A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Apr 1 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--investiture X-Bonus: Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. -Milan Kundera, novelist, playwright, and poet (b. 1 Apr 1929) This week's theme: Clothes (or lack of them) investiture (in-VES-ti-choor/chuhr) noun A formal ceremony in which someone is given an official title, rank, honors, etc. [From Latin investire (to cloth, install), from vestis (garment). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wes- (to clothe), which also gave us wear, vest, invest, divest https://wordsmith.org/words/divest.html, travesty https://wordsmith.org/words/travesty.html, and revet https://wordsmith.org/words/revet.html. Earliest documented use: 1387.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/investiture "This could have been an email." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/investiture_large.jpg Image: Imgflip https://imgflip.com/i/4uk2eq "We have, however, maintained control over merchandising relating to the investiture itself and have come up with some exciting ideas. Firstly, everyone attending will be able to purchase a photo of themselves with Australia's first president." Ross Fitzgerald & Ian McFadyen; The Dizzying Heights; Hybrid Publishers; 2019. -------- Date: Mon Apr 4 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--litmus test X-Bonus: Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends. -Maya Angelou, poet (4 Apr 1928-2014) I loved physics in high school, but chemistry wasn't my favorite. Memorizing chemical symbols and valences. Mixing acrid stuff in test tubes. Chemistry does good things though. "Better living through chemistry," they claim, and it's possible unless https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/51896807664/ profit motive takes over and they start recommending you wrap your baby in cellophane https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/51896557138/ . Now, you don't have to pick a favorite for the cellophane love, wrap them both! https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/51895507887/ . Wait, prices have gone down. You can treat up to three kids for the same low price https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/51897118280/ . It's not known why the company stopped at three kids and then why they stopped running these lovely ads altogether. Probably for the same reason they stopped dumping sludge near communities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Waters_(2019_film) . In their defense, they were experts in chemistry, not biology. How'd they know what happens to babies tightly wrapped in cellophane? Or maybe running those ads showing cellophaned-kids was a public-service announcement -- a helpful suggestion on how the community could protect itself from the toxic matter the company dumped around them. At any rate, let's just say the chemistry between the company and the community wasn't that great. Back to language. Language is a funny thing. A software engineer does software, a dishwasher does dishes, and a chemist does chemicals. In British English, this person also does drugs. That doesn't sound right either. Let's try again. In British English, a chemist is one who experiments with chemicals and sells drugs. Hmm, this is breaking bad. Maybe we should give up the language and do chemicals instead. That's what we'll do, this week at least. We've picked five words from the world of chemistry that are also used metaphorically. We're taking appropriate precautions, so you can relax -- no need for goggles and gloves. And definitely do not wrap yourself in cellophane. Are you a chemist, of any kind, in any language? What is it like to be in your shoes? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/litmus_test.html or write to us at words@wordsmith.org. No caustic comments, please. litmus test (LIT-muhs test) noun 1. A test in which a single indicator prompts the decision. 2. A test to determine if a solution is acidic or alkaline. [From Old Norse litmosi (dye-moss), from litr (dye) + mosi (moss). Earliest documented use: 1824. Also see, acid test https://wordsmith.org/words/acid_test.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/litmus%20test NOTES: Litmus paper turns red when dipped in an acidic solution and blue when in alkaline. It's a quick and easy test to determine the type of solution one has. Litmus is derived from moss and has been around since approx. 