A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Jun 1 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scrutator X-Bonus: Let your tears come. Let them water your soul. -Eileen Mayhew This week's theme: words to describe people. scrutator (skroo-TAY-tuhr) noun One who investigates. [From Latin scrutator (searcher), from scrutari (to examine), from scruta (trash).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Something like 'heaven forgive me' was in Clara's mind, though she would have declared herself innocent before the scrutator." George Meredith; The Egoist; Kessinger Publishing; 2004. -------- Date: Mon Jun 4 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--premorse X-Bonus: The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950) What happens when you remove the letter "a" from the front of the alphabet? You b-head it. Each of this week's words sprouts another word when you behead it. Go ahead, try it. Decapitate these words. Decollate them. You won't hurt a thing. Nor will the word-police arrest you for verbicide -- destroying (the meaning of) a word -- for in each instance you'll be generating another word, a guaranteed 100% dictionary word. premorse (pri-MORS) adjective Having the end abruptly truncated, as if bitten or broken off. [From Latin praemorsus, from praemordere (to bite in front), from prae- (before), mordere (to bite). Ultimately from the Indo-European root mer- (to rub away or to harm) that is also the source of morse, mordant, amaranth, morbid, mortal, mortgage, and nightmare.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "As I looked over the water, I saw the isles rapidly wasting away, the sea nibbling voraciously at the continent, the springing arch of a hill suddenly interrupted, as at Point Alderton -- what botanists might call premorse, -- showing, by its curve against the sky, how much space it must have occupied, where now was water only." Henry David Thoreau; Cape Cod; 1865. -------- Date: Tue Jun 5 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--testate X-Bonus: When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stone-cutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it would split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before together. -Jacob A. Riis, journalist and social reformer (1849-1914) This week's theme: words that turn into other words when beheaded. testate (TES-tayt) adjective Having made a legally valid will. [From Latin testatus (witnessed), from testari (to bear witness or to make a will). Ultimately from the Indo-European root trei- (three) that's also the source of such words as three, testify (to be the third person: to bear witness), and triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'You want to do the will tonight?' my wife would coo. We put it off. The sight of a blank will leaves a man too testy to be testate." Steve Rubenstein; Where There's a Will There's a Clark; San Francisco Chronicle; Aug 19, 1991. -------- Date: Wed Jun 6 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--previse X-Bonus: The only person you should ever compete with is yourself. You can't hope for a fairer match. -Todd Ruthman This week's theme: words that turn into other words when beheaded. previse (pri-VYZ) verb tr. To foresee or to forewarn. [From Latin praevisus, past participle of praevidere (to foresee), from pre- (before) + videre (to see). Ultimately from the Indo-European root weid- (to see) that is the source of words such as wise, view, supervise, and wit.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The first four releases ... previse plenty of good times to come." Catherine Apple Olson; Home video: Children's; Billboard; Jan 18, 1997. -------- Date: Thu Jun 7 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--strident X-Bonus: I'll tell you how the sun rose-- / A ribbon at a time. -Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886) This week's theme: words that turn into other words when beheaded. strident (STRYD-nt) adjective Loud, grating, strongly expressed. [From Latin stridere (creak).] Behead it twice: strident/trident/rident https://wordsmith.org/words/rident.html -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Now 34, [Aviv] Geffen remains unrepentant and just as outspoken as in the early days when he began using the stage as a platform for airing his strident political views against Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza." Barry Davis; Taking His Bad Boy Image Abroad; The Jerusalem Post (Israel); May 31, 2007. -------- Date: Fri Jun 8 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--educe X-Bonus: An open mind is a prerequisite to an open heart. -Robert M. Sapolsky, neuroscientist and author (1957- ) This week's theme: words that turn into other words when beheaded. educe (i-DOOS, i-DYOOS) verb tr. 1. To draw out; to elicit, as something latent. 2. To deduce. [From Latin educere (to draw out), from ex- (out of) + ducere (to lead). Ultimately from the Indo-European root deuk- (to lead) that led to other words such as duke, conduct, educate, duct, wanton, and tug.] Duce (DOO-chay) is a loanword from Italian meaning a leader or dictator. Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini was known as Il Duce. