A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Thu Aug 1 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--puerperal X-Bonus: All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event -- in the living act, the undoubted deed -- there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. -Herman Melville, novelist and poet (1 Aug 1819-1891) This week's theme: Powered by kids puerperal (pyoo-UHR-puhr-uhl) adjective Relating to childbirth or following childbirth. [From Latin puerpera (woman who has given birth), from puer (child) + -para (carrying), from parere (to bear). The Latin puer is ultimately from the Indo-European root pau- (few, little), which is also the source of few, foal, filly, pony, poor, pauper, poco, puerile https://wordsmith.org/words/puerile.html , poltroon https://wordsmith.org/words/poltroon.html , pullulate https://wordsmith.org/words/pullulate.html , punchinello https://wordsmith.org/words/punchinello.html , and catchpole https://wordsmith.org/words/catchpole.html . Earliest documented use: 1716.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/puerperal https://wordsmith.org/words/images/puerperal_large.jpg Image: Slap Laughter http://slaplaughter.danoah.com/33-memes-recognizing-how-funny-giving-birth-can-be/ "In the 1830s, women having babies at lying-in hospitals ran a far greater risk of dying from puerperal sepsis than women having babies at home." John Irving; The Long, Cruel History of the Anti-Abortion Crusade; The New York Times; Jun 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/opinion/anti-abortion-history.html -------- Date: Fri Aug 2 00:01:05 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pedantic X-Bonus: I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. -James Baldwin, writer (2 Aug 1924-1987) This week's theme: Powered by kids pedantic (puh-DAN-tik) adjective Characterized by an excessive, narrow adherence to rules without practical judgment. [From French pédant or Italian pedante, perhaps from Latin paedagogare (to teach). Earliest documented use: 1607.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pedantic "Speed limit 15 miles. No cut-outs in village limits" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pedantic_large.jpg A historic New Hampshire speed limit sign Would it be pedantic to point out that without specifying the time, the sign is meaningless. 15 miles per hour, per minute, ... per week? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit#/media/File:Antique_New_Hampshire_speed_limit_sign.jpg "And another cleric, William Gilpin, the father of the Picturesque movement, drew up a list of pedantic instructions on how to view the landscape. He quickly became the subject of satire." The Heart with Pleasure Fills; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 3, 2010. -------- Date: Mon Aug 5 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cordillera X-Bonus: Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you. -Wendell Berry, farmer and author (b. 5 Aug 1934) It's said about immigration in America that people come here to do what Americans can't or won't do: harvesting strawberries on farms https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2018/11/20/thanksgiving-food-agriculture-farming-farms-column/2053772002/ , cleaning dishes in restaurants https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/02/17/restaurants-imagined-a-day-without-immigrants-in-one-city-last-year-it-actually-happened/ , butchering pigs in slaughterhouses. That, and also, writing code https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/technology/personaltech/why-silicon-valley-wouldnt-work-without-immigrants.html , starting new companies https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/02/immigrant-entrepreneurs-founded-top-companies-data-shows/ and running Googles and Microsofts (the CEOs of both are immigrants from India, for example). Well, we import words for the same reason. We bring words over from other languages to do what native words can't or won't do. We call this borrowing (something like a worker visa), even though the borrowing is permanent (we really naturalize the words). Like all languages, the English language has gaps and these words come in and fill those gaps, helping make the language richer, more expressive. This week we'll see five words that are borrowed from other languages. Permalinks: https://web.archive.org/web/20190408172619/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2018/11/20/thanksgiving-food-agriculture-farming-farms-column/2053772002/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190604124921/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/02/17/restaurants-imagined-a-day-without-immigrants-in-one-city-last-year-it-actually-happened/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190719172515/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/technology/personaltech/why-silicon-valley-wouldnt-work-without-immigrants.html