A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Dec 2 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fulgor X-Bonus: The question is whether or not you choose to disturb the world around you, or if you choose to let it go on as if you had never arrived. -Ann Patchett, writer (b. 2 Dec 1963) Earlier this year I gave the artist Leah Palmer Preiss (curiouser at mindspring.com) five words and then I waited until this week. It was worth the wait. You'll see why. Leah took each word and turned it into a delightful out-of-this-world illustration. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and it's true. Sometimes a picture is worth just one word and that's enough. Now, after this week if you can't wait till next year, check out her illustrations from previous years here, https://wordsmith.org/words/velutinous.html . Find more of her magical art on her website http://www.leahpalmerpreiss.com/. fulgor or fulgour (FUHL-guhr) noun Splendor; brightness. [From Latin fulgor (brightness), from fulgere (to shine). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhel- (to shine or burn), which also gave us blaze, blank, blond, bleach, blanket, flame, refulgent https://wordsmith.org/words/refulgent.html , fulminate https://wordsmith.org/words/fulminate.html , and effulgent https://wordsmith.org/words/effulgent.html . Earliest documented use: 1600.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/fulgor_large.jpg Art: Leah Palmer Preiss http://www.leahpalmerpreiss.com/ "Red Sea under a serene sky, under a sky scorching and unclouded, enveloped in a fulgor of sunshine." Joseph Conrad; Lord Jim; Blackwood's Magazine; 1900. -------- Date: Tue Dec 3 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--inquiline X-Bonus: A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order. -Jean-Luc Godard, film director (b. 3 Dec 1930) This week's theme: Illustrated words inquiline (IN-kwuh-lyn) noun An animal living in the nest, burrow, or home of another. [From Latin inquilinus (tenant, lodger), from in- (into) + colere (to dwell). Earliest documented use: 1640.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/inquiline_large.jpg Art: Leah Palmer Preiss http://www.leahpalmerpreiss.com/ "That he has never allowed himself to be absorbed fully into the English tradition is something many critics have misunderstood. Naipaul is best understood as an inquiline, as a man whom the English have tried to absorb, but a man who has clung to displacement like a floating buoy." The Voyage in -- A Way in the World by V.S. Naipaul; The New Republic (Washington, DC); Jun 13, 1994. "In 'Talent' a young English girl worms her way into the life of a Fifth Avenue extended family with theatrical and musical connections. Since they are dysfunctional, and don't communicate with each other, they are unaware of what exactly the girl, Ellie, is up to. So when this inert inquiline turns up repeatedly at one of the family houses and sits in silence, nobody asks her to depart." Patrick French; East Is West; Financial Times (London, UK); Oct 1, 2011. -------- Date: Wed Dec 4 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jouissance X-Bonus: I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I will try. -Rainer Maria Rilke, poet and novelist (4 Dec 1875-1926) This week's theme: Illustrated words jouissance (ZHWEE-sans) noun Pleasure; ecstasy. [From French jouissance, from jouir (to enjoy). Earliest documented use: 1484.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/jouissance_large.jpg Art: Leah Palmer Preiss http://www.leahpalmerpreiss.com/ "Artists were allowed, indeed encouraged, to lead more libidinous lives on behalf of others who had, of necessity, to leave their jouissance at the door while they worked." Hanif Kureishi; The Last Word; Scribner; 2015. -------- Date: Thu Dec 5 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--worricow X-Bonus: Once a man has tasted freedom he will never be content to be a slave. That is why I believe that this frightfulness we see everywhere today is only temporary. Tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life. -Walt Disney, entrepreneur and animator (5 Dec 1901-1966) This week's theme: Illustrated words worricow (WUH-ree-kau) noun A hobgoblin, scarecrow, or a person of frightening appearance. [From Scottish, from worry (to harass) + cow (hobgoblin). Earliest documented use: 1711.