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "For a growing number who don't mind putting serious money into home audio, that means reintroducing vacuum tubes into audio components, one of the latest methods designers are using in the never-ending attempt to educe perfect sound, whether from vinyl or silicon." Chris Rubin; Sound Effects; Los Angeles Times; Apr 9, 1996. -------- Date: Mon Jun 11 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stalworth X-Bonus: Be careful how you interpret the world: it *is* like that. -Erich Heller, essayist (1911-1990) Are you one of those people who love antiques? You hang around yard sales on weekends for some rare item that might be up for sale. You stop at every antique mall on your way to grandpa's house. In a way, you love to travel back in time. If you're one of those folks, consider this week's words as unpackng the antique trunk of the English language. Linguistically, they're called archaic terms. They were once everyday words, but today they reveal their age. They have an old-time appeal. Not that these words show any wear and tear. They're still ready to serve, patiently waiting in the pages of dictionaries, even though labeled as senior citizens of the language. They haven't called it quits. They still have their shingles up. Verily, I urge you to become better acquainted with them. stalworth (STOL-wurth) adjective Stalwart: strong, dependable, firm. [From Middle English, from Old English staelwierthe (serviceable), from stathol (support) + weorth (worth).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "That the theorists were on the money speaks well for the power of scientific speculation and calculation and is a testament to the stalworth pundits of the last half century who nurtured a field." Minas Kafatos and Andrew Michalitsianos; Supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud; Cambridge University Press; Jun 9, 1988. -------- Date: Tue Jun 12 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--selcouth X-Bonus: Strange game. The only winning move is not to play. -A computer after simulating hundreds of war games in the movie WarGames (1983), written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes * Today, June 12, 6 pm Pacific (GMT -7) Chat about the history of English * with Anne Curzan, author, professor of English: https://wordsmith.org/chat This week's theme: archaic words. selcouth (SEL-kooth) adjective Strange; unusual; marvelous. [From Middle English, from Old English seldcuth, from seldan (seldom) + cuth (known), from cunnan (to know).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Then forth they rushed: by Leader's tide, A selcouth sight they see." Walter Scott (1771-1832); Thomas the Rhymer. -------- Date: Wed Jun 13 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--peradventure X-Bonus: It's like, at the end, there's this surprise quiz: Am I proud of me? I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth what I paid? -Richard Bach, writer (1936- ) This week's theme: archaic words. peradventure (pur-ad-VEN-chur) adverb Maybe; possibly. noun Uncertainty; doubt. [From Middle English per aventure, via French, from Latin per- (through) + adventurus, future participle of advenire (to arrive).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[Philip Coyle, former director of operational test and evaluation at Pentagon] reckons America's chances of shooting down an enemy missile next year, if peradventure it needed to, are 'practically zero'." Warding Off Missiles; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 6, 2003. -------- Date: Thu Jun 14 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dehort X-Bonus: There is no greater fallacy than the belief that aims and purposes are one thing, while methods and tactics are another. -Emma Goldman, social activist (1869-1940) This week's theme: archaic words. dehort (di-HORT) verb tr. To discourage from doing something. [From Latin dehortari (to dissuade), from de- + hortari (to urge).] This well-meaning word has gone out of circulation while its antithesis "exhort" continues to prosper. It's about time to remedy the situation and bring this rather usable word back to currency. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "To those of his Friends that dehort him from Poetry." Thomas Randolph (1605-1635); On the Inestimable Content He Enjoys in the Muses. -------- Date: Fri Jun 15 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--latchet X-Bonus: Do not commit the error, common among the young, of assuming that if you cannot save the whole of mankind, you have failed. -Jan de Hartog, playwright and novelist (1914-2002) This week's theme: archaic words. latchet (LATCH-it) noun A shoe strap to fasten a shoe on the foot; a shoelace. [From Middle English lachet, from Old French lachet, from lacet.