A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Jul 1 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cat's pajamas X-Bonus: Guard within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness. -George Sand [pen name of Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin], novelist (1 Jul 1804-1876) Do you know the name of that Shakespeare comedy about a king swearing to avoid contact with women? How do you spell out the title of the play? With two apostrophes, one, or none? Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labours Lost Loves Labour's Lost Loves Labours Lost When the play was first published in 1598, it was titled as "Loues Labors Lost" and it has since been published with various combinations of apostrophes.* Remind me again, is it Mother's Day, Mothers' Day, or Mothers Day? On second thought, don't! Why don't we just get rid of the apostrophe? You may be thinking: What? Et tu, Anu? You were supposed to be on the other side. I thought you were a defender of the purity of language. OK, let's look at the exquisite mess that is apostrophe. A possessive takes an apostrophe (king's), except when it doesn't. Possessives its, his, hers, ours, yours, and theirs don't employ the apostrophe and the Earth still goes around the Sun. Perhaps we should cut a little slack when we see someone confusing the words its and it's. In fact, with an apostrophe, (it's) it can have two possibilities: "it is" or "it has". As seen in "it's", the "apostrophe s" construction doesn't necessarily mean a possessive. This abbreviation can have so many meanings. It could be a short form for any of the following: is (It's cold) has (He's gone) us (Let's go) does (What's she do?) A little squiggly mark, and so much trouble. Death to the apostrophe! With apostrophe in the discard bin, greengrocers can go back to making sure their stuff (such as, potato's and tomato's)** is fresh, little kids can go back to rejoicing in the beauty of English spelling (is it height, hieght, or hyt?), and hiring managers can go back to finding some other reason to reject a job application (a degree from Harvard is nice, but a resume in Comic Sans?). What about those of us with black markers in our hands, defacing (correcting) signs and defending the world from apostrophe catastrophe, you ask. Well, you'll have to find something more fulfilling and productive in life. Have you brushed your cat's (or cats' or cats) teeth lately? Some day this world would be free of metastatic cancers, narcissistic con men, and the apostrophe (I can dream, can't I?). Until that happens, it's my solemn duty to advise you that every term featured in A.Word.A.Day this week takes an apostrophe. * As it happens, "Love's Labour's Lost" is the first instance we know of the word "apostrophe" being used to indicate the omission of a letter. By the way, this is also the play that features the longest word Shakespeare ever used. https://wordsmith.org/words/honorificabilitudinity.html **But, but, but, if we get rid of the apostrophe, we'd lose the distinction between a possessive and a plural! Well, I have two things to say here: 1. In the beginning an apostrophe was used simply to indicate the omission of a letter (o'er for over). So tomato's was a perfectly fine way to write the plural of that vegetable/fruit https://wordsmith.org/words/apple-polish.html . The spelling tomato's indicated that the letter e was omitted. 2. We still use the apostrophe to indicate a plural in some cases. For example: How many i's are in the word "distinction"? cat's pajamas (CATS puh-JAH-muhz) noun Something or someone truly excellent. [From cat + pajamas, from Hindi/Urdu pajama or payjama (loose-fitting trousers), from Persian pay (leg) + jama (garment). Earliest documented use: 1923.] NOTES: In the 1920s, in the US it was fashionable to coin terms on the pattern of "animal's something" to describe something cool or awesome. Some synonyms of today's term are bee's knees, dog's bollocks, and also cat's meow and cat's whiskers. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cats_pajamas.jpg Photo: Michelle Lanter https://www.flickr.com/photos/dadadreams/5145236341/ "And while Katie Holmes may think her new fiance Tom Cruise is the cat's pajamas, moviegoers found his familiarity just a little less thrilling." Gregory Levine; Depp Makes Box Office Sweeter for Warner; Forbes (New York); Jul 18, 2005. -------- Date: Tue Jul 2 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Zeno's paradox X-Bonus: A man who is 'ill-adjusted' to the world is always on the verge of finding himself. One who is adjusted to the world never finds himself, but gets to be a cabinet minister. -Hermann Hesse, novelist, poet, Nobel laureate (2 Jul 1877-1962) This week's theme: Whose what? Zeno's paradox (ZEE-noz PAR-uh-doks) noun 1. Any of various paradoxes proposed by Zeno, dealing with change and motion. 