A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Sep 2 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--misogynoir X-Bonus: There are conditions of blindness so voluntary that they become complicity. -Paul Bourget, novelist (2 Sep 1852-1935) Last year, Dan Barker, an author, speaker, and co-president of FFRF, told me about a word he had coined, contraduction, for the act of inverting reality. As he describes it, "Have you ever been sitting in a train that's not moving when the train next to you starts to move and you briefly think it is you who is moving? You got it backward." That's contraduction. Another example of contraduction is claiming that conditions like gravity and other constants were fine tuned for us. In reality, it's we who evolved to fit them. The fallacy has been around, but the word is new. It isn't yet in the dictionary, but it fills a need, and if enough people use it, it might even find a place. Thankfully, Dan Barker has written a compact, very readable book that offers more examples and insights. The book is out this week https://www.amazon.com/Contraduction-Dan-Barker/dp/1839195975 And that's the secret to coining a word. Identify a concept that has been around yet doesn't have a word to describe it. This week we'll feature five coined words that are already in the dictionary. Do you have examples of contraduction? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/misogynoir.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org (include your location: city, state). misogynoir (muh-soj-uh-NWAR) noun Hatred or prejudice directed toward Black women. [Coined by the scholar and writer Moya Bailey (b. 1983) as a blend of misogyny https://wordsmith.org/words/misogyny.html + French noir (black). The word misogyny is from Greek miso- (hate) + gyne (woman). Earliest documented use: 2010.] NOTES: This term highlights the intersectional nature of the discrimination Black women face, where both racism and sexism intertwine. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/misogynoir_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "[Trump] spat misogynoir about Vice President Kamala Harris's qualifications, spoke incoherently and falsely about the state of America's major cities and airports, and praised the wife of his son, Don Jr., who is not married. No calls for him to take a mental fitness test followed." Kimberly Atkins Stohr; Biden and Trump Are Showing Their Stark Contrast; Boston Globe (Massachusetts); Jul 11, 2024. "There is a long history of media misogynoir in sports. Before her retirement, Serena Williams was constantly a victim of vitriolic commentary about her looks, with one Australian cartoonist drawing a racist caricature of her and a Romanian TV host comparing Williams to a monkey." Janice Gassam Asare; Media Misogynoir; Forbes (New York); Apr 7, 2024. -------- Date: Tue Sep 3 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--outgrabe X-Bonus: A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventurers come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, because it takes something from the world, and has something to give in return. -Sarah Orne Jewett, poet and novelist (3 Sep 1849-1909) This week's theme: Coined words outgrabe (out-GRAYB) verb intr. To emit strange noises, such as bellowing, whistling, and shrieking. [Coined by Lewis Carroll in the poem Jabberwocky. He described the word as connected with the old verb to grike or shrike. Earliest documented use: 1855.] NOTES: Lewis Carroll described it as a past tense of outgribe, but now outgrabe is taken as the infinitive form. See more words coined by Lewis Carroll https://wordsmith.org/words/galumph.html . https://wordsmith.org/words/images/outgrabe_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "When everything else failed, the police used less powerful versions of the same device to subdue juice addicts who outgrabed." Alan Dean Foster; Montezuma Strip; Aspect; 1995. -------- Date: Wed Sep 4 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--intertextuality X-Bonus: The rightness of a thing isn't determined by the amount of courage it takes. -Mary Renault, novelist (4 Sep 1905-1983) This week's theme: Coined words intertextuality (in-tuhr-teks-chuh-WA-luh-tee) noun Interpretation of a text in relation to other texts, rather than in isolation. [Coined by the philosopher and novelist Julia Kristeva (b. 1941) in French as intertextualité, from inter- (between) + textuel (textual), from Latin texere (to weave). Ultimately from the Indo-European root teks- (to weave), which also gave us context, texture, tissue, tectonic, architect, technology, subtle, and subtile https://wordsmith.org/words/subtile.html . Earliest documented use: 1970.] NOTES: Intertextuality reminds us that every piece of writing is influenced by what came before it, consciously or not. Other texts provide the essential context for understanding any given text, making the literary world a vast, interconnected web of ideas and influences. No text is an island. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/intertextuality_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "The 11 short stories in this collection each weave together, playful in their intertextuality as they nod to other stories in the collection and beyond." Aimée Walsh; Across Unknowable Terrain; Irish Times (Dublin); Aug 26, 2023. -------- Date: Thu Sep 5 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--genteelism X-Bonus: To want to meet an author because you like his books is as ridiculous as wanting to meet the goose because you like pate de foie gras. -Arthur Koestler, author (5 Sep 1905-1983) This week's theme: Coined words genteelism (jen-TEE-liz-uhm) noun The substitution of a word that is believed to be more polite or refined. For example, washroom for lavatory. [Coined by the lexicographer H.W. Fowler (1858-1933). From genteel, from French gentil (noble), from gens (clan). Earliest documented use: 1926.] NOTES: The words we use for bathrooms have evolved over time, reflecting a desire for more genteel expressions, but the origins of most of them have something to do with washing. washroom: from Old English wascan (to wash) lavatory: from Latin lavare (to wash) latrine: from Latin lavare (to wash) toilet: from French toilette (small cloth) restroom: from Old English restan (to rest) bathroom: from Old English baeth (to bath) loo: origin unknown. Various unsubstantiated theories include Waterloo, French l’eau (water) and lieu (place). What is your word for restroom in polite company? https://wordsmith.org/words/images/genteelism_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "Sir, please honor us by partaking of our offering... or would you rather bathe and wash (a genteelism that includes evacuating the bowels) first?" Udai Rathor; Kojia -- The Ugly One; Strategic Book Publishing; 2012. -------- Date: Fri Sep 6 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--googolplex X-Bonus: You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt. -Robert M. Pirsig, author and philosopher (6 Sep 1928-2017) This week's theme: Coined words googolplex (GOO-guhl-pleks) noun The number 1 followed by a googol number of zeros. [Coined by Milton Sirotta (1911-1981), nine-year-old nephew of the mathematician Edward Kasner. From googol https://wordsmith.org/words/googol.html + -plex as in duplex. Earliest documented use: 1937.