A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Oct 2 00:01:15 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--abecedarian X-Bonus: In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have. -Lee Iacocca, automobile executive (1924- ) Millions around the globe will celebrate World Teachers' Day on October 5. Growing up in India, I came to regard my teachers with the highest respect. Kabir, a mystic poet in 15th century India, wrote in one of his couplets (in Hindi), "Guru Govind dou khade, kaake laagoon paye Balihari guru aapki, Govind diyo milaye." Translated: I face both God and my guru. Whom should I bow to first? I first bow to my guru because he's the one who showed me the path to God. The word guru is from Sanskrit via Hindi where its literal meaning is venerable or weighty. Ultimately the word is derived from the same Indo-European root that gave us the word gravity. When I came to the US to attend graduate school, I was horrified to hear students addressing the professors by their names, even first names. Eventually, I persuaded myself to call my professors Dr. White or Dr. Kennedy but I could never address them as Lee or Miles. Teachers' Day is observed on various days in different parts of the world. In India, it's celebrated on September 5; in the US it's on the Tuesday of the first full week of May. World Teachers' Day is on October 5: http://www.5oct.org/. Whenever you celebrate it, to all the world's teachers: I bow to you. abecedarian (ay-bee-see-DAYR-ee-uhn) noun 1. One who is learning the alphabet. 2. One who teaches the alphabet. 3. One who is a beginner in some field. adjective 1. Alphabetically arranged. 2. Relating to the alphabet. 3. Rudimentary [From Medieval Latin abecedarium (alphabet or a book of the alphabet), from the letters a, b, c, and d.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Jeff Blitz gets into the shoes of these fascinating abecedarians, most of whom sit at the nerd table in their middle-school cafeteria." Carrie Rickey; Spellbound; The Philadelphia Inquirer; May 28, 2003. -------- Date: Tue Oct 3 00:01:15 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--graduand X-Bonus: He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900) This week's theme: words related to teaching, learning, and schools. graduand (GRAJ-oo-and) noun One who is about to graduate from a university. [From Latin graduare (to graduate).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "In order to add jollity to the proceedings, said the dean, each graduand would find beneath his seat a little tub of bubbles, complete with mortar board cap." Mike Amos; Proud Return of the Pigeon Boy; Northern Echo (Darlington, UK); Jul 14, 2005. -------- Date: Wed Oct 4 00:01:16 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--parietal X-Bonus: Those who know how to win are much more numerous than those who know how to make proper use of their victories. -Polybius, historian (c. 205-123 BCE) This week's theme: words related to teaching, learning, and schools. parietal (puh-RY-i-tl) noun 1. Usually plural, regulations governing visiting privileges of the opposite sex in dormitories of a college campus. 2. A wall of a body part or cavity. adjective 1. Of or relating to campus regulations regarding dormitory visits. 2. Of or relating to the various walls in the body or related bones. [From Latin paries (wall).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "A group of students at Simon's Rock, part of Bard College, is fighting the parietal rules against nonresident students' staying overnight in single-sex freshmen dormitories." The New York Times; Parietal Rules Under Attack at Special School; Dec 17, 1989. -------- Date: Thu Oct 5 00:01:21 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--swot X-Bonus: Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous. -William Proxmire, US senator, reformer (1915-2005) This week's theme: words related to teaching, learning, and schools. swot (swot) verb intr. To study hard, especially for an examination. noun One who studies hard, especially to the exclusion of other interests. [Dialect variant of sweat.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "While many adolescent boys value underachievement almost as a badge of honour and intellectual boys are nervous of being derided as swots, the girls are getting on with their learning." Murdo Macleod; The Law Unto Themselves; The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland); Aug 27, 2006. -------- Date: Fri Oct 6 00:01:14 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--andragogy X-Bonus: When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion. -C.P. Snow, scientist and writer (1905-1980) This week's theme: words related to teaching, learning, and schools. andragogy (AN-druh-go-jee) noun The science or methods of teaching adults. [From Latin andro- (male) + -agogy as in pedagogy.