A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue May 1 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--meme X-Bonus: A man must be excessively stupid, as well as uncharitable, who believes there is no virtue but on his own side. -Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1 May 1672-1719) This week's theme: Coined words meme (meem) noun 1. An element of culture, idea, behavior, etc., that's transmitted from person to person. 2. An image, video clip, etc. often with amusing caption, that's transmitted virally on the Internet. [From Greek mimeisthai (to imitate, copy); coined by the biologist Richard Dawkins in his book "The Selfish Gene" in 1976.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/meme_large.jpg "I mean, jeez, no one clicked 'like' on the meme you posted four minutes ago and you think that's a reason to kill yourself?" Katharine Miller; Slantindicular; Sparkling Observationalist; 2017. -------- Date: Wed May 2 00:01:05 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--teetotal X-Bonus: Man can be the most affectionate and altruistic of creatures, yet he's potentially more vicious than any other. He is the only one who can be persuaded to hate millions of his own kind whom he has never seen and to kill as many as he can lay his hands on in the name of his tribe or his God. -Benjamin Spock, pediatrician and author (2 May 1903-1998) This week's theme: Coined words teetotal (tee-TOH-tuhl) adjective 1. Practicing abstinence from alcohol. 2. Total; absolute. [Coined by Richard Turner of Preston, England, in a speech calling for total abstinence, apparently as an emphatic form of the word total. Earliest documented use: 1833.] Teetotal Street, St Ives, UK https://wordsmith.org/words/images/teetotal_large.jpg Photo: Matt Brown https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/19119655654/ "The young man was teetotal by choice. Too many folk end up ruining themselves with the drink, he'd once told Lorimer." Alex Gray; Five Ways To Kill a Man; Witness Impulse; 2017. -------- Date: Thu May 3 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--booboisie X-Bonus: A prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice. -Niccolo Machiavelli, political philosopher and author (3 May 1469-1527) This week's theme: Coined words booboisie (boo-bwa-ZEE) noun Ignorant or uncultured people regarded as a class. [Coined by H.L. Mencken, as a blend of boob (a stupid person) + bourgeoisie (the middle class), from French bourgeois, from Latin burgus (fortress, fortified town). Earliest documented use: 1922.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/booboisie https://wordsmith.org/words/images/booboisie_large.jpg Image: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/get-a-brain-morans "Maybe it means that such artists operate at a level of sophistication that eludes the booboisie." Sam Sacks; Life Choices; Harper's Magazine (New York); Feb 2017. -------- Date: Fri May 4 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ekistics X-Bonus: Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. -Horace Mann, educational reformer (4 May 1796-1859) This week's theme: Coined words ekistics (i-KIS-tiks) noun The study of human settlements, drawing on such disciplines as city planning, architecture, sociology, etc. [Coined by Constantinos A. Doxiadis (1913-1975), Greek architect and urban planner, from Greek oikistikos (of settlement), from oikizein (to settle), from oikos (house). Earliest documented use: 1968.] "Yet as any student of ekistics could have predicted, it was Jupiter which remained the economic heart of Edenism. For it was Jupiter which supplied the single largest consumer of He3: Earth and its O'Neill Halo." Peter F. Hamilton; The Neutronium Alchemist; Macmillan; 1997. -------- Date: Mon May 7 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--black dog X-Bonus: Convulsions in nature, disorders, prodigies, miracles, though the most opposite to the plan of a wise superintendent, impress mankind with the strongest sentiments of religion. -David Hume, philosopher, economist, and historian (7 May 1711-1776) Earthworms, dogs, monkeys, and humans. We are all cousins in the great journey of evolution. Chimps share 99% of our DNA https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tiny-genetic-differences-between-humans-and-other-primates-pervade-the-genome/ . Our language shows our close relationship with our evolutionary mates, the non-human animals, in a vocabulary that's filled with words derived from animals. Some of these words are obvious, others not. A constable is, literally speaking, a count of the stable. A canopy is a mosquito curtain (from Greek konops: mosquito) and a pavilion (from Latin papilion: butterfly) is a butterfly with his wings spread out. This week we'll see five terms that have animals peeking from them. We'll meet dog, fly, calf, pig, and bird. black dog (blak dog) noun Depression. [In the beginning, a black dog was a canine of dark complexion. Then it started to be used metaphorically to refer to a counterfeit coin, perhaps because such a coin was made of base metals (instead of silver or gold) that turn black over time. Eventually, the term began to be applied to depression. The lexicographer Samuel Johnson used the term in the 1780s for his own depression: "When I rise my breakfast is solitary, the black dog waits to share it, from breakfast to dinner he continues barking." In modern times, Winston Churchill popularized the term when he used it to describe his own depression. Earliest documented use: 1665.] I had a black dog, his name was depression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiCrniLQGYc (4 min.) "Ed reacted without thinking. 