2. The appearance of getting closer and closer to a goal, but never reaching there. [After the Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea (c. 490-430 BCE) who proposed a number of paradoxes as defense of the doctrine of his teacher Parmenides.] NOTES: The best-known among Zeno's paradoxes is that of a race between Achilles https://wordsmith.org/words/achilles_heel.html and a tortoise. Achilles runs faster, but the tortoise has a headstart. By the time Achilles reaches the tortoise's starting position, the tortoise has moved forward. By the time he reaches the tortoise's new position, the tortoise has moved farther, even though the gap is now smaller. According to the paradox, Achilles would never catch up with the tortoise because the tortoise would always be a little ahead, no matter how small the gap. Yet, we know Achilles does catch up with the tortoise (he is Achilles, not a hare). How does he do it? By not dozing off in his high school calculus and understanding the concept of limits: if you add up that infinite sequence of increasing smaller spans he travels, you get a finite distance. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/zenos_paradox_large.jpg Image: 3eHOH/Wikimedia "It sounds like biography writing as Zeno's paradox -- getting infinitesimally closer to the end without ever reaching it." Jennifer Szalai; Robert Caro's Path to Literary Power; The New York Times; Apr 11, 2019. -------- Date: Wed Jul 3 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Godwin's law X-Bonus: Now I can look at you in peace; I don't eat you any more. -Franz Kafka, novelist (3 Jul 1883-1924) [while admiring fish in an aquarium] This week's theme: Whose what? Godwin's law (GOD-winz law) noun The idea that as a debate progresses, it becomes inevitable that someone would compare another to Hitler or the Nazis. [Coined by Mike Godwin (b. 1956). Earliest documented use: 1991.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/godwins_law_large.jpg Image: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/godwins-law NOTES: Lawyers don't make laws, but a lawyer once did make a law. Back when people lived in caves, they used something called the Usenet to engage in discussions with people around the world. These discussions involved passionate arguments and debates on humanity's deep yearnings and moral dilemmas. Is it pronounced gif or jif? Is Mac better or PC? Does it take one space or two after a period? The Who vs. Led Zeppelin. vi vs. emacs? A lawyer named Mike Godwin coined an adage that stated: "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one." Since then Godwin's law has served as a useful reminder that whenever a comparison to Hitler or Nazis is made, the discussion is over and the one making such a comparison loses. There is, however, an exception. When actual Nazis (or as our president calls them, "very fine people") are involved in a discussion, invoking Godwin's law doesn't mean anything Godwin himself has stated that many times. https://twitter.com/sfmnemonic/status/1141125878874877953 https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/12/14/sure-call-trump-a-nazi-just-make-sure-you-know-what-youre-talking-about/ "In 2017, neo-Nazis claimed to be offended by the video game Wolfenstein 2, since it had the hero shooting Nazis. If you self-identify as a neo-Nazi, you can't claim Godwin's Law when people lump you in with Hitler and the Nazis." Eamonn Brosnan; Taking Offence for All the Wrong Reasons; Winnipeg Free Press (Canada); Mar 21, 2019. -------- Date: Thu Jul 4 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--child's play X-Bonus: Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth. -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (4 Jul 1804-1864) This week's theme: Whose what? child's play (CHYLDZ play) noun Something trivial; a task easily accomplished. [From child, from Old English cild + play, from Old English plega. Ultimately from the Indo-European root dlegh- (to engage oneself), which also gave us pledge, plight, and indulge. Earliest documented use: 1275.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/child's%20play "That was easy!" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/childs_play_large.jpg Photo: Joe Popp https://www.flickr.com/photos/spackletoe/90811910 "Mars -- different in almost all respects from Earth -- is nonetheless the closest thing to a sister planet, at least one close-by. But close is a relative term. Our elliptical orbits are such that we come as close as 34 million miles to each other and as far as 250 million. A rocket leaving Earth for Mars has a choice of many possible paths, but the most economical in terms of fuel is called a Hohmann transfer and takes between six and nine months one way. Our two orbits are such, however, that a crew arriving at Mars from a Hohmann would have to wait a year or more for a favorable return alignment. Therefore, a round trip would take more than two years. Compared with Apollo's eight days, that is huge, and creates a host of new issues. All in all, Apollo was child's play compared to a Mars landing." Michael Collins; Excerpted from the Preface to the 2019 edition of "Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys"; Natural History (New York); Jul/Aug 2019. -------- Date: Fri Jul 5 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Plato's cave X-Bonus: Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the same effect of youth and freshness and originality and spontaneity as it did originally, and you have done a poet's job. The rest is literature. -Jean Cocteau, author and painter (5 Jul 1889-1963) This week's theme: Whose what? Plato's cave (PLAY-tohz kayv) noun An illusory place or experience. [After the allegory of Plato's cave in which people imprisoned there see shadows and assume that to be their reality. Earliest documented use: 1683.