A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Wed Aug 1 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rendezvous
X-Bonus: Since my house burned down / I now own a better view / of the rising moon. -Mizuta Masahide, poet and samurai (1657-1723)
This week's theme: Words that have the plural spelled the same but pronounced differently
rendezvous (RAHN-day-voo, -duh-), plural rendezvous (RAHN-day-vooz, -duh-)
noun: 1. A meeting at an agreed time and place.
2. A prearranged meeting place.
3. A popular gathering place: haunt.
verb tr., intr.: To meet at a prearranged time or place.
[From French rendez-vous (present yourselves), imperative of rendre
(to present) + vous (you). Earliest documented use: 1556.]
"When Zina's husband falls for the ballerina, the two women connive to
trick him, disguising the wife as the potential lover for a rendezvous."
Brian Seibert; Playing Up The Humor When Fools Fall in Love;
The New York Times; May 31, 2012.
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Date: Thu Aug 2 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pince-nez
X-Bonus: The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of. -Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (1623-1662)
This week's theme: Words that have the plural spelled the same but pronounced differently
pince-nez (PANS-nay, PINS-) noun, plural pince-nez (-nayz)
A pair of eyeglasses held in place by a spring that grips the nose.
[From French pince-nez, literally, pinch-nose. Ultimately from the
Indo-European root nas- (nose) that is also the source of other words for
nose: English nose, Hindi nak, Spanish nariz, French nez, and related
words nuzzle, nostril, nasal, and nark https://wordsmith.org/words/nark.html .
Earliest documented use: 1866.]
Anton Chekhov in pince-nez https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pince-nez.jpg
Detail from a portrait by Osip Braz, 1898
NOTES: We may now wonder why someone didn't think of the obvious solution
of adding side arms sooner, but hindsight is 20/20. Pince-nez were an
improvement over what they used before: a lorgnette
https://wordsmith.org/words/lorgnette.html .
"Edward Weston had pince-nez on a cord around his neck and would peer
at her through the lenses of the glasses."
Matt Schudel; Charis Wilson, Model and Muse; The Washington Post;
Nov 25, 2009.
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Date: Fri Aug 3 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--precis
X-Bonus: The man who dies rich dies disgraced. -Andrew Carnegie, industrialist (1835-1919)
This week's theme: Words that have the plural spelled the same but pronounced differently
precis (pray-SEE, PRAY-see), plural precis (pray-SEEZ, PRAY-seez)
noun: A concise summary.
verb tr.: To make a concise summary.
[From French pr�cis (precise), from Latin praecisus (curtailed), past
participle of praecidere (to shorten). Earliest documented use: 1760.]
"We'd end [the review] with a pithy precis of our thoughts on the novel."
Alex Preston; Gold by Chris Cleave; The Observer (London, UK); Jun 2, 2012.
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Date: Mon Aug 6 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chop-chop
X-Bonus: Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage. -Ambrose Bierce, author and editor (1842-1914)
Here in Washington State we have a town named Walla Walla ("place
of many rivers") from a Sahaptian language word walla, meaning river.
Linguists call such repetition of a word reduplication.
Reduplication occurs when a word is formed by repeating another word,
sometimes with a slight change in sound (for example, shilly-shally
https://wordsmith.org/words/shilly-shally.html ). This repetition
may be used to indicate plurality, to intensify the idea, to convey
the idea of "etc." and so on.
In many languages you might hear constructions that would literally
translate as "New York City has many tall tall buildings" implying
there are very tall skyscrapers in NYC. Or one might say, "Small small
children were playing in the park" implying there were many tiny tots
there. People are also named like this, such as the cellist of Chinese
origin Yo-Yo Ma ("friendly-friendly").
While English is not averse to reduplication, we have borrowed
words from other languages as well that show this tendency for
reduplication.
chop-chop (chop-chop) adverb
Quickly.
[From Chinese Pidgin English chop (fast). Pidgin is a simplified language
that develops when two groups that do not have a language in common come
in contact, usually for trade. Chinese Pidgin English was used in ports
in southern China. The word pidgin is said to have been formed from the
Chinese pronunciation of the word business. Earliest documented use: 1834.]
"Those special courts that prosecuted cases chop-chop during the spectacle
can be revived."
Bareng-Batho Kortjaas; Dope-heads Must Be Smoked-out of Our Soccer Stadiums;
The Sunday Times (Johannesburg, South Africa); Sep 19, 2010.
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Date: Tue Aug 7 00:01:03 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--froufrou
X-Bonus: When I feed the hungry, they call me a saint. When I ask why people are hungry, they call me a communist. -Helder Camara, archbishop (1909-1999)
This week's theme: Reduplicatives
froufrou (FROO-froo) noun
1. Something fancy, elaborate, and showy.
2. A rustling sound, as of a silk dress.
[From French, of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1870.]
