A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Sep 1 00:16:04 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--enfant terrible X-Bonus: If any man seeks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both. -Horace Mann, educational reformer (1796-1859) This week's theme: Terms from French enfant terrible (ahn*-fahn* te-REE-bluh) noun, plural enfants terribles (ahn*-fahn* te-REE-bluh) [* these syllables are nasal] A person, especially someone famous or successful, whose unconventional lifestyle, work, or behavior appears shocking. [From French enfant terrible (terrible child).] "Once an enfant terrible, who as a young filmmaker challenged censors and outraged conservative critics, Koji Wakamatsu has not mellowed so much as ripened." Mark Schilling; All's Unfair in Love and War; The Japan Times (Tokyo); Aug 13, 2010. -------- Date: Thu Sep 2 00:16:04 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fait accompli X-Bonus: While fame impedes and constricts, obscurity wraps about a man like a mist; obscurity is dark, ample, and free; obscurity lets the mind take its way unimpeded. Over the obscure man is poured the merciful suffusion of darkness. None knows where he goes or comes. He may seek the truth and speak it; he alone is free; he alone is truthful, he alone is at peace. -Virginia Woolf, writer (1882-1941) This week's theme: Terms from French fait accompli (fay-ta-kom-PLEE) noun, plural faits accomplis (fay-zuh-kom-PLEE, fay-ta-kom-PLEEZ) A thing accomplished: a done deal. [From French fait accompli (accomplished fact).] "Matt Giteau, whose selection was once regarded as a fait accompli, will today begin the toughest selection battle of his illustrious career." Rupert Guinness; Triple Headache for Deans at No.12; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Aug 16, 2010. -------- Date: Fri Sep 3 00:16:04 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--faux X-Bonus: In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong. -John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908-2006) This week's theme: Terms from French faux (foh) noun Artificial; fake; false. [From French faux (false), from Old French fals, from Latin falsus (false), past participle of fallere (to deceive).] "During movie production, all faux weapons had to be rubber." Amy Kaufman; T.I. Reworks His Act for Hollywood; Los Angeles Times; Aug 26, 2010. -------- Date: Mon Sep 6 00:16:04 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--distaff X-Bonus: The world is mud-luscious ... puddle-wonderful. -E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962) What's common among a disc jockey, a spider, a PR agent, and a cricket bowler? They all spin. But this week we are talking about a different kind of spinning, the original kind: the spinning of yarn. Before modern textile mills, and before specialization, people used to spin yarn and weave cloth at home. Even though a typical home doesn't have raw flax and wool any more, that era has left its imprint on the language. By looking at these terms in the English language we can tell who used to do the spinning, and what was thought about people related to the job. This week we'll see five words relating to spinning that are now mostly used figuratively. distaff (DIS-taf) adjective Of or relating to women. noun 1. A staff for holding flax, wool, etc. for spinning. 2. Women considered collectively. 3. A woman's work or domain. [From Old English dis- (bunch of flax) + staef (stick).] Notes: A distaff is a staff with a cleft for holding wool, flax, etc. from which thread is drawn while being spun by hand. In olden times, spinning was considered a woman's work, so distaff figuratively referred to women. Distaff side (also spindle side) refers to the female side of a family. The corresponding male equivalent of the term is spear side (also sword side). Girl with spindle and distaff: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/distaff_large.jpg Art: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) "Volvo's gender politics are distinctly distaff, with safety and familial obligation easily trumping the sorts of values cherished by the aroused arrows of the world." Dan Neil; Herr Doktor, Your Ride is Here; Los Angeles Times; Mar 3, 2004. -------- Date: Tue Sep 7 00:16:05 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spinster X-Bonus: Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way. -E.L. Doctorow, writer (b. 1931) This week's theme: Words related to spinning spinster (SPIN-stuhr) noun 1. A woman who has remained single beyond the usual age of marrying. 2. In law, a woman who has never married. 