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/platos_cave_large.jpg Illustration: 4edges/Wikimedia "The truth comes out and worlds fall apart in 'The Wild Duck'. Henrik Ibsen's family drama shines a light on a sham marriage. ... It is a Plato's cave of a play." Matt Trueman; Theatre: The Wild Duck; Financial Times (London, UK); Oct 26, 2018. "Born in captivity in the Chicago zoo, Bruno emerges from his Plato's cave through the salvation of spoken language." Zsuzsi Gartner; Young Writer Goes Ape; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Feb 5, 2011. -------- Date: Mon Jul 8 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eudemonic X-Bonus: Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people. -Jean de la Fontaine, poet and fabulist (8 Jul 1621-1695) Greenland is not all that green (more than 80% is covered in ice). Iceland is not all that icy (about 11% is glaciers). And Ireland is not full of irate people. What's going on here? Iceland is pretty straightforward. It was named by a Viking named Flóki Vilgerðarson who saw a fjord full of icebergs and thought that's all there was to it. At least he didn't name the place in vanity and display it in ugly golden letters VILGERÐARSONLAND. Greenland _was_ named for marketing reasons. Erik the Red, banished for dispatching some of his fellow citizens to Valhalla, landed here and thought the name Greenland would attract more settlers. It's not known if he tried another name in A/B testing before going with this choice. Incidentally, his father was banished from Norway for the same extracurricular activity a few decades earlier and reached Iceland. Erik the Red followed in his father's footsteps, so to speak, and was banished from Iceland and reached Greenland. Fortunately, his son Leif Erikson picked up different hobbies (first-person shooter video gaming). The name Ireland is ultimately from the Indo-European root peiə- (to be fat or to swell), suggesting abundance and prosperity. The word ire (anger) is unrelated, but given the historical anti-Irish bigotry, it's a model of restraint that Irish are not ire-ish. This week's words are somewhat like these place names. You can't tell what's really going on there just by looking at the spelling of the words. eudemonic or eudaemonic (yoo-di-MON-ik) adjective Relating to or conducive to happiness. [From Greek eudaimonia (happiness), from eudaimon (having a good genius, happy), from eu- (good) + daimon (spirit, fate, fortune). Earliest documented use: 1832.] NOTES: This is a happy word; nothing demonic about it, except in the etymology. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/eudemonic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM https://wordsmith.org/words/images/happy_pharrell_williams_youtube_screenshot.jpg "The air conditioning didn't reach back here and the heat was breathtaking, lapping at my face the way would a eudemonic dog." Leon Rooke; Swinging Through Dixie; Biblioasis; 2016. "[Gordon Brown] does not understand that an educational system can be a eudaemonic triumph even if it encourages disciplines that add not a penny to national output." Boris Johnson; The Pursuit of Happiness; The Spectator (London, UK); May 23, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Jul 9 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tradecraft X-Bonus: As a child I was taught that to tell the truth was often painful. As an adult I have learned that not to tell the truth is more painful, and that the fear of telling the truth -- whatever the truth may be -- that fear is the most painful sensation of a moral life. -June Jordan, writer, teacher, and activist (9 Jul 1936-2002) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be tradecraft (TRAYD-kraft) noun The techniques and methods of espionage and clandestine operations. [From trade, from Middle Dutch / Middle Low German trade (path, course) + craft, from Old English craeft (strength, power). Earliest documented use: 1812.