"Too often I go to some lunch party and am presented with an exquisite
froufrou creation when what I long for is the pasta the three-year-old
sitting next to me is given."
Nigella Lawson; Indulge a Childhood Craving; Calgary Herald (Canada);
Aug 23, 2003.
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Date: Wed Aug 8 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chichi
X-Bonus: Men are the devils of the earth and the animals are its tormented souls. -Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788-1860)
This week's theme: Reduplicatives
chichi (SHEE-shee)
adjective: Affectedly elegant.
noun: Showy stylishness.
[From French, of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1908.]
"If all that sounds too chichi, get back to basics with the traditional
present -- socks."
Bazaar; The Independent (London); Nov 2, 1996.
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Date: Thu Aug 9 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chin-chin
X-Bonus: What is to give light must endure burning. -Viktor Frankl, author, neurologist and psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor (1905-1997)
This week's theme: Reduplicatives
chin-chin (CHIN-chin)
noun: A chat.
verb intr.: To chat.
interjection: Used as a toast, greeting, or farewell.
[From Chinese ching-ching (please-please). Earliest documented use: 1795.]
"Let's have a chin-chin about what's wanted of you."
Ivan Doig; The Eleventh Man; Harcourt; 2008.
"'Chin-chin,' Simic said and clinked Casson's glass."
Alan Furst; The World At Night; Random House; 1996.
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Date: Fri Aug 10 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--yada yada
X-Bonus: There comes a time in a man's life when to get where he has to -- if there are no doors or windows -- he walks through a wall. -Bernard Malamud, novelist and short-story writer (1914-1986)
This week's theme: Reduplicatives
yada yada (YAH-duh YAH-duh), also yada yada yada
adverb: And so on.
noun: Uninteresting, long-winded talk.
[Of imitative origin. The word is often mistaken for being Yiddish.
Earliest documented use: 1967.]
"You know the story by now: how transport services aren't nearly up to
scratch, how fare prices seem to inversely correlate with the pleasantness
of your journey, yada, yada..."
On the Hike in Rail Fares; Evening Times (Glasgow, Scotland); Dec 22, 2011.
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Date: Mon Aug 13 00:21:06 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--corpus delicti
X-Bonus: Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
Latin is the preferred language of the Vatican http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/03/the_great_catholic_coverup.html ,
but don't hold it against the language. It had no say in the matter.
A language never hurt anyone, if you don't count schoolchildren who
had to memorize all those "amo amas amat" words.
Latin is often perceived as an ancient or dead language, something for
stuffy old people. But many Latin terms can sum up in just a few letters
a whole concept that would otherwise take many words or sentences to
describe fully.
Many Latin terms are part of the English language and are especially used
in fields such as law and medicine. This week we'll see five terms from
Latin that are now part of the English language.
corpus delicti (KOR-puhs di-LIK-ty, -tee) noun, plural corpora delicti (KOR-puhr-uh di-LIK-ty)
The concrete evidence that shows that a crime has been committed,
for example, the body of the victim in the case of a murder.
[From Latin, literally body of crime. Earliest documented use: 1705.]
"The fact that the State was unable to produce a corpus delicti was
a very strong point in favor of the defendants."
Sidney Sheldon; The Other Side of Midnight; HarperCollins; 1973.
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Date: Tue Aug 14 00:01:10 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ex officio
X-Bonus: Deep within the soul of the lonely caged bird / Beats the rhythm of a distant forest / Etched upon its broken heart / The faded memory of flight. -Ginni Bly, poet (b. 1945)
This week's theme: Latin terms in English
ex officio (EKS uh-FISH-ee-oh) adverb and adjective
By virtue of one's official position. For example, the US Vice
President is the ex officio president of the US Senate.
[From Latin ex officio, from ex- (out of, from) + officium (office,
duty). Earliest documented use: 1532.]
"The governor of New Jersey was an ex officio trustee of the University."
Joyce Carol Oates; Mudwoman; HarperCollins; 2012.
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Date: Wed Aug 15 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ne plus ultra
X-Bonus: Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you. -Annie Dillard, author (b. 1945)
This week's theme: Latin terms in English
ne plus ultra (NE ploos OOL-trah, NEE/NAY pluhs uhl-truh) noun
The ultimate or the perfect example of something.
[From Latin, literally, not further beyond. Earliest documented use:
1637.]
NOTES: It's said that the Pillars of Hercules at the entrance to the
Strait of Gibraltar had this Latin phrase inscribed. It served as
a warning to sailors not to go beyond the limit of the known world.
The national motto of Spain, on the other hand, is "Plus ultra".
"The greatest car in the world, the automotive ne plus ultra."
Jonathan Carroll; The Ghost in Love; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 2008.