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/worricow_large.jpg Art: Leah Palmer Preiss http://www.leahpalmerpreiss.com/ "Our world seems to be disinfected of all such 'superstitious' numina as 'witches, warlocks, and worricows'." Carl Jung; Man and His Symbols; Doubleday; 1964. https://wordsmith.org/words/numen.html -------- Date: Fri Dec 6 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hyaloid X-Bonus: I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree. -(Alfred) Joyce Kilmer, journalist and poet (6 Dec 1886-1918) This week's theme: Illustrated words hyaloid (HY-uh-loyd) adjective Glassy or transparent. [From Latin hyaloides, from Greek hualoeies (glass-like), from hualos (glass). Earliest documented use: 1835.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hyaloid https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hyaloid_large.jpg Art: Leah Palmer Preiss http://www.leahpalmerpreiss.com/ "He squinted through the hyaloid membrane of the docking chamber's blister and sighted upward along the elastic cable." Donald Moffitt; Second Genesis; Open Road; 2014. -------- Date: Mon Dec 9 00:06:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--corbie messenger X-Bonus: I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. -John Milton, poet (9 Dec 1608-1674) A language belongs to anyone who speaks it, not to a country or corporation or religion. I was reminded of this when I came across this news item: Some students in a university in India had boycotted classes because their Sanskrit professor was a Muslim. The Sanskrit language can only be taught by a Hindu, they had claimed. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/bhu-students-call-off-stir-against-muslim-professors-appointment-in-sanskrit-department/articleshow/72186579.cms https://web.archive.org/web/20191125092136/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/bhu-students-call-off-stir-against-muslim-professors-appointment-in-sanskrit-department/articleshow/72186579.cms Sanskrit was the language of choice for Hindu scriptures, but that has no bearing on who can study or teach the language. Did those students also boycott their English classes because the professor wasn't a Christian? Well, the Bible wasn't written in English (it was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek http://wordsmith.org/words/gadarene.html ), but it has influenced the language. Many Biblical allusions have become a part of the language. This week we'll see five of them. For even more words having origins in the Bible see here https://wordsmith.org/words/nimrod.html . corbie messenger (KOR-bee mes-uhn-juhr) noun A messenger who does not arrive or return in time. [From allusion to the crow that Noah had sent out from his ark. From corbin (raven), from Old French corbin, from Latin corvus (raven, crow). Earliest documented use: 1525.] The Assuaging of the Waters, 1840 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Assuaging_of_the_Waters_by_John_Martin,_1840.jpg Art: John Martin NOTES: In the Bible, after months of floating around, Noah has his ark parked on Mt. Ararat. He picks a raven from his menagerie to go scout the scene. The bird never returns. Then Noah picks a dove and the dove does dutifully return. The moral of the story? All you need is Dove. But let's not be too hard on the raven. Every body is beautiful. Everyday moisture is the key to beautiful skin, yes, but "forty days and forty nights" of moisture is a little too much. "I will be no corbie-messenger in mine old age -- your message to your son shall be done as truly by me as if it concerned another man's neck." Walter Scott; The Abbott; Archibald Constable and John Ballantyne; 1820. -------- Date: Tue Dec 10 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--land of nod X-Bonus: Who has not found the heaven below / Will fail of it above. / God's residence is next to mine, / His furniture is love. -Emily Dickinson, poet (10 Dec 1830-1886) This week's theme: Biblical allusions land of nod (land ov nod) noun Sleep. [From a punning reference to the land of Nod in the Bible. Earliest documented use: 1738.] "Cain fleeing before Jehovah's Curse", c. 1880 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/land_of_nod_large.jpg Cain heading to the land of Nod. But he doesn't look that sleepy?! Art: Fernand-Anne Piestre Cormon NOTES: In Genesis 4:16, Cain kills his brother Abel. When asked why, he retorts "Am I my brother's keeper?" while not even looking up from his phone. God curses him to be a "fugitive and a vagabond". Cain then goes to dwell in the "land of Nod, on the east of Eden". "Nod" is the root of the verb "to wander" in Hebrew. So going to the land of nod implied going to go wandering. Jonathan Swift first used "Nod" as a punning reference to sleeping, as in "to nod off" when drowsy: Colonel Atwit: I'm going to the Land of Nod. Mr Neverout: Faith, I'm for Bedfordshire. (Swift; Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation; 1738.) Now you can go to the land of nod or to Bedfordshire when it's time to catch some Zs. "There is one objective on a Cabin (called SleepBus in an earlier iteration), and that is to reach the destination via the land of nod." Why an Eight-Hour Bus Ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco Might Beat a Flight; The Economist (London, UK); Aug 8, 2017. -------- Date: Wed Dec 11 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Apollyon X-Bonus: Everything you add to the truth subtracts from the truth. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn, novelist, Nobel laureate (11 Dec 1918-2008) This week's theme: Biblical allusions Apollyon (uh-POL-yuhn) noun One who destroys; another name for the Devil. [From Latin, from Greek Apollyon, from apollynai (to destroy), from apo- (from, away) + ollynai (to destroy). Earliest documented use: 1382.] NOTES: The Bible's Book of Revelation 9:11 introduces Apollyon as: "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." Apollyon (top) battling Christian https://wordsmith.org/words/images/apollyon_large.jpg From John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" Illustration: H.C. Selous & M. Paolo Priolo, c. 1850 "William Shuter, though, ... saw the text as a word of warning to Oscar Wilde, in the early 1890s infatuated with the young, beautiful, narcissistic, and heartless Lord Alfred Douglas, an Apollyon capable of doing great harm to an ageing impressionable aesthete." Lene Østermark-Johansen (editor), Walter Pater; Imaginary Portraits; The Modern Humanities Research Association; 2014. -------- Date: Thu Dec 12 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Magdalene X-Bonus: Poetry is a subject as precise as geometry. -Gustave Flaubert, novelist (12 Dec 1821-80) This week's theme: Biblical allusions magdalen or magdalene (MAG-duh-leen, -luhn) noun A penitent woman, particularly a reformed prostitute. [After Mary Magdalene, a Biblical character who was a follower of Jesus. Earliest documented use: 1563.] "Mary Magdalene Reading" (c. 1500-1510) by https://wordsmith.org/words/images/magdalene_large.jpg Art: Piero di Cosimo NOTES: The name Magdalene means "of Magdala" in Greek and is derived after a town on the Sea of Galilee. The name Magdala, in turn, means a tower in Aramaic. So here we have a word coined after a person, who was named after a place, which was named after a thing. The word is also used for a home for reformed/retired prostitutes. Magdalene has given birth to another eponym, maudlin meaning "overly sentimental" https://wordsmith.org/words/maudlin.html . Pope Gregory I, in a sermon delivered in 581 CE, conflated an unnamed "sinner" with Mary Magdalene. Pope Paul VI fixed the error in 1969, but the damage was done. Mary Magdalene forever remains identified as a former prostitute in popular culture. It took them 1,388 years to acknowledge the error. In comparison, Galileo got off easy. The Church took a mere 359 years to say that he was right after all. So much for ex cathedra! https://wordsmith.org/words/ex_cathedra.html Religion, fighting facts and reality, since, well ... forever. "Aniseed is inseparably linked in my mind to the bodies of fallen women. It is the madeleine that evokes a Magdalene." Jonathan Meades; Filthy English; Jonathan Cape; 1984. https://wordsmith.org/words/madeleine.html -------- Date: Fri Dec 13 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--goliath X-Bonus: The walls of books around me, dense with the past, formed a kind of insulation against the present world and its disasters. -Ross Macdonald, novelist (13 Dec 1915-1983) This week's theme: Biblical allusions goliath (guh-LY-uhth) noun A giant; a person or organization of enormous size or power. [After Goliath, a giant Philistine warrior, who was slain by David using a sling and a stone. Earliest documented use: 1607.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/goliath David and Goliath https://wordsmith.org/words/images/goliath_large.jpg Goliathhaus, Regensburg, Germany Photo: Koppi2/Wikimedia NOTES: "David and Goliath" has become a metaphor for an underdog facing a much larger, powerful opponent, in sports, business, politics, and beyond. "Amazon's 'second headquarters' may be no such thing. Not for the first time, The Onion, a satirical website, got it right. 