1300 CE. Eventually, the term litmus test came to be used figuratively, for example, for a test to determine suitability of a candidate for the US Supreme Court. For example, some senators would vote yes or no depending on whether a candidate supports or opposes abortion rights. The shopping cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/litmus_test_large.jpg Image: Bored Panda https://www.boredpanda.com/return-shopping-cart-theory-ultimate-litmus-test/ "People are always saying you need to take a vacation with someone before you can really determine whether the relationship has any longevity. They are wrong. ... No, dear readers, shopping at Costco is the relationship litmus test." Ammi Midstokke; Couple Survives Costco Ordeal; Spokesman Review (Washington); Feb 3, 2022. "Niobe was not a metaphor for a litmus test, she was a litmus test. Straight men turned colors in her presence." Larry Beinhart; The Librarian; PublicAffairs; 2004. -------- Date: Tue Apr 5 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--flashpoint X-Bonus: Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him. -Booker T. Washington, reformer, educator, and author (5 Apr 1856-1915) This week's theme: Words from chemistry flashpoint (FLASH-point) noun 1. The point at which a situation turns critical, for example, resulting in violence. 2. A location or situation where conflict, violence, etc., flare up. 3. The lowest temperature at which a substance's vapors ignite in the presence of an ignition source. [From flash, of imitative origin + point, partly from Old French point and Latin punctum (point). Earliest documented use: 1878.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/flashpoint Comparison of flashpoints of gasoline and diesel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7soVqyGq4i4 "Road funding has been a flashpoint in Gilmore during long arguments about a new bridge." David Crowe; Labor Fires First in Battle for Gilmore; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jan 28, 2022. -------- Date: Wed Apr 6 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chain reaction X-Bonus: This habit of forming opinions, and acting upon them without evidence, is one of the most immoral habits of the mind. ... As our opinions are the fathers of our actions, to be indifferent about the evidence of our opinions is to be indifferent about the consequences of our actions. -James Mill, philosopher (6 Apr 1773-1836) This week's theme: Words from chemistry chain reaction (CHAYN ree-ak-shuhn) noun 1. A series of events, each triggered or influenced by the previous. 2. A chemical or nuclear reaction that results in products that cause further reactions. [From chain, from Old French chaine/chaeine, from Latin catena (chain) + act, from Latin actus (act). Earliest documented use: 1926.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/chain%20reaction I can't stop doing chemistry jokes. Chain reactions. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/chain_reaction_large.jpg Image: Quickmeme http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35ejks "The result will be an economic chain reaction affecting nearly everyone in the country." Jason Markusoff; Look Up. Way Up: That’s Where the Price of Everything Is Going; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); Jan 2022. -------- Date: Thu Apr 7 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--borax X-Bonus: The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. -William Wordsworth, poet (7 Apr 1770-1850) This week's theme: Words from chemistry borax (BOR/BOHR-aks/uhks) adjective: Cheap and showy. noun: A white crystalline compound, also known as sodium borate, used in manufacturing, cleaning, etc. [From Old French boras, from Latin borax, from Arabic buraq, from Persian burah (borax). Earliest documented use: 1920s. A related word is boracic https://wordsmith.org/words/boracic.html though borasco https://wordsmith.org/words/borasco.html has nothing to do with it.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/borax A chest of drawers with printed designs https://wordsmith.org/words/images/borax.jpg Image: Furniture of the Depression Era by Harriett & Robert Swedberg NOTES: A century ago, cheap furniture was given as a premium for buying a box of borax soap. That, or borax soap was given away for buying cheap furniture. Either way, the word borax became slang for something cheap and poorly made. "You've got to know your stuff before you go into a relatively cheap place and start buying, or you'll run into trouble ... You know about borax, don't you?" Emily Hahn; Francie Comes Home; Franklin Watts; 1956. "Al the furniture maven knew it was cheap stuff, borax." Laurence Shames; Welcome to Paradise; Villard; 1999. -------- Date: Fri Apr 8 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--boiling point X-Bonus: Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life. -Barbara Kingsolver, novelist, essayist, and poet (b. 8 Apr 1955) This week's theme: Words from chemistry boiling point (BOI-ling point) noun 1. The point at which a situation turns into a crisis. 2. The point at which one loses one's temper. 