A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue Apr 1 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ratchet 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 (1 Apr 1929-2023) This week's theme: Tools and devices that became metaphors ratchet (RACH-it) noun: 1. A mechanism consisting of a toothed wheel or bar engaged by a pawl to allow controlled movement in one direction only. 2. An incremental change, typically in one direction and irreversible. verb tr., intr.: To move or to cause to move in small increments, especially progressively or irreversibly. [From French rochet (ratchet). Earliest documented use: 1650.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ratchet Ratchet gear (green), pawl (pink) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ratchet_wheel_large.gif Ratchet gear rack (green), pawl (pink) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ratchet_rack_large.gif Animation: Arglin Kampling / Wikimedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratchet_(device)#/media/File:Ratchet_Gear_and_Pawl.gif "Israel accused Iran of trying to ratchet up hostilities." Mark Weiss; The State of the State of Israel at 75; The Jerusalem Report (Israel); May 8, 2023. "I went in search of ways to ratchet down my own worry." Jessica Migala; The Upside of Anxiety; O: the Oprah Magazine (New York); Jan 2022. -------- Date: Wed Apr 2 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--parish pump X-Bonus: How far should one accept the rules of the society in which one lives? To put it another way: at what point does conformity become corruption? Only by answering such questions does the conscience truly define itself. -Kenneth Tynan, theater critic and author (2 Apr 1927-1980) This week's theme: Tools and devices that became metaphors parish pump (par-ish PUHMP) noun: A water pump shared by people within a small area. adjective: Of local, often trivial, interest or importance. [From parish (a small area, especially one that has its own church) + pump, of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1840.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/parish_pump_large.jpg Photo: Barney Devine https://barneydevine.com/2023/01/15/village-pump-politics/ NOTES: Before there were curated feeds, there was the parish pump! A real wellspring of information (and maybe misinformation). People didn't just come for H₂O; they came to tap into the local grapevine. This tradition of gathering 'round the communal water source to swap stories isn't unique; sailors had their scuttlebutt https://wordsmith.org/words/scuttlebutt.html , Aussie soldiers their furphy https://wordsmith.org/words/furphy.html , and modern office dwellers have their water cooler. The phrase "parish pump politics" describes issues that may seem like small potatoes nationally but stir up a full-on boil at the local level. In other words, trivial on tap, but drama on demand. "[Patricia Anne Churchill] wanted the paper, through feature pages, to cover subjects of greater interest ... and make the paper less parish-pump." Paul Elenio; Pat Tested Boundaries, Shaped the Post; Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand); Aug 15, 2015. -------- Date: Thu Apr 3 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--windmill X-Bonus: Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. -Washington Irving, writer (3 Apr 1783-1859) This week's theme: Tools and devices that became metaphors windmill (WIND-mil) noun: 1. A machine powered by wind. 2. An imagined enemy, opponent, or threat. verb tr., intr.: To move or to cause to move like a windmill. [From wind, from Old English wind + mill, from Old English mylen, from Latin mola (grindstone, mill), from molere (to grind). Earliest documented use: 1230.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/windmill Don Quixote attacking a windmill believing it to be a ferocious giant https://wordsmith.org/words/images/windmill_large.jpg Illustration: Gustave Doré, 1863 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote#/media/File:Don_Quijote_Illustration_by_Gustave_Dore_VII.jpg NOTES: The metaphorical sense of windmill comes spinning out of Cervantes' https://wordsmith.org/words/cervantic.html "Don Quixote", in which our deluded hero mistakes windmills for towering foes and launches a one-man attack against renewable energy. To tilt at windmills now means to battle imaginary enemies. It's an expression that reminds us: sometimes the real enemy isn't the windmill -- it's the wind between our ears. "If the Tories had set out in government with the aim of deliberately making themselves unpopular, they might not have proceeded very differently. What would a strategy for Conservative electoral suicide have required? The economy suffocated. (Tick!) The party brand painted in old contaminants: tax favours for the rich, public services cut, chaos in the NHS, boggle-eyed tilts at European windmills, scowls for immigrants. (Tick!) The whole package seasoned with division, U-turns, and incompetence. (Tick!)" Rafael Behr; The Politics Column; New Statesman (London, UK); Apr 26, 2013. -------- Date: Fri Apr 4 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Swiss Army knife X-Bonus: There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you. -Zora Neale Hurston, folklorist and writer (7 Jan 1891-1960) This week's theme: Tools and devices that became metaphors Swiss Army knife (swis AHR-mee nyf) noun 1. A pocketknife, with multiple blades and other tools such as scissors, saw, corkscrew, can opener, etc. 2. A person or object with many diverse skills or functions. [From its use by Swiss Army officers. Originally produced by Karl Elsener in Switzerland in 1891. Earliest documented use: 1935.] If you want to carry a Swiss Army knife, why not go all in with "The Giant"? It boasts 87 tools, 141 functions, 1 Guinness world record as the world's most multifunctional penknife, and approximately 0 pockets it can fit into. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/swiss_army_knife_large.jpg Photo: Wenger "Phosphorus is a chemical Swiss Army knife. It is essential for life, a component of cells and bones, the prime part of a matchstick, an agricultural fertilizer, an ingredient in some insecticides, and emanates an eerie glow." Tony Miksanek; White Light: The Elemental Role of Phosphorus; The Booklist (Chicago, Illinois); Mar 1, 2025. "Environmental health professionals are the Swiss Army knives of the scientific community with knowledge of numerous scientific disciplines, along with evaluation, management, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and conflict-resolution skills practiced from the laboratory to the community." Note of Thanks to Departing Board Members; Journal of Environmental Health (Denver, Colorado); Sep 2024. -------- Date: Mon Apr 7 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--alsatia X-Bonus: That best portion of a good man's life, / His little, nameless, unremembered, acts / Of kindness and of love. -William Wordsworth, poet (7 Apr 1770-1850) Everyone likes going places. One might call it a vacation, another a holiday, and some just call it escaping the inbox. But what if your travel plans were dictated by the _literal_ meaning of the word? Here's what your itinerary would look like, etymologically speaking: journey: A day trip (from French jour: day). About 20 miles max in those days. travel: Torture (Latin trepaliare: to torture). Because travel in those days wasn't exactly a trip to Disneyland. holiday: Perhaps a pilgrimage, because holiday is, literally, holy day. Well, you could worship the sun. pilgrimage: A foreign trip (Latin peregrinus: foreign). visit: Go _see_ a place (Latin videre: to see). So if you attend a concert, would that be an audit? (Latin audire: to hear). trip: Dancing in the backyard (Old French triper: to hop, skip, leap, dance) vacation: Vacate the home? Also, the wallet? (Latin vacare: to be empty) tour: Spinning in circles? (Greek tornos: lathe) Good thing etymology isn't destiny. A word is not limited to its roots or what it meant originally. This week we're taking you on a, well, let's call it a jaunt (origin unknown). We'll explore places, far and wide, that have become metaphors in the English language. Such words are also called toponyms, from Greek topo- (place) + -nym (name). What are your favorite places to visit, whether down the road or across the globe? Do you have a location that you return to again and again? Why? Tell us via our website https://wordsmith.org/words/alsatia.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Include your home base (city, state). And wherever you go, may your journey be less "trepaliare" and more "trip"! Alsatia (al-SAY-shuh) noun 1. A sanctuary. 2. A lawless place. [After Alsatia, an area north of River Thames in London, once out of the reach of law. Earliest documented use: 1676.] NOTES: Once upon a Thames, Alsatia was a holy hideaway: a monastery-turned-sanctuary (Whitefriars) north of the river in London. But what began as a sacred refuge slowly turned into a safe haven for debtors, criminals, and general ne'er-do-wells. The name Alsatia is a Latinized nod to Alsace, a border region in France that once had a similarly lawless reputation thanks to the centuries of tug-of-war between France and German states. One might say it was a region that couldn't decide whether to say bonjour or guten tag, so it said neither and punched you in the face. By the late 1600s, the term Alsatia had morphed into a metaphor for any unruly place where laws were more like suggestions and sanctuary came with a side of shenanigans. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/alsatia.jpg Map: Google Maps https://maps.app.goo.gl/A6WWt48C6EptSy7V8 See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Alsatia "'[The] state has set out to create an Alsatia -- a region of executive action free of judicial oversight,' said Lord Justice Sedley." Paul Lashmar; Law Lords Slam Crime Agency for Freezing UMBS Payments;   The Independent on Sunday (London, UK); May 27, 2007. "Maggie always appeared in the most amiable light at her aunt Moss’s; it was her Alsatia, where she was out of the reach of law." George Eliot; The Mill on the Floss; William Blackwood and Sons; 1860. -------- Date: Tue Apr 8 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Carthaginian peace 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: Toponyms Carthaginian peace (kar-thuh-JIN-ee-uhn pees) noun Peace or settlement in which very harsh terms are imposed on the defeated side. [After Carthage, an ancient city-state, in present-day Tunisia. Earliest documented use: 1940.] NOTES: The term harks back to the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE), where Rome decisively defeated its rival, Carthage. After the Third and final war, Rome didn't just win; they went full scorched-earth (and possibly salted the earth so nothing would grow, though historians debate that part). Carthage was destroyed, forced to pay massive tributes, forbidden from having a military, its population killed or enslaved. The term was popularized by the economist John Maynard Keynes. Rome and Carthage domain changes during the three Punic Wars https://wordsmith.org/words/images/carthaginian_peace_large.gif https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punic_Wars#/media/File:Domain_changes_during_the_Punic_Wars.gif "Serbia's strongman, Slobodan Milosevic, proclaimed peace last week in the rebellious province of Kosovo. ... Kosovo was, in truth, at peace, a Carthaginian peace of fire and total devastation." Eric Margolis; The Devastation in Kosovo Has to End; The Record (Kitchener, Canada); Oct 5, 1998. -------- Date: Wed Apr 9 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Cathay X-Bonus: The poet is a kinsman in the clouds / Who scoffs at archers, loves a stormy day; / But on the ground, among the hooting crowds, / He cannot walk, his wings are in the way. -Charles Baudelaire, poet, critic, and translator (9 Apr 1821-1867) This week's theme: Toponyms Cathay (ka-THAY) noun 1. A remote and exotic land, steeped in mystery, richness, and bliss. 2. A literary name for China. [From Latin Cataya/Cathaya, from Turkish Khitai, from Khitan Khitai (the Khitan people who ruled northern China). Earliest documented use: 1744. See also Shangri-la https://wordsmith.org/words/shangri-la.html .] NOTES: Cathay is what happens when "China" puts on a silk robe and writes poetry by moonlight. This medieval name for China was popularized by the explorer Marco Polo in his travelogue. Cathay is the Instagram filter version of historical China where the silk is always smooth, the tea is always perfect, and your travel blog practically writes itself. Cathay, because "Middle Kingdom" sounded too much like a Tolkien sequel. "The Travels of Marco Polo" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cathay.jpg Cover: Everyman's Library https://www.amazon.com/Travels-Marco-Polo/dp/0307269132 See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Cathay "To reach a Cathay of spiritual harmony." Benjamin Townley Spencer; Patterns of Nationality; B. Franklin; 1981. -------- Date: Thu Apr 10 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--siberianize X-Bonus: Joy is the best makeup. -Anne Lamott, writer (b. 10 Apr 1954) This week's theme: Toponyms siberianize (sy-BEE-ree-uh-nyz) verb tr. To send to a remote location as a form of punishment. [After Siberia, Russia, the place where those who had fallen out of favor were sent. Earliest documented use: 1864.] NOTES: After Siberia, that frosty expanse of central and eastern Russia not known for its hospitality. Historically used by tsars and the USSR as the ultimate time-out spot, but with fewer juice boxes and a lot more gulags. https://wordsmith.org/words/gulag.html Talk about getting ice-olated. No re-runs of "Frozen" here -- only the kind of cold that really won’t let it go. Also see: Botany Bay https://wordsmith.org/words/botany_bay.html Coventry https://wordsmith.org/words/coventry.html stellenbosch https://wordsmith.org/words/stellenbosch.html Prisoners on a ship being sent away, c. 1903 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/siberianize_large.jpg Photo from "Sakhalin" by Vlas Doroshevich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag#/media/File:V.M._Doroshevich-Sakhalin._Part_I._Prisoners_on_Steamship_of_Voluntary_Fleet.png "As if, for instance, I were ... to be siberianized for flagrant delight of opinion." Christine Brooke-Rose; Amalgamemnon; Carcanet Press; 1984. -------- Date: Fri Apr 11 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Botany Bay X-Bonus: No greater mistake can be made than to think that our institutions are fixed or may not be changed for the worse. ... Increasing prosperity tends to breed indifference and to corrupt moral soundness. Glaring inequalities in condition create discontent and strain the democratic relation. The vicious are the willing, and the ignorant are unconscious instruments of political artifice. Selfishness and demagoguery take advantage of liberty. The selfish hand constantly seeks to control government, and every increase of governmental power, even to meet just needs, furnishes opportunity for abuse and stimulates the effort to bend it to improper uses. ... The peril of this nation is not in any foreign foe! We, the people, are its power, its peril, and its hope! -Charles Evans Hughes, jurist and statesman (11 Apr 1862-1948) This week's theme: Toponyms Botany Bay (BOT-uh-nee BAY) noun A place of exile, punishment, or hard