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NIDIFUGOUS
PRONUNCIATION: (ny-DIF-yuh-guhs)
MEANING: adjective: Well-developed and able to leave the nest soon after hatching.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nidi- (nest) + -fugous (fleeing). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sed- (to sit), which is also the source of nest, sit, chair, saddle, assess, sediment, soot, cathedral, and tetrahedron. Earliest documented use: 1902.
NOTES: The opposite of nidifugous is nidicolous (remaining with parents for a long time after birth). Etymologically speaking, these words apply to birds, but there’s no reason you can’t use them elsewhere. For example, if your adult child suggests living in your basement, you could simply say, “Don’t be nidicolous!”
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NIDIFUNGOUS - the nest is covered with mold
MIDIFUGOUS - the ecdysiast has a short skirt that flies off easily
Ni-di-F-U-GOUS - made with nickel, two atoms of fluorine, and uranium
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BLOODNOUN
PRONUNCIATION: (BLUHD-naun)
MEANING: noun: A bullfrog -- a heavy-bodied frog having a deep resonant croak. Also known as bloody noun.
ETYMOLOGY: Of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1910.
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BROODNOUN - a swarm of bullfrog tadpoles
BLOODNOUS - our French relatives
BLOODNOON - when a solar eclipse occurs precisely at midday and everything looks reddish just prior to totality
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SODALIST
PRONUNCIATION: (SO-duh-list)
MEANING: noun: A member of a sodality (a fellowship or association).
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin sodalitas (fellowship), from sodalis (companion). Earliest documented use: 1794.
NOTE: A sodalist is not a list of Coke, Pepsi, and other carbonated beverages.
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SODALAST - Mama's Rule, so you won't spoil your appetite for dinner
ODALIST - a poet of limited repertoire
ŠKODALIST - available models and prices of a Czech automobile
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REPROBATE
PRONUNCIATION: (REP-ruh-bayt)
MEANING: adjective: Depraved.
noun: A wicked person.
verb tr.: To disapprove or condemn.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin reprobare (to disapprove), from re- + probare (to test, approve), from probus (good). Ultimately from the Indo-European root per- (forward), which also gave us paramount, prime, proton, prow, probative, probity, reproof, reprove, German Frau (woman), and Hindi purana (old). Earliest documented use: 1532.
NOTE: Remember, to reprobate does not mean to probate again.
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REPRONATE - turn your hand palm down, again
REPROGATE - political scandal at the Artificial Insemination center
REPROTATE - the art gallery sells prints of the collection in its gift shop
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APPURTENANCE
PRONUNCIATION: (uh-PUHRT-uh-nuns)
MEANING: noun:
1. An accessory, equipment, gear, etc. associated with an activity or style of living.
2. A subordinate part.
3. In law, rights belonging to a principal property (for example, the right of way).
ETYMOLOGY: From Anglo-Norman apurtenance, from Latin appertinere (to appertain), from ad- (near) + pertinere (to belong), from per- (through) + tenere (to hold). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ten- (to stretch), which also gave us tense, tenet, tendon, tent, tenor, tender, pretend, extend, tenure, tetanus, hypotenuse, pertinacious, detente, countenance, distend, extenuate, and tenable. Earliest documented use: 1377.
NOTE: Appurtenance is not the opposite of purtenance, which means entrails of an animal.
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APPURTENANCY - just rented the apartment to Mr Appur
APP-URGENANCE - high pressure techniques to induce you to make purchases from your smartphone
AP: PURETEN ANTE - News flash: it'll cost you $10 to play at this poker table, and the bill has to be clean and unsullied
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APPOSE
PRONUNCIATION:
(uh-POHZ)
MEANING:
verb tr.: To place next to or side by side: to juxtapose.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin apponere (to put near), from ad- (near) + ponere (to put). Ultimately from the Indo-European root apo- (off or away), which is also the source of after, off, awkward, post, and puny. Earliest documented use: 1593.