3. The temperature at which a liquid boils. [From Old French boillir, from Latin bullire (to bubble), from bulla (bubble). Earliest documented use: 1773.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/boiling%20point "Boiling Point" (2021) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/boiling_point_large.jpg Image: IMDb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11127680/ "Before the unrest, NGOs working in townships warned of simmering tensions taken to boiling point by Covid-19." The Shaming of South Africa: The Economist (London, UK); Jul 24, 2021. -------- Date: Mon Apr 11 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pyrrhonism X-Bonus: Everyone, in some small sacred sanctuary of the self, is nuts. -Leo Rosten, author (11 Apr 1908-1997) A name labels a person, an animal, or a place. A word labels things, ideas, and concepts. Sometimes there's cross-pollination. People are named after ideas or things, for example Charity and Pepsi (for real! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana_Pepsi_Vandyck), and words are coined after people. Words coined after people, we call them eponyms: from Greek epi- (upon) + -onym (name). The English language is chockful of them: boycott https://wordsmith.org/words/boycott.html, dunce https://wordsmith.org/words/dunce.html, and tawdry https://wordsmith.org/words/tawdry.html, to name a few. This week we'll bring you five eponyms that are not as common as the above examples. These eponyms are coined after people, real and fictional. What eponyms have you coined, about yourself, your friends, colleagues, or family? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/pyrrhonism.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Pyrrhonism (PIR-uh-niz-uhm) noun Extreme or absolute skepticism. [After Pyrrho, a Greek philosopher, c. 360-270 BCE. Earliest documented use: 1603.] NOTES: The philosopher and engineer Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950) once said, "There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking." Pyrrhonism would fall in the second category. The Greek philosopher Pyrrho believed that it was impossible to be certain of any knowledge. Pyrrho of Elis, 2nd century BCE https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pyrrhonism_large.jpg Photo: Zde / Wikimedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhonism#/media/File:Philosopher,_marble_head,_Roman_copy,_AM_Corfu,_Krfm22.jpg "Instead, [David Hume] recommends a more moderate or academic skepticism that tones down Pyrrhonism." James Fieser; David Hume; Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy; 2022. https://iep.utm.edu/hume/ -------- Date: Tue Apr 12 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--morphetic X-Bonus: All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty. -Henry Clay, statesman and orator (12 Apr 1777-1852) This week's theme: Eponyms morphetic (mor-FET-ik) adjective Relating to sleep or dreams. [After Morpheus, the god of dreams in Greek mythology. He was the son of Hypnos, the god of sleep. The name of the drug morphine is also derived after Morpheus. Earliest documented use: 1788.] What if I told you, the pills I offered were actually NyQuil and DayQuil https://wordsmith.org/words/images/morphetic_large.jpg Image: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/215328425907403656/ "The white-blossomed limbs bowed in the slight breeze and cast their morphetic perfume to the nostrils. A man, if he were unwary, might succumb to them and dream." Danielle Parker; Galen the Deathless; In Bret Funk (ed.); Beacons of Tomorrow; Tyrannosaurus Press; 2008. -------- Date: Wed Apr 13 00:01:04 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Rothschild X-Bonus: The tax which will be paid for this purpose [of educating common people], is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests, and nobles, who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect, and author (1743-1826) This week's theme: Eponyms Rothschild (ROTH/ROTHS-chyld) noun A very rich person. [After the Rothschild banking family that rose to prominence with Mayer Rothschild (1744-1812). He had his five sons expand business in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, and Naples. Earliest documented use: 1824.