labor. [After Botany Bay, south of Sydney, Australia. Earliest documented use: 1789.] NOTES: In 1770 Captain James Cook landed on the southeast coast of Australia. Among his crew were two botanists who were so impressed by the diversity of plant life, they dubbed the area Botany Bay. Talk about putting down roots! When the British government sent its first fleet of convicts to colonize Australia in 1787, Botany Bay was their original destination. However, upon arrival, they found the land less than ideal for settlement (not exactly the Garden of Eden), so they moved a bit north to Sydney Cove. Still, the name Botany Bay stuck as shorthand for exile. For example, Worcester College at Oxford earned the nickname Botany Bay because it lay on the edge of the city. Also see: Coventry https://wordsmith.org/words/coventry.html stellenbosch https://wordsmith.org/words/stellenbosch.html Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth taking leave of their lovers who are going to Botany Bay https://wordsmith.org/words/images/botany_bay_large.jpg Art: Robert Sayer & Co, 1792 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany_Bay_(song)#/media/File:Black-eyed_Sue_and_Sweet_Poll_of_Plymouth_taking_leave_of_their_lovers_who_are_going_to_Botany_Bay.jpeg "Corrupt companies, incompetent governmental agencies, and gutless politicians are the real culprits. There must be a Botany Bay where these characters can be exiled." Jim Dooley; For Whom Amnesty Tolls; The News Press (Fort Myers, Florida); Jul 17, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Apr 14 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nithing X-Bonus: Civilizations in decline are consistently characterized by a tendency towards standardization and uniformity. -Arnold Toynbee, historian (14 Apr 1889-1975) I dream of a world without war. I know, I ask too much. Maybe I can dream of a world in which people fight with words instead of swords (or their modern equivalent). In my fantasy, battles are fought not with bombs but barbs. Each side lines up its choicest vocabulary, ready to sling some serious shade. Anything goes. Four-letter fusillades. Eight-syllable juggernauts. Insults that smite ancestors, mock gods, diss their dog, and question their taste in music. Nothing is sacred. I'm in the word business, so I may be a little biased here, but I believe it's better than dropping bombs on hospitals. I believe it's better than kids growing up with the trauma of living in a war zone. It's better than people having to learn to live with one or more missing limbs. If we must go to battle, I'll supply you with the ammunition. I've got words, a whole arsenal. Words sharp as stilettos and blunt as frying pans. Words Shakespeare used to verbally slap people across the face. Words that just last Tue, someone coined while half-drunk in a dive bar. This week we'll serve up five insults. Think of them as renewable verbal energy. Sling 'em again and again. They don't run out, though they might dull with overuse. And then I'll be standing by with a fresh batch, forged in the fire of etymological mischief. nithing (NY-thing) noun: 1. A coward. 2. An outlaw. 3. A miser. adjective: 1. Cowardly. 2. Treacherous. 3. Miserly. [From Old English nithing, from Old Norse nidhingr, from nidh (scorn). Earliest documented use: before 1150. See also, niddering https://wordsmith.org/words/niddering.html .] NOTES: Back in the day, if someone called you a nithing, they weren't inviting you to tea. They were challenging your honor, your bravery, and your generosity, all in one fell swoop. In Viking culture they have something called a nithing pole in which one mounts a horse's head on a pole and plants it outside a scorned person's house as a magical middle finger. All I have to say is: leave the horse out of it. A nithing pole, in fiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4UsZqy9f1w (video, 3 min) "Norsemen" TV series A nithing pole, for real: https://tv.vg.no/video/46412/teaser-300-sekunder-samfunnsboella (video, 1 min) Norwegian politician and anarchist Øystein Meier Johannessen "Surely there must be one among this crowd of nithings who has the guts to face a woman in combat?" Joanna Fulford; Surrender To The Viking; Mills & Boon Historical; 2014. -------- Date: Tue Apr 15 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--barbermonger X-Bonus: Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence. -Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry (15 Apr 1920-2012) This week's theme: Insults barbermonger or barber-monger (BAR-buhr-mong-uhr) noun One excessively concerned about appearance; a fop, a dandy. [From barber, from Old French barbour, from Latin barba (beard) + monger, from Old English mangere (merchant), from Latin mango, (dealer), Earliest documented use: 1608.] NOTES: A barbermonger is the sort who doesn't just visit the barber, but holds court there. By extension, a barbermonger is one preoccupied with their looks: the type who irons their socks to the last crease, plucks their eyebrows with Pythagorean precision, and could survive a week with nothing but hair gel and self-admiration. Also see: haircut https://wordsmith.org/words/haircut.html "I want one of those haircuts that's super popular now, but ten years ago would've been the stupidest thing anyone had ever seen." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/barbermonger_large.jpg Cartoon: Dan Piraro https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics/ "'Think you I had forgotten you, barber-monger?' He thrust his face at mine, and his hand clutched at my collar." Walter Jon Williams; Quillifer the Knight; Saga Press; 2019. "The Native Americans endured much persecution. By the late 19th to early 20th centuries they were deemed long-haired savages by many of a so-called civilized bent, the barbermongers." Roger Sigler; Our Long Hairitage; WestBow Press; 2011. -------- Date: Wed Apr 16 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--varlet X-Bonus: I'm sorry but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, gentile, black man, white. -Charlie Chaplin, actor, director, and composer (16 Apr 1889-1977) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY1Xg6X20 This week's theme: Insults varlet (VAR-luht/lit) noun 1. An unprincipled or dishonest person. 2. An attendant, servant, or a knight's page. [A variant of valet, from Latin vassus (servant, vassal). Earliest documented use: 1470.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/varlet NOTES: Once the loyal lad carrying your sword and shining your armor, the varlet slowly slipped down society's ladder, and straight into the tavern. From noble page to dishonorable knave, it's like the linguistic version of a reality show fall from grace: from squire to liar. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/varlet_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "Be on the lookout for wallet-stealing varlets." Brian C. Coad; A Placebo Effect; Analog Science Fiction & Fact (New York); Dec 2010. "Hang him, dishonest varlet!" William Shakespeare; The Merry Wives of Windsor; 1602. -------- Date: Thu Apr 17 00:01:01 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--applejohn X-Bonus: The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears, or the sea. -Isak Dinesen (pen name of Karen Blixen), author (17 Apr 1885-1962) This week's theme: Insults applejohn or apple-john (AP-uhl-jon) noun One with a shriveled body and/or mind. [After apple-john, a kind of apple that was said to keep for two years and then reached a shriveled state. It was apparently named after St. John's Day (Jun 24) around the time it ripened. Earliest documented use: 1572.] NOTES: Not every apple ages into wisdom -- some just prune. The apple-john was prized for its long shelf life... until it overstayed its welcome and looked like it had been through several centuries of soliloquies. In "Henry IV", Shakespeare has Falstaff recite: https://wordsmith.org/words/falstaffian.html "Why my skin hangs about me like an like an old lady's loose gown; I am withered like an old apple-john." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/applejohn_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "Washington Irving called James Madison, 'a little withered applejohn'." Gary Knepp; 2016 Election Could Be One of the Dirtiest in History; Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio); Sep 15, 2016. -------- Date: Fri Apr 18 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--trifler X-Bonus: You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free. -Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (18 Apr 1857-1938) This week's theme: Insults trifler (TRY-fuh-luhr) noun One not to be believed or taken seriously. [From Old French trufleor (liar, cheat). Earliest documented use: 1382.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/trifler NOTES: To trifle is to dabble, dawdle, or dance around the point and a trifler is the person doing all of the above with great flair and little substance (kind of like a meringue). The sort who'd bring a kazoo to a string quartet. The word also moonlights in metallurgy: a trifler can refer to one who works with trifle, a pewter alloy of medium hardness. Either way, triflers are never quite dealing in the heavy stuff. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/trifler_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "Voters attend debates to compare them, not triflers who want to see their names in print." Joan Little; Council Boots Away Soccer Opportunity; The Spectator (Hamilton, Canada); Sep 14, 2010. "The poet lives, and dies, and is immortal; but the eternal trifler of all complexions never dies. The eternal trifler comes and goes, sucks blood of living men, is filled and emptied with the surfeit of each changing fashion. He gorges and disgorges, and is never fed. There is no nurture in him, and he draws no nurture from the food he feeds on. There is no heart, no soul, no blood, no living faith in him: the eternal trifler simply swallows and remains." Thomas Wolfe; You Can't Go Home Again; Harper & Row; 1940. -------- Date: Mon Apr 21 00:01:01 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Podsnap X-Bonus: Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason. -Henry Fielding, author (21 Apr 1707-1754) Imagine the world about 200 years ago. No "Friends" on television, no "Squid Game" on Netflix, not even instant downloads of the latest novels on your Kindle. This was the world in which Charles Dickens published his stories, often one chapter at a time. Cliffhangers weren’t just a plot device, they were a publishing strategy. Dickens had a knack for creating unforgettable characters. Readers didn’t just love the characters, they started using their names in everyday speech. Thus were born Dickensian eponyms -- words born from names. Now it's your turn: Do you have a favorite character from fiction? If this character became a word, what would it mean? Would Gatsby be a noun for someone who throws parties they don't enjoy? Would Sherlocking mean excessive Googling before a first date? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/podsnap.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Include your location (city, state). Podsnap (POD-snap) noun A smug, self-satisfied person. [After John Podsnap, a character in Charles Dickens' novel "Our Mutual Friend" (1865). Earliest documented use: 1865.] NOTES: Podsnap is a pompous, jingoistic character, proudly immune to nuance. As Dickens describes him, "Mr Podsnap was well-to-do, and stood very high in Mr Podsnap’s opinion. ... Mr Podsnap’s world was not a very large world, morally; no, nor even geographically: seeing that although his business was sustained upon commerce with other countries, he considered other countries, with that important reservation, a mistake." As Podsnap himself adds, "No Other Country is so Favoured as This Country. ... This Island was Blest, Sir, to the Direct Exclusion of such Other Countries as -- as there may happen to be." Podsnap, the walking embodiment of moral myopia in a world so tight no unpleasant facts gets through. "I don't want to know about it; I don't choose to discuss it; I don't admit it." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/podsnap_large.jpg Podsnap in Dickens' Gallery, included with Cope's Cigarettes Photo: eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/226261639964 "Podsnaps are delighted that England is breaking away from the continent, with its meddling bureaucrats and Napoleonic legal code (Podsnaps may say 'Britain' but they really mean 'England')." Podsnappery and its Reverse; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 23, 2018. -------- Date: Tue Apr 22 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Turveydrop X-Bonus: On this 4th [of July], look beyond fireworks, parades, and pretentious patriots. Instead, celebrate whistleblowers and lamplighters who warn the people, speak truth to power -- risking their lives and fortunes defending our inalienable rights and independence against those who take our liberties away. -Thomas Drake, veteran and whistleblower (b. 22 Apr 1957) This week's theme: Dickensian eponyms Turveydrop (TUHR-vee-drop) noun One who poses as a model of deportment: the way in which one conducts oneself. [After Mr. Turveydrop, a character overly concerned with deportment, in Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" (1852). Earliest documented use: 1876. The adjectival form is turveydropian https://wordsmith.org/words/turveydropian.html .] NOTES: Mr. Turveydrop owns a dance school where he forces his son to do all the work while he parades around taking all the credit. As Dickens describes Turveydrop: "He was a fat old gentleman with a false complexion, false teeth, false whiskers, and a wig. ... He had everything but any touch of nature; he was not like youth, he was not like age, he was not like anything in the world but a model of deportment." In short, he was deportment without depth, a walking, talking showroom dummy for etiquette. The word deport here means to behave or conduct oneself, especially in a dignified manner. The other sense of deport, to evict from a country, is a later development. Both are from Latin portare (to carry). https://wordsmith.org/words/images/turveydrop_large.jpg Art: Kyd Image: eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122452331968 "Rose: 'But gentlemen don't catch up ladies like bags of meal, and poke them into carriages in this way. It is evident that you need looking after, and it is high time I undertook your society manners. Mac: 'I'll behave like a Turveydrop: see if I don't.'" Louisa May Alcott; Rose in Bloom; Roberts Brothers; 1876. -------- Date: Wed Apr 23 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Stiggins X-Bonus: But man, proud man, / Drest in a little brief authority, / Most ignorant of what he's most assured, / His glassy essence, like an angry ape, / Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven / As make the angels weep. -William Shakespeare, playwright and poet (23 Apr 1564-1616) This week's theme: Dickensian eponyms Stiggins (STI-ginz) noun A pious impostor. [After Reverend Stiggins in Charles Dickens' novel "The Pickwick Papers" (serialized 1833-36). Earliest documented use: 1916.] NOTES: Reverend Stiggins is a hypocritical deputy shepherd of a Temperance Association. His red nose betrays his true feelings about temperance. As Dickens puts it: "He was a prim-faced, red-nosed man, with a long, thin countenance, and a semi-rattlesnake