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Mar 1, 2026 This week’s theme Words one letter apart This week’s words mucid lucid sallow fallow incubus How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index Next week’s theme Words one letter apart Send a gift that keeps on giving, all year long: A gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day or the gift of books AWADmail Issue 1235 A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Other Tidbits about Words and Language Sponsor’s Message: ONEUPMANSHIP 3.0 is “a rollicking excuse for mad, mutually-abusive annihilation.” One Up! -- guaranteed to turn your whole family into “greedy, self-serving punks.” Wise Up! will “ruin Christmas and friendships” or your money back. All our fun and games are BOGO today only. Shop now. From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: Interesting stories from the Net Welcome to the Banned Speech State (Florida) The Web of Language Permalink Music Is Not a Universal Language -- but It Can Bring Us Together When Words Fail Nature Permalink From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) Subject: Words one letter apart This week I invited readers to send their favorite word pairs in which two words differ by one letter. Here’s a selection. Micro/Macro -Susan Kurz Snyder (sksnyder glslsg.com) In the Irish Language we delight in contrasting words by simply changing the first letter s to d to get the complete opposite meaning. sócúl = comfort / dócúl = discomfort sochar = profit/benefit / dochar = loss or harm saoirse = freedom (a common girl’s name here) / daoirse = slavery saoi = artist/expert / daoi = an idiot or an ignorant person (a common, unfortunate nickname given to a child by a teacher!) -David (Daithí) Ryder, Ballinrobe, Ireland (david.ryder1967 gmail.com) fucked/lucked -Sheila Taub, New Haven, Connecticut (taubsheila1 gmail.com) pest/best -Doug Raybeck, Amherst, Massachusetts (doug.raybeck gmail.com) marital/martial -Dennis Berry, Sanibel, Florida (dennis.wayne.berry gmail.com) A recent discovery: emplotment NOT employment. The context: narrative emplotment as a method of historical understanding. -Mira Wilkins, Coral Gables, Florida (wilkinsm fiu.edu) prime/grime -Andy J, Springfield, Virginia (Ornch duck.com) Here is a pair I’ve pondered. One is used frequently, but does anyone ever use the other one: condemn/contemn? -Bill Pease, San Diego, California (peasewmj gmail.com) I have a friend who worked for a local public television station in public relations. She issued a press release announcement that went out widely but somehow missed the L in public so it became Maryland Pubic Television. Oops! -Gayle V. Economos, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (grkathena aol.com) My favorite pair is sapid/vapid. -Michael Dresdner, Puyallup, Washington (mmdresdner gmail.com) A pair that I discovered once by typing too fast is trust/tryst, raising potential misunderstanding since the u and y are neighbors on a keyboard. -Jim Ertner, Greensboro, North Carolina (jde31459 gmail.com) pawky (having a mocking or cynical sense of humor) and gawky (nervously awkward, ungainly). I once berated an editor for his “pawky and churlish rant” which he then printed in his next newsletter saying that while he wasn’t exactly sure what I meant, he was positive that I was being complimentary. -Neil Richards, Pittsford, New York (neilr richardsresearch.com) People often say prostrate when they mean prostate. -Denis Filby, London, UK (fmo fmo-design.co.uk) I’d nominate autopay -- the term my phone company uses for the convenience of paying my bill every month without the need to see what I’m paying for -- and autopsy -- which derives from the Greek autopsia “seeing with one’s eyes”. A quick jump from closing your eyes to using them. -Henry Willis, Los Angeles, California (hmw ssdslaw.com) Email of the Week -- Brought to you buy ONEUPMANSHIP -- Are you a G? From: Terry Stone (cgs7952 bellsouth.net) Subject: The Right Word The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter -- it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. -Mark Twain Your Mark Twain quote from today’s AWAD originates from within a much larger and more interesting context. When I was a sixth grader, I found a charming and time-worn volume on the shelves of my rural hometown’s Carnegie Library. It was titled The Art of Authorship: Literary Reminiscences, Methods of Work, and Advice to Young Beginners. Since I already loved to write, I felt this book might just appeal to me. I was not disappointed. Within its wonderful pages were excerpts of letters from 164 famous and not-so-famous American and European authors and academics that had been solicited by the editor, George Bainton, and published from Coventry, England, in 1890. From what I could tell in a few footnotes, he received these letters over four years. Sadly, Bainton’s biography appears lost to history, but I would suspect that he may have been a respected classical educator of the youth of the day, considering the luminary status of his correspondents and their thoughtful responses. His compilation, sometimes accompanied by his own remarks, was a charming work of absolute genius. He closed his introduction at the start of the work by emphasizing, with a touch of irony, that all those writers had made it clear to him that “careless speaking or slovenly writing is an insult to the public, and that bad English is a crime.” Mark Twain’s letter was classic, and included not only the importance of using the right word from your quote, but of being concise and avoiding long and involved sentences, something you do beautifully, Anu. Mixing tongue-in-cheek metaphors, Twain admonished young writers to build their stories like adding bricks to a sound building, but in such a way that when it is done, “it won’t be a sea-serpent, with half its arches under the water -- it will be a torchlight procession.” He called the exact word the “exceedingly important brick”. Twain protested with characteristic humility that, other than brevity and solid word choices, he really had no method. He ended his letter to Bainton with typical Mark Twain brilliance (and wryly worried that his lengthy response was turning into an essay) by concluding, “So I seem to have arrived at this: doubtless I have methods, but they begot themselves, in which case I am only their proprietor, not their father.” For those interested, the entire book may be read here. Despite its publication 136 years ago and its sometimes now-archaic turns of phrase, it remains relevant. I recommend it for both young and old who love words and who love to write. Terry Stone, Goldendale, Washington From: William Fonseca (whfonseca6 gmail.com) Subject: Mucid Your “mucid” entry comes as a great example of synchronicity for me. Last week, I encountered a list of ten “rules” for reading written by the late Michael Silverblatt, who hosted Bookworm on KCRW for decades before passing away earlier this month. One of the rules is to keep a list of words you encounter whose meanings you don’t know, something I’ve always been hesitant to do because reading flow matters to me and the idea of stopping to write down words makes it feel like an academic exercise rather than a pleasurable one. Still, I appreciate Silverblatt as a reader, so I figured I’d try it. (His defense of the word list: “Reading without understanding is not a virtue.”) I am reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, which is full of list-worthy words, and encountered this sentence a few days before your entry appeared: “Orr snickered with a slight, mucid sibilance and turned back to his work, squatting.” “Mucid” and “sibilance” in one sentence! That’s bang for your word-list buck! Will Fonseca, Brooklyn, New York From: Robert Foster (rafoster9 gmail.com) Subject: Bitter experience A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience. -W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (23 Feb 1868-1963) How much bitter experience is necessary and how many times must history repeat itself due to forgotten lessons, before we throw the bums out? Robert Foster, Rowley, Massachusetts Then there was Hegel, who observed that the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history. It seems each generation has to make its own mistakes and learn/not-learn from them. Or more precisely, each generation has to be subjected to the mistakes of its leaders and suffer the consequences and learn that they, leaders, learn nothing from it. -Anu Garg From: Chris MacIntosh (chrismac alumni.upenn.edu) Subject: Sallow In England, sallow is an old term for willow. I’d bet that Robert MacFarlane includes this word in one of his books. Chris MacIntosh, Redwood City, California From: Jim Tang (mauijt aol.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--fallow There’s an initial negative connotation when this word is dropped into the conversation. It takes some effort to remember that land lying fallow for a year actually rejuvenates. The Western approach makes the lack of productivity problematic, something to be avoided if at all possible. And yet ... The ability to lie fallow seems to me a tenet of Eastern religion, a Zen-like attainment of peace. Still, the concept has been embraced by some American institutions. Consider The House of God, a scathing satirical novel of “modern” medicine. Author Samuel Shem generated the Rules of the House of God 50 years ago, and this was the ultimate one: XIII. The delivery of medical care is to do as much nothing as possible. I’ve spoken to many doctors who both agree with this tenet and endorse Shem’s novel wholeheartedly. Words to live by. Literally. Jim Tang, Kula, Hawaii From: John D. Laskowski (john.laskowski mothman.org) Subject: Fallow Oh deer me! The fallow deer, a beautiful European and western Asian animal, using a meaning you did not include: Photo: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia John D. Laskowski, Carsonville, Pennsylvania From: Sylvie Romanowski (s-romanowski northwestern.edu) Subject: incubus Incubus may seem like a mythical figure, but he seems to be actually possible in reality. See the recent case of Dominique Pelicot involving his wife Gisèle Pelicot (permalink). Sylvie Romanowski, Professor Emerita of French, Evanston, Illinois From: Christina Vani (kris.vani gmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--incubus First, I’d like to thank the whole team for your lovely and truly remarkable work on AWAD. I’ve been a reader for years and I savour every part of the email when I have the chance to read (and the fact that Anu is vegan is a treat, too, as I’ve been vegan for over 20 years). The main reason for my writing today is kind of strange but wonderful: I don’t know if you know, but there is an Italian AWAD called Una Parola Al Giorno (UPAG), which also translates to A Word A Day. Today, incredibly, both you and they chose incubus as your word. Your messages, kind of like benevolent incubi (incubuses?), found themselves resting side by side in the middle of the night in my inbox: Of course, in Italian, incubo doesn’t have the same meaning as incubus (incubo means ‘nightmare’), but what a delight to see UPAG and AWAD working somehow in synchrony. As a lover of languages, I gasped when I saw your messages and I thought it might be a source of delight for you, too. Christina Vani, Toronto, Canada From: Danny Colyer (d colyer.plus.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--incubus You wrote: From Latin incubare (to lie upon), from in- (upon) + cubare (to lie). Considering the etymologies of incubus (to lie upon) and succubus (to lie under), I’d like to coin the word Borisbus, from Boris Johnson, meaning to lie incessantly. Danny Colyer, Bristol, UK From: Alex McCrae (ajmccrae277 gmail.com) Subject: mucid and sallow The word mucid brought to mind the gooey, commercially-sold concoction known as slime. But, it’s also fairly simple for any DIY prankster to make. It involves a chemical reaction between a polymer and a gelling agent, such as shampoo or dish soap. Contact lens solution, which contains borax, also works well. Adding food coloring is optional, although lime-green seems to be one of the most popular choices. Here, in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge meets his housemaid after the nightmarish reverie. His sallow visage speaks to his harrowing night, when the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him. Then he encounters the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. The latter is the most foreboding for Scrooge: a faceless specter enshrouded in a black hooded robe points to Ebenezer’s possible ignominious fate (toward his gravestone), if he fails to change his miserly, antisocial ways. Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California Anagrams This week’s theme is “Words one letter apart” Mucid Lucid Sallow Fallow Incubus = Dank While lustrous or lit Wan Left with idle plowed acres sometimes Succuba -Robert Jordan, Lampang, Thailand (alfiesdad ymail.com) This week’s theme: Words one letter apart Mucid Lucid Sallow Fallow Incubus = Awful Wow, it’s clear! Pale due morbid health; tics? Unsowed Re: stuck millstone -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com) = Marsh-like Mindful Pale unwell tot Idle; a row to rest w/o seeds Succuba, witch = Mucous Sober Pale Untilled fields Wroth wraith attacks & will seduce women -Dharam Khalsa, Burlington, North Carolina (dharamkk2 gmail.com) -Julian Lofts, Auckland, New Zealand (jalofts xtra.co.nz) Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks mucid/lucid How mucid the trail of a snail! It leaves behind slime without fail. Habitual oozing I don’t find amusing, But that’s what snail lives must entail. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) A lawyer most lucid in thought Would win every case that he brought. His fees were quite high, But he was the guy Whose services everyone sought. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “Eeyoo, kid, that stuff is just putrid! You’re working with slime? But it’s mucid! Whatever you did is appalling, so, kid I hope my instructions are lucid!” -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) “I can’t eat this foul piece of cheese, For it looks like it has a disease. It is smelly and mucid, And totally putrid. Do take it away, waiter, please!” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) I try to be lucid all day. But it’s hard when my thoughts go astray, Or when sleep was not good And my head feels like wood. I hope it is better next day. -Ann Serdula, Deep River, Canada (annserdula97 yahoo.ca) Her engagement ring was very small, But this didn’t upset her at all. She thought the ring lucid. He said, “Say I do, kid. I’ll marry you, love, in the fall.” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) Said Kristi Noem, “Cricket was mucid, Towards life on this planet ill suited. When a dog kills a chicken, The clock begins tickin’, As quickly my thoughts become lucid.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) sallow/fallow With only a glance he could tell The woman he saw was unwell. Her breathing was shallow, Her skin, oh so sallow -- His cure-all he knew he could sell. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) His mind’s lying fallow, poor guy! I think that I’ve figured out why. He’s glued to his phone, Can’t leave it alone, And that’s how his brain cells all die. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) This field’s lying fallow one year. The reason will soon become clear. For after some rest, As farmers attest It’s much more productive, my dear. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) I’m repulsed by a sallow complexion! So I’m facing an upward direction! The sun makes me tan Which attracts a cute man; Yep, I need both the sun and... affection! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) The young man whose hair was quite sallow, Remarked, “I know folks think I’m callow. But I do not despair, For I really don’t care, As the truth is I’m terribly shallow.” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) Now Fred was a fallow young fellow. Not deep, he was shallow and mellow. His dad would insist That the lad should enlist, But, he gasped, “Oh, dear no! I’m too yellow.” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) Though most of their country lies fallow, At the thought of our “help”, they turn sallow. Their thinking remains, “We prefer to be Danes; Here in Greenland, your Trump we don’t hallow.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) incubus An incubus came in the night, And gave the young girl quite a fright. She let out a scream And woke from her dream -- Insomnia then was her plight. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Some visitors oughta stay back From their own dark inopportune track. Like the incubus -- right? Who visits at night, Uninvited and unwanted -- aack! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) She woke in a start from her dreaming. A nightmare that left her just screaming. This incubus might Keep her up all the night. So, no scary shows will she be streaming. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) As we live through the Donald Trump incubus, He continues emitting foul stink at us. From a grand seaside manse Come his wee-hour rants; His regime quite resembles Caligula’s. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “Ze problems vith Bullvinkle’s behavior stem from his mucid,” concluded the network psychiatrist. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Lucid-id you get grape juice all over your clothes? You got some ‘splainin’ to do!” said Ricky. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “Why am I b-lucid?” blurted his wife. “You only forgot our anniversary again!” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Tell him to keep the apprai-sallow for the property tax assessor but high for the banks,” Donald instructed his CFO. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “I can still sing do re mi in that octave, but I’ll have to hit fallow-er down now that I’ve reached puberty,” said Friedrich to Fraulein Maria. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “That ratf-incubus-sed off to prison was once Prince Andrew,” the constable told the driver. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you. -Richard Wilbur, poet and translator (1 Mar 1921-2017)

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