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Rothschild "If I were a rich man" song from the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc Inspired by the original "If I were a Rothschild" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Were_a_Rich_Man_(song) "Then there's Robert, who seems to think he's a Rothschild, thinking of building himself a huge local-stone mansion." Graham Masterton; Lady of Fortune; Bloomsbury; 2013. -------- Date: Thu Apr 14 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--roorback X-Bonus: A book, once it is printed and published, becomes individual. It is by its publication as decisively severed from its author as in parturition a child is cut off from its parent. The book "means" thereafter, perforce, -- both grammatically and actually, -- whatever meaning this or that reader gets out of it. -James Branch Cabell, novelist, essayist, critic (14 Apr 1879-1958) This week's theme: Eponyms roorback (ROOR-back) noun A false story or slander, especially one spread for political purposes. [After Baron von Roorback, a fictitious author invented during the 1844 presidential elections in the US to discredit the Democratic candidate James K. Polk. Earliest documented use: 1844.] "'Tom wants to employ a Roorback,' declared Sutton. 'You want to spread a false story?' St. Clair scratched his head." Allan Levine; Evil of the Age; Heartland; 2008. -------- Date: Fri Apr 15 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Hercules X-Bonus: Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active. -Leonardo da Vinci, painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (15 Apr 1452-1519) This week's theme: Eponyms Hercules (HUHR-kyuh-leez) noun A man of extraordinary strength or size. [After Hercules, the son of Zeus and Alcmene in Greek mythology. Hercules performed many feats requiring extraordinary strength and effort, such as cleaning the Augean http://wordsmith.org/words/augean.html stables. He also slew the monster Hydra https://wordsmith.org/words/hydra.html . Earliest documented use: 1567. ALso see herculean https://wordsmith.org/words/herculean.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Hercules "Hercules and the Nemean Lion", 1776-77 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hercules_large.jpg Art: Marcello Bacciarelli https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_of_Heracles_and_the_Nemean_Lion#/media/File:Marcello_Bacciarelli_-_Hercules_and_the_Nemean_Lion,_1776-77.jpg "[Doug Gilmour] looks nothing like a Hercules who can lift whole teams and whole buildings." David Shoalts; New Jersey Staves Off Elimination; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); May 1, 1998. -------- Date: Mon Apr 18 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--travest X-Bonus: The objector and the rebel who raises his voice against what he believes to be the injustice of the present and the wrongs of the past is the one who hunches the world along. -Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (18 Apr 1857-1938) Two children from the same parent, one goes on to become a household name, the other remains obscure, a private citizen. Happens in the movies, happens in real life too. Beethoven had a brother, Kaspar, also a composer, but it's probably the first time you have heard of him. (He had another brother named Johann, a pharmacist.) This happens with words too. You may have known the noun travesty for a long time. You may even have used it as a verb, but did you know it has some obscure siblings? Today's verb travest is one example and it has a sister verb travestize, as well. This week we've lined up five such words, words that are rare verb forms of everyday nouns. What other nouns would you like to verbify? Share them on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/travest.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state). travest (TRA-vuhst) verb tr. To mock or to parody. [From either French travestir or Italian travestire, from tra- (across), from Latin trans- + vestire (to dress). Earliest documented use: 1656.] "The idea of Providence was very gaily travested by Daudet in 'Tartarin in the Alps'." H.G. Wells; God the Invisible King; Cassell; 1917. -------- Date: Tue Apr 19 00:01:02 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anathematize X-Bonus: Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later. -Fred Brooks, computer scientist (b. 19 Apr 1931) This week's theme: There's a verb form for it anathematize (uh-NATH-uh-muh-tyz) verb tr. To denounce, condemn, or curse. [From Middle French anathematiser, from Latin anathematizare (to ban, curse, or detest), from Greek anathematizein (to curse), from anathema (something devoted to evil). Earliest documented use: 1473.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/anathematize "Korak looked searchingly down upon her, mentally anathematizing the broad-brimmed hat that hid her features from his eyes." Edgar Rice Burroughs; The Son of Tarzan; A.C. McClurg; 1915. -------- Date: Wed Apr 20 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--immiserate X-Bonus: The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions. -Robert Lynd, writer (20 Apr 1879-1949) This week's theme: There's a verb form for it immiserate (i-MIZ-uh-rayt) verb tr. To impoverish or to make miserable. [Back-formation from immiseration (impoverishment), loan translation of German Verelendung (impoverishment). The word is from in- (into) + miserable, from Latin miserari (to pity), from miser (pitiable, wretched). Earliest documented use: 1956.] "He also asks whether revolutionaries elevate or immiserate their populations." Western Hemisphere; Foreign Affairs (New York); Nov/Dec 2021. "He immiserates the Earth, Roger. We all ten billion immiserate the Earth by being here." Carter Scholz; Gypsy; PM Press; 2015. -------- Date: Thu Apr 21 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--betrump X-Bonus: Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason. -Henry Fielding, author (21 Apr 1707-1754) This week's theme: There's a verb form for it betrump (be-TRUHMP) verb tr. 1. To deceive or cheat. 