) + from scire (to know). Ultimately from the Indo-European root skei- (to cut or split), which also gave us schism, ski, shin, science, conscience, nice, scienter https://wordsmith.org/words/scienter.html , nescient https://wordsmith.org/words/nescient.html , exscind https://wordsmith.org/words/exscind.html , and sciolism https://wordsmith.org/words/sciolism.html , adscititious https://wordsmith.org/words/adscititious.html . Earliest documented use: 1603.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/conscientious https://wordsmith.org/words/images/i_before_e2_large.jpg Image: Amazon https://amazon.com/dp/B01IWEPK1Y/ws00-20 "Conscientious individuals avoid trouble and achieve success through planning and persistence." Ross Gittins; Give Your Personality a Check-Up; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jan 9, 2019. "[Bush Sr. & Muhammad Ali] certainly made for an odd pair of bedfellows, the patrician blue blood who enlisted in the US Navy on his 18th birthday and the most conscientious of all the objectors to the Vietnam War." Dave Hannigan; Ali's Hostage Negotiating Led to Unlikely Bush Friendship; Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland); Dec 6, 2018. -------- Date: Mon Mar 25 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--grandisonize X-Bonus: Truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. -Flannery O'Connor, writer (25 Mar 1925-1964) To be or not to be ... that's the question. Or more precisely: To be a verb or not to be. Some people in history did become verbs and this week we'll awaken them and have them stop by here to say hello. These are people from myth and reality, science and pseudoscience, and more. What persons from reality or fiction would you like to turn into a verb? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/grandisonize.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org (include the verb, its definition, and a usage example). Grandisonize (gran-DIS-uh-nyz) verb tr. To escort in a courteous manner. [After Sir Charles Grandison, the model gentleman hero of Samuel Richardson's 1753 novel "The History of Sir Charles Grandison". Earliest documented use: 1824.] Charles Grandison escorting Harriet Byron, 1778 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/grandisonize_large.jpg Engraving: Isaac Taylor (1759-1829) "And now will your ladyship permit me to have the honour of Grandisonizing you into the next apartment?" Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (Scotland); Jun 1824. -------- Date: Tue Mar 26 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lynch X-Bonus: No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. -Robert Frost, poet (26 Mar 1874-1963) This week's theme: People who became verbs lynch (linch) verb tr. To punish (typically, killing by hanging) for an alleged crime, without a legal trial. [After Captain William Lynch (1742-1820) of Pittsylvania, Virginia, who was the head of a vigilante group. Some have attributed the term to Charles Lynch (1736-1796), a Virginia magistrate. Earliest documented use: 1836.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/lynch A plaque memorializing the lynching of Levi Harrington https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lynch_large.jpg Image: DavidMCEddy / Wikimedia Commons Read more about Lynching in America: https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/ "In August a mob there [in Shashamane, Ethiopia] lynched a man wrongly suspected of carrying a bomb." A Colourful Revolution; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 8, 2018. -------- Date: Wed Mar 27 00:03:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--galvanize X-Bonus: History is a novel whose author is the people. -Alfred de Vigny, poet, playwright, and novelist (27 Mar 1797-1863) This week's theme: People who became verbs galvanize (GAL-vuh-nyze) verb tr. 1. To motivate or to arouse to action. 2. To coat with a rust-resistant material, such as zinc. 3. To stimulate by applying an electric current. [After physician and physicist Luigi Galvani (1737-1798), who studied electrical stimulation in animal tissue. Earliest documented use: 1802.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/galvanize Luigi Galvani: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/galvanize_large.jpg Art: Sante Nucci (1821-1896) "And what better way than to galvanise some of the best minds to handle the task." John Antony Xavier; A Herculean Task; New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia); Feb 19, 2019. "Such non-government forces are playing a vital role in galvanizing public opinion in support of the preservation of the Great Wall and raising funds." Lan Xinzhen; Preserving the Past; Beijing Review (China); Feb 28, 2019. -------- Date: Thu Mar 28 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mesmerize X-Bonus: The mind is the effect, not the cause. -Daniel Dennett, philosopher, writer, and professor (b. 28 Mar 1942) This week's theme: People who became verbs mesmerize (MEZ/MES-muh-ryz) verb tr. 1. To spellbind. 2. To hypnotize. [After physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) who discovered a way of inducing hypnosis through what he called animal magnetism. Earliest documented use: 1829.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mesmerize Franz Anton Mesmer (Meersburg, Germany) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mesmerize_large.jpg Sculpture: Peter Lenk Photo: Andreas Praefcke/Wikimedia "[Luke Spiller] recalls being mesmerised by Pentecostal preachers, whose sermons would 'have people shaking on the ground and jumping out of wheelchairs'." Paul Moody; Bristolian Rhapsody; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 7, 2019. -------- Date: Fri Mar 29 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--crusoe X-Bonus: Kindness is always fashionable. -Amelia Barr, novelist (29 Mar 1831-1919) This week's theme: People who became verbs Crusoe (KROO-soh) noun: A castaway; a person who is isolated or without companionship. verb intr.: To be marooned; to survive or manage through one's ingenuity without outside help. [After the title character of Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel "Robinson Crusoe". Crusoe was a shipwrecked sailor who spent 28 years on a remote desert island. Earliest documented use: 1888. Crusoe's aide has also become an eponym in the English language: man Friday https://wordsmith.org/words/man_friday.html .] Robinson Crusoe https://wordsmith.org/words/images/crusoe_large.jpg Art: Offterdinger & Zweigle, c. 1880 "Your mad heart goes Crusoeing through all the romances ..." Arthur Rimbaud (Translation: Oliver Bernard); Collected Poems; Penguin; 1962. "The boy Jim roams the edgelands of the Thames (just as young Stevenson liked to 'go Crusoeing' in the wilds of Scotland)." Ian Thomson; The Old Buccaneers; Financial Times (London, UK); Mar 31, 2012.