A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad

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Date: Mon Oct  3 00:41:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--narcissism
X-Bonus: You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity. -Orlando Aloysius Battista, chemist and author (20 Jun 1917 - 3 Oct 1995)

I usually look for usage examples for words in A.Word.A.Day in newspaper
articles. Nowadays, things are a little different -- you open any newspaper
and top news stories are about a narcissistic con man running
for the president of the United States. It's impossible to avoid them.

So this week we'll feature all our usage examples from newspaper stories
about him. We'll include links to the stories -- do read them (and share).
Also, we'll include quotations from the man himself.

PS: I highly recommend following the reporter Christina Wilkie @christinawilkie
https://twitter.com/christinawilkie on Twitter.
Also, the writer Stuart Stevens @stuartpstevens https://twitter.com/stuartpstevens

PPS: Here's a review of a new biography of Hitler. Try this experiment:
Replace the word Hitler with Trump and Germany with the US in it and see if
you can tell the difference http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/books/hitler-ascent-volker-ullrich.html



narcissism (NAHR-si-siz-uhm) noun

   Excessive self-interest or self-love.

[In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter and a young man of exceptional
beauty. He spurned the nymph Echo. One day he saw his reflection in water
and fell in love with himself. Not realizing it was himself and unable to
leave, he eventually died. Earliest documented use: 1822.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/narcissism

Narcissus spurning Echo and falling in love with himself, 1903 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/narcissist_large.jpg
Art: John William Waterhouse

  "George Simon, a clinical psychologist who conducts seminars on manipulative
   behavior, says Trump is 'so classic that I'm archiving video clips of him
   to use in workshops because there's no better example' of narcissism. ...
  "When, in the summer of 1999, he stood up to offer remarks at his father's
   funeral, Trump spoke mainly about himself. It was the toughest day of his
   own life, Trump began. He went on to talk about Fred Trump's greatest
   achievement: raising a brilliant and renowned son."
   Dan P. McAdams; The Mind of Donald Trump; The Atlantic (Washington, DC);
   Jun 2016.
   http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/

  "I feel like a supermodel. Except like times 10. It's true. I'm a supermodel.
   I'm on the cover of these magazines -- I'm on the cover of the biggest magazines."
   -Donald Trump
   http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-tells-phoenix-crowd-i-feel-supermodel-n595081

  "My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various
   other parts of my body."
   -Donald Trump http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-fingers-small-vanity-fair-hands

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Date: Tue Oct  4 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lien
X-Bonus: He serves his party best who serves the country best. -Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th US president (4 Oct 1822-1893)

This week's theme: Miscellaneous words


lien (leen, LEE-uhn) noun

   A claim on another's property until a debt owed by that person is paid back.

[From French lien (bond, tie), from Latin ligamen (bond, tie), from ligare
(to bind). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leig- (to bind), which
also gave us league, ligament, ligature, ally, alloy, rally, liaison,
religion, rely, oblige, and furl. Earliest documented use: 1530.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/lien

  "At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other
   government filings reviewed by the USA Today Network, document people
   who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for
   their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New
   Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters.
   Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs,
   coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And,
   ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits
   and others."
   Steve Reilly; Hundreds Allege Donald Trump Doesn't Pay His Bills;
   USA Today (Washington, DC); Jun 9, 2016.
   http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/

  "I like money. I'm very greedy. I'm a greedy person. I shouldn't tell you
   that, I'm a greedy -- I've always been greedy. I love money, right?"
   -Donald Trump
   http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/opinion/22901449-113/donald-drumpf-boy-wonder

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Date: Wed Oct  5 00:01:03 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vitriol
X-Bonus: Wandering in a vast forest at night, I have only a faint light to guide me. A stranger appears and says to me: 'My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly.' The stranger is a theologian. -Denis Diderot, philosopher (5 Oct 1713-1784)

This week's theme: Miscellaneous words


vitriol (VI-tree-uhl) noun

   Cruel, mean-spirited, bitter criticism.