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/tradecraft NOTES: The word tradecraft is not a synonym of Etsy. It has nothing to do with trading and nothing to do with needlework or pottery either. OK, in the beginning it did mean skill in a particular craft, but since the 1950s it's mostly used to talk about spying skills. One example of tradecraft is steganography https://wordsmith.org/words/steganography.html A concealment device disguised as a coin: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/tradecraft_large.jpg Photo: CIA https://www.flickr.com/photos/ciagov/5416212935/ "Hundreds more [Russian spies] were exposed by sloppy tradecraft, such as the use of sequentially numbered passports." Do Svidaniya Secrecy; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 9, 2019. -------- Date: Wed Jul 10 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--roadstead X-Bonus: Life can be perfectly satisfying without major achievements. -Alice Munro, short-story writer and Nobel Prize winner (b. 10 Jul 1931) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be roadstead (ROHD-sted) noun A partly sheltered stretch of water near the shore where ships can anchor. Also called roads. [From Old English rad (riding, journey on horseback) + Old English stede (place). Earliest documented use: 1351.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/roadstead Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Roadstead of Villefranche-sur-mer, Alpes-Maritimes, France https://wordsmith.org/words/images/roadstead_large.jpg Photo: Heinrich Kerschbaumer / Wikimedia "It was learnt that the area where the ship was berthed is a roadstead for vessels, and that the explosion caused damage to vehicles parked opposite a bank at the Marina Jetty." Godwin Oritse; NPA to Sanction Vessel Owners Over Explosion; Vanguard (Apapa, Nigeria); Nov 28, 2011. -------- Date: Thu Jul 11 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sudarium X-Bonus: If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. -E.B. White, writer (11 Jul 1899-1985) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be sudarium (soo-DAY-ree-uhm) noun A handkerchief. [From Latin sudare (to sweat). Earliest documented use: 1609.] NOTES: You might think a sudarium a collection of something or a place to hold a collection and you'd be wrong. Unlike an aquarium, armamentarium https://wordsmith.org/words/armamentarium.html , or a columbarium https://wordsmith.org/words/columbarium.html , a sudarium is simply a piece of cloth. According to legend, on the way to Christ's crucifixion, St. Veronica wiped his face with a cloth on which an image of his face was impressed. In Christianity, it's known as the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Veil of Veronica. Saint Veronica with the Sudarium https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sudarium_large.jpg Art: Master of Saint Veronica, c. 1420 "Lead me to the river with your mirror. Unwrap the sudarium from my face." F.D. Reeve; Deepstep Come Shining; Poetry (Chicago, Illinois); Jul 2000. "A prominent association between pity and handkerchiefs can be found in the story of St. Veronica, who has pity on the suffering Christ and offers him what is either her veil or a sudarium with which to wipe his face." Shawn Smith; Love, Pity, and Deception in Othello; Papers on Language and Literature (Edwardsville, Illinois); Winter 2008. -------- Date: Fri Jul 12 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--otherguess X-Bonus: Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (12 Jul 1817-1862) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be otherguess (UHTH-uhr-ges) adjective Of another kind. [An alteration of othergates, from other + gate (path), from Old Norse gata. Earliest documented use: 1632.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/otherguess_large.jpg Photo: Niccolò Carantihttps://www.flickr.com/photos/ncaranti/5669481924 "The worlds beyond living and dying, undarkened of doubts and negations, Where other ideals Faith follows and otherguess Gods they call Lord." John Payne; Flower o' Thorn; Villon Society; 1909. -------- Date: Mon Jul 15 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--superlunary X-Bonus: The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. -Iris Murdoch, writer (15 Jul 1919-1999) The moon gets no respect. Our language shows how badly we treat our only natural satellite (from Latin, literally, member of staff, bodyguard, attendant, or follower). We have coined words after the moon, such as lunacy (insanity), moonshine (illicit liquor; nonsense), and mooncalf (simpleton). Let's not even talk about the verb "to moon". What did the moon do to us anyway? Is this the way to repay it for dutifully following us day after day, month after month, for oh, four billion years? Best not to slander the moon as it's already going away from us. It's moving away only 1.5 inches a year right now, so let's not further antagonize it. All is not lost though. There are a handful of words in which we don't malign our closest celestial ally. A Monday is, literally speaking, a moon-day. A month is, literally, the time it takes for the moon to make a trip around us. This week marks 50 years since we went to the moon and said hello in person when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface on July 21, 1969. To mark the occasion, this week we'll see words that have their origin in the moon. superlunary (soo-puhr-LOON-uh-ree) adjective 1. Situated beyond the moon. 2. Celestial; exalted. [From Latin superlunaris, from super- (above) + luna (moon). Earliest documented use: 1614. The opposite is sublunary https://wordsmith.org/words/sublunary.