'You are all inside Amazon's second headquarters,' Jeff Bezos announces to horrified Americans as massive dome envelops nation.' That headline captured both the American e-commerce goliath's endless expansion in recent years and the stratospheric level of hype around its quest to find a second headquarters." https://www.theonion.com/you-are-all-inside-amazon-s-second-headquarters-jeff-1829865580 HQ2 times 2; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 10, 2018. -------- Date: Mon Dec 16 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--homily X-Bonus: Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick, science fiction writer (16 Dec 1928-1982) Deeply, simply, thoughtfully ... no, we are not telling you how to live your life. These are examples of adverbs, the parts of speech that tell you how an action is performed. Adverbs qualify verbs (also, adjectives and other adverbs). But the -ly words do not have a monopoly in the adverb market. Not all adverbs end in -ly and not all words ending in -ly are adverbs. This week we'll feature five -ly words that are nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Anything but adverbs. If you decide to use these -ly words as adverbs anyway, well, feel free. We are not going to call the language police. We may even join you. How's this? The preacher took the day off relaxing at home. "No church clothes today. I can dress homily." Share your own homilies on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/homily.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. homily (HOM-uh-lee) noun A lecture of a moralizing or admonishing nature, usually tedious and trite. [From Old French omelie (homily), from Latin (homilia), from Greek homilia (assembly or sermon), from homilos (crowd), from homou (together). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sem- (one), which also gave us simultaneous, assemble, simple, Sanskrit sandhi (union), Russian samovar (a metal urn, literally, self-boiler), and Greek hamadryad (a wood nymph, who lives in a tree and dies when the tree dies), dissimulate https://wordsmith.org/words/dissimulate.html , and simulacrum https://wordsmith.org/words/simulacrum.html . Earliest documented use: 1386.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/homily https://wordsmith.org/words/images/homily_large.png Image: https://me.me/i/nobodylikesalong-homily-1955049 "With public confidence in politics wobbling, enter that paragon of virtues Anthony Charles Lynton Blair. The old hoofer took to a pulpit at the Reuters news agency to deliver one of his husky homilies about how vulgar politics has become since his faction waned." Quentin Letts; Trust Is Vital, Says the Man Who Led Us to War; The Times (London, UK); Nov 26, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Dec 17 00:01:05 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--raguly X-Bonus: Contentment is, after all, simply refined indolence. -Thomas Chandler Haliburton, author, judge, and politician (17 Dec 1796-1865) This week's theme: Adverb? Not! raguly (RAG-yuh-lee) adjective Having a row of oblique notches. [Probably from Old English ragg. Earliest documented use: 1660.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/raguly_large.png Image: Madboy74/Wikimedia NOTES: Why would someone need a word for having a row of oblique notches? Like a row of sawn-off branches or a row of teeth with gaps? If you are into heraldry, you might want to have an edge like that in your coat of arms. As you proudly show visitors your logo and describe its features, remember that the word raguly is used postpositively https://wordsmith.org/words/agonistes.html as shown in the usage example below. If raguly is not your thing, here are other edges for you to consider https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Complete_Guide_to_Heraldry_Fig047.png Want to take part in a fun exercise? What would your family's coat of arms look like? Share it with us at words@wordsmith.org. Hand-drawn images are fine. Include a picture and tell us the features of your coat of arms and why you chose them. "Two of the front windows as appears by the two crosses raguly, represent me and my son." William Lawrence; The Pyramid and the Urn; Iona Sinclair; 1994. -------- Date: Wed Dec 18 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--empanoply X-Bonus: The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. -Steve Biko, anti-apartheid activist (18 Dec 1946-1977) This week's theme: Adverb? Not! empanoply (em-PAN-uh-plee) verb tr. To enclose in complete armor. [From em- (in) + panoply (a full suit of armor) https://wordsmith.org/words/panoply.html , from Greek panoplia (a complete suit of armor), from pan (all) + hopla (arms, armor), plural of hoplon (weapon). Earliest documented use: 1784.] You swerve to avoid a squirrel. Unknown to you, the squirrel pledges a life debt to you. In your darkest hour, the squirrel arrives. http://wordsmith.org/words/images/empanoply_large.jpg Image: https://cheezburger.com/8994661632/life-debt-squirrel-meme "It was a shrewd thrust, that pierced the armour of