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "As all the patients undergoing cataract surgery are mature adults, the theory of andragogy is more appropriate." Jean Cooper; Teaching Patients in Post-operative Eye Care; Nursing Standard; Apr 28, 1999. -------- Date: Mon Oct 9 00:01:20 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--panmixia X-Bonus: Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none. -Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790) The Canary Islands aren't named after any birds. A light-year isn't a unit of time. And panmixia is, well, nothing to do with mixing things in a pan. These are red-herring words that appear to mislead us in the beginning but if we look deeper, everything becomes obvious. The Canary Islands got their name from dogs (Latin canis); canaries are named after the islands! A light-year is a unit of distance (how far light can travel in a year). This week we'll see a few more words in this category -- words that aren't what they appear to be. panmixia (pan-MIK-see-uh) noun Random breeding (without regard to selecting a partner with particular traits) within a population. Also known as panmixis. [From Greek pan- (all) + mixis (mixing). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meik- (to mix) that's also the source of mix, miscellaneous, meddle, medley, promiscuous, melee, and mustang.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The panmixia hypothesis -- that all European eels migrate to the Sargasso Sea of reproduction and comprise a single, randomly mating population -- is widely accepted." Thierry Wirth and Louis Bernatchez; Genetic Evidence Against Panmixia in the European Eel; Nature (London, UK): Feb 22, 2001. -------- Date: Tue Oct 10 00:01:16 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--officinal X-Bonus: No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919) This week's theme: words that aren't what they appear to be. officinal (uh-FIS-uh-nuhl) adjective Medicinal. noun A stocked medicine (as opposed to one specially prepared). [From Latin officina (storeroom or workshop), from opus (work) + facere (to make or to do).] Originally, officinals were medicines prepared and kept in stock by the pharmacists. The opposite of officinal is magistral, a medicine prepared for the occasion according to a physician's prescription. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The company is planning to use the phrase to promote 'medicine, officinal drinks and nutrients for human use'." Li Qian; 'Three-alls' to be Trademarked by Japanese Firm; China Daily (Beijing); Aug 10, 2006. -------- Date: Wed Oct 11 00:01:15 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--firmament X-Bonus: I often pass a farm with cows grazing in the field and I think to myself how terrible it is that human beings grow other animals just to kill them and eat them. Most of us think of vegetarians as nuts and I'm not a vegetarian but I wouldn't be surprised if we came to a time in 50 or 100 years when civilized people everywhere refused to eat animals. -Andy Rooney, journalist (1919- ) This week's theme: words that aren't what they appear to be. firmament (FUR-muh-ment) noun The sky; the heavens. [From Latin firmamentum (sky) from firmare (to support). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dher- (to hold firmly or support) that is also the source of firm, affirm, confirm, farm, and fermata.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The brightest stars in the goss mag firmament have fallen cripplingly to earth." Jacqueline Maley; What the Gossip Mags Say; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jan 11, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Oct 12 00:01:19 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--disgregate X-Bonus: The study of error is not only in the highest degree prophylactic, but it serves as a stimulating introduction to the study of truth. -Walter Lippmann, journalist (1889-1974) This week's theme: words that aren't what they appear to be. disgregate (DIS-gri-gayt) verb tr., intr. To separate or to scatter. [From Latin disgregare, from dis- (apart) + gregare (to collect), from greg-, stem of grex (flock). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ger- (to gather) which is also the source of such words as aggregate, congregation, egregious, and segregate.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Bion's perception of the disgregating effects of boredom and complete lack of discipline, all formed part of the real personal emotional experience on which his theories lie." Wilfred R. Bion; War Memoirs, 1917-19; 1997. -------- Date: Fri Oct 13 00:01:17 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--slaver X-Bonus: The more intelligent and cultured a man is, the more subtly he can humbug himself. -Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961) This week's theme: words that aren't what they appear to be. slaver (SLAV-vuhr, SLAY-vuhr) verb tr., intr. 1. To slobber or drool; to smear with saliva. 2. To fawn. noun Saliva dripping from the mouth. [Probably from Old Norse slafra (to slobber).