A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Sep 1 00:01:01 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--theomachy X-Bonus: When wealth is passed off as merit, bad luck is seen as bad character. This is how ideologues justify punishing the sick and the poor. But poverty is neither a crime nor a character flaw. Stigmatize those who let people die, not those who struggle to live. -Sarah Kendzior, journalist and author (b. 1 Sep 1978) Ever been at a loss for words? There are many ways to make a badly needed one, for example: o If it's about sound, imitate it (that's how we got gnar). https://wordsmith.org/words/gnar.html o Coin it after a person or place (Ponzi scheme https://wordsmith.org/words/ponzi_scheme.html, Canossa https://wordsmith.org/words/canossa.html). o Or borrow from another language (sachem https://wordsmith.org/words/sachem.html from Algonquian). o You can even repurpose an old word and give it new life (ludicrous https://wordsmith.org/words/ludicrous.html). But one of the most straightforward ways: assemble it from parts that are already lying around. Take linguistic Lego bricks known as combining forms and snap them together. Think of photo- (light) + -graphy (writing) = photography. In the right combinations, combining forms can build whole universes. This week we'll mix and match words made from these combining forms: theo- (god) thanato- (death) eury- (wide) klepto- (theft) urano- (heavens) with -machy (battle) -crat (ruler) -phobia (fear) -mania (obsession) -phagous (feeding on) What new words can you cook up with these? Share your creations on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/theomachy.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Don't forget your location (city, state). theomachy (thee-OM-uh-kee) noun A battle among the gods or other powerful entities. [From Greek theo- (god) + -machy (battle). Earliest documented use: 1576.] NOTES: Even gods are not immune to a little family drama. Titans, giant gods in Greek mythology, overthrew their father Uranus to seize power. Eventually, the Titan Cronus's children (Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter) overthrew the Titans. These days, theomachy is more likely to erupt in boardrooms or in a capital's halls of power than on Mount Olympus. "The Fall of the Titans" (1588-1590) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/theomachy_large.jpg Art: Cornelis van Haarlem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_of_the_Titans "Theomachy and reckless martyrdom ensued. Terrific battles erupted in the halls on K Street. Fistfights, catfights, memo-bludgeon duels took place between dedicated OWC careerists and White House staff."   Michael B. Neff; All the Dark We Will Not See; Serving House Books; 2016. -------- Date: Tue Sep 2 00:01:01 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kleptocrat X-Bonus: There are conditions of blindness so voluntary that they become complicity. -Paul Bourget, novelist (2 Sep 1852-1935) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms kleptocrat (KLEP-tuh-krat) noun A politician or an official who uses their position to enrich themselves. [From Greek klepto- (theft) + -crat (ruler). Earliest documented use: 1892.] NOTES: A kleptocrat is a ruler or leader who enriches themselves by exploiting their position. Corruption is part of it, but the theft aspect is central. From "Harper's Weekly", Oct 21, 1871 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/kleptocrat_large.jpg Cartoon: Thomas Nast https://thomasnast.com/cartoons/the-brains/ "It was then that Jacob Zuma began his nine-year reign as president, during which time the thuggish kleptocrat and his cronies ransacked state-owned enterprises, plundered local and provincial governments, and ravaged the law-enforcement institutions set up to curb such looting." Saving the Nation; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 27, 2019. -------- Date: Wed Sep 3 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--thanatophobia 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: Words made with combining forms thanatophobia (than-uh-tuh-FO-bee-uh) noun An excessive or irrational fear of death. [From Greek thanato- (death) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1860.] NOTES: We all have some fear of the inevitable, but if it's a grave concern you might have thanatophobia. One possible response is thanatosis (playing dead) https://wordsmith.org/words/thanatosis.html though we recommend thanatopsis (a reflection on death) https://wordsmith.org/words/thanatopsis.html . As Rabindranath Tagore put it: "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come." Self-Portrait with Death Playing