https://web.archive.org/web/20190723052842/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/02/immigrant-entrepreneurs-founded-top-companies-data-shows/ cordillera (kor-duhl-YER-uh) noun A chain of mountains or mountain ranges. [From Spanish cordillera, diminutive of cuerda (cord), from Latin chorda (cord), from Greek khorde (gut). Earliest documented use: 1704.] Arctic Cordillera, Canada https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cordillera_large.jpg Map: Lanma726/Wikimedia "There is a cordillera of laundry, an artificial Christmas tree still working its way back into the storage closet, a hockey bag putrefying at the bottom of the stairs." Jane MacDougall; There Was an Owl in the Basement; National Post (Don Mills, Canada); Mar 16, 2013. -------- Date: Tue Aug 6 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bondieuserie X-Bonus: The perfection of a clock is not to go fast, but to be accurate. -Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, moralist and essayist (6 Aug 1715-1747) This week's theme: Words borrowed (adopted) from other languages bondieuserie (bon-DYOO-zuh-ree) noun A piece of banal religious art, devotional object, ornament, etc. [From French bondieuserie (religious knick-knack), from bon (good) + dieu (god). Earliest documented use: 1941.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bondieuserie_large.jpg Photo: ban75/Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/maria-souvenir-mexico-magnet-569935/ "Extant churches were 'cleansed', stripped of altars, stained glass, paintings, and dubious bondieuserie." Jonathan Meades; Vatican II and Architecture's Wild Men; The Spectator (London, UK); Apr 15, 2017. -------- Date: Wed Aug 7 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pareidolia X-Bonus: No amount of belief makes something a fact. -James Randi, magician and skeptic (b. 7 Aug 1928) This week's theme: Words borrowed (adopted) from other languages pareidolia (per-eye-DOH-lee-uh) noun The tendency to see a specific pattern or meaningful images in random stimulus. [From German Pareidolien, from Greek para- (along) + eidolon (image), from eidos (form, idea). Ultimately from the Indo-European root weid- (to see), which also gave us wise, view, supervise, wit, eidetic https://wordsmith.org/words/eidetic.html , eidos https://wordsmith.org/words/eidos.html , vidimus https://wordsmith.org/words/vidimus.html , previse https://wordsmith.org/words/previse.html , hades https://wordsmith.org/words/hades.html , guy https://wordsmith.org/words/guy.html , invidious https://wordsmith.org/words/invidious.html , and vizard https://wordsmith.org/words/vizard.html . Earliest documented use: 1962.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pareidolia_large.jpg Photo: Jef Safi https://www.flickr.com/photos/jef_safi/1428540906/ NOTES: It's human nature to see patterns where there might be none. If you have ever seen an elephant in the clouds, you have experienced pareidolia. Pareidolia is also responsible for constellations appearing in the shape of animals (Ursa major, Leo, etc.), profiles of men appearing on rock faces, Rorschach inkblot tests, UFO sightings, and Jesus on toast. While toast appears to be his favorite, he has also appeared on tortillas, chapatis, and potato chips. But you don't have be at the mercy of random patterns and their whims. Command pareidolia with Grilled Cheesus sandwich press https://amazon.com/dp/B00DD0P0TK/ws00-20 , or, even better, have your own face appear on toast, no random numbers required https://amazon.com/dp/B00OZ4TDC8/ws00-20 . If you are a do-it-yourself type, here are instructions to have your own divinity appear on toast: https://www.instructables.com/id/Holy-Jesus-on-Toast-or-How-to-Make-a-Killi/ "Perhaps pareidolia explains how changing clouds inspired widespread reports of armies in the sky during the political upheavals of the 1600s." Paul Simons; Weather Eye; The Times (London, UK); Mar 23, 2017. -------- Date: Thu Aug 8 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--akratic X-Bonus: When I can look Life in the eyes, / Grown calm and very coldly wise, / Life will have given me the Truth, / And taken in exchange -- my youth. -Sara Teasdale, poet (8 Aug 1884-1933) This week's theme: Words borrowed (adopted) from other languages akratic (uh-KRAT-ik) adjective Characterized by weakness of will that results in acting contrary to one's better judgment. [From Greek akretes (powerless), from a- (without) + kratos (power, strength). Earliest documented use: 1896.