A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Jul 1 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--southpaw X-Bonus: It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1 Jul 1742-1799) This week's theme: Words originating in the hand southpaw (SOUTH-paw) noun: A left-handed person. adjective: Left-handed. [Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1813.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/southpaw NOTES: The term is especially common in baseball to describe a left-handed pitcher and in boxing to describe a boxer who uses the left hand for the most powerful punches, but what's the origin of the term? According to popular belief, the term originated in baseball: the diamond was placed so the batter faces east and avoids the afternoon sun. A left-handed pitcher facing the batter would thus have the left hand to the south. The only problem with this is that the earliest citation of the term doesn't involve baseball or any other sports. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/southpaw_large.jpg Photo: Makoto Goto https://www.flickr.com/photos/tarowan/2756026441/ "Are you right-handed or southpaw?" Kat Savage; For Now; CreateSpace; 2018. -------- Date: Mon Jul 4 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--staycation X-Bonus: What other dungeon is so dark as one's own heart! What jailer is as inexorable as one's self! -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (4 Jul 1804-1864) When two words love each other very much, they get together in the privacy of the pages of a dictionary and, well, make a new word. That's how the mom and dad "stay" (b. 1440) and "vacation" (b. 1386) made the baby "staycation". You may have met staycation recently, but it's not a baby anymore -- it was born in 1944, so it's older than most of you reading this. And scratch that fairy tale about love. They don't need love to make babies. After making staycation, vacation couldn't sit still. It cozied up with other words, making daycation (a day trip) and nearcation (a vacation close to home). "Stay" on its part isn't that holy either. It has given birth to "holistay" (holiday + stay). And these are the words we _know_ about. Who knows what other new words are out there! Sometimes you wish the Merriam-Websters of the world would put a sturdy cardboard instead of that flimsy paper between the words to put a stop to all this baby word making. We love all words, but are not sure if the world needs another variation on "vacation". This week we'll see some other words, also known as portmanteaux, formed by blending. If you have ever spent a night in a motel, for vacation or uhm, "love", you have already enjoyed the fruits of blending (motor + hotel). staycation (stay-KAY-shuhn) noun: A vacation spent at home or close to home. verb intr.: To vacation at or close to home. [A blend of stay + vacation, from Latin vacare (to be empty). Earliest documented use: 1944. Also see, busman's holiday https://wordsmith.org/words/busmans_holiday.html .] NOTES: It's all relative. In the US, a vacation taken at or close to home -- a day trip -- is a staycation. In the UK, the definition includes any vacation taken within one's country instead of traveling abroad. Another example of how geography shapes language. In general, a staycation is one where one stays in one's own home, instead of a hotel. If you own houses around the world, well, it's all staycation for you. Sorry. What are your favorite ways to staycation? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/staycation.html or write to us at words@wordsmith.org. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/staycation_large.jpg Image: https://keepmeme.com/meme/looking-out-plane-window-vs-washing-machine-door-expectation-vs-reality-meme "If anyone actually asked about her vacation, she would make up some grand lie about a boring staycation that involved bingewatching Downton Abbey and eating ice cream straight from the carton." Kimberly Van Meter; The Flyboy's Temptation; Harlequin; 2016. -------- Date: Tue Jul 5 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--orature X-Bonus: The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven't attempted to contact us. -Bill Watterson, comic strip artist (b. 5 Jul 1958) This week's theme: Blend words orature (OR-uh-chuhr) noun Songs, poems, stories, etc., transmitted orally across generations. [A blend of oral + literature. Earliest documented use: 1976.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/orature_large.jpg Art: CM Russell (1864-1926) Image: Buffalo Bill Center of the West https://centerofthewest.org/get-involved/board-of-trustees/russell-the-storyteller_11-74/ "Tanya Evanson: I'm interested in pushing those boundaries, and seeing how literature, and, by extension, orature, can be presented live." Lynn Saxberg; Poetry in Motion; The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Aug 23, 2018. -------- Date: Wed Jul 6 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pennant X-Bonus: All the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering the animals are our equals. -Peter Singer, philosopher and professor (b. 6 Jul 1946) This week's theme: Blend words pennant (PEN-uhnt) noun 1. A long tapering flag. 2. A flag symbolizing a sports championship or another achievement. 3. A victory, championship, etc. [A blend of pendant, from Latin pendre (to hang) + pennon, from Latin penna/pinna (feather). Earliest documented use: 1470.