the fiddle, 1872 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/thanatophobia_large.jpg Art: Arnold Böcklin https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arnold_Boecklin-fiedelnder_Tod.jpg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/thanatophobia "Reincarnation offers a placebo for thanatophobia, and placebos can be amazingly effective." Kat Meltzer; Change the Channel; The Skeptical Inquirer (Buffalo, New York); Jul/Aug 1998. -------- Date: Thu Sep 4 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--euryphagous X-Bonus: In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy. -Ivan Illich, philosopher and priest (4 Sep 1926-2002) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms euryphagous (yoo-RIF-uh-guhs) adjective Eating a wide variety of foods. [From Greek eury- (wide) + -phagous (feeding on). Earliest documented use: 1926.] NOTES: If your menu ranges from pizza to pho, from injera to ice cream, you might just be euryphagous. The opposite is stenophagous https://wordsmith.org/words/stenophagous.html (restricted diet: my cat only eats one brand of kibble). Note that euryphagous doesn't necessarily mean omnivorous. A euryphagous eater can dine from A to Z, from asparagus to zucchini, or aardvark to zebra (depending on their dietary ethics). "Vertumnus", 1591 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/euryphagous_large.jpg A portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II consisting of fruits, vegetables, and flowers Art: Giuseppe Arcimboldo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertumnus_%28Arcimboldo%29#/media/File:Vertumnus_%C3%A5rstidernas_gud_m%C3%A5lad_av_Giuseppe_Arcimboldo_1591_-_Skoklosters_slott_-_91503.jpg "Yellow-rumped warblers are euryphagous. They eat insects in summer. But when the insects disappear in fall, the birds switch to berries and seeds -- and get along quite well." Jerry Sullivan; Field & Street; Chicago Reader; Nov 24, 1988. -------- Date: Fri Sep 5 00:01:03 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--uranomania X-Bonus: I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. -John Cage, composer (5 Sep 1912-1992) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms uranomania (yoor-uh-no-MAY-nee-uh) noun The delusion that one is of divine origin. [From Greek urano- (heavens) + -mania (obsession). Earliest documented use: 1890.] NOTES: As Carl Sagan reminded us, "We are made of star-stuff." True, but best not to let that go to one's head. After all, so are turnips and tapeworms. Being cosmic doesn't automatically make one a big star. "Caligula Indulging in the Worship of the People", 1877 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/uranomania_large.jpg Art: Émile Lévy https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caligula_indulging_in_the_worship_of_the_people,_1877_by_%C3%89mile_L%C3%A9vy.jpg According to Wikipedia, Roman emperor Caligula (12-41 CE) became "increasingly self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant and sεxually perverted thereafter, an insane, murderous tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god, humiliated the Senate, and planned to make his horse a consul." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula "Common sense might have preserved him. ... Instead was a derangement, clinically known as uranomania. A dwarf fancied himself divine." Edgar Saltus; The Imperial Οrgy; Modern Library; 1920. -------- Date: Mon Sep 8 00:01:01 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--evangelical X-Bonus: If more politicians in this country were thinking about the next generation instead of the next election, it might be better for the United States and the world. -Claude Pepper, senator and representative (8 Sep 1900-1989) Last month when I featured a quotation by Robert Green Ingersoll: https://wordsmith.org/words/fruiterer.html "The hands that help are better far / Than lips that pray. / Love is the ever gleaming star / That leads the way, / That shines, not on vague worlds of bliss, / But on a paradise in this." A reader replied: "Today's thought presents a false alternative. Hands that serve and lips that pray go wonderfully well together." Sure, you could do both. Or add more. Hands that serve, lips that pray, feet that dance go wonderfully well together. A proper trinity. Still, it's healthy to test our assumptions now and then. We're taught things as kids and we continue to profess them without a second thought. That's where thought experiments come in, my favorite kinds of experiments. (Einstein was famous for them. He left it to others to prove his theories.) No NSF grants needed (As if they're available anymore anyway. Who needs research?). No