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Date: Thu Aug 16 00:31:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ex post facto
X-Bonus: We are far more concerned about the desecration of the flag than we are about the desecration of our land. -Wendell Berry, farmer and author (b. 1934)
This week's theme: Latin terms in English
ex post facto (EKS post FAK-toh)
adjective, adverb: After the fact; retroactively.
[From Latin ex postfacto (after the fact). Earliest documented use: 1632.]
"One of the ex post facto justifications for the Iraq war: that the
invasion was necessary on humanitarian grounds."
Fighting for Survival; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 18, 2004.
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Date: Fri Aug 17 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cui bono
X-Bonus: The epitaph that I would write for history would say: I conceal nothing. It is not enough not to lie. One should strive not to lie in a negative sense by remaining silent. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910)
This week's theme: Latin terms in English
cui bono (KWEE BOH-noh) noun
To whose benefit?
[From Latin, literally, to whose advantage? Earliest documented use: 1604.]
NOTES: Cui bono is the idea that the responsibility for an act can
usually be determined by asking who stands to gain as a result of the
act. It's first recorded in a speech by Cicero attributing it to the
Roman consul Lucius Cassius. If he were speaking today he would say:
Follow the money.
"Cui bono? Surprise, surprise, it's the banks."
Carol Hunt; Debt Would Be a Release Next to This Travesty; Irish
Independent (Dublin, Ireland); Jan 29, 2012.
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Date: Mon Aug 20 01:34:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--wiseacre
X-Bonus: The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed. -Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (1899-1961)
This week we sling the slang,
To add to your diction a little tang.
Pit these words into your patter,
Or let them into a letter.
But don't be a wiseacre,
Leave 'em out of a thesis or paper.
wiseacre (WYZ-ay-kuhr) noun
One who obnoxiously pretends to be wise; smart-aleck; wise-guy.
[From Middle Dutch wijsseggher (soothsayer), translation of Middle High
German wissage, from Old High German wissago (wise person), altered by
folk etymology. Earliest documented use: 1595.]
"Mr. Mahoney, the wiseacre dad on NBC's Frasier, here has the chance
to play gruff and sarcastic until late in the play, when a lifetime of
artifice crumbles and his guilt and pain are exposed."
Joel Henning; Artifice Unmasked; Chekhov Cluttered; The Wall Street
Journal (New York); Jun 5, 2001.
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Date: Tue Aug 21 00:01:06 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--naff
X-Bonus: Elvira always lied first to herself before she lied to anybody else, since this gave her a conviction of moral honesty. -Phyllis Bottome, novelist (1884-1963)
This week's theme: Slang
naff (naf) adjective
1. Very unstylish or unsophisticated.
2. Useless; of poor quality.
[Origin unknown, perhaps from Polari slang. Earliest documented use: 1950s.]
"The entire point of the original mod movement was to reject the naff
rocker look."
Clean Sweep; Vogue (New York); May 2011.
"The plastic bag is such a naff invention that it's quite hard to
care one way or the other."
Matthew Carmichael; The Perils of Plastic Amnesia; The Ecologist
(London, UK); Dec 2006.
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Date: Wed Aug 22 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--suss
X-Bonus: Many wealthy people are little more than janitors of their possessions. -Frank Lloyd Wright, architect (1867-1959)
This week's theme: Slang
suss (suhs) verb tr.
To inspect, investigate, or to figure out.
[By shortening of suspect, from Latin sub- (below) + specere (to look).
Earliest documented use: 1953.]
"Within moments a swarm of small drones could arrive on the scene, to
suss it [the location of the gunshot] out for the cops."
Nick Paumgarten; Here's Looking At You; The New Yorker; May 14, 2012.
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Date: Thu Aug 23 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lulu
X-Bonus: No man was ever more than about nine meals away from crime or suicide. -Eric Sevareid, journalist (1912-1992)
This week's theme: Slang
lulu (LOO-loo) noun
A remarkable person, idea, or thing.
[Perhaps from the nickname for Louise. Earliest documented use: 1886.]
"I told my students about an incident from my boyhood, my first-ever
interaction with a fungus, and it was a lulu."
Robert Klose; The Three-Legged Woman and Other Excursions in Teaching;
University Press of New England; 2010.
http://amazon.com/o/asin/1584659270/ws00-20
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Date: Fri Aug 24 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jazz
X-Bonus: Don't be yourself. Be someone a little nicer. -Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983)
This week's theme: Slang
jazz (jaz)
noun: 1. A style of music characterized by improvisation.
2. Etcetera (in the phrase: and all that jazz).
3. Nonsense.
verb tr.: 1. To enliven (in the phrase: to jazz up).