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pennant https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pennant_large.jpg Image: The Letterman Co https://thelettermanco.com/products/school-felt-pennant-pre-k-kindergarten-1st-grade-6th-grade "Earl squinted into the rising sun, focusing on a blue and white pennant that fluttered from the top of the flagpole." Edward D. Hoch; The Frankenstein Factory; Hale; 1976. "[Jackie] Robinson had to agree to play a season in the minors. With Montreal in 1946, Robinson batted .349. After the team won the International League pennant, he recalled Montreal fans hurrying after him outside the ballpark. He began to run. The crowd ran behind him. He began to weep. 'I started crying,' he told me, 'because I thought here are all these whites running after a Negro, to get his autograph, not to lynch him.'" Roger Kahn; The Jackie Robinson I Remember; The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education; Dec 31, 1996. -------- Date: Thu Jul 7 00:01:02 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--flexitarian X-Bonus: Men rarely (if ever) managed to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (7 Jul 1907-1988) This week's theme: Blend words flexitarian (flek-suh-TAYR-ee-uhn) noun: One who follows a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally consumes animal products. adjective: Primarily but not completely vegetarian. [A blend of flexible + vegetarian. Earliest documented use: 1998.] "I'm vegetarian with the exception that I still eat children." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/flexitarian_large.gif Cartoon: Dan Piraro https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics/ "38% of American consumers said that they guzzle plant-based milk, but only 12% did so exclusively. The others were flexitarian, drinking both moo juice and the nutty or beany variety." Fake Moos; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 12, 2019. -------- Date: Fri Jul 8 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bromance X-Bonus: What is called discretion in men is called cunning in animals. -Jean de la Fontaine, poet and fabulist (8 Jul 1621-1695) This week's theme: Blend words bromance (BRO-mans) noun A close friendship between men. [A blend of bro + romance. Earliest documented use: 2001. The female equivalent is womance (Don't blame us -- we didn't coin these).] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bromance_large.jpg Photo: Pete Souza / White House "But Kai's most elaborate billionaire bromance has been with Mark Zuckerberg. They went foiling together on Kauai, and the paparazzi caught Zuckerberg looking extra silly. Zuckerberg later described Kai as 'magical'." William Finnegan; Big Breaks; The New Yorker; May 30, 2022. -------- Date: Mon Jul 11 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--staddle X-Bonus: I hold one share in the corporate earth and am uneasy about the management. -E.B. White, writer (11 Jul 1899-1985) At first glance this week's words may appear to be misspelled. Some words might make you wonder: Is a letter missing? Others: Is there an extra letter here? The answer in each case is: None of the above. Each word we feature this week has exactly as many letters as it needs. Nothing to add. Nothing to remove. Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said, "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Going by that definition, these words are perfect, even though there was no designer who made them. Sometimes there's no need for a designer (intelligent or not). Can we call a word a "little print"? If so, these little prints are perfect as they are. Tame them and add them to your wordstock. You become responsible, however, for what you have tamed. Use them judiciously. This week we'll feature five words that appear to be misspelled. staddle (STAD-uhl) noun A base, support, or supporting framework. [From Old English stathol (base, support, or tree trunk). Earliest documented use: 900.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/staddle NOTES: Staddle stones are mushroom-shaped stones on which granaries are rested. This helps keep the grain dry and stops rodents from climbing in. A granary resting on staddle stones, Hampshire, UK https://wordsmith.org/words/images/staddle_large.jpg Photo: Anguskirk https://flickr.com/photos/anguskirk/7140203287/ "When Donald Frazier set his mind on marrying a Catholic, the staddle on which his mother's church was built had already begun to crumble." John Gardner; Stillness & Shadows; Knopf; 1986. -------- Date: Tue Jul 12 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dragoon X-Bonus: Love is so short and forgetting is so long. -Pablo Neruda, poet, diplomat, Nobel laureate (12 Jul 1904-1973) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspelled dragoon (druh-GOON) verb tr. To force someone to do something; coerce. [From French dragon (dragon, to dragoon). Earliest documented use: 1622.