'I'm not that depressed,' he said, and regretted it. He wanted to talk about the damn black dog, didn't he?" Bill Percy; Climbing the Coliseum; Xlibris; 2014. -------- Date: Tue May 8 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gobemouche X-Bonus: No two persons ever read the same book. -Edmund Wilson, critic (8 May 1895-1972) This week's theme: Words derived from animals gobemouche (GOB-moosh) noun A gullible or credulous person. [From French gobe-mouche (flycatcher, sucker), from gober (to suck or swallow) + mouche (fly). Earliest documented use: 1818.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gobemouche1_large.jpg Photo: David Merrett https://www.flickr.com/photos/davehamster/746318257/ https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gobemouche2_large.jpg "No adverse effects on the nose, throat and sinuses of the group from smoking Chesterfield!" Image: Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising http://tobacco.stanford.edu/ "My son asked me about buying 80 shares of Nike in his individual retirement account. I didn't care for a company that made shoes for basketball players, telling him only a gobemouche would pay $100 for a pair of smelly sneakers." Malcolm Berko; Just Buy It; Creators Syndicate; Oct 4, 2017. -------- Date: Wed May 9 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mooncalf X-Bonus: The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another, and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it. -J.M. Barrie, novelist and playwright (9 May 1860-1937) This week's theme: Words derived from animals mooncalf (MOON-kaf) noun 1. A daydreamer or absent-minded person. 2. A fool or simpleton. 3. A congenitally deformed person. [From the earlier belief that a misshapen birth was a result of the effects of the moon. Earliest documented use: 1565.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mooncalf_large.jpg Image: Erich Ferdinand https://www.flickr.com/photos/erix/2936950341/ "I'll have to stand about on the sidelines, leaning on my crutches like a poor, pathetic mooncalf." Elizabeth Mansfield; An Encounter with Venus; Open Road; 2014. -------- Date: Thu May 10 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pork barrel X-Bonus: The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it's considered to be your style. -Fred Astaire, dancer, actor, singer, musician, and choreographer (10 May 1899-1987) This week's theme: Words derived from animals pork barrel (PORK bar-uhl) noun The spending of government funds on projects designed to ingratiate legislators with their constituents. [In the beginning, a pork barrel was a barrel for storing pork. Over time, it became synonymous with ready supply of money, and eventually with government projects or appropriations designed to please voters. Sometimes, the term is used, simply, as pork, instead of pork barrel. Earliest documented use: 1705.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pork%20barrel "As revealed in lights this week, this coalition's weakness is ... the pork barrel nature of its regional development initiatives." Pork-Barrel Policies Expose Achilles' Heel; Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand); Mar 3, 2018. -------- Date: Fri May 11 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--railbird X-Bonus: The sole difference between myself and a madman is the fact that I am not mad. -Salvador Dali, painter (11 May 1904-1989) This week's theme: Words derived from animals railbird (RAYL-buhrd) noun 1. A horse-racing enthusiast. 2. A spectator at a contest. 3. An observer who offers uninvited advice or criticism. [A railbird is someone who watches horse races or training sessions from the railing along the track. Bird is slang for a person with a specific character, a peculiar person. Earliest documented use: 1793.