[From Latin vitrum (glass). Sulfuric acid, a highly corrosive substance, was
formerly known as oil of vitriol or simply vitriol. It was named vitriol
owing to the glassy appearance of its salts. Earliest documented use: 1386.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/vitriol

  "Trump's vitriol is making it off the campaign trail and into the lingua
   franca of children at an alarming rate. Just watch coverage from Trump
   rallies to hear the next phrases kids will be slinging at school."
   Petula Dvorak; The 'Trump Effect' is Contaminating Our Kids -- and Could
   Resonate for Years; The Washington Post; Mar 7, 2016.
   https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-trump-effect-is-contaminating-our-kids--and-could-resonate-for-years-to-come/2016/03/07/594a7f46-e47a-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html

  "My entire life, I've watched politicians bragging about how poor they are,
   how they came from nothing, how poor their parents and grandparents were.
   And I said to myself, if they can stay so poor for so many generations,
   maybe this isn't the kind of person we want to be electing to higher office.
   How smart can they be? They're morons."
   -Donald Trump http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/28/opinion/liberties-trump-shrugged.html

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Date: Thu Oct  6 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--precarious
X-Bonus: It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. -George H. Lorimer, editor (6 Oct 1867-1937)

This week's theme: Miscellaneous words


precarious (pri-KAYR-ee-uhs) adjective

   Risky; uncertain; insecure; unstable; unsafe.

[From Latin precarius (obtained by entreaty, hence uncertain), from prex
(prayer). So something precarious is hanging by a prayer, which is, not
by much. Ultimately from the Indo-European root prek- (to ask), which also
gave us pray, precarious, deprecate, postulate,
precatory https://wordsmith.org/words/precatory.html and
expostulate https://wordsmith.org/words/expostulate.html . Earliest documented use: 1638.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/precarious

  "The craft plunged 2,800 feet to the ground, killing all five passengers.
   Among them were three of Trump's top casino executives. ... By early 1990,
   as financial prospects at the casinos worsened, Trump began badmouthing
   the executives who had died, laying blame on them, although the cause of
   his problems was the precarious, debt-laden business structure he had built."
   Kurt Eichenwald; Donald Trump's Many Business Failures, Explained; Newsweek
   (New York); Aug 2, 2016.
   http://www.newsweek.com/2016/08/12/donald-trumps-business-failures-election-2016-486091.html

  "I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I'm basically
   the same. The temperament is not that different."
   -Donald Trump http://theweek.com/speedreads/575962/donald-trump-tells-biographer-hes-same-now-first-grade

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Date: Fri Oct  7 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--demagogue
X-Bonus: An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field. -Niels Bohr, physicist, Nobel laureate (7 Oct 1885-1962)

This week's theme: Miscellaneous words


demagogue or demagog (DEM-uh-gog)

   noun: A person who appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the people to gain power.
   verb tr., intr.: To manipulate an issue, to speak, or to act in the manner of a demagogue.

[From Greek demagogos (leader of the people), from demos (people) + agogos
(leader). Earliest documented use: 1649.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/demagogue

  "We're at a tipping point in America, and a media so eager to be objective
   can no longer pretend that Donald Trump isn't the most dangerous,
   authoritarian, and unhinged demagogue to ever seek the nation's highest
   office. We can barely keep up now with his misstatements and lies, with
   his name-calling and racist rants, with his crazy, self-absorbed
   pontifications. It's so bad that I almost suspect each new mini-scandal
   is a deliberate ruse to distract from the last one. And his candidacy is
   so toxic that I can no longer pretend to show respect for anyone who still
   supports him."
   Dianne Williamson; Time to Stop Pretending Trump is Presidential Material;
   Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Massachusetts); Jun 9, 2016.
   http://www.telegram.com/news/20160609/dianne-williamson-time-to-stop-pretending-trump-is-presidential-material

  "We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated."
   Donald Trump https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-i-love-the-poorly-educated-144008662.html

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Date: Mon Oct 10 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--confute
X-Bonus: When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set. -Lin Yutang, writer and translator (10 Oct 1895-1976)

This sentence no verb. This one neither.

Well, it may be possible to crank out a sentence or two without verbs, but
this train isn't going very far. It's glaringly obvious in the above paragraph
that the first car is missing a key part, while in the second there's a verb,
just hidden under the floor.

Verbs make the world go around. You can't say the same about other parts of
speech. Let's take a look at five uncommon verbs this week.



confute (kuhn-FYOOT) verb tr.

   To prove to be wrong.

[From Latin confutare (to restrain or silence), from con- (an intensifier) +
futare (to beat). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhau- (to strike),
which also gave us refute, beat, button, halibut, and buttress. Earliest
documented use: 1529.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/confute

  "Page after page of these volumes confute that claim by showing how
   philoprogenitive the mothers were who sat for [the artist George]
   Romney with their children."
   Edward Short; The English Look; The Weekly Standard (Washington, DC);
   Jun 6, 2016.
   https://wordsmith.org/words/philoprogenitive.html

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Date: Tue Oct 11 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--propine
X-Bonus: Most men resemble great deserted palaces: the owner occupies only a few rooms and has closed off wings where he never ventures. -Fran�ois Mauriac, writer, Nobel laureate (11 Oct 1885-1970)

This week's theme: Verbs


propine (pro-PEEN, PYN)

   verb tr.: To gift, tip, or pledge.
   noun: A gift or tip.

