A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Oct 1 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pseudonymuncle X-Bonus: A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. -Jimmy Carter, 39th US President, Nobel laureate (b. 1 Oct 1924) This week's theme: There is a word for it pseudonymuncle (soo-duh-NIM-uhnk-uhl) noun An insignificant person writing under a pseudonym. [From pseudonym, from Greek pseudo- (false) + -nym (name) + -uncle (diminutive suffix), from -culus (diminutive suffix). Earliest documented use: 1875.] NOTES: This word is on the opposite side of a grand literary pseudonym like Mark Twain or George Orwell. This is an insult for the relative unknown whose opinions are of zero consequence. The word uncle is a literal diminutive, from Latin avunculus (mother's brother). When you call someone a pseudonymuncle, you are essentially saying their false name is as insignificant as they are. Think of all the anonymous internet commenters out there, spouting off while their opinions are just as consequential as a distant relative’s bad advice. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pseudonymuncle_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "The novelist became angry, called his critic a pseudonymuncle, and defended himself." Anthony Trollope; Chronicles of Barsetshire; Chapman & Hall; 1878. -------- Date: Thu Oct 2 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--whoness X-Bonus: When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 Oct 1869-1948) This week's theme: There is a word for it whoness (HOO-nis) noun The essence of a person. [From who, from Old English hwa + -ness (quality). Earliest documented use: 1922.] NOTES: It's that ineffable quality that makes you you and me me. Not your résumé, not your driver's license photo, but the sparkle (or snarkle) that can't be faked. It's the part of you that survives a bad hair day. The metaphysical equivalent of caller ID. See also, whatness https://wordsmith.org/words/whatness.html "The Two Fridas", 1939 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/whoness_large.jpg Art: Frida Kahlo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Fridas "Don't confuse your whoness with your whatness, [Monique Greenwood] warns. 'You can't let what you do define who you are. In other words, your job and material things should not be the definition of who you are.'" Lateefah Fleming; Hosting From a Haven in the Hood; Black Issues Book Review (Fairfax, Virginia); Nov/Dec 2001. -------- Date: Fri Oct 3 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pennyweighter X-Bonus: Once a country is habituated to liars, it takes generations to bring the truth back. -Gore Vidal, writer (3 Oct 1925-2012) This week's theme: There is a word for it pennyweighter (PEN-ee-way-tuhr) noun One who steals jewelry, especially by substituting a fake for the real one. [From pennyweight jewelry, from pennyweight, the weight of a silver penny (1⁄240 of a pound). Earliest documented use: 1886.] NOTES: The pennyweighter's motto: All that glitters is not yours anymore. Read details of pennyweighters stealing jewelry at a home https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/trio-accused-of-distracting-elderly-people-to-steal-their-jewelry-hialeah-police/3151091/ and at a store. https://abc7ny.com/post/video-brazen-thieves-switch-out-jewelry-/2173087/ A Civil War era 2 pennyweight token https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pennyweighter_large.jpg Image: eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/126805089787 "And he'd look at the dime store ring the pennyweighter had managed to substitute for a diamond one." Fredric Brown; Mostly Murder; EP Dutton; 1953. -------- Date: Mon Oct 6 00:01:02 EDT 2025 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gardyloo X-Bonus: It's said that "power corrupts", but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable. -David Brin, scientist and science fiction author (b. 6 Oct 1950) What would you think was going on if you heard these commands being given: Sit! Fetch! Heel! Perhaps you would think someone was showing off their dog's obedience training. But maybe not. Maybe a dizzy soul is being told to sit down before they topple over. Then, a friend is being dispatched to fetch Oral Roberts. And when he shows up, well, he gives the order to heal. Welcome to the world of imperatives! An imperative is just a fancy grammatical label for a command. A related word is imperious. https://wordsmith.org/words/imperious.html This week we're doing imperatives, but we are not bossing you around. It's just that imperatives are hidden in the etymology of these words. These are terms we have borrowed from French, Latin, Hebrew, and Hindi. As it often happens when we borrow a word, the meaning changes. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. The part of speech often changes too, and all of this week's selections were imperatives that later became nouns in English. So sit, fetch yourself a cup of tea, and heel to curiosity. gardyloo (gar-dee-LOO) noun A warning cry. [Phonetic respelling of French imperative gardez l'eau (mind the water). Earliest documented use: 1771.] NOTES: If you lived in old Edinburgh some 250 years ago and heard someone shout "Gardyloo!" from an upper floor, your best bet was to run for cover or risk getting baptized in _eau de toilette_ of a very different kind. The city was overcrowded. Tenements rose up to 14 stories. No electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing. The simplest disposal method was to simply toss your waste out the window. The thrower, at least, had the decency to offer a verbal umbrella. The so-called Nastiness Act of 1749 regulated when the airborne deposits could fly, between 10 pm and 7 am. In modern times, MV Gardyloo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Gardyloo was the cheery name of a sewage dumping ship (1978-1998) that ferried Edinburgh's waste out to the North Sea. Over time, gardyloo broadened into a general warning. Next time someone shouts it, you may still want to duck, just in case. "The Flowers of Edinburgh", 1781 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gardyloo_large.jpg Image: British Museum https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_J-1-138 "Now here's the warning, the gardyloo you must not ignore." Harlan Ellison; October Country; Los Angeles Times; Oct 7, 2001. "Derrick heard a faint gardyloo but couldn't even bring himself to look up and see if it might affect him. He wasn't at all surprised to find it had. He looked down to see sewage dripping down his left arm, but he was past caring." Lynn Kurland; Roses in Moonlight; Jove; 2013.