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/railbird Railbirds at the World Poker Tour: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/railbird_large.jpg Image: World Poker Tour https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldpokertour/22490368500/ "A lot of railbirds surrounded one of the tables. She couldn't see who was playing but she sensed at once that it was a money game." Richard Koff; Runout; iUniverse; 2003. -------- Date: Mon May 14 00:01:04 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--megalomania X-Bonus: Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand. -Aharon Barak, law professor, former President of the Supreme Court of Israel (b. 1936) "Take two and call me in the morning." That could be a good advice in lots of situations. Let's say you're looking for a word to describe something. Perhaps you can take two words and combine them to build a new word. For example, you want to describe a president who has delusions of grandeur. You pick up two building blocks, such as megalo- (large) + -mania (craze), and there you have your megalomaniac. What are combining forms? You can think of them as Lego (from Danish, leg: play + godt: well) bricks of language. As the term indicates, a combining form is a linguistic atom that occurs only in combination with some other form which could be a word, another combining form, or an affix (unlike a combining form, an affix can't attach to another affix). This week we'll look at five words that are made using these combining forms: megal- (large), lepto- (thin), sapro- (rotten), ecto- (outside), carcino- (cancer) and -mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze), -dermous (skin), -genic/genous (producing) megalomania (meg-uh-lo-MAY-nee-uh) noun A mental illness characterized by delusional fantasies of greatness, wealth, power, etc. [From Greek megal- (large, great) + Latin -mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze). Earliest documented use: 1885.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/megalomania https://wordsmith.org/words/images/megalomania_large.jpg Photo: Rasulovs/iStock "'We are taking over the world of yoga.' At the graduation day for 500 Startups, a school for entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, such statements of focused megalomania are the norm. 'We will own this space,' predicts the founder of a company." Everybody Wants to Rule the World; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 27, 2014. -------- Date: Tue May 15 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--leptodermous X-Bonus: When you re-read a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in yourself than there was before. -Clifton Fadiman, editor and critic (15 May 1904-1999) This week's theme: Words made using combining forms leptodermous (lep-tuh-DUHR-muhs) adjective Having a thin skin. [From Greek lepto- (thin) + -dermous (skin). Earliest documented use: 1888. The opposite is pachydermous.] "The brand new state representative from Artesia County got stuck with that trap -- House Bill 100 -- today. He's got to throw a party for his colleagues, by an old tradition." Cole Not Leptodermous; 'Pals' Hope He's Solvent; The Albuquerque Tribune (New Mexico); Jan 28, 1955. -------- Date: Wed May 16 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--saprogenic X-Bonus: I have learned, by some experience, that virtue and patriotism, vice and selfishness, are found in all parties, and that they differ less in their motives than in the policies they pursue. -William H. Seward, US Secretary of State, governor, senator (16 May 1801-1872) This week's theme: Words made using combining forms saprogenic (sap-ro-JEN-ik) adjective Causing or produced by decay. [From Greek sapro- (rotten) + -genic (producing). Earliest documented use: 1876.] "By 1883 the long fingers of the decay had spread like saprogenic tendrils into every house." M. Allen Cunningham; The Green Age of Asher Witherow; Unbridled Books; 2004. -------- Date: Thu May 17 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ectogenous X-Bonus: A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points. -Alan Kay, computer scientist (b. 17 May 1940) This week's theme: Words made using combining forms ectogenous (ek-TOJ-uh-nuhs) adjective Able to survive outside a host (as some bacteria and other parasites do). [From Greek ecto- (outside) + -genous (producing). Earliest documented use: 1883.] "But on other levels, its dark, poisonous, ectogenous malignancy continues to feed on information and remembered pain and pleasure, changing, growing, spreading within the vast host body." Rex Miller; Savant; Open Road; 2014. -------- Date: Fri May 18 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--carcinogenic X-Bonus: A book of verses underneath the bough, / A jug of wine, a loaf of bread -- and thou / Beside me singing in the wilderness -- / Oh, wilderness were paradise enow! -Omar Khayyam, poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, and physician (18 May 1048-1131) https://wordsmith.org/words/enow.html This week's theme: Words made using combining forms carcinogenic (kahr-si-nuh-JEN-ik) adjective Capable of causing cancer. [From Greek carcino- (cancer) + -genic (producing). Earliest documented use: 1916.