sort of eye -- rather sharp, but decidedly bad." Translation: His face says "Let us pray", but his nose says "IPA". Someone who talks the talk but whose actions are clearly on the _rocks_. Other characters from who have become words are Pickwickian https://wordsmith.org/words/pickwickian.html and wellerism https://wordsmith.org/words/wellerism.html . https://wordsmith.org/words/images/stiggins_large.jpg Art: Kyd https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Joseph_Clayton_Clark#/media/File:Mr_Stiggins_1889_Dickens_The_Pickwick_Papers_character_by_Kyd_(Joseph_Clayton_Clarke).jpg "He told this paper's reporter: 'There go the Stigginses and busybodies, who want to interfere with other people's pleasures.'" Sean Ingle; Losing My Religion; The Guardian (London, UK); Apr 1, 2024. -------- Date: Thu Apr 24 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pecksniff X-Bonus: The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all other pleasures fade. -Anthony Trollope, novelist (24 Apr 1815-1882) This week's theme: Dickensian eponyms pecksniff (PEK-snif) noun A hypocritical person who pretends to have high moral principles. [After Seth Pecksniff, a character in Charles Dickens's novel "Martin Chuzzlewit" (serialized 1843-1844). Earliest documented use: 1844. The adjectival form is pecksniffian https://wordsmith.org/words/pecksniffian.html .] NOTES: Pecksniff sounds like a man who moralizes in public and misbehaves in private. Which, spoiler alert, he does. But "Pecksniff", seriously? If a character's name is Pecksniff, his moral downfall feels less like a character arc and more like a destiny. With a name like this, you have given them no hope. They're doomed from page one. See nominative determinism https://wordsmith.org/words/endonym.html . It's not just Dickens. The Harry Potter world has Voldemort (from French vol de mort: flight of death), "101 Dalmatians" has Cruella de Vil, and so on. Heroes, on the other hand, get regular names like Oliver Twist or Harry Potter. "But these ideological pecksniffs now face blowback from a growing 'freedom to read' movement, with gutsy local activists defying the screeching, self-appointed censors in communities across America." Joe Conason; To Fight Right-Wing Book Bans, Read Banned Books!;   Creators Syndicate (Los Angeles); Oct 11, 2024. -------- Date: Fri Apr 25 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Artful Dodger X-Bonus: No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices. -Edward R. Murrow, journalist (25 Apr 1908-1965) This week's theme: Dickensian eponyms Artful Dodger (art-ful DOJ-uhr) noun A nimble, cunning thief or a pickpocket. [After the Artful Dodger, nickname of Jack Dawkins, in Charles Dickens' 1838 novel "Oliver Twist". Earliest documented use: 1839.] NOTES: The Artful Dodger is part of a group of children who pick pockets and are led in a life of crime by Fagin https://wordsmith.org/words/fagin.html . The Artful Dodger is the nimblest knave in this band of pint-sized purse-liberators. Dressed like a dandy and slick as a buttered weasel, he's a performance artist with pockets as his canvas. Also see: sticky-fingered https://wordsmith.org/words/sticky-fingered.html "You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQLWOe_QD34 (4 min.) The Artful Dodger introduces Oliver to Fagin and the gang of young pickpockets and Fagin explains to Oliver that "You've got to pick a pocket or two" in order to get by. From "Oliver!" (1968) "The pouches on these bags put your phone, wallet, and other daily necessities on your chest, and that's tough to tackle for the Artful Dodgers of this world." Michael Gebicki; How to Outwit the Pickpockets; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Aug 26, 2023. -------- Date: Mon Apr 28 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--windlass X-Bonus: The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. -Terry Pratchett, novelist (Apr 28 1948-2015) Have you ever stopped to think that some words are cleverly disguised? A pineapple is neither pine nor is it an apple. Rush hour is the slowest time to be on the road. Fireflies are not flies (they are beetles), and koala bears are not bears (they are marsupials). San Francisco’s Main Street is not the main street (it's named after Charles Main, a chandler https://wordsmith.org/words/chandler.html .) Most words give us clues about what they mean. Some don't. Most of the time we can get a sense of a term by its spelling, but not always. This week's words are like that. For example, in today's word windlass there's no wind (and certainly no lass). Same with the remaining four words this week: no monopoly, no lust, no city, and no pies, though at first glance you might think otherwise. windlass (WIHND-luhs) noun: A device for lifting or hauling, using a rope or cable wound around a cylinder. verb tr.: To extract, lift, or bring forth with deliberate, steady effort. [From Old Norse vindass, from vinda (to wind) + ass (pole). Earliest documented use: 1294.