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/akratic_large.jpg Illustration: Viktor Hertz https://www.flickr.com/photos/hertzen/31861295934/ "Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, emphysema, you name it. Too many young people, especially young women, are taking it up without any real understanding of the risks, and when they do understand the risks they are akratic -- they just can't help themselves." Boris Johnson; Banning Smoking in Cars Is Bizarre, Intrusive -- and Right; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Feb 10, 2014. -------- Date: Fri Aug 9 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--satyagraha X-Bonus: A writer is, after all, only half his book. The other half is the reader and from the reader the writer learns. -P.L. Travers, author (9 Aug 1899-1996) This week's theme: Words borrowed (adopted) from other languages satyagraha (suh-TYAH-gruh-uh, sut-YAH-gru-ha) noun The policy of passive nonviolent resistance as a protest against injustice. [Coined by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) in India's freedom struggle, from Sanskrit satyagraha, from satyam (truth) + agraha (determination, insistence), ultimately from the Indo-European root ghrebh- (to seize or reach), which also gave us grasp and grab. Earliest documented use: 1920.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/satyagraha Colin Kaepernick https://wordsmith.org/words/images/satyagraha_large.jpg Image: Nike "Colin Kaepernick is an NFL pariah. His stand for social justice by taking a knee during the national anthem last season as a member of the San Francisco 49ers has left him sitting on his couch as NFL training camps commence this week. "His sideline satyagraha, designed to bring attention to civil rights violations and disparities in treatment from law enforcement in this country, makes him unemployable in a league that frowns upon individuality, and values compliance and conformity from its players." Christopher L. Gasper; Kaepernick Saga Cuts Against the Grain; Boston Globe (Massachusetts); Jul 23, 2017. -------- Date: Mon Aug 12 00:11:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--moon shot X-Bonus: It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is to be educated. -Edith Hamilton, educator and writer (12 Aug 1867-1963) Once upon a time, American presidents inspired people to do great things (nowadays, they are known for tweeting "total loser" and "fake news" to anyone telling the truth). Speaking in 1962, John F. Kennedy said: We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. President Kennedy inspired people to build a spaceship and land on the moon (nowadays, presidents inspire people to build a wall and con them into thinking someone else is going to pay for it). Just seven years after Kennedy mobilized people to dream big, dream out-of-this-world, on July 20, 1969, we had landed on the moon. This was an improbable effort, but never underestimate the determination of a people united in a common cause, a cause beyond themselves. At one time, we considered ourselves a part of the rest of the humanity -- one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind -- but now, we get off putting little refugee kids in cages. Houston, we have a problem. How far we have traveled in those seven years (240,000 miles to moon, but light years in progress) and yet how far back we have traveled in just the last couple of years. To mark the 50th anniversary of moon landing, this week in A.Word.A.Day we'll see five words from the world of space exploration that have now entered the general parlance. moon shot (MOON shot) noun 1. A mission to the moon. 2. A highly ambitious, unlikely project with great potential impact. 3. In sports, an act of hitting or throwing a ball very high. [From moon + shot, from Old English sceot/gesceot. Earliest documented use: 1949 (also, there's an earlier citation from 1873, in the sense, lit by moonlight.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/moon%20shot Buzz Aldrin on the moon https://wordsmith.org/words/images/moon_shot_large.jpg Photo: Neil Armstrong "Sen. Angus King: You know, Joe Biden, this is a deeply personal issue for him, and he's talked about a cancer moon shot." Trump's 2020 Campaign Kick-off Rehashes Grievances; New Day (New York); Jun 19, 2019. "Mooney sent a moon shot over the centerfield fence for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead." Dave Seamon; Lady Cougars Shut Out Crestwood; Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, Pennsylvania); May 1, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Aug 13 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--light-year X-Bonus: The Supreme Ethical Rule: Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself. -Felix Adler, professor, lecturer, and reformer (13 Aug 1851-1933) This week's theme: Words from space travel light-year (LYT yeer) noun 1. A unit of length equal to the distance traveled by light in one year in a vacuum, about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion km. 2. Very far, in distance or time. [From light, from Old English leoht + year, from Old English gear. Earliest documented use: 1888.