2. To elude. [From be- + French tromper (to deceive), which also gave us trumpery https://wordsmith.org/words/trumpery.html and trompe l'oeil https://wordsmith.org/words/trompe_loeil.html . Earliest documented use: 1522.] "The site, 'Funny or Die', is political as hell. It's currently helping a beTrumped and bewildered nation grapple with that stranger than fiction phenomenon." Steven Gaydos; Short' Revealed Secret Plan of the Garynistas; Variety (Los Angeles); May 24, 2016. -------- Date: Fri Apr 22 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--manuscribe X-Bonus: Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts. -Madame de Stael, writer (22 Apr 1766-1817) This week's theme: There's a verb form for it manuscribe (MAN-yuh-skryb) verb tr. 1. To write by hand. 2. To autograph. [Back-formation from manuscript, from manus (hand) + scribere (to write). Ultimately from the Indo-European root skribh- (to cut, separate, or sift), which also gave us subscribe, scripture, scribble, describe, circumflex, and circumspect. Earliest documented use: 1649.] "This explains the litany of [letters] ... which he so loved as patricianly to manuscribe after his name." James Joyce; Finnegans Wake; Faber and Faber; 1939. "I dare say it could be made bigger; but I know what 100 pages of copy, bright consummate copy, imply behind the scenes of weary manuscribing." Robert Louis Stevenson; The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson to His Family and Friends, Volume 1; Methuen; 1901. -------- Date: Mon Apr 25 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--typomania X-Bonus: The rain begins with a single drop. -Manal al-Sharif, human rights activist (b. 25 Apr 1979) If you have been doing something for decades you'd think you have seen it all. Well, I have been researching and writing about words for 28+ years and I still get pleasantly surprised. Sometimes I come across a brand-new word, brand-new to me even though it has been a part of the language for hundreds of years. At other times I discover that a word that I am familiar with (such as today's word) has another meaning. And so it goes. With more than half a million words in the language, it's a work of several lifetimes. Even then, you are shooting at a moving target. New words keep entering the language. Existing words keep evolving, developing new senses. But like the boy on the beach who was able to throw some starfish back in the ocean, we don't have to cover them all. We do as much as we can, one week at a time. This week I share words that might make you say: I didn't know there was a word for it! typomania (ty-puh-MAY-nee-uh) noun 1. An obsession with typography. 2. An obsession with typology or symbolism. 3. An obsession with getting published. [From Greek typos (impression) + mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze). Earliest documented use: 1882.] NOTES: Are you the type of person who sees a billboard and is upset because the kerning between two letters didn't look right? While reading a book, do you start to wonder about the typeface and its history and who the type designer is? If so, our diagnosis is typomania. You are type obsessive. It's important to note here that all type obsessives are obsessive types, but the reverse is not true. Share your typomania -- we don't care which of the three types -- write to us at words@wordsmith.org (as always, include your location). "Typomania" https://amazon.com/dp/1874084017/ws00-20 "Of all the truly calamitous afflictions of the modern world, typomania is one of the most alarming and least understood. It was first diagnosed by the German designer Erik Spiekermann as a condition peculiar to the font-obsessed, and it has one common symptom: an inability to walk past a sign (or pick up a book or a menu) without needing to identify the typeface. Sometimes font freaks find this task easy, and they move on; and sometimes their entire day is wrecked until they nail it." Simon Garfield; Confessions of a Typomaniac; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Sep 3, 2011. "[Arthur Mee] seemed almost to be in the grip of some kind of grapho- https://wordsmith.org/words/graphomania.html or typomania, simultaneously imposing and effacing himself through book, after book, after book, after book." Ian Sansom; "Why Do I Cry?"; The Guardian (London, UK); Jul 21, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Apr 26 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epistemology X-Bonus: Everyday language is a part of the human organism and is no less complicated than it. -Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (26 Apr 1889-1951) This week's theme: There's a word for it epistemology (i-pis-tuh-MOL-uh-jee) noun The study of knowledge, especially its nature, origin, limits, validity, etc. [From Greek episteme (knowledge) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1847.