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/carcinogenic "She preached sound diet and positive attitude, preferred to eat crap, smoke and drink, and actively wanted something else carcinogenic to do, like sunbathing." Frances Fyfield; Safer Than Houses; Little, Brown; 2005. -------- Date: Mon May 21 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hobbesian X-Bonus: When I am asked, "What, in your view, is the worst human rights problem in the world today?" I reply: "Absolute poverty." This is not the answer most journalists expect. It is neither sexy nor legalistic. But it is true. -Mary Robinson, 7th President of Ireland (b. 21 May 1944) Some authors may be gone for hundreds of years, but their literary trails continue to linger. Eponyms are the sillage https://wordsmith.org/words/sillage.html of these authors. Coined from the Greek epi- (upon) + -onym (name), eponyms are words coined after people who, through their words or deeds, have found a place in the language and enriched our wordstock. This week we'll see five eponyms coined after authors -- English, French, Italian, Spanish, and American. CONTEST Can you identify an author's favorite food, drink, ice cream flavor, pastime, film, etc. based on a quotation from their works? Here's what I came up with for Hobbes: Q: What was Thomas Hobbes's favorite drink? A: A small, unsweetened glass of Nestea. ("nasty, brutish and short") PRIZES Selected entries will win their choice of a signed copy of any of my books https://wordsmith.org/awad/books.html or a copy of the word game One Up! https://www.oldscoolcompany.com/pages/its-like-scrabble-and-bananagrams-but-way-faster-and-funner HOW TO ENTER Email your entries to contest@wordsmith.org in this format: Q: What's [author]'s favorite [band/sport/food/etc.]? A: _______________________ ("a supporting quotation from [author]") Send them by Friday. Include your location. You can send more than one entry. It can be any author, not necessarily one featured in this week's words. Hobbesian (HOB-zee-uhn) adjective 1. Of or relating to Thomas Hobbes or his ideas. 2. Grim, selfish, unrestrained, etc. [After English philosopher and author Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), who in his book "Leviathan" displayed a grim, dog-eat-dog view of human nature. Earliest documented use: 1776.] Q: What was Thomas Hobbes's favorite drink? A: A small, unsweetened glass of Nestea. ("nasty, brutish and short") Thomas Hobbes: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hobbesian.jpg Artist unknown Image: Wikimedia Commons "But it hews to Mr Trump's view of the world as violent and Hobbesian." The State of the Union Is Fractious; The Economist (London, UK); Jan 31, 2018. -------- Date: Tue May 22 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--marivaudage X-Bonus: I like to say that arms are not for killing. They are for hugging. -Betty Williams, peace activist, Nobel laureate (b. 22 May 1943) This week's theme: Eponyms coined after authors marivaudage (mar-uh-VO-dazh) noun 1. Affected writing style. 2. Banter, especially of flirtatious nature. [After the French novelist Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), known for the verbal preciousness of his romantic comedies. Earliest documented use: 1765.] Pierre de Marivaux https://wordsmith.org/words/images/marivaudage_large.jpg Artist unknown "The chatter between bemused husbands and the director's numerous wives is brash marivaudage." Joan Dupont; Tout Ca...Pour Ca! The Movie Guide; International Herald Tribune (Paris, France); Jul 9, 1993. -------- Date: Wed May 23 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--marinism X-Bonus: If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. -Margaret Fuller, author (23 May 1810-1850) This week's theme: Eponyms coined after authors Marinism (muh-REE-ni-zuhm) noun A literary style marked by extravagant imagery, elaborate metaphors, etc. [After the Italian poet Giovanni Battista Marino (1569-1625). Earliest documented use: 1867.] Giovanni Battista Marino, c. 1621 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/marinism_large.jpg Art: Frans Pourbus the Younger "[Sweat, ye fires, in preparing metals.] Ever since seventeenth-century Marinism has fallen out of fashion, an image that switches the sweat from the blacksmith's brow to the fire of his smithy has been censured as egregiously pointless." Michael Riffaterre; The Interpretant in Literary Semiotics; The American Journal of Semiotics (Charlottesville, Virginia); Vol. 3, Issue 4, 1985. -------- Date: Thu May 24 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cervantic X-Bonus: It is the people who scream the loudest about America and Freedom who seem to be the most intolerant for a differing point of view. -Rosanne Cash, singer-songwriter and author (b. 24 May 1955) This week's theme: Eponyms coined after authors Cervantic (suhr-VAN-tik) adjective Of or relating to Miguel de Cervantes, especially his satirizing of the chivalric romances. [After the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), best known for "Don Quixote". Earliest documented use: 1760. Many of Cervantes's characters have also become eponyms https://wordsmith.org/words/quixote.html .] Miguel de Cervantes https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cervantic_large.jpg Art: Supposedly by Juan de J?uregui (1583-1641) "The novel's strong vein of comic dissent is summed up in the figure of Yorick, Shakespearean joker and memento mori, whose Cervantic tilting at windmills has a serious edge." Carol Watts; Rereadings; The Guardian (London, UK); Aug 23, 2003. -------- Date: Fri