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/light%20year NOTES: A light-year is a unit of distance -- there's no such unit as a heavy-year (nor is there a dark-year). To get a light-year's worth of frequent-flier miles you'd need to travel between New York and Moscow only a little over a billion times. Milky Way galaxy, our home in space, about 200,000 light years across https://wordsmith.org/words/images/light_year_large.jpg Illustration: Nick Risinger / Wikimedia "Baseball under Manfred's leadership moved a light-year ahead of the NFL when it came to sensitivity toward people of color by setting an example in its sport about what would no longer be acceptable in branding." Kevin B. Blackistone; MLB's Manfred Led the Way. Will the NFL Choose to Follow?; The Washington Post; Feb 12, 2019. -------- Date: Wed Aug 14 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rocket science X-Bonus: Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things. -Russell Baker, columnist and author (14 Aug 1925-2019) This week's theme: Words from space travel rocket science (ROK-it sy-uhns) noun 1. The science of rocket design, construction, and flight. 2. Something requiring advanced knowledge and intelligence. [From Italian rocchetta, diminutive of rocca (spindle, distaff) + science, from Latin scientia, present participle of scire (to know). Ultimately from the Indo-European root skei- (to cut or split), which also gave us schism, ski, shin, adscititious https://wordsmith.org/words/adscititious.html , conscientious https://wordsmith.org/words/conscientious.html , exscind https://wordsmith.org/words/exscind.html , nescient https://wordsmith.org/words/nescient.html , scienter https://wordsmith.org/words/scienter.html , and sciolism https://wordsmith.org/words/sciolism.html . Earliest documented use: 1931.] Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun with the F-1 engines of the Saturn V rocket https://wordsmith.org/words/images/rocket_science_large.jpg Photo: NASA/Wikimedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_engineering#/media/File:S-IC_engines_and_Von_Braun.jpg "California requires barbers to study full-time for nearly a year, a curriculum that costs $12,000 at Arthur Borner's Barber College in Los Angeles. Mr. Borner says his graduates earn more than enough to recoup their tuition, though he questions the need for such a lengthy program. 'Barbering is not rocket science,' he said." No Right to Work; The Economist (London, UK); Feb 7, 2011. -------- Date: Thu Aug 15 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lift-off X-Bonus: There is no human being who, as a result of desiring to build a better life, should be named or declared illegal. -Alejandro G. Inarritu, film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (b. 15 Aug 1963) This week's theme: Words from space travel lift-off (LIFT-of) noun 1. The action of being airborne, such as that of a rocket, aircraft, etc. 2. The launch of a project, an initiative, etc. [From Old Norse lypta, from lopt (air) + off, stressed variant of the word of. Earliest documented use: 1907.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/lift-off https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lift-off_large.jpg Apollo 11 Saturn V space vehicle lift-off with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, July 16, 1969, Kennedy Space Center, Florida Photo: NASA/Wikimedia "While those negotiations grind on, some artists have quietly begun to work again. Some are anticipating the lift-off of Brandaid-Haiti, a Canada-based non-profit initiative aimed at reviving market share for Haiti's arts and crafts industry." Jessica Leeder; Jacmel's Artists Starving for an Audience; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Apr 19, 2010. -------- Date: Fri Aug 16 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--space cadet X-Bonus: Eminent posts make great men greater, and little men less. -Jean de La Bruyere, essayist and moralist (16 Aug 1645-1696) This week's theme: Words from space travel space cadet (SPAYS kuh-det) noun 1. A trainee astronaut. 2. A person who behaves strangely or appears to be out of touch with reality. [From Robert Heinlein's 1948 novel "Space Cadet". Why the second sense of the term? The book inspired TV and radio shows and comics and the term became popular. Eventually, the meaning shifted and now a space cadet is one who is spaced out or has their mind in space, probably as a result of drug use. Earliest documented use: 1948. Other words coined by Robert Heinlein that have become words in the English language are grok https://wordsmith.org/words/grok.html and waldo https://wordsmith.org/words/waldo.