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/superlunary "The Starry Night" is definitely a better title than "The Moony Night". At any rate, this work of art is sublunary: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/starry_night_van_gogh_large.jpg Art: Vincent van Gogh "But it is Finck's memoir, 'Passing for Human', that is putting her in the superlunary realm of graphic novelists." Leslie Newell Peacock; Liana Finck; Arkansas Times (Little Rock); Apr 1, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Jul 16 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--meniscus X-Bonus: Every student needs someone who says, simply, "You mean something. You count." -Tony Kushner, playwright (b. 16 Jul 1956) This week's theme: Words originating in the moon meniscus (mi-NIS-kuhs) noun, plural menisci or meniscuses 1. The curved surface of a column of liquid. 2. Something having a crescent-shape. 3. A lens that is concave on one side and convex on the other. 4. A thin cartilage disk between bones in a joint, such as in a knee or wrist. [From Latin, from Greek meniskos (crescent), diminutive of mene (moon). Earliest documented use: 1686.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/meniscus Meniscus of the knee https://wordsmith.org/words/images/meniscus_large.jpg Image: Andrew Meyerson / Wikimedia "My father listens silently, but I can feel a meniscus of rage rising in him, coating his throat with bile." Siddhartha Mukherjee; Runs in the Family; The New Yorker; Mar 28, 2016. -------- Date: Wed Jul 17 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--moonstruck X-Bonus: There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind. -Hannah Senesh, poet, playwright, and paratrooper (17 Jul 1921-1944) This week's theme: Words originating in the moon moonstruck (MOON-struhk) adjective 1. In a dreamy state. 2. Romantically dazed. 3. Mentally deranged. [From the belief that a person behaving erratically was under the influence of the moon. From moon + struck, past participle of strike, from Old English strican. Earliest documented use: 1674.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/moonstruck http://wordsmith.org/words/images/moonstruck_large.jpg NOTES: The moon never made anyone loony, but it's a popular excuse for erratic behavior. No one is turning into a werewolf, whether it's a full-moon or new moon. See this article Lunacy and the Full Moon from the "Scientific American". https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lunacy-and-the-full-moon/ "Fantasio is a moonstruck student who adopts the persona of a sad clown to woo the Princess Elsbeth, soon to be married against her will to the Prince of Mantua." Tim Ashley; Opera: Fantasio; The Guardian (London, UK); Dec 17, 2013. "Recall that Jerry Brown has been the [California] governor twice. He started pushing for clean energy during his first term back in the 1970s, when most people thought his starry-eyed talk about solar and wind power was crazy. Those and other exploits earned him the sobriquet 'Governor Moonbeam'. Now we know he was not a moonstruck hippie; he was a visionary." Justin Gillis; How Jerry Brown Can Seal His Legacy as a Climate Champion; The New York Times; Sep 7, 2018. -------- Date: Thu Jul 18 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--blue moon X-Bonus: The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. -William Makepeace Thackeray, novelist (18 Jul 1811-1863) This week's theme: Words originating in the moon blue moon (BLOO moon) noun A long time. [From blue, from Old French bleu + moon, from Old English mona. Earliest documented use: 1702.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/blue%20moon NOTES: The term typically appears in the phrase "once in a blue moon", meaning rarely or not often. In reality, a blue moon occurs on average once every 2.7 years. So what is a blue moon? Well, in a year you see 12 full moons, but sometimes there's a bonus full moon. This extra full moon is called a blue moon, though it's not really blue. If you want to get technical, in a season of three months you typically get three full moons. If there are four, the third full moon is called a blue moon. Sometimes, the moon actually shows up in blue, but it has nothing to do with the above discussion -- nothing to do with a full moon. The color is due to the smoke or dust particles from forest fires, volcanic eruptions, etc. So why is that extra moon called a _blue_ moon? Nobody knows. Perhaps the literal blue moon got conflated with the extra full moon because both occurrences are unusual and don't occur that often. Blue moon (figurative), Viewed from Port Coquitlam, Canada https://wordsmith.org/words/images/blue_moon_figurative_large.jpg Photo: Ursus sapien / Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Moon_July_31,_2015.jpg Blue moon (literal), Viewed from Cape Cod, Massachusetts https://wordsmith.org/words/images/blue_moon_literal_large.jpg