2. To exaggerate or lie.
[Of undetermined origin, perhaps a variant of slang jasm (energy,
vigor). Earliest documented use: 1912.]
"They had energy and passion and all that jazz."
Many Phases Later; The Irish Times (Dublin); Dec 10, 2011.
"Don't give me any of that jazz about hope or nonsense about righteousness."
Bob Dylan; Chronicles: Volume 1; Simon & Schuster; 2004.
"With so much stress at work, what can we do to jazz up our mood."
Misha Paul; Jazz Up Your Work Station; The Times of India (New Delhi);
Aug 8, 2011.
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Date: Mon Aug 27 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--salutary
X-Bonus: There is not less wit nor less invention in applying rightly a thought one finds in a book, than in being the first author of that thought. -Pierre Bayle, philosopher and writer (1647-1706)
One consistent feedback from readers of A.Word.A.Day is that while they
like the words, they love the unrelated quotations selected for A THOUGHT
FOR TODAY.
Every day we feature words and, as illustrations, cite usage examples
from newspapers, magazines, or books. This week we are going to do
something a little different. We'll include thoughtful quotations as
usage examples. Consider these as a bonus A THOUGHT FOR TODAY.
We've picked five well-known figures and use their words to illustrate
this week's words.
salutary (SAL-yuh-ter-ee, -yoo-) adjective
1. Beneficial; useful; remedial.
2. Healthful.
[Via French salutaire, or directly from Latin salutaris, from salut-,
stem of salus- (health). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sol-
(whole). A few other words derived from this root are salute, safe,
salvage, solemn, and save. Earliest documented use: 1490.]
"To see ourselves as others see us is a most salutary gift. Hardly less
important is the capacity to see others as they see themselves."
Novelist Aldous Huxley (1894-1963).
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Date: Tue Aug 28 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lucriferous
X-Bonus: Among men, it seems, historically at any rate, that processes of co-ordination and disintegration follow each other with great regularity, and the index of the co-ordination is the measure of the disintegration which follows. There is no mob like a group of well-drilled soldiers when they have thrown off their discipline. And there is no lostness like that which comes to a man when a perfect and certain pattern has dissolved about him. There is no hater like one who has greatly loved. -John Steinbeck, novelist, Nobel laureate (1902-1968)
This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought
lucriferous (loo-KRIF-uhr-uhs) adjective
Lucrative, profitable.
[From Latin lucrum (profit) + -ferous (producing). Earliest documented
use: 1648.]
"Freed from any ambition to leave my heirs rich, I had no need to pursue
lucriferous experiments, to which I so much preferred luciferous* ones."
Chemist and physicist Robert Boyle (1627-1691), who gave us Boyle's Law
of gases, in a letter to John Locke, 17th c.
* providing light or insight
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Date: Wed Aug 29 00:01:06 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pugilist
X-Bonus: Moderate giftedness has been made worthless by the printing press and radio and television and satellites and all that. A moderately gifted person who would have been a community treasure a thousand years ago has to give up, has to go into some other line of work, since modern communications put him or her into daily competition with nothing but world's champions. -Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., novelist (1922-2007)
This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought
pugilist (PYOO-juh-list) noun
A boxer.
[From Latin pugil (boxer), from pugnus (fist). Earliest documented use:
around 1740.]
"Adversity has the same effect on a man that severe training has on the
pugilist -- it reduces him to his fighting weight."
Josh Billings, columnist and humorist (1818-1885).
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Date: Thu Aug 30 00:01:04 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--strop
X-Bonus: human wandering through the zoo / what do your cousins think of you. -Don Marquis, humorist and poet (1878-1937)
This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought
strop (strop) or strap (strap)
noun: A flexible material such as a strip of leather for sharpening a razor.
verb tr.: To sharpen on a strop.
[Probably from Latin stroppus (strap). Earliest documented use: 1050.]
"We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the
return stroke straps our vice."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862).
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Date: Fri Aug 31 00:01:05 EDT 2012
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--concomitant
X-Bonus: I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931)
This week's theme: Usage examples that are food for thought
concomitant (kuhn-KOM-i-tuhnt)
adjective: Occurring concurrently, especially in an incidental way.
noun: Something that occurs concurrently.
[From Latin (concomitari, to accompany), com- (with) + comitari
(to accompany), from comes (companion). Earliest documented use: 1608.]
"A harmless hilarity and a buoyant cheerfulness are not infrequent
concomitants of genius; and we are never more deceived than when
we mistake gravity for greatness, solemnity for science, and
pomposity for erudition."
Charles Caleb Colton; Lacon: or Many Things in Few Words;
Longmans; 1837.
"The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty,
understanding, and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system.
And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness,
egotism, and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire
the quality of the first they love the produce of the second."
Novelist and Nobel laureate John Steinbeck (1902-1968).