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "While it would be unforgivably coarse to slaver over her good looks, it would be prissy to shirk the obvious truth that most film actresses are still required to be beautiful." Kevin Jackson; Versatile British Actress [Lindsay Duncan] Finally in International Spotlight; New Zealand Herald (Auckland); Sep 1, 2006. -------- Date: Mon Oct 16 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bibliopegy X-Bonus: Dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors. -Lewis H. Lapham, editor (1935- ) An electronics manufacturer has come out with a book reader gadget. For about $300, one can curl up with this device to read downloadable books. Even if the novel isn't as satisfying, the device could still be heartwarming, literally speaking. As for me, paper books still work. They never run out of battery; they're readable even if soaked in the rain; they still work after a hard drop on the floor; rewind and fast forward are intuitive. And they are not as attractive to thieves. According to a recent news item, the average person watches four and a half hours of TV every day and an average US household has more television sets than people. We hope there are more books too, even if they are this newer kind. bibliopegy (bib-lee-OP-uh-jee) noun The art and craft of binding books. [From Greek biblio- (book) + pegnynai (to fasten).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The commitment necessary to be a success at this life should take up every second of the day -- and would compete too much with the bewitching and jealous mistress that is forensic bibliopegy." Yxta Maya Murray; The Conquest; Rayo Books; 2002. -------- Date: Tue Oct 17 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--auctorial X-Bonus: The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. -William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994) This week's theme: words about books. auctorial (ok-TOR-ee-uhl) adjective Pertaining to an author [From Latin auctor (author, creator), from augere (to create). Ultimately from the Indo-European root aug- (increase) which is also the source of auction, authorize, inaugurate, augment, august, auxiliary, and nickname ("a nickname" is a splitting of the earlier "an ekename", literally, an additional name).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "[Edna] O'Brien's credo seems to be that the only revenge is to survive. Mind you, she does not shirk from taking her own auctorial revenge on those characters who did wrong by Nell." Maire Crowe; Digging The Well of Loneliness; Irish Voice (New York); Aug 18, 1992. -------- Date: Wed Oct 18 00:01:14 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fascicle X-Bonus: We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826) This week's theme: words about books. fascicle (FAS-i-kuhl) noun 1. Part of a book published in installments. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary was published in fascicles. 2. A bundle. For example, a bundle of nerve or muscle fibers, or a bundle of leaves. [From Latin fasciculus, diminutive of fascis (bundle).] The word fascism is related. It refers to the Latin fascis (a bundle or a group) and also to the emblem adopted by Mussolini: a bundle of twigs that was carried as a sign of the power of a magistrate in ancient Rome. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Between 1952 and 1984, about two fascicles a year were published." Edward Walsh; A Lexicographic Trip Of Millions of Slips; The Washington Post; May 27, 1992. -------- Date: Thu Oct 19 00:01:16 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hornbook X-Bonus: The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. -George Baker (1877-1965) This week's theme: words about books. hornbook (HORN-book) noun A primer. [From horn + book. In earlier times, a hornbook was a book containing the alphabet or other material for children. Though it would be stretching the definition of book by the present standard -- it had a wooden paddle with a handle that held a paper with learning material protected by the transparent layer of a cow's horn.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Christopher Buckley's novel 'Thank You for Smoking' is a manic send-up of your average tobacco lobbyist's life. It's also a hornbook of seamless flack-speak." Terry Tang; Smoking Out the Falsehoods of Tobacco's Brash Barons; The Seattle Times; Jun 7, 1996. -------- Date: Fri Oct 20 00:01:27 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pericope X-Bonus: Some people change when they see the light, others when they feel the heat. -Caroline Schoeder This week's theme: words about books. pericope (puh-RIK-uh-pee) noun A selection from a book. [From Late Latin pericope, from Greek perikope (section), from peri (around) + koptein (to cut).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Act now while the supply lasts, and you can buy a rare facsimile of an 11th-century, illuminated German manuscript for only $16,425. After March 15, the price will rise to $19,205. This is what the publisher has told prospective German buyers interested in acquiring a 410-page, gilded copy of a pericope." Craig R. Whitney; Medieval Marketing; The New York Times; Nov 9, 1994. -------- Date: Mon Oct 23 00:01:27 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pertinacious X-Bonus: Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) Philosopher, mathematician, and writer, Bertrand Russell once said, "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." This week's words describe people who fall somewhere in that spectrum. Do any of them remind you of someone you know? pertinacious (pur-tin-AY-shuhs) adjective 1. Holding resolutely to a purpose, belief, or opinion. 