Photo: Steve https://www.flickr.com/photos/sherseydc/1154767897/i "I started to appreciate this weird thing for what it was. Just two people who rarely have time to see each other, who aren't quite right for each other, who enjoy each other's company every once in a blue moon." Natalie B. Compton; Midair Meeting Lands in Reality; Los Angeles Times; Jun 22, 2019. -------- Date: Fri Jul 19 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lunule X-Bonus: I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in. -George McGovern, senator, author, professor, and WWII pilot (19 Jul 1922-2012) This week's theme: Words originating in the moon lunule (LOON-yool) also lunula, noun 1. The crescent-shaped whitish area at the base of the fingernail. 2. Any crescent-shaped mark, object, etc. [From French lunule, from Latin lunula, diminutive of luna (moon). Earliest documented use: 1737.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/lunule https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lunule_large.jpg Photo: Kommissar/Wikimedia "The majestic creature was yellow with black stripes and had beautiful blue lunules along its hind wings." Gary Clark; Butterfly Expert to Speak on Future of Migratory Wonders; Houston Chronicle; Apr 16, 2005. "Stick it up your lunula. Shane O'Doherty, a contestant on the Irish TV version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, is ready to sue the producer in a dispute over an answer. At the level equal to about $35,000 US, he was asked, 'Where in the body is the lunula located?' His final answer was 'in the heart', but the host booted him off, saying the lunula is part of the fingernail." But now O'Doherty says he has come up with several medical reference books using the same word for a part of the heart. See you in court." Doug Camilli; Pen to Perfect Paper; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada); Jun 25, 2001. -------- Date: Mon Jul 22 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--solecism X-Bonus: Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. / Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, / I lift my lamp beside the golden door! -Emma Lazarus, poet and playwright (22 Jul 1849-1887) [from a poem written to raise funds for building the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty] What country has the most powerful -- no, not bombs -- the most powerful passport? According to this CNN article https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/henley-index-world-best-passport-2019-intl/index.html it's a tie between Japan and Singapore. Citizens of these countries can travel to 189 countries without needing a visa (short for Latin carta visa, literally, a document seen or examined). One day, there will be no need for things such as a visa. Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion, too Imagine all the people Living life in peace You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epi7USIi-po It'll happen. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will. Until then, we'll take you to visit other countries on the magic carpet of words (no visa required). This week we'll visit places that have become words in the English language. We call such words toponyms, from Greek topos (place) + -nym (name). We're going to see Greece, China, France, Russia, and well, let's say Greenland. solecism (SOL-i-siz-ehm, SO-li-) noun 1. A grammatical mistake or a nonstandard usage. 2. A breach of etiquette. 3. An error, inconsistency, or impropriety. [From Latin soloecismus, from Greek soloikismos, from soloikos (speaking incorrectly; literally, inhabitant of Soloi) after Soloi, an ancient Athenian colony in Cilicia where a dialect considered as substandard was spoken. Earliest documented use: 1577.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/solecism "Enjoy Christmas with us. Bookings been taken now" "Setting the Standard for Pubs in Headington" (Oxford, UK) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/solecism_large.jpg Photo: Garrett Coakley https://www.flickr.com/photos/garrettc/2043233701/ "Purists who carp about grammatical solecisms such as 'try and find' instead of 'try to find' should refer to a 2007 study which found that Brits use 'try and' 71 per cent of the time in speech and 24 per cent in writing, compared with Americans who used it only 24 per cent of the time in speech and 5 per cent in writing." Michael Skapinker; The Language of Shakespeare: American English is Truer to Tradition Than the British Like to Think; Financial Times (London, UK); Mar 24, 2018. -------- Date: Tue Jul 23 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Manchurian candidate X-Bonus: Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back and drain your mind of all thought. And there you are watching the bubbles in the primeval ooze. You don't have to concentrate. You don't have to react. You don't have to remember. You don't miss your brain because you don't need it. Your heart and liver and lungs continue to function normally. Apart from that, all is peace and quiet. You are in the man's nirvana. And if some poor nasty minded person comes along and says you look like a fly on a can of garbage, pay him no mind. He probably hasn't got the price of a television set. -Raymond Thornton Chandler, writer (23 Jul 1888-1959) This week's theme: Toponyms Manchurian candidate (man-CHOOR-ee-uhn KAN-di-det) noun A person, especially a politician, acting as a puppet of a foreign power. [From the novel "The Manchurian Candidate" (1959) by Richard Condon. The term was popularized by a film (same title, 1962) based on the book. Manchuria is a region in the east between China and Russia. Earliest documented use: 1975.] 