Institutional Review Board approval required. No animal cruelty inflicted. Here's one: You arrive in the ER bleeding profusely. The doctor approaches. Which do you want them to do first, clasp their hands in prayer or perform first aid? The nice thing about thought experiments is you don't have to share your answers. They’re private stress tests for the mind, clearing away unquestioned habits. I'm evangelical for science, for evidence, for reality. Because it works. That said, millennia of religion has left an imprint on language. This week we'll feature terms with religious connections but also used in the secular world. evangelical (ee-van-JEL-i-kuhl) adjective: 1. Extremely enthusiastic about a cause. 2. Relating to Christian churches emphasizing the Bible's authority and a personal relationship with Jesus. noun: A member of an evangelical church. [From Latin evangelicus, from Greek euangélion (good news), from eu- (good) + angelos (messenger). Earliest documented use: 1527.] "Saint John the Evangelist", c. 1605 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/evangelical_large.jpg Art: El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos) NOTES: Originally, to be evangelical was strictly about spreading the good news of the gospel. Over time, it broadened to describe anyone with near-religious zeal for their cause, from politics to Peloton to the life-changing magic of their air fryer. See also gospel. https://wordsmith.org/words/gospel.html See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/evangelical "President George W. Bush's response to the assault on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon was to launch two wars of choice against Afghanistan and Iraq, a pugnacious unilateralism at the expense of alliances and international law, and a near evangelical promotion of liberal democracy in the Middle East. His administration's hard-edged policies fractured alliances in Europe and triggered a sharp fall in America's standing abroad." Lionel Barber; The End of Hegemony; Financial Times (London, UK); Sep 6, 2011. -------- Date: Tue Sep 9 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epiphany X-Bonus: There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (9 Sep 1828-1910) This week's theme: Words relating to religion epiphany (i-PIF-uh-nee) noun A sudden insight, understanding, or realization. [From Greek epi- (upon) + -phany (showing). Earliest documented use: 1350.] NOTES: Christian Epiphany is a festival marking the manifestation of Jesus's divinity to the Magi, celebrated on Jan 6. In everyday use, an epiphany is a sudden realization, the kind that storms the sacred halls of the mind, overturns long-standing protocols, and leaves you amid the rubble of your former thinking. As the usage example below shows, not every epiphany is filled with light -- some can lead down darker corridors. "Adoration of the Magi", 1568 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/epiphany_large.jpg Art: El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos) See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/epiphany "The Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti had an epiphany after an automobile accident in 1908, which led him to Futurism and then to fascism." Timothy Snyder; American Fascist; The New Yorker; Nov 18, 2024. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/dispatches/what-does-it-mean-that-donald-trump-is-a-fascist "They started writing a chorus, and [Grace] VanderWaal had an epiphany: 'Maybe we cut out all the instruments, cut the lyrics, and just do one word: You.' They recorded that, and VanderWaal added harmonies. Maury laid down some ethereal guitar, and Sim added a distorted whistle sound. 'So sick!' VanderWaal said." Andrew Marantz; Camp Songs; The New Yorker; Aug 21, 2023. -------- Date: Wed Sep 10 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sacrificial lamb X-Bonus: In a perfect union the man and woman are like a strung bow. Who is to say whether the string bends the bow, or the bow tightens the string? -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (10 Sep 1903-1974) This week's theme: Words relating to religion sacrificial lamb (sak-ruh-FISH-uhl lam) noun Someone or something blamed or sent to their doom in order to spare others. [From sacrifice, from Latin sacer (holy) + facere (to make) + lamb, from Old English lamb. Earliest documented use: 1834.] NOTES: One of the titles given to Jesus is the Lamb of God, sacrificed for humanity's sins. In the corporate world, a sacrificial lamb may be a junior employee left holding the bag when a project fails. In politics, it's the candidate sent to the slaughter in a hopeless race. In fiction, it's