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Why do I tell you all this, dear? Because it is heavy on my heart. Because I walk the Valley of Humility. Because I am subduing myself to permanent consciousness of my unworthiness to unloose the latchet of Dr. Barritz's shoe." Ambrose Bierce; A Lady From Redhorse; 1891. -------- Date: Mon Jun 18 00:31:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--donnybrook X-Bonus: Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him. -Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968) On June 16, James Joyce aficionados the world over celebrated Bloomsday. The day is named after advertising salesman Leopold Bloom, protagonist of Joyce's novel Ulysses. The entirety of this 700+ page book recounts one ordinary day, June 16, 1904, as various characters go about their ways in Dublin. In those 24 hours Bloom traversed the streets of Dublin. In his honor we'll spend the next five days visiting places in Ireland. We'll see words that have their origin in towns, hamlets, and suburbs in Eire (the Irish name of Ireland). Here is the map of our virtual tour: https://wordsmith.org/awad/irish.html donnybrook (DON-ee-brook) noun A brawl, a free-for-all. [After Donnybrook, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, where an annual fair was held until 1855. This Donnybrook Fair was known for its alcohol-fueled brawls.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "For a split second, you had to wonder if a donnybrook were about to break loose." Phillip M. Bowman; Lexington Reaction Was As Ugly As It Was Inappropriate; The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina); May 19, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Jun 19 00:31:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--limerick X-Bonus: Tolerably early in life I discovered that one of the unpardonable sins, in the eyes of most people, is for a man to presume to go about unlabelled. The world regards such a person as the police do an unmuzzled dog, not under proper control. -Thomas Henry Huxley, biologist and writer (1825-1895) This week's theme: toponyms coined after places in Ireland. limerick (LIM-uhr-ik) noun A humorous, often risque, verse of five lines with the rhyme scheme aabba. [After Limerick, a borough in Ireland. The origin of the name of the verse is said to be from the refrain "Will you come up to Limerick?" sung after each set of extemporized verses popular at gatherings.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "First of all, the limerick judges at this newspaper would like contestants to know that we are acutely aware that 'Journal' rhymes with 'urinal.' Almost as much fun as reading limericks was reading excuses from the people who wrote the limericks. It was as if we had caught someone reading the Sex With Aliens Weekly at the supermarket. Diane Harvey, of DeForest, for example, began her entrant thusly: 'It is with a deep sense of shame that I submit the following puerile, low-brow limericks and confess the guilty pleasure I had in writing them. As one who normally leads a completely respectable life, I cannot tell you what an illicit thrill it was to shed the trappings of responsible adulthood and for a 'brief shining moment' indulge in rude juvenile humor once again.' "Several writers put the 'Journal-urinal' rhyme to obvious use, and a few similarly included good-humored critiques of columnist George Hesselberg, as in the one by Dan Barker, of Madison: There once was a parrot named 'Colonel,' Who read all the papers diurnal. But his favorite page On the floor of his cage Was the Hesselberg page from the Journal." Limerick Tricks: - Readers Turn Their Talents to Punny, Funny Rhymes; Wisconsin State Journal (Madison); Jun 2, 1996. -------- Date: Wed Jun 20 00:31:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--blarney X-Bonus: It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing with the same set of facts. -Bill Vaughan, journalist (1915-1977) This week's theme: toponyms coined after places in Ireland. blarney (BLAHR-nee) noun 1. Flattery. 2. Misleading talk. [After the Blarney stone, a stone in Blarney Castle in Blarney village, near Cork, Ireland which, according to legend, gives the gift of the gab to anyone who kisses it.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'[Ronan Keating] is really down to earth and cares about issues like cancer and poverty. Also, he really cares about his fans,' said Yang, who said she had met the singer and evidently fell for his blarney." Jules Quartly; Ronan Keating Shays It Bescht; Taipei Times (Taiwan); May 11, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Jun 21 00:31:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shillelagh X-Bonus: I am aware that no man is a villain in his own eyes. -James Baldwin, writer (1924-1987) This week's theme: toponyms coined after places in Ireland. shillelagh also shillalah (shuh-LAY-lee, shuh-LAY-luh) noun A cudgel, traditionally made of blackthorn or oak. [After Shillelagh, a village in County Wicklow, Ireland, famous for its oaks.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Ultimately, Ballymore is Finnegan's dramatic shillelagh that prods us to wonder how we'll feel about our own hometowns years hence when they become cold and empty." Peter Rusland; Reel Nice Effort by Merc Crew; News Leader and Pictorial (Duncan, Canada); Jun 2, 2007. -------- Date: Fri Jun 22 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--carrageen X-Bonus: Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well. -Peter Ustinov, actor, writer and director (1921-2004) This week's theme: toponyms coined after places in Ireland. A virtual tour: https://wordsmith.org/awad/irish.html carrageen or carragheen (KAR-uh-geen) noun An edible seaweed, usually purplish, found on the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America. Also called Irish moss. Carrageen is the source of carrageenan, used