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dragoon NOTES: This is a good example of how the meaning of a word evolves from an object to a person to an action. Originally, the word dragoon referred to firearms, either from the fact that they breathed fire like a dragon or from the shape of the pistol hammer. Eventually, it began to be applied to a cavalryman armed with a carbine. Today the term is a verb for forcing someone to do something against their will. "The government tightly controls cotton, Uzbekistan's third-biggest export (after gold and gas) ... It normally dragoons public-sector workers to harvest the bolls. But this autumn thousands of doctors, nurses, and teachers were sent home from the fields. The government says greater mechanisation and higher wages for pickers will soon allow it to do without forced labour altogether." From a Low Base; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 16, 2017. -------- Date: Wed Jul 13 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--specie X-Bonus: The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism. -Wole Soyinka, playwright, poet, Nobel laureate (b. 13 Jul 1934) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspelled specie (SPEE-shee/-see) noun 1. Money, especially in a form that has an intrinsic value (for example, coins made from precious metals as opposed to paper money). 2. Type or kind (used in the phrase "in specie" meaning "in a similar manner"). [From Latin species (appearance, form, kind), from specere (to look). Earliest documented use: 1551.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/specie Leprecoin "I invested my pot of gold in digital currency." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/specie_large.jpg Cartoon: Wayno & Piraro https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics/ "For all we know, the banks may never open again! I've heard they've nearly run out of specie!" Kia Corthron; Moon and the Mars; Seven Stories Press; 2021. -------- Date: Thu Jul 14 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--navvy X-Bonus: Live your life as an experiment. -Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun and author (b. 14 Jul 1936) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspelled navvy (NAV-ee) noun A laborer or a construction worker. [Short for navigator, from Latin navigator (sailor), from navigare (to sail), from navis (ship). Earliest documented use: 1829.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/navvy NOTES: A navigator is someone who navigates. In the past, it was also a sailor or a mariner, from Latin navis (ship). Then the word came to be applied to someone who worked on the construction of a canal. Eventually, it became shortened to navvy and was used for any constructor worker, one who worked on roads, railroads, etc. The word is also used for mechanical excavators. "The Railway Navvies" https://amazon.com/dp/1784082325/ws00-20 "It was a navvy all covered with mortar, white dust, and mud." Ali Smith; The Book Lover; Anchor Books; 2006. -------- Date: Fri Jul 15 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--compromis X-Bonus: I daresay anything can be made holy by being sincerely worshipped. -Iris Murdoch, writer (15 Jul 1919-1999) This week's theme: Words that appear to be misspelled compromis (KOM-pruh-mee) noun An agreement, especially between nations, to submit disputes to arbitration. [From French compromis (compromise). Earliest documented use: 1590.] "Nabil el-Arabi: They are the ones who are acting not in accordance with, and contrary to, the compromis which we have signed. ... Once the arbitration panel accepted our position, it should have been over." Menachem Shalev; Israel's Diplomatic 'Nemesis' at Taba, Nabil El-Arabi; Jerusalem Post (Israel); Jan 29, 1989. -------- Date: Mon Jul 18 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--speechify X-Bonus: It is never my custom to use words lightly. If twenty-seven years in prison have done anything to us, it was to use the silence of solitude to make us understand how precious words are and how real speech is in its impact on the way people live and die. -Nelson Mandela, activist, South African president, Nobel laureate (18 Jul 1918-2013) A picture is worth a thousand words, so we try to find illustrations to accompany words we feature here. Sometimes it's easy* to find them sometimes not. To illustrate this week's words, we requested Mona Lisa (literally, Madam Lisa) and she graciously agreed to sit for five paintings in various styles. We are especially grateful because she's more than 500 years old (you didn't hear that from us, but in any case signora looks a fraction of her age.) Leonardo was unavailable (as usual, caught up in his graphomania https://wordsmith.org/words/graphomania.html ), so we signed up DALL·E, a new arrival on the art scene. DALL·E is a very versatile painter, actually an AI system, that can generate images from a given prompt. The name is a portmanteau https://wordsmith.org/words/portmanteau.html of WALL·E (a robot from the eponymous film) and Salvador Dalí. What are your thoughts? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/images/speechify.html or email us. As always, include your location (city, state). If you have access to DALL·E or another AI system like this, how would you illustrate this week's words? Email your images to words@wordsmith.org. Speaking of another AI system, Google has come up with its own, Imagen, a very creative name, a blend of image + generation. We'd love to do a week of words accompanied by images made by Imagen. If you are with Google, please contact us at words@wordsmith.org. *We could have simply put a picture of Ted Cruz with the word speechify and be done with it, but we don't want to take the easy route. Just because one Can does not mean one cun. speechify (SPEE-chuh-fy) verb intr. To make a speech, especially in a tedious or pompous manner. [From speech, from Old English spaec/spreac (speech), from sprecan (to speak) + -ify (to make), from Latin facere (to make or do). Earliest documented use: 1723.