the minor character written off for the sake of plot. The metaphor works because lambs are fluffy and harmless, precisely the sort you'd least want to see shorn, let alone slaughtered. See also scapegoat. https://wordsmith.org/words/scapegoat.html "Agnus Dei", Latin for Lamb of God (c. 1635-1640) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sacrificial_lamb_large.jpg Art: Francisco de Zurbarán https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnus_Dei_(Zurbar%C3%A1n) "Am I being made a sacrificial lamb at the altar of justice as a showcase to tell the nation that at least something has been done to clean the institution from corruption?" Soumitra Sen; The Anger of a Nation; Tehelka (New Delhi, India); Sep 3, 2011. -------- Date: Thu Sep 11 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--parochial X-Bonus: Patriotism is like the love that a parent has for a child; nationalism is akin to believing that one's child can do no wrong. -Robin Givhan, writer and editor (b. 11 Sep 1964) This week's theme: Words relating to religion parochial (puh-ROH-kee-uhl) adjective 1. Having a narrow outlook or scope. 2. Relating to a parish. [From Anglo-French parochial, from Latin parochia (parish), from Greek paroikos (neighbor). Ultimately from the Indo-European root weik- (clan), which also gave us vicinity, village, villa, and villain (originally, a villain was a farm servant, one who lived in a villa or a country house), ecumenical https://wordsmith.org/words/ecumenical.html, and ekistics https://wordsmith.org/words/ekistics.html. Earliest documented use: 1425.] "The Angelus" (1857-1859) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/parochial_large.jpg Art: Jean-François Millet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Angelus_(painting) NOTES: The term parochial paints a picture of a mind confined to a small village or parish. It's a worldview that keeps out broader perspectives and larger ideas. In politics, it's the mindset of a representative who sees the world only through the lens of their district, disregarding what may be best for the country, let alone the planet. Contrast the term with ecumenical https://wordsmith.org/words/ecumenical.html See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/parochial "German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the rejection of a financial transaction tax was short-sighted and parochial." Schaeuble Says Transaction Tax Could Cut Volatility; Reuters (UK); Oct 17, 2011. -------- Date: Fri Sep 12 00:01:03 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--judgment day X-Bonus: The sun is pure communism everywhere except in cities, where it's private property. -Malcolm De Chazal, writer and painter (12 Sep 1902-1981) This week's theme: Words relating to religion judgment day (JUHJ-muhnt day) noun 1. A time when one is evaluated, especially for their actions. 2. In some religious traditions, the day when the world ends and God judges people, sending them to heaven or hell. [From judgment, from Latin judicare (to judge) + day, from Old English dæg. Earliest documented use: 1544.] "Saint Michael Weighing Souls" (c. 1480-1495) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/judgment_day_large.jpg Art: Juan de la Abadía el Viejo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination#/media/File:Juan_de_la_Abad%C3%ADa,_'The_Elder'_-_Saint_Michael_Weighing_Souls_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg NOTES: You might think it's as simple as: Do good and you'll go to heaven. Not so fast. In some belief systems what matters is not what you _do_, but what you _believe_. In others, God determines your destination, heaven or hell, before you're even born. There's predeterminism, predestination, double predestination, corporate election (yes, it's a real theological term), and more. Predeterminism: The teacher wrote your final grade before you even enrolled. Predestination: The teacher decided who would pass before handing out the exam. Double predestination: The teacher pre-assigned both the A-list and the F-list on day one. Corporate election: The teacher grades the whole class as a block. You pass if you’re in the group, no matter how badly you flunked. Yeah, people believe this stuff. To each his own. I'm with Albert Camus who said, "Don't wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day." See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/judgment%20day "But most of all, to a lot of kids, he is real, very real, which means that going to the mall to see Santa isn't a photo opportunity. It's judgment day." Emma Teitel; Santa Has a Dark Side -- as Kids Well Know; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); Dec 12, 2012.