2. Stubbornly unyielding. [From Latin pertinac- pertinax, per- (thoroughly) + tenax (tenacious), from tenere (to hold).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "A man is pertinacious when he defends his folly and trusts too greatly in his own wit." Geoffrey Chaucer; Canterbury Tales: Explicit Secunda Pars Penitentie; 1387-1400 (Translation: Walter W. Skeat). -------- Date: Tue Oct 24 00:01:30 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pixilated X-Bonus: There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) This week's theme: words to describe people. pixilated (PIK-suh-layt-id) adjective 1. Mentally unbalanced; eccentric. 2. Whimsical. [From pixie, a mischievous fairylike creature.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Robert De Niro redeems himself after his disastrous work in 'The Fan' by displaying a refreshing flair for screwball comedy as Bessie's pixilated physician, Dr. Wally." James Verniere; 'Marvin's Room' Hits Home; Boston Herald; Jan 10, 1997. -------- Date: Wed Oct 25 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oscitant X-Bonus: Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God. -Isaac Bashevis Singer, Writer, Nobel laureate (1904-1991) This week's theme: words to describe people. oscitant (OS-i-tant) adjective 1. Yawning, gaping from drowsiness. 2. Inattentive, dull, negligent. [From Latin oscitant, stem of oscitans, present participle of oscitare (to yawn), from os (mouth) + citare (to move).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Southey, who has been my corrector, has been strangely oscitant, or, which I believe is sometimes the case, has not understood the sentences." Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Kessinger Publishing; 2005. -------- Date: Thu Oct 26 00:01:27 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--punctilious X-Bonus: Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, and musician (Nobel 1952) This week's theme: words to describe people. punctilious (pungk-TIL-ee-uhs) adjective Extremely attentive to minute details of action or behavior. [From Italian puntiglio, from Spanish puntillo, diminutive of punto (point), from Latin punctum (point).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "However earnest his aims and punctilious his language, Fowler had not found his genius in schoolteaching, and he did not find it in his essays." I. Shenker; For the King's English, Fighting the Good Fight; Smithsonian (Washington, DC); Nov 1990. -------- Date: Fri Oct 27 00:01:26 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pococurante X-Bonus: No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true. -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (1804-1864) This week's theme: words to describe people. pococurante (po-ko-koo-RAN-tee, -kyoo-) adjective Indifferent, apathetic, nonchalant. noun A careless or indifferent person. [From Italian poco (little) + curante, present participle of curare, (to care), from Latin curare (cure, care).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The only child of an interminably famous literary theorist, and now pococurante chair of the English Department, Hank published one critically acclaimed novel -- 'Off the Road' -- 20 years ago." Gail Caldwell; College Bound Richard Russo's Comic/Sad Novel of Learning and Campus Politics; Boston Globe; Jul 13, 1997. -------- Date: Mon Oct 30 00:01:16 EST 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fifth column X-Bonus: God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages. -Jacques Deval, writer and director (1895-1972) "Everybody line up alphabetically according to your height." These words of Casey Stengel (1891-1975), U.S. baseball player and manager, sum up nicely the deep human need to arrange things in order, to sort, classify, and enumerate them. This week we'll see phrases that characterize concepts, in descending order from fifth through first. fifth column (fifth KOL-uhm) noun A group of traitors acting in sympathy with their country's enemies. [From Spanish quinta columna, from the column of supporters that General Mola claimed to have in Madrid while he was leading four columns of his army to invade the city during the Spanish Civil War.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "[Justice Aaron] Ringera, you are starring in your own movie, and must be told to your face, that you are a bully of humility, a political warhorse, and a fifth column in the war against graft." Steve Ochuodho; Ringera vs His Conscience; Kenya Times (Nairobi); Oct 14, 2006 -------- Date: Tue Oct 31 00:01:38 EST 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fourth estate X-Bonus: That wretched alchemist called money can turn a man's heart into a stone! -Mehmet Murat Ildan, writer (1965- ) This week's theme: ordinal words. fourth estate (forth i-STAYT) noun Journalistic profession, the press. [Supposedly, a power other than the three estates (the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and the House of Commons) in UK.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "At 8:20, an e-mail was sent to the fourth estate, inviting journalists to a press conference which was to be held just 40 minutes later." O'Leary Has His Eyes on the Prize; The Sunday Business Post (Dublin, Ireland); Oct 8, 2006.