[From Latin propinare (to drink to someone's health, to present), from Greek
propinein (to drink first, to give), from pro- (for, before) + pinein (to
drink). Earliest documented use: 1448.]

  "The priests of a neighbouring convent, in expectation of the ample donation
   ... which Cedric had propined, attended upon the car."
   Walter Scott; Ivanhoe; A. Constable & Co.; 1820.

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Date: Wed Oct 12 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--flocculate
X-Bonus: The mosque is too far from home, so let's do this / Let's make a weeping child laugh. -Nida Fazli, poet (12 Oct 1938-2016)

This week's theme: Verbs


flocculate (FLOK-yuh-layt) verb tr., intr.

   To form or cause to form into clumps.

[From Latin flocculus, diminutive of Latin floccus (tuft of wool). Earliest
documented use: 1826.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/flocculate

  "Organic matter causes clay particles to flocculate and make larger lumps."
   Laurie Donnelly; Soil Smarts; Country Living Gardener (Birmingham, Alabama);
   Fall 2004.

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Date: Thu Oct 13 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--absolve
X-Bonus: You can't do anything with anybody's body to make it dirty to me. Six people, eight people, one person -- you can do only one thing to make it dirty: kill it. Hiroshima was dirty. -Lenny Bruce, comedian and social critic (13 Oct 1925-1966)

This week's theme: Verbs


absolve (ab-ZOLV, -solv) verb tr.

   To free from guilt, blame, responsibility, obligation, etc.

[From Latin absolvere (to set free), from solvere (to loosen). Ultimately
from the Indo-European root leu- (to loosen, divide), which also gave us
forlorn, lag, loss, solve, analysis,
resolute https://wordsmith.org/words/resolute.html, and
catalyst https://wordsmith.org/words/catalyst.html . Earliest documented
use: 1475.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/absolve

  "His Eminence might also be able to absolve us of the original sin of
   being Mets fans, which is purgatory on Earth."
   Denis Hamill; Oh, the Pain of Mets Fans; New York Daily News; Jul 5, 2015.

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Date: Fri Oct 14 00:01:01 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--objurgate
X-Bonus: To read fast is as bad as to eat in a hurry. -Vilhelm Ekelund, poet (14 Oct 1880-1949)

This week's theme: Verbs


objurgate (OB-juhr-gayt) verb tr.

   To scold severely.

[From Latin objurgare (to scold), from ob- (against) + jurgare/jurigare
(to quarrel, to scold). Ultimately from the Indo-European root yewes-
(law), which is also the source of jury, judge, just, injury, perjury,
conjure, adjure https://wordsmith.org/words/adjure.html and de jure
https://wordsmith.org/words/de_jure.html . Earliest documented use: 1616.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/objurgate

  "Occasionally he objurgated Mr. Ledbetter's clumsiness, and urged him to
   hurry."
   H.G. Wells; Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation; The Strand Magazine (London, UK);
   Jul-Dec 1898.

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Date: Mon Oct 17 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ruminate
X-Bonus: Don't be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value. -Arthur Miller, playwright and essayist (17 Oct 1915-2005)

Did Rumi ruminate? We don't know for sure. He was a poet and mystic, so
most likely he did ruminate a bit. The word ruminate isn't derived from
his name, but it very well could have been.

This week we have selected five words that appear to be coined after someone,
but aren't. Now Rumi out of the way, the rest of the week we'll feature words
that appear to be after four living persons: the previous US president, the
current president, a president wannabe, and the next president. Which one is
which is left as an exercise for the reader (and the voter).



ruminate (ROO-mi-nayt) verb tr., intr.

   1. To think deeply upon.
   2. To chew the cud.

[From Latin ruminare (to chew the cud), from rumen (throat). Earliest
documented use: 1533.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ruminate

A ruminating giraffe: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bugeyed_g/3645489497/
Video, 1 min., by G Vargas

  "A 33-year-old writer and teacher named Ben is ruminating on the possibility
   of a second novel."
   Philip Maughan; Future Fiction; New Statesman (London, UK); Jan 16-22, 2015.

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Date: Tue Oct 18 00:01:05 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bushwa
X-Bonus: A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. -Isadora James

This week's theme: Words that appear to be coined after someone (but aren't)


bushwa or bushwah (BUSH-wa) noun

   Nonsense; bull.

[Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a mispronunciation of bourgeois. Earliest
documented use: 1920.]

  "There ain't no Santa Claus ... It's all bushwa."
   Sam Ross; Melov's Legacy; Permanent Press; 1984.