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/space%20cadet 1st edition cover https://wordsmith.org/words/images/space_cadet_large.jpg Image: Wikimedia "It seems odd to think of how [Kate] Bush was once popularly perceived: not with the reverence she's held in now, but as a dippy space cadet with a penchant for saying 'wow'." Alexis Petridis; Kate Bush -- Every UK Single Ranked!; The Guardian (London, UK); Nov 23, 2018. -------- Date: Mon Aug 19 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pythagorize X-Bonus: The door of a bigoted mind opens outwards so that the only result of the pressure of facts upon it is to close it more snugly. -Ogden Nash, poet (19 Aug 1902-1971) Turning a person into a verb (to boycott https://wordsmith.org/words/boycott.html, coined after a real person named Boycott) happens from time to time, but singer-songwriter Paul Simon got carried away and turned about a dozen people into verbs in a single song: https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/829640/A+Simple+Desultory+Philippic+%28Or+How+I+Was+Robert+McNamara%27d+into+...%29 I been Norman Mailered, Maxwell Taylored I been John O'Hara'd, McNamara'd I been Rolling Stoned and Beatled till I'm blind I been Ayn Randed ... While none of the people2verbs coinages from this song have made it into the dictionary, yet, many others from elsewhere have. This week we'll look at five people, real and fictional, who have become part of the English language. What people2verb-ing have you done? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/pythagorize.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. pythagorize (puh-THOG-uh-ryz) verb intr.: To philosophize or speculate in the manner of Pythagoras or the Pythagoreans. verb tr.: To convert (a person or thing) into another. [After Pythagoras, Greek philosopher (c. 570-495 BCE). Earliest documented use: 1603.] NOTES: Pythagoras is best known for the Pythagorean theorem, although it was widely known before him. Pythagoras was ultimately a philosopher with wide interests and had many followers. He also believed in the transmigration of the soul which resulted in the second sense of the word pythagorize. Did you know there's a Pythagoras Day? It doesn't occur every year. Last one was on 8/15/17 (8^2 + 15^2 = 17^2). Next will occur on 12/16/20 (12^2 + 16^2 = 20^2). Start planning the celebrations now! Pythagoras, writing in a book (detail from "The School of Athens" by Raphael) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pythagorize_large.jpg Image: Wikimedia "Your presupposed celestial unity shall make all kinds of words spring up in you; and when your scattered numbers resonate, pythagorize within your constellations." By Ruben Dario (translated by Elinor Randall); Quoted in The Oxford Book of Latin American Poetry; Oxford University Press; 2009. -------- Date: Tue Aug 20 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--malaprop X-Bonus: I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. -Edgar Guest, poet (20 Aug 1881-1959) This week's theme: People who have become verbs malaprop (MAL-uh-prop) verb intr. To misuse a word by confusing it with a similar-sounding word, producing a humorous effect. For example, "pineapple of perfection" for "pinnacle of perfection" (from the play "The Rivals"). [After Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan's play, "The Rivals" (1775), who confused words in this manner. The name Malaprop is coined from French "mal à propos" (inappropriate). Earliest documented use: 1959.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/malaprop Mrs. Malaprop tells Captain Jack Absolute she cannot comprehend why someone is saying such awful things about her vocabulary: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/malaprop_large.jpg Huntington Theatre Company's production of "The Rivals" Photo: T. Charles Erickson / The Huntington https://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingtontheatreco/6762131989/ "Why not throw caution to the birds, as he had malaproped, and make the call?" Arnold Grossman; Going Together; Fulcrum Publishing; 2007. -------- Date: Wed Aug 21 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nestorize X-Bonus: I have no respect for people who deliberately try to be weird to attract attention, but if that's who you honestly are, you shouldn't try to "normalize" yourself. -Alicia Witt, actress, singer-songwriter, and pianist (b. 21 Aug 1975) This week's theme: People who have become verbs nestorize (NES-tuh-ryz) verb tr. To fill someone with the idea of being very wise. [From Nestor, king of Pylos, who was the oldest and wisest of the Greeks and served as a counselor in the Trojan War. Earliest documented use: 1612.] https://wordsmith.org/words/nestor.html Achilles gives Nestor the Prize for Wisdom (detail): https://wordsmith.org/words/images/nestorize_large.jpg Art: Amable-Paul Coutan (1792-1837) "I must stop this sort of Nestorizing to myself and save it for the lecture platform and the press." Gore Vidal; 1876; Random House; 1976. -------- Date: Thu Aug 22 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dewitt X-Bonus: "Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course." -Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (22 Aug 1920-2012) This week's theme: People who have become verbs dewitt (di-WIT) verb tr. To kill by mob violence. [After brothers, Johan and Cornelius De Witt, Dutch statesmen, who were killed by a mob on Aug 20, 1672. Earliest documented use: 1689.] NOTES: Today's word has a better-known synonym: lynch https://wordsmith.org/words/lynch.html . While the word lynch is coined after the perpetrator of such extra-judicial killing (Captain William Lynch), the word dewitt is coined after people who were the object of such violence. "The De Witt Brothers in Prison" (detail) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dewitt_large.jpg Art: Simon Opzoomer, 1843 "As Lockhard in his papers says, 'Had Mr. Campbell himself been in town they had certainly dewitted him.'" Constance Russell; Three Generations of Fascinating Women; Longmans, Green; 1905. -------- Date: Fri Aug 23 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aladdinize X-Bonus: It matters not how strait the gate, / How charged with punishments the scroll, / I am the master of my fate: / I am the captain of my soul. -William Ernest Henley, poet, critic, and editor (23 Aug 1849-1903) This week's theme: People who have become verbs Aladdinize (uh-LAD-uh-nyz) verb tr. To magically transport or transform someone or something. [After the title character of the story Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. Earliest documented use: 1848.] Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (Note: The story was originally set in China) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/aladdinize_large.jpg An illustration from the book "The Arabian Nights Entertainments", 1898 Illustration: Rene Bull "The latter too became so quiet and empty as to induce the sensation of having been Aladdinized to some 'solemn and deserted' street in Palmyra." Nick Yablon; Untimely Ruins; The University of Chicago Press; 2009. -------- Date: Mon Aug 26 00:29:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ere X-Bonus: No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots. -Barbara Ehrenreich, journalist and author (b. 26 Aug 1941) A recent archaeological expedition in the Garden of Eden has unearthed some badly deteriorating VHS tapes. Careful salvaging of this grainy, b&w footage* shows the very first sentence spoken by Adam when he introduced himself to Eve, and her reply: "Madam, I'm Adam." "Eve." Not many people know, but Adam and Eve were quite fond of palindromes. A palindrome is a text that reads the same forward and backward, such as: "A man, a plan, canal: Panama!" The word palindrome is from Greek palin (again) + dromos (running). Seriously though, Adam and Eve may or may not have been fond of palindromes (and may not even have existed), but I do exist and I'm quite fond of them. I was curious as to what palindromes occur naturally in various works of literature. So I developed the MPM (Massive Palindrome Miner) https://wordsmith.org/palindrome/ , the latest of our offerings from Wordsmith.org https://wordsmith.org/ . Feed the MPM your grocery lists, love letters, office memos, or even the whole "War and Peace" and it'll mine palindromes you didn't even know existed. Sep 1 is the first palindromic date (9-1-19 or 19-9-1) to occur this year (if you follow the day/month/year format, well, you missed 9 Jan: 9-1-19). So this is an auspicious time to launch the MPM. To celebrate, this week we'll feature five words from the English language that are palindromes. Some of our readers have names that are palindromes. I'm looking at you, Hannah, Otto, and Bob, but do you have a family where all children are palindromic? Do you have a full name that's a palindrome? Share palindromes from your life at https://wordsmith.org/words/ere.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Also, share what palindromes you have come up with. What palindromes can you make using any of the words this week? A popular palindrome, the one that Napoleon supposedly said when exiled to the island of Elba, "Able was I ere I saw Elba", uses today's word. Note that we are interested in palindromes you yourself have come up with -- not ones you read somewhere. *We're not linking to this footage here because it contains nudity. ere (air) preposition, conjunction Before (earlier in time). [From Old English aer (earlier). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ayer- (day, morning), which is also the source of early and erst (as in erstwhile). Earliest documented use: 822.] https://wordsmith.org/palindrome/images/bizarro_cartoon_palindrome1_large.jpg Cartoon: Dan Piraro http://bizarro.com/ "Starting around 2013, the cockatiel haircuts and mini-hawks were increasingly balanced out with shadowy facial hair. Ere long, full beards arrived." Simon Doonan; Style Tribes of Football; Financial Times (London, UK); Jun 9, 2018. -------- Date: Tue Aug 27 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ecce X-Bonus: Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion. -Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, philosopher (27 Aug 1770-1831) This week's theme: Palindromes ecce (EK-ay, ECH-ay, EK-see) interjection Behold! (used to call attention to someone or something). [From Latin ecce (see, behold). Earliest documented use: 1598.] NOTES: In the Bible (John 19:5), Pilate presents Christ, crowned with thorns, to the crowd with the words "Ecce homo". Since this was a theme popular with painters, such a work of art is known as Ecce Homo. "Ecce Homo" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ecce_large.jpg Art: Titian, c. 1570s "Ecce the rise of literature in the modern vernaculars, even the mother tongue." Thomas Paul Bonfiglio; Why is English Literature?; Palgrave Pivot; 2013. "Behold a global business in distress -- incoherently managed, resistant to the modernizing forces of the Internet age, tainted by scandal and corruption. It needs to tweak its marketing, straighten out its finances, up its recruiting game, and repair its battered brand. Ecce Catholicism Inc." Bill Keller; Catholicism Inc.; The New York Times; Feb 17, 2013. -------- Date: Wed Aug 28 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--minim X-Bonus: Too many parents make life hard for their children by trying, too zealously, to make it easy for them. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (28 Aug 1749-1832) This week's theme: Palindromes minim (MIN-uhm) noun 1. The least amount of anything. 2. In music, a half note. 3. A unit of liquid measure, equivalent to 1/60 of a fluid dram (about one drop of liquid). 4. In calligraphy, a short vertical stroke, as in the letters i, m, n, u. [From Latin minimus (smallest, least). Earliest documented use: 1440.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/minim_large.png Image: Denelson83/Wikimedia "There's a minim of grace in that gesture, of self-forgiveness and, yes, of hope, however fugitive." William Giraldi; 'This Life Is Not Easy': The Redemption of Raymond Carver; Commonweal (New York); May 3, 2019. "Her mother would think as she spoke, in italics, while father, who supplemented his orchestral salary by copying music, would put each idea slowly and deliberately into his mind in the way he put minims to paper." Margaret Holmes; Ye Who Know Love: 'Sophie'; Rowan Holmes; 2008. "Measuring with a dropper eight minims of Tincura Opii into a glass of sherry, the chemist JG. Hallam, late of Camden Town, said to himself, I am an average man. This was a somatic measurement. No, a judgment, as twelve minims of laudanum was sufficient to put an average man to sleep." Michael Redhill; Consolation; Anchor Canada; 2009. -------- Date: Thu Aug 29 00:01:03 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tirrit X-Bonus: Each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand mediocre minds appointed to guard the past. -Maurice Maeterlinck, poet, dramatist, and Nobel laureate (29 Aug 1862-1949) This week's theme: Palindromes tirrit (TIR-it) noun An instance of panic, temper, upset, etc. [Perhaps an alteration of the word terror. Earliest documented use: 1600.] "Ogni fede fingo" ("I pretend to believe every belief") Un palindromo in italiano https://wordsmith.org/palindrome/images/italian_palindrome_large.jpg Image: Bernardini Gianluca https://www.flickr.com/photos/bernardini_gianluca/5195807498/ "'These tirrits and frights will be the death of me,' cries Mrs. Quickly when Ancient Pistol is swaggering in her house." Tom Taylor's and Charles Reade's Plays; The Gentleman's Magazine (London, UK); Jan 1855. -------- Date: Fri Aug 30 00:01:04 EDT 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--murdrum X-Bonus: The heart of a mother is a deep abyss, at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. -Honore de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850) This week's theme: Palindromes murdrum (MUR-drum) noun 1. A murder, especially in secret. 2. A fine paid for a murder. [From Latin murdrum (murder), from Old French murdre (murder). Earliest documented use: 1290.] NOTES: Before England went around colonizing the world, they were colonized/conquered by Romans, Angles/Saxons/Jutes, Vikings, and Normans. The locals vented by killing their new lords. So the law came down that any murder of a Norman was to result in a heavy fine for the whole village. On the other hand, if the person killed was an Englishman or a Englishwoman: pas de probleme. This fine was known as murdrum. "The coroner knew that the smith was doing what he could to avoid the murdrum fine." Bernard Knight; The Elixir of Death; Pocket Books; 2006.