A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Aug 1 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--obtrude X-Bonus: I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator. -Mother Jones (Mary Harris Jones), schoolteacher, dressmaker, organizer, and activist (1 Aug 1837-1930) Eat, pray, love Eat, shoot and leave What do you see above? Sure, lots of eating going on there, but we are not telling you to eat or what to eat or what to do before/after eating. We're not even telling you to read or what to read. Rather we are giving examples of verbs. Verbs are the words that keep the world going. Imagine how you'd eat, drink, and be merry, if there were no verbs! This week we'll see five unusual verbs, actions some of which you probably don't do every day, and others, you hopefully do. obtrude (uhb/ob-TROOD) verb tr.: To impose one's ideas, opinions, etc. verb intr.: To thrust forward or to intrude. [From Latin obtrudere (to thrust at), from ob- (against) + trudere (to push). Ultimately from the Indo-European root treud- (to squeeze), which also gave us extrude, intrude, threat, thrust, and abstruse https://wordsmith.org/words/abstruse.html . Earliest documented use: 1575.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/obtrude https://wordsmith.org/words/images/obtrude_large.jpg Illustration: Karen Folsom https://kgfolsart.com/ "I shall allow you neither to entangle yourself in an engagement, nor to embarrass my affianced wife by obtruding yourself upon her." Georgette Heyer; Bath Tangle; William Heinemann; 1955. "Part of a pale-blue window obtrudes. But nothing disrupts the composition's essential harmony." Peter  Schjeldahl; Going Flat Out; The New Yorker; May 16, 2022. -------- Date: Tue Aug 2 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mundify X-Bonus: I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. -James Baldwin, writer (2 Aug 1924-1987) This week's theme: Verbs mundify (MUHN-duh-fy) verb tr. To wash, cleanse, or purify. [From Middle French mondefier , from Latin mundificare (to cleanse), from mundus (clean). Earliest documented use: 1425.] "He may have been in the washroom... er... mundifying." Harry Stephen Keeler; The Matilda Hunter Murder; Dutton; 1931. -------- Date: Wed Aug 3 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--discerp X-Bonus: What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give. -P.D. James (Phyllis Dorothy James), novelist (3 Aug 1920-2014) This week's theme: Verbs discerp (di-SUHRP) verb tr. To tear off or to rip into pieces. [From Latin discerpere (to tear to pieces), from dis- (apart) + carpere (to pick, pluck). Earliest documented use: 1483.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/discerp https://wordsmith.org/words/images/discerp_large.jpg Illustration: Karen Folsom https://kgfolsart.com/ "Trace shook her head and inhaled through o'd lips, imagining a mother bear or cougar finding, catching, and killing the fawn, discerping it to share with April-born cubs or kits." Scott Elliott; Temple Grove; University of Washington Press; 2013. -------- Date: Thu Aug 4 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--elute X-Bonus: What did I know, what did I know / of love's austere and lonely offices? -Robert Hayden, poet and educator (4 Aug 1913-1980) This week's theme: Verbs elute (ee/i-LOOT) verb tr. To wash out or extract, especially with a solvent. [From Latin eluere (to wash out), from ex- (out) + -luere (to wash), from lavare/lavere (to wash). Earliest documented use: 1731.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/elute "The caustic solvent of intercontinental travel has eluted away the fragile coating of polite civility each of them wears when at his unstressed best, leaving bare the chafed prickliness of self-justified irritability familiar to all who over-indulge in time zones." John Mickey; Ultimatum Day; iUniverse; 2006. -------- Date: Fri Aug 5 00:01:03 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--micrify X-Bonus: How would you describe the difference between modern war and modern industry -- between, say, bombing and strip mining, or between chemical warfare and chemical manufacturing? The difference seems to be only that in war the victimization of humans is directly intentional and in industry it is "accepted" as a "trade-off". -Wendell Berry, farmer and author (b. 5 Aug 1934) This week's theme: Verbs micrify (MYK-ruh-fy) verb tr. To make small or insignificant. [From Greek micro- (small) + -ficare (to make). Earliest documented use: 1836.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/micrify_large.jpg "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" 1989 Poster: Disney "With no way to micrify anything ... I had to let everything in one-to-one, raw, and unreduced." Harry Dodge; My Meteorite; Penguin; 2020. -------- Date: Mon Aug 8 00:01:02 EDT 2022 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cynical X-Bonus: No one worth possessing / Can be quite possessed. -Sara Teasdale, poet (8 Aug 1884-1933) At the entrance of a Whole Foods store, I noticed an LCD screen advertising "Animal Welfare Certified" steaks. https://www.flickr.com/photos/wordsmithorg/52206176671/ The absurdity of words in the ad brought a smile. You'd think anyone who raises a sentient being for the *sole* purpose of killing her and selling her for parts is probably not out for her welfare. It doesn't fare well for the cow, no matter how you slice it. Incongruity in words and action creates violence. Another example is wearing ribbons with the words "Support Our Troops" while dispatching them to die in manufactured wars. Wow! I must be good with words -- today I have managed to alienate two groups of people in one write-up. What are your thoughts? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/cynical.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state). Meanwhile let's get back to where we started. This week we'll feature five words made with animals, but no animals were harmed in the making of these words. Animal Welfare Certified, for real! cynical (SIN-i-kuhl) adjective 1. Believing that people are motivated primarily by self-interest. 2. Behaving in a selfish manner, callously violating accepted standards. 3. Pessimistic; jaded; negative. 4. Contemptuous; mocking. [From Latin cynicus, from Greek kynikos (like a dog), from kyon (dog). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwon- (dog), which is also the source of canine, chenille (from French chenille: caterpillar, literally, little dog), kennel, canary, hound, dachshund, corgi, and cynosure cynophilist https://wordsmith.org/words/cynophilist.html , cynophobia https://wordsmith.org/words/cynophobia.html , philocynic https://wordsmith.org/words/philocynic.html , cynegetic https://wordsmith.org/words/cynegetic.html , and cynosure https://wordsmith.org/words/cynosure.html . Earliest documented use: 1588.] NOTES: Cynics was the name given to the ancient Greek philosophers who believed in self-control, austerity, and moral virtue. The movement was founded by Antisthenes (c. 444-365 BCE) and perfected by Diogenes (c. 412-323 BCE). It's not clear why they were labeled cynics or dog-like, but as often happens with such epithets, they appropriated it. Some believe the name was given because Antisthenes taught in a gymnasium nicknamed White Dog, but it's more likely that they were given the insulting moniker for their rejection of society's conventions. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/cynical Diogenes, Sinope, Turkey http://wordsmith.org/words/images/cynical_large.jpg Photo: Memet Rifatovic https://www.flickr.com/photos/pusluatlas/6245773921/ "'Fairy tales look great on paper. In real life, not so much.' 'Cynical.'" Jill Kemerer; Small-Town Bachelor; Harlequin; 2015.