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AP POST - dispatch from the news agency
ATP-OSE - sugar with a high-energy phosphate bond
AM POSE - pretending to be irritable until you've had enough coffee
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OKPRONUNCIATION; (o-KAY, O-kay) MEANING:adjective: 1. Satisfactory; not very good or very bad. 2. Correct. 3. Mediocre. 4. In good health. noun: Approval or permission. verb: To authorize or approve. adverb: In a satisfactory manner. interjection: Used to express acknowledgment or agreement. ETYMOLOGY: In the 1830s, in Boston, there was a fad of making abbreviations; also of using jocular misspellings. So “all correct” became of “oll korrect” which became abbreviated to OK. The word would have ended as a fad, but along came US President Martin Van Buren (1782-1862). During his re-election campaign of 1840, his supporters adopted the word OK as a nickname for him (short for Old Kinderhook; he was born in Kinderhook, New York) and the word has lived on ever since, not only in the English language, but most of the languages around the world. Earliest documented use: 1839. NOTES: It’s OK. It’s an all-American word. And like many things made in America, it’s used everywhere. Not bad for a two-letter word. It can work as an adjective, noun, verb, adverb, interjection, and probably anything else that your imagination can conjure. It’s not often that a whole book is written about a single word. Check out OK: the Improbable Story Of America’s Greatest Word. ____________________________________ OCK - what a Cockney goes into when he's short of cash AK - half of an anti-aircraft barrage OKA - a goose, whose eggs were made into a musical instrument when dried out and emptied and perforated just so... thousands of years ago.
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SOCKDOLAGER
PRONUNCIATION: (sok-DOL-uh-juhr)
MEANING: noun:
1. A decisive blow or remark.
2. Something exceptional or outstanding.
ETYMOLOGY: Of unknown origin, apparently from sock. Earliest documented use: 1830.
NOTES: The word sockdolager has an unusual claim to fame in US history. It turned out to be the cue on which John Wilkes Booth fired his shot at the 16th US President, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), in Ford’s Theater. Lincoln was watching the play Our American Cousin and Booth, an actor himself and aware of the dialog, knew the line that brought the loudest burst of laughter from the audience was:
“Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologising old man-trap.”
Booth fired his gun at that precise moment to muffle the loud noise of his shot with the guffaws from the audience.
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SOCKO LAGER - the beer is outstanding
SOCK DOWAGER - the old lady is about to get beat up
SOCK DOLL AGER - the hand puppet is starting to look decrepit
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TEDDY BEAR
PRONUNCIATION: (TED-ee bear)
MEANING: noun:
1. A stuffed toy in the shape of a bear.
2. Something or someone (especially a large or hairy person) who resembles a teddy bear in appearance or being endearing.
ETYMOLOGY: After US President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (1858-1919). Earliest documented use: 1906.
NOTES: The story goes that, on a hunting trip, Teddy Roosevelt wasn’t able to find an animal to kill. So his people found a black bear and tied the poor animal to a tree inviting Teddy to shoot. Teddy refused (but instead ordered his people to kill the bear to put him out of his misery). Inspired by this a toymaker created a stuffed bear and called it Teddy’s bear. It sold!
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TODDY BEAR - my stuffed animal likes a drink (unlike his brother, TE DRY BEAR, who doesn't)
STEDDY BEAR - a teenager's Transition Object, most appreciated when there's no visible prospect of a boyfriend
TEDDY WEAR - pajamas with TR's likeness on them
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WATERGATE
PRONUNCIATION: (WOH-tuhr-gayt)
MEANING: noun: A scandal involving abuse of office, deceit, and cover-up.
ETYMOLOGY: After the Watergate office and residential complex in Washington, DC. It was the site of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 by people associated with US President Richard Nixon (1913-1994). The resulting scandal and cover-up led to Nixon’s resignation. Earliest documented use: 1972.
NOTES: Watergate, a scandal of mammoth proportions, has given us a useful suffix (-gate) for describing many a scandal including gategate.
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WAFERGATE - the current Vatican sex-abuse scandal
OATERGATE - Gene Autry couldn't sing; Rudolph was really lip-synched to a Frank Luther recording
WATERGAZE - Ahab looking for the White Whale
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