3. A woman whose occupation is spinning. [From Middle English spinnestere (a woman who spins), from the fact that in earlier times spinning yarn was one of the jobs done by an unmarried woman.] "Goldy Notay is a spinster whose mother is desperate to find her a husband." Sarah Lang; Plenty of Pasta Preparation for Curry-Killer Film; The New Zealand Herald (Auckland); Aug 22, 2010. "Liu Wei ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVYMBOQxte8 ) has already been compared to Susan Boyle, an unemployed Scottish spinster who became a global phenomenon last year when she stunned judges with her performance." Armless Man Plays Piano with Toes to Win Hearts in China; Agence France-Presse (Paris); Aug 18, 2010. -------- Date: Wed Sep 8 00:01:09 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dizen X-Bonus: Walking is man's best medicine. -Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine (460-377 BCE) This week's theme: Words related to spinning dizen (DY-zuhn, DIZ-uhn) verb tr. 1. To attire with finery. 2. To dress or decorate in a gaudy manner. [From Old English dis- (a bunch of flax on a distaff for spinning).] "Looking at Lily Savage's costumes, I was reminded of Carlyle's description of Madame Dubarry as a 'wonderfully dizened Scarlet-woman'." Michael Billington; Aladdin: Sir Ian Proves There's Nothing Quite Like a (Panto) Dame; The Guardian (London, UK); Dec 20, 2004. -------- Date: Thu Sep 9 00:01:13 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--subtile X-Bonus: Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed. -Natalie Clifford Barney, Author (1876-1972) This week's theme: Words related to spinning subtile (SUT-l, SUB-tuhl) adjective Subtle: delicate; fine; not obvious; skillful. [From Latin subtilis (finely woven), from sub- (under) + from tela (cloth on a loom). Ultimately from the Indo-European root teks- (to weave) that is also the source of text, tissue, tectonic, architect, technology.] "The fragrance is quite subtile." Body scrubs; Coventry Evening Telegraph (UK); Nov 13, 2008. "Sounds are too volatile and subtile for legal restraints; to enchain syllables, and to lash the wind, are equally the undertakings of pride." Samuel Johnson; Preface to the English Dictionary; 1755. -------- Date: Fri Sep 10 00:01:08 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--homespun X-Bonus: Men of genius are often dull and inert in society, as the blazing meteor when it descends to earth, is only a stone. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (1807-1882) This week's theme: Words related to spinning homespun (HOHM-spun) adjective Unsophisticated; unpolished; rustic. [The word acquired its figurative meaning alluding to something made of yarn spun at home, one that's plain and coarse.] "I hope Britain never junks the homespun simplicity of basic biscuits for garish, fancy packets." Oliver Thring; Consider the Biscuit; The Guardian (London, UK); Aug 10, 2010. -------- Date: Mon Sep 13 00:01:13 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--camelot X-Bonus: It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. -Sydney Smith, writer and clergyman (1771-1845) A flight of imagination can take us anywhere, whether real or fabled. This week's words describe places that exist only in people's minds. Some of these we may want to go to, some perhaps not. These are mythical places and they are used figuratively in English. Join us for the next five days as we visit these imaginary places. No need to buy a ticket. No need to pack. All aboard, fasten your seatbelts! Camelot (KAM-uh-lot) noun An idealized time or place, one regarded as enlightened, beautiful, and peaceful. [After Camelot, the site of King Arthur's court in Arthurian legend.] Notes: Camelot has also become a nickname for the glamorous ambience of the time in the US when John F. Kennedy was the president (1961-1963). A musical titled Camelot, based on the Arthurian legend, was popular around the same time and the word came to be applied to the exciting time of change during Kennedy's administration. Knights of the Round Table in Camelot: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/camelot_large.jpg Artwork from the Middle Ages "Dan Webster likes to reminisce about the good ol' days when Republicans ended the Democrats' reign of terror and turned Tallahassee into a Camelot of good government." Scott Maxwell; Alan Grayson's GOP Challengers Slide to Right at Forum; Los Angeles Times; May 27, 2010. -------- Date: Tue Sep 14 00:01:14 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hades X-Bonus: For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner ... on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. ... That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996) This week's theme: Fabled lands Hades (HAY-deez) noun Hell. [From Greek Haides, the god of the underworld in Greek mythology. The word is ultimately from the Indo-European root weid- (to see), which is also the source of words such as guide, wise, vision, advice, idea, story, and history. Hades derives from this root in the sense of invisible or unseen.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hades_large.jpg Hades with Cerberus https://wordsmith.org/words/cerberus.html Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Greece Photo: Aviad Bublil "The monstrous Greek debt and budget deficits have pushed the country to the very door of economic Hades." Eric Reguly; Ireland; The Globe and Mail (Canada); Apr 1, 2010. -------- Date: Wed Sep 15 00:01:16 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--never-never land X-Bonus: Be good and you will be lonesome. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) This week's theme: Fabled lands never-never land (NEV-uhr-NEV-uhr land) noun An idealized imaginary place where everything is perfect. [From Never Never Land in J.M. Barrie's play Peter Pan (1904).] Peter Pan in Never Never Land: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/never-never_land_large.jpg Artist: Francis Donkin Illustration from the book Peter and Wendy, 1911 "The movie Alamar comes perilously close to turning into an escapist fantasy of abandoning civilization for never-never land." Stephen Holden; A Boy's Slice of Paradise Is Time Alone With Dad; The New York Times; Jul 14, 2010. -------- Date: Thu Sep 16 00:01:07 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ivory tower X-Bonus: Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest. -Douglas William Jerrold, playwright and humorist (1803-1857) This week's theme: Fabled lands ivory tower (EYE-vuh-ree TOU-uhr) noun A place or state of privileged seclusion, disconnected from practical matters and harsh realities of life. [Translation of French tour d'ivoire, from tour (tower) + de (of) + ivoire (ivory). The term was first used in the figurative sense in 1837 by literary critic Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869).] Notes: The term is often applied to academia for its supposed preoccupation with lofty intellectual pursuits. While the term in its figurative sense is first attributed to the French critic Sainte-Beuve, it is found in the Song of Solomon 7:4 in a literal sense: "Your neck is like an ivory tower." "In a democratic system, the true leaders have to remain constantly in touch with, and reach out to, the people and not remain like a king in an ivory tower." C L Manoj; The Agony of the Hereditary Turks; The Economic Times (New Delhi, India); Aug 9, 2010. -------- Date: Fri Sep 17 00:01:05 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--la-la land X-Bonus: If only I could so live and so serve the world that after me there should never again be birds in cages. -Isak Dinesen (pen name of Karen Blixen), author (1885-1962) This week's theme: Fabled lands la-la land (la-la land) noun 1. A place or a state of being out of touch with reality. 2. A place known for frivolous activities. [Finally, a fictional land that is named after a real place. The term la-la land is coined from the initials of the city of Los Angeles, home of Hollywood, alluding to the fictitious nature of the movies, sets, etc.] "Stockwell Day is in the la-la land of Republicans, who for decades whipped up (white) fear of (black) crime and kept building prisons across America until there was no more money to build." Haroon Siddiqui; Harper's Ottawa Becomes Republican La-la Land; The Toronto Star (Canada); Aug 8, 2010. -------- Date: Mon Sep 20 00:59:07 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--emanate X-Bonus: Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone. -Czeslaw Milosz, poet and novelist (1911-2004) If you are a high school teacher of the English language, or if you are simply someone who cares about the language, chances are textspeak -- use of cutesy abbreviations often seen in cell phone messages -- grates on your nerves. You especially don't want to see it in a formal setting, for example in a term paper or in a doctor's report. Imagine if your cardiologist emailed you the results of your test with the note: "C me 4 UR <3." Chances are you'd want to fire him for this cordial (from Latin cor: heart) note, no matter how good he may be in fixing problems of the heart. But is there really anything wrong with people using expressions such as "C U L8R" in a friendly email or text message? We may want to blame this on cell phones, but according to an upcoming British Library exhibit http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/aug/18/british-library-textspeak-exhibition , http://www.bl.uk/evolvingenglish/ , Victorian poets were writing in this manner long before anyone dreamed of mobile devices. And let's not forget that the use of letters to represent words is sometimes used in formal contexts as well. "IOU" for "I Owe You" has been used on promissory notes going back to the 17th century. Abbreviations are not bad and there is nothing wrong with acronyms. Shortening a message for a telegraph was perfectly legal, so why take it out on SMS? If you happen to have one of those names that can be conveyed by the sounds of letters you may have figured out early on that you could sign off as LN (Ellen), ME (Emmy), KC (Casey), J (Jay), LX (Alex), KT (Katie), or K8 (Kate), to pick a few. This week we have picked five letter-words, words that you can write like K-9 for canine. emanate (EM-uh-nayt or M-N-8) verb tr., intr. To emit or to come out. [From Latin emanare (to flow out), from ex- (out of) + manare (to flow).] "The head of the Vatican Museum has warned that dust and pollution from tourists visiting the Sistine Chapel could endanger its priceless artworks. 