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/windlass https://wordsmith.org/words/images/windlass_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "We talk about our lives, dreams we had, and what we want to do in the future. It is as if the round tower is windlassing stories out of us." Rosita Boland; The Martello Tower and the Magic Carpet of the Irish Sea; Irish Times (Dublin); Jul 13, 2015. "As though the words were being windlassed out of him." Rudyard Kipling; Captains Courageous; Doubleday; 1897. -------- Date: Tue Apr 29 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--monopolylogue X-Bonus: This world is divided roughly into three kinds of nations: those that spend lots of money to keep their weight down; those whose people eat to live; and those whose people don't know where their next meal is coming from. -David S. Landes, author, professor of economics and history (29 Apr 1924-2013) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be monopolylogue (mon-uh-POL-i-log) noun A performance in which one person plays multiple characters, typically all of them. [From mono- (one) + poly- (many) + -logue (talk). Earliest documented use: 1819.] NOTES: Despite what the name might suggest, a monopolylogue is not an economics lecture. It’s theatrical multitasking: one actor, many hats -- sometimes literally. I say we extend the word to a scenario when someone monopolizes a conversation. Not a dialogue any more. Linguistic fun fact: the poly in monopolylogue comes from the Greek for "many", whereas in monopoly it comes from the Greek for “selling”. So while one is about many voices, the other is about one seller. Ironically, both can leave the audience with no choice. The word was coined in reference to British actor Charles Mathews, whose solo show "At Home" had him playing all the parts. A kind of one-man flash mob. Charles Dickens followed suit and performed monopolylogues of his own work to adoring crowds in the UK and the US. In recent memory, Patrick Stewart boldly went where few thespians have gone before, performing all 40+ characters in "A Christmas Carol". Tiny Tim, Scrooge, the ghosts -- he was all of them. Now that is a true Federation of personalities. A Christmas Carol (Patrick Stewart) Broadway Poster https://wordsmith.org/words/images/monopolylogue_large.jpg Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0c/Christmas_Carol_%28Patrick_Stewart%29_Broadway_Poster.jpg Watch a preview of his performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k08e_4T-2Cs (video, 4 min.) "Viewing the performance as a monopolylogue shows us the characters of the protective mother, the rebellious child, the crazy grandparent, and then the slippage of these identities into the possible universal experience of fear and loss." Veronica Baxter; "Intimate Exposure" in Forays Into Contemporary South African Theatre (Marc and Jessica Maufort, eds.); Brill; 2020. -------- Date: Wed Apr 30 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lustration X-Bonus: I learn that ten percent of all the world's species are parasitic insects. It is hard to believe. What if you were an inventor, and you made ten percent of your inventions in such a way that they could only work by harnessing, disfiguring, or totally destroying the other ninety percent? -Annie Dillard, author (b. 30 Apr 1945) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be lustration (luhs-TRAY-shuhn) noun 1. An act of purification by means of rituals. 2. The purging of those associated with crimes committed under an earlier regime. [From Latin lustrare (to make bright). Earliest documented use: 1614.] NOTES: If you've ever tried to cleanse your browser history or remove the lingering influence of a previous group project gone wrong, congratulations -- you’ve dabbled in lustration. Originally used for religious or ceremonial purification, lustration was what you did when your crops failed, your city got a plague, or someone angered Jupiter by parking a chariot in a fire lane. Think of it as spring cleaning for your soul. In modern political use, lustration took on a sharper edge. After the fall of totalitarian regimes (e.g., post-Communist Eastern Europe), it came to mean the act of cleansing the government of people tied to past abuses. There's something poetic in the root lustrare, "to make bright". You're not just wiping the slate clean, you're polishing it until it gleams. Although some politicians subjected to lustration might prefer a dimmer switch. Elephants lustrating Queen Maya (Sanchi, India) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lustration1_large.jpg Photo: Anandajoti Bhikkhu https://www.flickr.com/photos/64337707@N07/33083505094 Logo of the Ukrainian Lustration Committee https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lustration2_large.jpg Image: Ukrainian Lustration Committee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustration_in_Ukraine#/media/File:%D0%9B%D1%8E%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%86%D1%96%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%96%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%82.jpg "No, he made his opinion evident by driving you out of his house at once, and indeed conducting a lustration, they say, after your departure." Lucian (Translation: H.W. Fowler and F.G Fowler); The Works of Lucian of Samosata; Oxford University Press; 1905.