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Date: Wed Oct 19 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--obambulate
X-Bonus: Life is mostly froth and bubble, / Two things stand like stone, / Kindness in another's trouble, / Courage in your own. -Adam Lindsay Gordon, poet (19 Oct 1833-1870)

This week's theme: Words that appear to be coined after someone (but aren't)


obambulate (o-BAM-byuh-layt) verb intr.

   To walk about.

[From Latin ob- (to) + ambulare (to walk). Earliest documented use: 1614.]

  "Mukul was obambulating in circles like a caged animal."
   Sam Mukherjee; Chopped Green Chillies in Vanilla Ice Cream; Rupa
   Publications; 2011.

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Date: Thu Oct 20 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--trumpery
X-Bonus: I have three ex-wives. I can't remember any of their names, so I just call 'em Plaintiff. -Lewis Grizzard, humorist (20 Oct 1946-1994)

This week's theme: Words that appear to be coined after someone (but aren't)


trumpery (TRUHM-puh-ree) noun

   1. Something showy but worthless.
   2. Nonsense or rubbish.
   3. Deceit; fraud; trickery.

[From French tromper (to deceive). Earliest documented use: 1481.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/trumpery

  "The room was crowded with a chilly miscellany of knick-knacks and
   ornaments, gewgaws, and trumpery of every kind."
   Leo Bruce; Case for Three Detectives; Academy Chicago; 1980.

  "History, made up as it is of so much trumpery, treachery, and tyranny,
   needs deeds of valor, of sacrifice, and of heroism if it is to be
   palatable."
   The Medal of Honor: A History of Service Above and Beyond; Zenith Press;
   2014.

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Date: Fri Oct 21 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hilarity
X-Bonus: If you would stand well with a great mind, leave him with a favorable impression of yourself; if with a little mind, leave him with a favorable impression of himself. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet, and philosopher (21 Oct 1772-1834)

This week's theme: Words that appear to be coined after someone (but aren't)


hilarity (hi-LAYR-i-tee) noun

   Cheerfulness; merriment.

[From French hilarit� (hilarity), from Latin hilaris (cheerful), from Greek
hilaros (cheerful). Earliest documented use: 1568.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hilarity

  "A merry school of porpoises, a square mile of them, suddenly appear,
   tossing themselves into the air in abounding strength and hilarity."
   John Muir; Travels in Alaska; Houghton Mifflin; 1915.

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Date: Mon Oct 24 00:01:03 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ornery
X-Bonus: I have no riches but my thoughts, yet these are wealth enough for me. -Sarah Teasdale, poet (1884-1933)

Could "thru", a phonetic respelling of the word "through", become standard
and replace the original some day? It's possible. But don't start girding
your loins to defend the purity and honor of the English language.

It has happened many times. Let me rephrase that: It happens all the time,
though the rate of change is slowing down. Like a flowing river, language
often takes the path of least resistance.

Language is a spoken thing. In the beginning, few people knew how to read
or write. As long as you could understand what word was meant, spelling
didn't matter. Just take any word, say "spelling". We have at least four
forms of the word attested: spellynge, spellyng, Spelling, and spelling --
there are likely many other possibilities.

Printing and literacy resulted in the spelling becoming standardized, but
we still respell, shorten, and mold words as it suits us. For example,
the word donut has replaced doughnut, at least in the US.

This week we'll see five words that have had their spellings altered over
time based on pronunciation, sometimes resulting in a new word with a new
sense.



ornery (OR-nuh-ree) adjective

   Having an unpleasant disposition: irritable, stubborn, combative, etc.

[An alteration of the word ordinary, from Latin ordo (order, rank). In the
beginning the word ornery was just a dialect pronunciation of the word
ordinary and meant the same. Over time it acquired negative senses, from
commonplace to lazy to mean to cantankerous. Earliest documented use: 1692.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ornery

https://wordsmith.org/words/ornery_large.jpg
Photo: Gorilla esq. https://www.flickr.com/photos/73289930@N00/3085871195

  "DI John Rebus is an ornery and often difficult detective who is
   frequently at odds with his young assistant and his supervisors."
   Tom Budlong; Video; Library Journal (New York); Oct 15, 2016.

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Date: Tue Oct 25 00:01:03 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--passel
X-Bonus: The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out. -Thomas Babington Macaulay, author and statesman (25 Oct 1800-1859)

This week's theme: Words formed by dialectal pronunciation


passel (PAS-uhl) noun

   A large group or a large number.

[Alteration of parcel, from Anglo-French parcele, from Latin particella,
diminutive of particula (small part), diminutive of pars (part).
Earliest documented use: 1325.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/passel

  "Must be tough, going from no relatives at all to a whole passel of them."
   Vicki Lewis Thompson; Midnight Thunder; Harlequin; 2015.