'Such a crowd... emanates sweat, breath, carbon dioxide, all sorts of dust,' he said." Vatican Tourists 'Ruining Sistine Chapel'; The Independent (London, UK); Sep 10, 2010. -------- Date: Tue Sep 21 00:21:06 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--deify X-Bonus: There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. -Nelson Mandela, activist, South African president, Nobel laureate (b. 1918) This week's theme: Letter-words -- words that lend themselves to textspeak deify (DEE-uh-fy or D-F-I) verb tr. 1. To make a god of. 2. To revere or idealize as a deity. [From Latin deificare, from deus (god) + -ficare (to make), from facere (to make). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dyeu- (to shine) that is also the source of diva, divine, Jupiter, Jove, July, Zeus, and Sanskrit deva (god).] "India has given birth to so many reformers of organized religion that one wonders if it is a natural cycle: each of them shows common people the simple but neglected path to a personal faith, but they deify him into a divine status he never wanted, establishing an institution, and the circle begins all over again." Ananda Lal; Spiritual Cycles; The Telegraph (Calcutta, India); Sep 11, 2010. -------- Date: Wed Sep 22 00:01:06 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--extenuate X-Bonus: Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood. -Henry Miller, writer (1891-1980) This week's theme: Letter-words -- words that lend themselves to textspeak extenuate (ik-STEN-yoo-ayt or X-10-U-8) verb tr. 1. To reduce or attempt to reduce the severity of (an error, an offense, etc.) by making partial excuses for it. 2. To lessen or to make light of. [From Latin extenuare (to lessen), from ex- (out) + tenuare (to make thin), from tenuis (thin). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ten- (to stretch), which is also the source of tense, tenet, tendon, tent, tenor, tender, pretend, extend, tenure, tetanus, hypotenuse, pertinacious https://wordsmith.org/words/pertinacious.html , and detente https://wordsmith.org/words/detente.html .] "The apology made clear that Shaftari believed that nothing could extenuate the wrongs he had done." Robert F. Worth; 10 Years After a Mea Culpa, No Hint of a 'Me, Too'; The New York Times; Apr 17, 2010. "Big bust, small lower half -- wear fitted jeans and tuck in your blouse to extenuate your waist." Lindsay Clydesdale; A to Zoe of Fashion; Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland); May 11, 2010. -------- Date: Thu Sep 23 00:01:09 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--elegy X-Bonus: Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is. -Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry (b. 1920) This week's theme: Letter-words -- words that lend themselves to textspeak elegy (EL-i-jee or L-E-G) noun A poem composed as a lament for the dead. [Via French and Latin from Greek elegos (a mournful poem or song).] "Frederick Septimus Kelly wrote his best-known work, an elegy for string orchestra, in memory of his friend, poet Rupert Brooke." Matthew Westwood; Lament for Fame's First Victim; The Australian (Sydney); Aug 18, 2006. -------- Date: Fri Sep 24 00:01:05 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tedium X-Bonus: Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950) This week's theme: Letter-words -- words that lend themselves to textspeak tedium (TEE-dee-uhm or T-D-M) noun The state or quality of being boring, monotonous, or repetitive. [From Latin taedium, from taedere (to be weary).] "What at first seems sort of clever quickly turns into an exercise in exasperating tedium." Brandon Fibbs; Coming of Age Movie is No 'Stand By Me'; The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado); Sep 10, 2010. -------- Date: Mon Sep 27 00:01:06 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fatwa X-Bonus: Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted. -Jules Renard, author (1864-1910) In Saudi Arabia a woman in public has to be covered head to toe or risk arrest. ( http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/08/maureen-dowd-201008 ) In India it's socially acceptable if a woman's torso and legs are clad. In the US it's tolerable as long as her top and bottom are not exposed. And in Europe anything (or nothing) is fair game. Which one of these configurations is correct? Who decides? Well, here is an idea: Why not let a woman decide for herself? The same goes for books. Instead of banning certain books, why not let a reader decide what books he wants to read, and what books to buy or borrow? Unfortunately even in these modern times there are Comstocks https://wordsmith.org/words/comstockery.html and Bowdlers https://wordsmith.org/words/bowdlerize.html around us. To highlight the issue, librarians, booksellers, and readers celebrate the freedom to read by observing Banned Books Week http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/ during the last week of September every year (Sep 25 - Oct 2 this year). In A.Word.A.Day this week we'll feature five words related to censorship. fatwa (FAHT-wah) noun 1. A ruling on a point of law given by an Islamic religious leader. 