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/epistemology "But surely you agree that truth can be created by the repetition of a lie." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/epistemology_large.jpg Cartoon: Dan Piraro https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics/ "Freud's misogyny, his reification of Victorian shibboleth, his because-I-said-so epistemology -- all of these have been justly relegated to the dustbin of psychology." Gary Greenberg; The War on Unhappiness; Harper's (New York); Sep 2010. "A professor of philosophy, Teddy, returns to London after six years in America to introduce his wife, Ruth, to his father, a butcher named Max, to his uncle Sam, a chauffeur, and to his brothers ... Teddy, a professional maker of meanings, insists, 'I'm the one who can see. That's why I can write my critical works.' Ruth, however, has a physicality that overrides Teddy's epistemology." John Lahr; Demolition Man; The New Yorker; Dec 24, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Apr 27 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--yestereve X-Bonus: If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. -Ulysses S. Grant, military commander, 18th US President (27 Apr 1822-1885) This week's theme: There's a word for it yestereve (YES-tuh-reev) noun: Yesterday evening. adverb: During yesterday evening. [From yester- (a time one period before the present one), from Old English giestran (previous day) + eve/even (evening). Earliest documented use: 1565. Another form of this word is yestreen https://wordsmith.org/words/yestreen.html .] "Listen, Gin, I'm sorry about yestereve. We had no right to stay as long as we did." Michelle M. Pillow; Emerald Knight; Createspace; 2005. -------- Date: Thu Apr 28 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--marcescence X-Bonus: War, at first, is the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off. -Karl Kraus, writer (28 Apr 1874-1936) This week's theme: There's a word for it marcescence (mahr-SES-uhns) noun The retention of dead leaves, etc., as opposed to shedding. [From Latin marcescere (to wither), from marcere (to wither). Earliest documented use: 1859.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/marcescence_large.jpg Photo: https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-owzir "The Christmas cactus had lost its normal splendid tautness; the usual fat plump fronds were slightly wizened. Its very marcescence so reflected my inner state that I could barely stand to look at the thing." Norma Harrs; Love Minus One & Other Stories; Dundurn Press; 1996. -------- Date: Fri Apr 29 00:01:04 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aggiornamento X-Bonus: Science is built with facts as a house is with stones, but a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house. -Jules Henri Poincaré, mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (29 Apr 1854-1912) This week's theme: There's a word for it aggiornamento (uh-johr-nuh-MEN-toh) noun A process of modernization or bringing up to date. [From Italian aggiornamento (updating), from aggiornare (to bring up to date), from a- (to) + giorno (day), from Latin diurnus (daily) ), from dies (day). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dyeu- (to shine) that also gave us adjourn, diary, diet, circadian, journal, journey, quotidian https://wordsmith.org/words/quotidian.html, sojourn, diva, divine, deify https://wordsmith.org/words/deify.html , Jupiter, Jove, July, Zeus, jovial https://wordsmith.org/words/jovial.html , and Sanskrit deva (god). Earliest documented use: 1962.] NOTES: The word came on the radar of the English-speaking world from a speech given by Pope John XXIII in which he called for a revision of the church code. "Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí: The traditional political parties may believe, indeed, that it is only a matter of carrying out an aggiornamento, that all they have to do is 'modernising', install an app and get on the social networks." Technopolitics and the New Territories for Political Action; openDemocracy (London, UK); Jun 20, 2016.