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Date: Wed Oct 26 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sassy
X-Bonus: A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons. ... America's strength doesn't come from lashing out. Strength relies on smarts, judgment, cool resolve, and the precise and strategic application of power. That's the kind of Commander-in-Chief I pledge to be. -Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, Senator, Democratic nominee for the US president (b. 26 Oct 1947)

This week's theme: Words formed by dialectal pronunciation


sassy (SAS-ee) adjective

   Impudent; bold; outspoken; lively; feisty; stylish.

[Alteration of saucy, from sauce, from Latin salsa, from sallere (to salt),
from sal (salt). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sal- (salt), which
is also the source of silt, sausage, salad, salami, salary, and salmagundi
https://wordsmith.org/words/salmagundi.html . Earliest documented use: 1833.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sassy

https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sassy_large.jpg
Comic: Mahkayla "vsock" Arthur http://awutcomic.com/sassy-cats

  "Ada had sounded like her strong and sassy self on the phone."
   Laura Trentham; Slow and Steady Rush; St. Martin's; 2015.

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Date: Thu Oct 27 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tarnal
X-Bonus: It is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (27 Oct 1858-1919)

This week's theme: Words formed by dialectal pronunciation


tarnal (TAHR-nuhl) adjective, adverb

   Damned.

[Alteration of eternal (as in "eternal damnation"), from Latin aeternus,
from aevum (age). Ultimately from the Indo-European root aiw-/ayu- (vital
force, life, eternity), which also gave us ever, never, aye, nay, eon,
eternal, medieval, primeval, utopia, Sanskrit Ayurveda,
aught https://wordsmith.org/words/aught.html ,
coeval https://wordsmith.org/words/coeval.html , and
coetaneous https://wordsmith.org/words/coetaneous.html . Earliest documented use: 1790.]

  "Why had he let himself get suckered into that tarnal poker game?"
   W. Michael Gear; Long Ride Home; Tor Books; 1988.

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Date: Fri Oct 28 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--raiment
X-Bonus: It is a curious thing that every creed promises a paradise which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilized taste. -Evelyn Waugh, novelist (28 Oct 1903-1966)

This week's theme: Words formed by dialectal pronunciation


raiment (RAY-muhnt) noun

   Clothing.

[Alteration of arrayment, from array, from Old French arrayer (to array).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root reidh- (to ride), which also
gave us ride, raid, road, and ready. Earliest documented use: 1425.]

See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/raiment

  "I wear this raiment while working at my desk."
   Tom Wolfe; My Favorite Thing; Esquire (New York); Sep 2016.

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Date: Mon Oct 31 00:01:02 EDT 2016
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hippology
X-Bonus: Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed. -Natalie Clifford Barney, poet, playwright, and novelist (31 Oct 1876-1972)

I recently came across an unfamiliar word, hippocracy. A rule by horses,
I thought, until I realized it was a misspelling of the word hypocrisy.
Then I searched Google News and found many examples of this misspelling:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=hippocracy

Well, a rule by horses would probably be better than a rule by some men.
Don't take my word for it -- ask Gulliver who has seen both in his travels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo_(Gulliver%27s_Travels) .

It takes a village to raise a child and it takes an assortment of combining
forms to make a language. This week we'll see words made with various
combining forms:

hippo- (horse), hypo- (under), xero- (dry), stego-/stegano- (cover), nidi- (nest)
-logy (study), -geal (earth), -philic (loving), -graphy (writing), -colous (inhabiting)

What words can you make with them?


[What are combining forms? You can think of them as Lego (from Danish,
leg: play + godt: well) bricks of language. As the term indicates, a
combining form is a linguistic atom that occurs only in combination with
some other form, which could be a word, another combining form, or an affix
(unlike a combining form, an affix can't attach to another affix).]



hippology (hi-POL-uh-jee) noun

   The study of horses.

[From Greek hippo- (horse) + -logy (study). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root ekwo- (horse), which also gave us equestrian,
equitant https://wordsmith.org/words/equitant.html ,
hippocampus, hippogriff, and the name Philip (lover of horses).
Earliest documented use: 1854.]

Gulliver Addressing the Houyhnhnms https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hippology_large.jpg
Art: Sawrey Gilpin, 1768

  "Ask them any question about horses, and odds are they know the answer.
   Three of the club members are preparing for the national hippology bowl."
   Amy J. Wise; Club's Horse Sense Abounds; The Post and Courier
   (Charleston, South Carolina); Mar 23, 1995.