1st edition cover https://wordsmith.org/words/images/manchurian_candidate_large.jpg Image: Wikimedia "The Russians have succeeded with bringing down the US without firing a shot. We have the Manchurian candidate who has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams." John Kostick Jr.; Letters; The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania); Apr 30, 2019. -------- Date: Wed Jul 24 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Dunkirk X-Bonus: So I accept these awards on behalf of the cake bakers and all of those other women who can do some things quite as important, if not more important, than flying, as well as in the name of women flying today. -Amelia Earhart (24 Jul 1897-1937) This week's theme: Toponyms Dunkirk (DUN-kurk) noun 1. A desperate evacuation or retreat. 2. A crisis requiring drastic measures to avoid total disaster. [After Dunkirk (in French, Dunkerque), a seaport and town in northern France. In World War II, it was the site of evacuation of more than 330,000 Allied troops by sea while under German fire during May-June 1940. Earliest documented use: 1941.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Dunkirk British troops escaping from Dunkirk in lifeboats (1940) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dunkirk_large.png Photo: US War Department / Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Operation_Dynamo#/media/File:British_troops_lifeboat_dunkerque.png "We are in the worst situation we've been in since I've been at the club. This is our Dunkirk." Colin Tattum; Football; Birmingham Mail (UK); Dec 20, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Jul 25 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Siberia X-Bonus: The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause. A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (25 Jul 1902-1983) This week's theme: Toponyms Siberia (sy-BEER-ee-uh) noun An undesirable or isolated location assigned to those who have fallen out of favor or are being disciplined. [After Siberia, a vast region of central and eastern Russia, used as a place of exile by Russia under the tsars and by the USSR. Earliest documented use: 1841. See also: gulag https://wordsmith.org/words/gulag.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Siberia Russian soldiers guarding Siberian exiles https://wordsmith.org/words/images/siberia_large.jpg Photo: LOC/Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Russian_soldiers_guarding_Siberian_exiles-_convicts,_women,_and_children_LCCN92510743.tif#/media/File:Russian_soldiers_guarding_Siberian_exiles-_convicts,_women,_and_children_LCCN92510743.tif "The balcony, once a Siberia for diners without boldfaced names, could become a desired location." Florence Fabricant; Everything's Up to Date (for 1958, That Is); The New York Times; Apr 26, 2017. -------- Date: Fri Jul 26 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ultima Thule X-Bonus: All great truths begin as blasphemies. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (26 Jul 1856-1950) This week's theme: Toponyms ultima Thule (UL-tuh-muh THOO-lee) noun 1. The northernmost part of the world believed habitable by the ancients. 2. A distant or remote goal or place. 3. The farthest point. [From Latin ultima (farthest) + Thule, a place believed by ancient people to be the northernmost, variously identified as Iceland, Norway, Greenland, or Shetland Islands. Earliest documented use: 1771.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ultima%20Thule A 1935 stamp of Greenland https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ultima_thule_large.jpg Photo: Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:1935_stamps_of_Greenland_for_the_Thule_area "On what's known as the shy-bold continuum of human behaviour, Unst stands out as an ultima Thule of shyness." Ian Jack; We Used to Think Shyness Was Refined. That Was Before Social Media; The Guardian (London, UK); Sep 17, 2016. -------- Date: Mon Jul 29 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hypocoristic X-Bonus: We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects. -Alexis de Tocqueville, statesman and historian (29 Jul 1805-1859) On a recent visit to the Y (formerly YMCA), I saw a Y van with bold letters on its side, announcing: Powered by Active, Happy Kids. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/y_van_powered_by_active_happy_kids_large.jpg Photo: Stuti Garg I had _so_ many questions! I know gas prices are constantly going up, but why not raise membership dues a bit to compensate for that? Yes, we need to use creative ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel, but this? Do we really want to yoke kids into powering vans? Powered by active, happy kids? Yes, anyone would be considered "active" if they are pulling a 1000-lb. vehicle -- no need to state the obvious -- but are those tykes really "happy" doing it? What happened to child labor laws? I'm against even the use of horses to pull carriages, but if we really have to put any animals into this, why not get adult humans to do it? I mean, all that huffing and puffing on treadmills and ellipticals goes to waste anyway. Isn't there some word like "manpower"? The only place where Powered by Happy Kids* would make sense is on the side of a tricycle. Seriously though, I understand whoever came up with the idea of sticking that phrase on a van thought they were helping the Y be hip. But there's something to be said about sprachgefuhl https://wordsmith.org/words/sprachgefuhl.html . Well, that van may or may not be powered by kids, but a lot of language is, in fact, powered by little ones. A bimbo is, literally, a little child (from Italian); El Nino is the Christ Child (from Spanish); infantry is, literally, little kids (from Italian); a pupa is a little girl or doll (from Latin). This week's words are powered by children too. We've rounded up children, Greek, Latin, and French, and put them into powering this week's words. If they are not easily visible, it's because we've hidden them in the engine room (also known as the etymology room) of the language. * Though when push comes to shove, "Powered by Happy Kids" is still preferable over "Powered by Happy" https://amazon.com/dp/1402226969/ws00-20 . hypocoristic (hy-puh-kuh-RIS-tik, hip-uh-) adjective: Relating to a pet name or diminutive form of a name. noun: A pet name or diminutive form of a name. [From Greek hypokoristikos, from hypokorizesthai (to call by pet names), from hypo- (under) + kor- (child). Ultimately from Indo-European root ker- (to grow), which is also the source of other words such as increase, recruit, crew, crescent, cereal, concrete, crescendo, sincere, and Spanish crecer (to grow). Earliest documented use: 1796.] "Malena is the hypocoristic form of Madalena, but there is nothing diminutive about supermodel-actress Monica Belluci." Edwin Jahiel; Tornatore's 'Malena' Another Unknown but Moving Film; News Gazette (Champaign, Illinois); Mar 2, 2001. -------- Date: Tue Jul 30 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--filiation X-Bonus: If I could I would always work in silence and obscurity, and let my efforts be known by their results. -Emily Bronte, novelist (30 Jul 1818-1848) This week's theme: Powered by kids filiation (fil-ee-AY-shuhn) noun 1. The fact of being descended or derived from someone or something. 2. The act of determining such relationship. 3. Forming of a new branch. [From Latin filius (son). Earliest documented use: 1529.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/filiation "French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner recently asked the German government to grant citizenship to French war babies who seek it after tracing their filiation." Edward Cody; "At Last I Had a Father"; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada); Dec 12, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Jul 31 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--teknonymy X-Bonus: Kind words, kind looks, kind acts, and warm hand-shakes, - these are means of grace when men in trouble are fighting their unseen battles. -John Hall, pastor (31 Jul 1829-1898) This week's theme: Powered by kids teknonymy or tecnonymy (tek-NON-uh-mee) noun The custom of naming a parent after their child. [From Greek teknon (child) + -onym (name). Earliest documented use: 1888.] NOTES: If you have ever called your spouse Billy's Dad or Billy's Mom, you have practiced teknonymy. When we refer to a parent as a senior, as in Bush Sr. (or, to get fancy, Bush père), we are also doing a kind of teknonymy. It's just that in some cultures teknonymy is practiced more formally and a parent is renamed after the birth of the first child. There are many reasons for using teknonymy. In some cultures, it's considered taboo to call certain relations by name (as in the usage example below). Sometimes, it's convenience. You may not know or remember the names of your child's friends' parents, for example, so you resort to teknonymy. "Indeed, the taboo against using personal names is so strong, and the urge to teknonymy so strong, that the child in question can be imaginary. Sim cites with disapproval the example of a young housewife on a TV gameshow being asked to introduce to the audience the gentleman standing besides her. Her reply [meant] 'This is my husband (the father of our as-yet-unconceived child)'." Ho-min Sohn; Korean Language in Culture and Society; University of Hawaii Press; 2006.