conscience in which he sought to empanoply himself." Rafael Sabatini; The Sea-Hawk; Martin Secker; 1915. -------- Date: Thu Dec 19 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--logodaedaly X-Bonus: And the evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders / But the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers / And a world of hunger in vengeance will always remember. -Phil Ochs, folksinger (19 Dec 1940-1976) This week's theme: Adverb? Not! logodaedaly (log-uh-DEE-duh-lee) noun Skill in using or coining words. [From Latin logodaedalia, from Greek logodaidalia, from logodaidalos, from logos (word) + daedalus (skillful). Earliest documented use: 1727.] "No, I think that Burgess, a consummate practitioner of logodaedaly, chose 'atomy'* for deliberate ambiguity, implying that the love borne for Roxane by Cyrano had started out as a skeletal friendship but later became a grand Herculean passion." Jeff Aronson; An/Atomy; BMJ: British Medical Journal (London, UK); Oct 14, 2000. *In his translation of Cyrano de Bergerac: "But the tough atomy I thought to seize And crush, turned out an infant Hercules." https://wordsmith.org/words/atomy.html -------- Date: Fri Dec 20 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eutrapely X-Bonus: If we would have new knowledge, we must get us a whole world of new questions. -Susanne Langer, philosopher (20 Dec 1895-1985) This week's theme: Adverb? Not! eutrapely (yoo-TRAP-uh-lee) noun Liveliness and ease of conversation. [From Greek (pleasantness in conversation), from eu- (well) + trapely (to turn). Earliest documented use: 1596.] NOTES: Can you talk to anyone on any topic with ease? If so, you have the gift of eutrapely, also known as eutrapelia. It was one of Aristotle's dozen virtues. "All of whom defend that virtuous, urbane wit which is eutrapely." Michael A. Screech; Laughter at the Foot of the Cross; University of Chicago Press; 1997. -------- Date: Mon Dec 23 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jactancy X-Bonus: Every noon as the clock hands arrive at twelve, / I want to tie the two arms together, / And walk out of the bank carrying time in bags. -Robert Bly, poet (b. 23 Dec 1926) It's that time of the year when we give one of the 26 characters some rest. The other 25 have to report for duty -- no R&R for them. Why this unfairness, this favoritism? You have to find out on your own. Can you guess which of the characters is away? It's the 12th. This week's five words use every character except that one. What can you write (such as this introduction) that does not use the character on vacation? Share it on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/jactancy.html or write to us at (words at wordsmith.org) But why? Because No el. Joyeux Noel! John Locke of "Lost" puzzles over Noe l https://wordsmith.org/words/images/noel_large.jpg Image: Brian Bogardus https://flickr.com/photos/brian_the_red/3086022754/ jactancy (JAK-tuhn-see) noun Boasting or boastfulness. [From Latin jactantia, from jactantem, present participle of jactare (to throw about), frequentative of jacere (to throw). Earliest documented use: 1623.] "She did not show any great jactancy. Rather, she was somewhat reluctant to show her ability." A. Flammer and W. Kinzelbach; Discourse Processing; Elsevier; 2000. -------- Date: Tue Dec 24 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oryzivorous X-Bonus: You have not converted a man because you have silenced him. -John Morley, statesman and writer (24 Dec 1838-1923) This week's theme: No el oryzivorous (oh-ri-ZIV-uhr-uhs) adjective Rice-eating. [From Latin oryza (rice) + -vorous (feeding). Earliest documented use: 1857.] Bobolink aka rice bird ("Dolichonyx oryzivorus") https://wordsmith.org/words/images/oryzivorous_large.jpg Photo: Andrea Westmoreland / Wikimedia "China is an oryzivorous country." Mark McKenna; The Word Gang; Precipitation Press; 2010. -------- Date: Wed Dec 25 00:01:02 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gaminesque X-Bonus: If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants. -Isaac Newton, philosopher and mathematician (25 Dec 1642-1727) This week's theme: No el gaminesque (gam-uh-NESK) adjective Playfully impudent or mischievous. [From French gamine (a pert, impudent, or mischievous girl), feminine of gamin (a young boy working as a glassblower's assistant), of obscure origin. Earliest documented use: 1886.