as a thickener and emulsifier (to make sure a solid is evenly distributed in a liquid). [After Carrageen, near Waterford in southeast Ireland.] Pictures of carrageen: http://www.google.com/search?q=carrageen&prmd=imvnse&source=lnms&tbm=isch -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Melissa Katsoulis collects the school reports of famous writers. Who is this week's pupil? There is a petition going around this school requesting that cook supplement her carrageen moss pudding with the ripe wee noses of first-years, and we can only assume your son is at the bottom of it. This is a modest submission compared with his 'What I Did On My Holidays', a ridiculous confection seemingly designed to test the limits of our credulity. He should remember that there is a fine line between Juvenal and juvenile, and while the masters of Kilkenny are able to tell the difference, the world at large may not be. Answer: Jonathan Swift." Melissa Katsoulis; Swots and monsters; The Times (London, UK); Apr 14, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Jun 25 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pudibund X-Bonus: Don't be yourself. Be someone a little nicer. -Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983) Usually the words in AWAD form a theme but once in a while we simply feature words that are engaging by themselves. Consider this a cross-country drive through the dictionary, with no itinerary in hand. We'll make several stops along the way, but who knows where we might stop, and why. Let's see what kind of words we might come across. We'll meet words that are long or short and unusual or familiar, but all of them, just like people, are interesting if we care enough to learn about them. pudibund (PYOO-di-buhnd) adjective Prudish. [From Latin pudere (to make or be ashamed).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Curiously, Life, pudibund family magazine that it was, hesitated about running the story." Brian Boyd; Vladimir Nabokov : The American Years; Princeton University Press; 1991. -------- Date: Tue Jun 26 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--agrestic X-Bonus: If an animal does something, we call it instinct; if we do the same thing for the same reason, we call it intelligence. -Will Cuppy, journalist (1884-1949) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. agrestic (uh-GRES-tik) adjective 1. Rural; rustic. 2. Crude; unpolished. [From Latin agrestis (of fields), from ager (field, land). Ultimately from the Indo-European root agro- (field) that's also the source of agriculture, acre, peregrine, and pilgrim (a variant of peregrine).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "With a night of bingo, bowling, and prizes for the best country-bumpkin costumes, attendees can get in touch with their country roots. The Tom Foolers will play live bluegrass throughout the night to further set the agrestic mood." Megan Jicha; Bluegrass Bingo Bash; The Boston Globe; Mar 29, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Jun 27 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--moiety X-Bonus: If there existed no external means for dimming their consciences, one-half of the men would at once shoot themselves, because to live contrary to one's reason is a most intolerable state, and all men of our time are in such a state. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. moiety (MOI-i-tee) noun 1. A half. 2. A portion. [From Latin medius (middle). Ultimately from the Indo-European root medhyo- (middle) that's also the source of middle, mean, medium, medal (originally a coin worth a halfpenny), mezzanine, and mediocre.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Amazingly, Carbery failed to score in the opening moiety." Ballincollig Impress; The Southern Star (Skibbereen, Ireland); Jun 16, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Jun 28 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--compossible X-Bonus: The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. -Madeleine L'Engle, writer (1918- ) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. compossible (kom-POS-uh-buhl) adjective Compatible; possible along with something else. [From Latin com- (with) + possibilis (that may be done), from posse (to be able). Ultimately from the Indo-European root poti- (powerful, lord) that is also the source of power, potent, possess, and pasha.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "I also argue that the presence of compossible options is a precondition of political toleration." Peter Jones; Making Sense of Political Toleration; British Journal of Political Science (Cambridge, UK); Jul 2007. -------- Date: Fri Jun 29 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ataraxia X-Bonus: One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being. -May Sarton, poet and novelist (1912-1995) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. ataraxia (at-uh-RAK-see-uh) also ataraxy, noun A state of freedom from disturbance of mind. [From Greek ataraktos (not disturbed), from tarassein (to disturb).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Once ataraxia has been achieved, happiness cannot be augmented, either by more accomplishments or by a longer life." David Voron; When Death Comes Knockin' Who Ya Gonna Call?; Skeptic (Altadena, California); Jan 2005.