2. A severe denunciation. [From Arabic fatwa (legal opinion, decree), from afta (to decide a legal point). Ultimately from the Semitic root ptw (to advise) that also brought us the word mufti https://wordsmith.org/words/mufti.html .] NOTES: Although the word has been recorded in the English language since 1625, the incident that brought it into worldwide consciousness took place in 1989. The most infamous of all fatwas took place on February 14 that year when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran pronounced a death sentence on the novelist Salman Rushdie for his book The Satanic Verses. Khomeini could simply have written a book of his own countering Rushdie's. Why not fight ink with ink instead of with blood? In Islam a fatwa could be a ruling on any point (such as the fatwa against ads for dog chow, see below), and most fatwas are about day-to-day life. But given the ease with which fatwas seem to call for murder, the word is now synonymous with extreme condemnation of someone, up to death. The latest fatwa victim is a Seattle cartoonist: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-09-15/news/on-the-advice-of-the-fbi-cartoonist-molly-norris-disappears-from-view/ "Ads promoting pet foods and shops selling pet accessories, especially for cats and dogs, have been banned by the fatwa. Based on shariah, a dog is essentially unclean." Fatwa Bans Pet Ads; Tehran Times (Iran); Aug 25, 2010. "By not having read carefully my extremely carefully thought-through text, many scooter riders contacted me most angrily because they thought I'd inferred [read: implied] that all scooter riders are fascists... I have nothing against scooters -- I had quite a romance with an old Lambretta myself once -- so please withdraw your fatwa." Barefoot Doctor; Global Warning; The Observer (London, UK); Jul 14, 2002. -------- Date: Tue Sep 28 00:01:06 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--custos morum X-Bonus: No iron spike can pierce a human heart as icily as a period in the right place. -Isaac Babel, author (1894-1940) This week's theme: Words related to censorship custos morum (KOOS-tohs MOH-room, -ruhm) noun A guardian of morals; censor. [From Latin custos morum (guardian of morals, laws, etc.).] "A self-righteous soul can identify himself as custos morum." William Safire; Delicious Delicto; The New York Times; Mar 30, 1986. -------- Date: Wed Sep 29 00:01:05 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--excommunicate X-Bonus: The lust for comfort murders the passions of the soul. -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931) This week's theme: Words related to censorship excommunicate (verb: eks-kuh-MYOO-ni-kayt, noun and adj: eks-kuh-MYOO-ni-kit, -kayt) verb tr.: To formally exclude someone from a group or community, especially from a religious community. noun: A person who has been excluded in this manner. adjective: Having been excluded. [From Latin excommunicare (to put out of the community), from ex- (out of) + communis (common). Ultimately from the Indo-European root mei- (to change or move) that has also given us commute, mutual, migrate, common, mistake, and immune.] There's censorship of books, and there is censorship of humans. Excommunication is a fancy word to describe the latter. "Aquinas had responded that we ought to die excommunicated rather than violate our conscience." Fr Joe Borg; Respect and responsibility; The Times (Valletta, Malta); Sep 5, 2010. -------- Date: Thu Sep 30 00:01:06 EDT 2010 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--euphemism X-Bonus: Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half of the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970) This week's theme: Words related to censorship euphemism (YOO-fuh-miz-em) noun Use of a mild, neutral, evasive, or vague term in place of one considered taboo, offensive, blunt, or unpleasant. [From Greek euphemismos, from euphemos (auspicious), from eu- (good) + pheme (speaking).] More examples: collateral damage for civilian casualties second-hand for used pre-owned for second-hand pre-loved for pre-owned budget for cheap pass (away) for die sanitation worker for garbage collector/janitor convivial for drunken The opposite of euphemism is dysphemism: https://wordsmith.org/words/dysphemism.html "Two-and-a-half months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the notorious Executive Order 9066. As a result, more than 110,000 Japanese, virtually all the Japanese-Americans on the mainland, were 'evacuated to concentration camps' in remote parts of America's mountain states. The words were his, though they were soon replaced in official parlance by the euphemism, 'reception centres'." The Consequences of Terror, Japanese Internment in America (book review); The Economist (London); Sep 22, 2001.