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gaminesque_large.jpg Photo: Dominique Linel https://flickr.com/photos/37853591@N05/28535390201/ "She had evidently been a big, bouncing, bright gaminesque girl at fifteen, and very amusing and very much admired." H.G. Wells; The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman; Macmillan; 1914. -------- Date: Thu Dec 26 00:01:02 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--twiforked X-Bonus: The hair is real -- it's the head that's a fake. -Steve Allen, television host, musician, actor, comedian, and writer (26 Dec 1921-2000) This week's theme: No el twiforked or twi-forked (TWAI-forkt) adjective Divided in two; two-pronged. [From Old English twi- (two) + forked, from forca, from Latin furca (fork, yoke). Earliest documented use: 1635.] A fork in the road! Why don't they take it? https://wordsmith.org/words/images/twiforked_large.jpg Image: Sarah https://www.flickr.com/photos/dm-set/3673537912 "The evening before the serpent came, Just at the first hour of the night, She reached a flagon* of crystal bright, Sweet Eve, Young Eve, Snow-white, rose-red, a twi-forked flame, The evening before the serpent came, Kindled and burnt in the heart of Eve." Susan Sutton Smith (ed.); Complete Poems and Collected Letters of Adelaide Crapsey; State University of New York Press; 1977. *A large bottle for liquor -------- Date: Fri Dec 27 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--amaxophobia X-Bonus: Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. -Louis Pasteur, chemist and bacteriologist (27 Dec 1822-1895) This week's theme: No el amaxophobia (uh-mak-suh-FOH-bee-uh) noun The fear of riding in a vehicle. [From Greek hamaxa (wagon) + -phobia (fear).] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/amaxophobia_large.jpg Image: https://imgflip.com/i/2s563d "The poor woman is scared to death ... Anne must have seen the same thing in her rearview mirror. 'Great,' she said just loud enough for Mary Helen to hear, "not only are we driving Miss Daisy, but we are driving Miss Daisy with amaxophobia." Carol Anne O'Marie; The Corporal Works of Murder; St Martin's Press; 2003. -------- Date: Mon Dec 30 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--humdinger X-Bonus: In religion, faith is a virtue. In science, faith is a vice. -Jerry Coyne, biology professor (b. 30 Dec 1949) Here in America we come up with cool stuff, things like jeans and jazz and jumbo jets. But we have our share of silliness too. You might think that no adult will ever propose this with a serious face (or another adult will accept it), but we have come up with things like gerrymandering https://wordsmith.org/words/gerrymander.html . And we have our own share of malevolence. You might think that no human will ever propose this, but Republican lawmakers in the state of Ohio want to order doctors to "reimplant ectopic pregnancy" in a woman's womb. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/29/ohio-extreme-abortion-bill-reimplant-ectopic-pregnancy When ignorance and power combine, the result is disaster. Ah, it's depressing! Let's get back to goofiness. This week we'll feature Americanisms, five ridiculous, silly-sounding words that we have contributed to the English language. When you look at these words, you might ask: Did you just make these up? Didn't you hear what I said: Yes, we made these up. humdinger (hum-DING-uhr) noun Someone or something outstanding, remarkable, or unusual. [Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a blend of hummer and dinger, both meaning someone or something exceptional. Earliest documented use: 1883.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/humdinger "Ne3 is pretty good, but McShane's next move was a real humdinger." England on Point: Chess; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Oct 30, 2019. "Because of the exceedingly easy questions -- How many wheels has a tricycle? -- speed was the thing. Despite the low bar, it is famous for some reputed humdinger answers that have gone into the lore. One contestant, asked Hitler's first name, tried 'Heil?' Another thought the ayatollah might be a céilí* band. What was Gandhi's first name? Goosey Goosey." Deirdre Falvey; How ‘Stop the Lights!’ Became a National Catchphrase; Irish Times (Dublin); Sep 21, 2018. * https://wordsmith.org/words/ceilidh.html -------- Date: Tue Dec 31 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ripsnorter X-Bonus: An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc. -Henri Matisse, artist (31 Dec 1869-1954) This week's theme: Americanisms ripsnorter (RIP-snor-tuhr) noun Something or someone remarkable in excellence, intensity, strength, etc. [A fanciful coinage from rip (to tear) + snorter (something extraordinary). Earliest documented use: 1840.] "A searing, stratospheric violin wail leads into a ripsnorter of a finale." Martin Buzacott; Massive Sound with a Melody Intact; The Australian (Canberra); Jul 10, 2017.