May 25 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lovecraftian X-Bonus: Stop fixing your bodies and start fixing the world! -Eve Ensler, playwright and activist (b. 25 May 1953) This week's theme: Eponyms coined after authors Lovecraftian (luhv-KRAF-tee-uhn) adjective Of or relating to the work of H.P. Lovecraft: terrifyingly monstrous and otherworldly. [After H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), writer of fantasy and horror fiction. Earliest documented use: 1940s.] H.P. Lovecraft https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lovecraftian_large.jpg Image: Doktor Mabuse https://www.flickr.com/photos/calmax/14499629109/ "They were a non-team of troublesome outsiders, banding together to protect Earth from Lovecraftian demons, wizards from other dimensions, and furry, Yeti-like aliens." John Semley; The Anti-Avengers; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); May 1, 2015. -------- Date: Mon May 28 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--metanoia X-Bonus: Story, finally, is humanity's autobiography. -Lloyd Alexander, novelist (30 Jan 1924-2007) A word's currency works somewhat like monetary currency. The more people use a word, the more useful it becomes. The more people know it, the easier it is for you to use. That's our aim with this week's words -- to let the world know that there's a word for it and to encourage them to use it. Slip them in your emails, letters, memos, term papers, and stories and send them around. metanoia (met-uh-NOI-uh) noun A profound transformation in one's outlook. [From Greek metanoia (a change of mind), from metanoein (to change one's mind). Earliest documented use: 1577.] "You'll need to rethink everything. Here you'll need to resort to old-style metanoia, to radical rethinking and alteration." Alois Brandstetter (Translation: Peter & Evelyn Firchow); The Abbey; Ariadne Press; 1998. -------- Date: Tue May 29 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cremnophobia X-Bonus: To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged. -Norman Mailer, author (31 Jan 1923-2007) This week's theme: There's a word for it cremnophobia (krem-no-FO-bee-uh) noun A fear of precipices or cliffs. [From Latin cremnos (overhanging cliff) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1903.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cremnophobia_large.jpg Photo: Clint https://www.flickr.com/photos/amberandclint/3567034608/ "You want to be an eagle," he said. "Now that's proud. Now that's what proud is all about." "Yep, but I don't want to be so high. Cremnophobia, and I don't like heights." Thinkpen Write; Characters, Colors-N-Cash; Trafford; 2004. Fear of heights is acrophobia https://wordsmith.org/words/acrophobia.html -------- Date: Wed May 30 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ochlocracy X-Bonus: Speculation is perfectly all right, but if you stay there you've only founded a superstition. If you test it, you've started a science. -Hal Clement, science fiction author (30 May 1922-2003) This week's theme: There's a word for it ochlocracy (ahk-LAHK-ruh-see) noun Government by the mob; mob rule. [From Middle French ochlocratie (mob rule), from Greek ochlokratia (mob rule), from ochlos (mob) + -kratia (-cracy, rule). Earliest documented use: 1594.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ochlocracy "No heresy in our time is more noxious than trying to implant ochlocracy in the Church. And that's what you're trying to do." Jorge Amado; The War of the Saints; Bantam; 1993. -------- Date: Thu May 31 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--enantiodromia X-Bonus: I never would believe that Providence had sent a few men into the world, ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled and bridled to be ridden. -Walt Whitman, poet (31 May 1819-1892) This week's theme: There's a word for it enantiodromia (i-nan-tee-uh-DROH-mee-uh) noun The tendency of things, beliefs, etc., to change into their opposites. [From Greek enantio- (opposite) + dromos (running). Earliest documented use: 1917.] NOTES: You can keep going up a mountain, but once you hit the peak you can only go down. A pendulum moves in one direction, but once it has reached its rightmost it travels left. So it goes with beliefs, ideologies, and politics, apparently. Once we have elected a black man as a president, we have to pick someone with a long sordid record of discrimination https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/trumps-long-history-of-racism-w497876 . The concept of enantiodromia is attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus (c. 535-475 BCE). Later it was discussed by the psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875-1961) as "the principle which governs all cycles of natural life". "The union that Philip Murray had founded in 1936 as a way of combatting the wretched excess of management had come full circle in the cycle of enantiodromia, and had fallen victim to its own wretched excess." Tom O'Boyle; Excess, the Golden Rule; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Sep 4, 1994.