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/googolplex NOTES: Googol is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros (10^100). Googolplex is (10^googol or 10^10^100). It's so big that it's not even possible to spell it out in long form (1000000000...). We would fill the whole universe before we come even close to writing out the number. It is even bigger than the number of atoms in the universe. So what is such a number good for? It's often used in a hyperbolic sense to signify an incredibly large quantity of something -- far beyond anything we could actually count or imagine. Also see, google https://wordsmith.org/words/google.html https://wordsmith.org/words/images/googolplex_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "So while the rest of the class did sprint drills, I did upper-body work (translation: a googolplex of push-ups)." Brett A. Halbleib; Training Day; Indianapolis Star (Indiana); Jul 1, 2007. "Trump was booked in Georgia for one of his googolplex of criminal cases." Mike Freeman; Trump Sneakers Aren't Going to Sway Black Americans; USA Today (McLean, Virginia); Feb 26, 2024. -------- Date: Mon Sep 9 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--elocutionary X-Bonus: There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (9 Sep 1828-1910) Vowels and consonants, the dynamic duo of language. Vowels -- A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y -- are the social butterflies at the party, bringing melody, flow, and rhythm to the conversation. They glide through words, making everything sound lively and connected. Consonants, on the other hand, are the sturdy framework, the reliable guests who give words their shape and structure. But here’s the magic: when the vowels and consonants start interacting, the party truly comes alive. Vowels glide in between consonants, adding warmth and movement, turning static clusters of consonants into words that dance off your tongue. The vowels bring the conversation to life, giving the consonants something to wrap around, something to hold. Without consonants, language would be a mushy mess; without vowels, it would be dry and rigid. While we can't get all consonants into a single word without the party getting too wild, we can do that with vowels. This week we've picked five words, each of which has all the vowels present. elocutionary (el-uh-KYOO-shuhn-uhr-ee) adjective Relating to public speaking, especially in clear, expressive, and often emphatic manner. [From Latin eloqui (to speak out), from ex- (out) + loqui (to speak). Earliest documented use: 1846.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/elocutionary https://wordsmith.org/words/images/elocutionary_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "[Harry Houdini] taught himself to speak in advanced elocutionary English, and to write in the ornate tones of period ballyhoo." https://wordsmith.org/words/ballyhoo.html David Denby; Chain Me Up; The New Yorker; Mar 30, 2020. -------- Date: Tue Sep 10 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--commensurability X-Bonus: The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos. -Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist, biologist, author (10 Sep 1941-2002) This week's theme: Words with all the vowels commensurability (kuh-men-suh/shuh-ruh-BIH-lih-tee) noun 1. The quality of being in proportion or suitable in relation to something else. 2. The quality of being measurable by a common standard; comparability. [From Latin com- (together) + mensurare (to measure). Earliest documented use: 1570.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/commensurability_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "Aristotle agreed there was a problem about the commensurability of any barter -- how would you equalise the use-value of a shoe/bed/house?" Peter Jones; In Praise of Barter; The Spectator (London, UK); Dec 10, 2011. -------- Date: Wed Sep 11 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vituperatory X-Bonus: A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows. -O. Henry, short-story writer (11 Sep 1862-1910) This week's theme: Words with all the vowels vituperatory (vy-TOO/TYOO-pruh-tor-ee) adjective Criticizing bitterly, scathing, abusive. [From Latin vituperare (to blame), from vitium (fault) + parare (to make or prepare). Earliest documented use: 1586.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/vituperatory_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/vituperatory "The loose-cannon 'undiplomat' [John Bolton] best known for his vituperatory anti-UN mouthings and unbridled arrogance." J.A. Lopez; Own Worst Enemies; San Gabriel Valley Tribune (West Covina, California); Jun 1, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Sep 12 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--equivocacy X-Bonus: Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on "I am not too sure." -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (12 Sep 1880-1956) This week's theme: Words with all the vowels equivocacy (i-KWIV-uh-kuh-see) noun The quality of being deliberately ambiguous or vague. [From Latin aequi-/equi- (equal) + vocare (to call), from vox (voice). Earliest documented use: 1646.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/equivocacy_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "The smuggler Han Solo -- whose did-he-or-didn't-he equivocacy has perplexed director George Lucas for decades." Michael Idato; A Cultural Force, Awakened; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Nov 30, 2019. -------- Date: Fri Sep 13 00:01:02 EDT 2024 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--perfunctionary X-Bonus: To have and not to give is often worse than to steal. -Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, writer (13 Sep 1830-1916) This week's theme: Words with all the vowels perfunctionary (puhr-FUNK-shuh-ner-ee) adjective Done without any interest, care, or effort. [Alteration of perfunctory, from Latin perfunctorius (careless), from perfungi (to get through with), from per- (through) + fungi (to perform). Note that fungus has a different origin, likely from Greek spongos (sponge). Earliest documented use: 1838.] Conflict of Disinterest https://wordsmith.org/words/images/perfunctionary_large.jpg Cartoon: Dan Piraro https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics/ "He had no success in his nefarious acts of trying to paw her, except for a perfunctionary kiss. She had skillfully and cleverly warded off his amorous advances." Brian D. Kharpran Daly; The Pangs of Love; Prowess Publishing; 2021.