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/speechify https://wordsmith.org/words/images/speechify_large.png Illustration: Anu Garg × DALL·E AI "It is wise to be sceptical when politicians speechify on religion." One Nation Under Gods; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 3, 2012. -------- Date: Tue Jul 19 00:01:02 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--agrostology 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 illustrated with AI agrostology (ag-ruh-STOL-uh-jee) noun The study of grasses. [From Greek agrostis (a type of grass), from agros (field) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1820.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/agrostology_large.png Illustration: Anu Garg × DALL·E AI "'Agrostology is not the most er... flamboyant of professions. That's my proper field.' 'I see. Rutabagas are just a sideline. But think of all the cows you've made happy.'" Charlotte MacLeod; Rest You Merry; G. K. Hall; 1979. -------- Date: Wed Jul 20 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--smilet X-Bonus: To be able to say how much you love is to love but little. -Petrarch, scholar and poet (20 Jul 1304-1374) This week's theme: Words illustrated with AI smilet (SMY-luht) noun A little smile. [From smile + -et (a diminutive suffix). Earliest documented use: 1591.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/smilet_large.png Illustration: Anu Garg × DALL·E AI "As the muscles of your face force a smilet, your face starts to crack." Mavi'nin Sesi; Light of Lilith-11; Cosmo Publishing; 2021. "His eyes glittered as he gauged her humor. 'Quid pro quo?' 'Tit for tat,' she consented with a smilet, and realized to her shame that she was flirting." Rona Sharon; Royal Blood; Kensington Books; 2009. -------- Date: Thu Jul 21 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tergiversation X-Bonus: Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead. -Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (21 Jul 1899-1961) This week's theme: Words illustrated with AI tergiversation (tuhr-ji-vuhr-SAY-shuhn) noun 1. Misleading, evasive, or ambiguous speech or action. 2. Desertion of a party, position, cause, etc. [From Latin tergiversari (to turn one's back, to evade), from tergum (back) + vertere (to turn). Earliest documented use: 1570.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/tergiversation https://wordsmith.org/words/images/tergiversation_large.png Illustration: Anu Garg × DALL·E AI "The tobacco industry is a master of tergiversation. On the one hand, it claims that plain-packaging legislation has boosted cigarette sales by leading to a price war, but at the same time it resorts to the law and lobbying to try and abolish it." James Moore; Letters; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jul 18, 2014. -------- Date: Fri Jul 22 00:01:02 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--meta X-Bonus: Illness is in part what the world has done to a victim, but in a larger part it is what the victim has done with his world. -Karl A. Menninger, psychiatrist (22 Jul 1893-1990) This week's theme: Words illustrated with AI meta (ME-tuh) adjective: 1. Self-referential. 2. Relating to members of its own category. adverb: In a self-referential manner. noun: Something that is self-referential. prefix: Denoting transformation, transcending, going beyond, etc. [From Greek meta (after, beyond, behind, beside, among, etc.). Earliest documented use: 1838.] Meta painting https://wordsmith.org/words/images/meta_large.png Illustration: Anu Garg × DALL·E AI Lisa del Giocondo (1479-1542), the woman who was the model for the Mona Lisa painting, died today 480 years ago. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/373814-this-sentence-has-five-words-here-are-five-more-words Meta graffiti in Paris https://wordsmith.org/words/images/meta_graffiti_large.jpg Photo: Wikimedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta#/media/File:Humoristic_grafitti_(cropped).jpg Meta sentence: This sentence has five words. What are your favorite examples of meta? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/meta.html or write to us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state). "The watchers became the watched. It was all so very meta." Sean Williams, et al; Solaris Rising 3; Solaris; 2014. "A new comedy about fantasy football, which follows a group of armchair quarterbacks as they try to tackle life. How meta would it be if people started betting on what was going to happen on the show?" TV Guide; Oct 26, 2009. -------- Date: Mon Jul 25 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--John Henry X-Bonus: There would be no society if living together depended upon understanding each other. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (25 Jul 1902-1983) I once came across a fellow named Modern Man. Real story. That was his official name. That's how he was listed on his driver's license and passport. If was probably a bit of a challenge to have customer support or 911 not hang up. You have to admire the boldness and courage it takes to officially rename oneself like this. The rest of us carry on with whatever name our parents slapped on us when we were born. Here's to rebels and nonconformists! This week we'll see five words that have origins in popular names. We'll cover first names, diminutive names, last names, and full names. Is there a story behind your name? Do you have an unusual name? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/john_henry.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state). Here are some tidbits about my name https://wordsmith.org/anu/anu-name.html . John Henry (jon HEN-ree) noun A person's signature. [From the name John Henry, from confusion with John Hancock https://wordsmith.org/words/john_hancock.html . Hancock's signature was the most prominent on the United States Declaration of Independence https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Declaration_of_Independence.jpg and his name became a synonym for a signature. Earliest documented use: 1914.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/John%20Henry Andy Warhol's John Henry on a Campbell's Soup can, c. 1970 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/john_henry_large.jpg Photo: Wright https://www.wright20.com/auctions/2020/07/art-design/138 "The clerk insisted: 'You have to sign this or you can't use it here.' So, Steve scribbled his John Henry on the card." D.F. Oliveria; Stereotype at the Plate; Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington); Mar 18, 2006. -------- Date: Tue Jul 26 00:01:02 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mollycoddle X-Bonus: The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. -Carl Jung, psychiatrist (26 Jul 1875-1961) This week's theme: Words derived after names mollycoddle (MOL-ee-kod-uhl) noun: A pampered or overprotected person. verb tr.: To overprotect or pamper. [From Molly (a nickname for Mary) + coddle (to treat or boil gently), from caudle (a warm drink for the sick), from Latin caldum (hot drink), from calidus (warm). Earliest documented use: 1823.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mollycoddle https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mollycoddle_large.jpg Photo: EDWW https://flickr.com/photos/esteemedhelga/9489079388/ "What a mollycoddle you are, crying for your parents." Sabrina Jeffries; What the Duke Desires; Simon & Schuster; 2013. "Why are we mollycoddling these people? ... There is a reason why we don't ask drunks how they feel about not being allowed to drive the car." Jonn Elledge; Why Does the Media Mollycoddle Anti-Vaxxers?; The New Statesman (London, UK); Aug 18, 2021. -------- Date: Wed Jul 27 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Jones X-Bonus: It was my shame, and now it is my boast, That I have loved you rather more than most. -Hilaire Belloc, writer and poet (27 Jul 1870-1953) This week's theme: Words derived after names Jones (jonz) noun: One's neighbors or social equals. Typically used in the phrase: keeping up with the Joneses. [From Jones, a common surname. The phrase was popularized by the comic strip "Keeping up with the Joneses" that ran in newspapers from 1913 to 1938. Earliest documented use: 1879.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Jones jones (jonz) noun: An addiction or craving, especially for drugs. verb intr.: To have an intense longing. [Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1965.] Chevrolet ad (1956) "More people named Jones own Chevrolets than any other car. Are you keeping up with the Joneses?" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/jones_large.jpg Illustration: Austin Briggs Image: saltycotton https://www.ebay.com/itm/274530154997 "Dunton had kept his private life completely separate from his profession and avoided any nonsense of competing with Joneses." Geoffrey Household; The Courtesy of Death; Brown; 1967. "And aren't we all always jonesing for a way out or in, a better deal, a shorter distance to x, more y." Ellen Doré Watson; In Which We Are What We Repeatedly Do; Ploughshares (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Spring 2022. -------- Date: Thu Jul 28 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--patsy X-Bonus: We are social creatures to the inmost centre of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong. -Karl Popper, philosopher and professor (28 Jul 1902-1994) This week's theme: Words derived after names patsy (PAT-see) noun One who is easily taken advantage of, by being deceived, unfairly blamed, or ridiculed. [Perhaps from the name Patsy, a diminutive of Patrick or Patricia, or from Italian pazzo (crazy), whose plural is pazzi, pronounced paht-see. Earliest documented use: 1889.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/patsy "When Mogoeng Mogoeng was named chief justice by Mr Zuma, many worried that he would be a patsy. Yet he has steadfastly overseen rulings that thwart or chide the president." South Africa's Democracy; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 19, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Jul 29 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jasper X-Bonus: No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country. -Alexis de Tocqueville, statesman and historian (29 Jul 1805-1859) This week's theme: Words derived after names jasper (JAS-puhr) noun A person; guy. [From the name Jasper. Earliest documented use: 1896.] A wasp. [Perhaps from the name Jasper. Earliest documented use: 1967.] A compact, opaque quartz, typically in dull shades of red, yellow, and brown. [From Old French jaspre, from Latin iaspis, from Ancient Greek iaspis, of Semitic origin. Earliest documented use: 1330.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/jasper "We'll show those jaspers in Chicago, Montreal, and Vancouver." Geoffrey Stevens; Looking for Encore, City Seeks Spectacles; The Vancouver Sun (Canada); Aug 1, 1989.