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ZOÖNOSIS
PRONUNCIATION: (zo-AHN-uh-sis, zo-uh-NOH-sis)
MEANING: noun: Any disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek zoo- (animal) + nosos (disease). Earliest documented use: 1873.
NOTES: It’s too late now. The COVID-19 has already jumped from animals to humans. Let’s not make it jump from humans to humans. So, let’s wear a mask when in a public place.
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OZONOSIS - what you get from too much tri-molecular oxygen
ZOOMOSIS - what you get from participating in too many streamed on-line meetings
ZONOSIS - I'm sick of this defense !
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FOMITES
PRONUNCIATION: (FOM-uh-teez, FOH-myts)
MEANING: noun: Any inanimate object, such as a book, money, carpet, etc., that can transmit germs from one person to another.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin fomites, plural of fomes (touchwood, tinder), from fovere (to warm). Earliest documented use: 1803.
NOTES: The word fomites is a plural of fomes, but the s at the end of the word led people to assume it’s a plural and make a singular: fomite (FOH-myt). Some would say that it’s an error, but then there are many more words formed like this: cherry, from the singular cherise, pea from the singular pease, for example. The word is often used as a singular nowadays, similar to other technically plural words such as agenda or errata.
All this should be the least of our worries right now. Don’t be a walking fomites. Wear your mask when away from home.
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FORMITES - things that are shaped like ants
UFO MITES - parasites that infest visiting spaceships
FO-LITES - what the enemy uses to see, when it's dark
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ASYMPTOMATIC
PRONUNCIATION: (ay-simp-tuh-MAT-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Not showing any symptoms of disease.
ETYMOLOGY: From a- (not) + Latin symptoma (symptom), from Greek symptoma (occurrence), from sym- (together) + piptein (to fall). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pet- (to rush or fly), which also gave us appetite, feather, petition, compete, perpetual, propitious, appetence, lepidopterology, peripeteia, pinnate, petulant, and pteridology. Earliest documented use: 1932.
NOTES: If you’re asymptomatic you don’t show any symptoms, but it’s still possible you are infected and can transmit the infection to others. That’s why it’s important to wear a mask.
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ASYMPTOMATIN - genetic material that confers freedom from disease symptoms (we wish)
ASYMPTOMAGIC - what it looks like when you have the trait above
ASYMMTOMATIC - having symptoms on only one side of your body
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TYPHOID MARY
PRONUNCIATION: (TY-foid MAIR-ee)
MEANING: noun: A person from whom a disease or something undesirable spreads.
ETYMOLOGY: After Mary Mallon (1869-1938), a cook in New York, who was a healthy carrier (contagious but showing no symptoms: asymptomatic) of typhoid. She died of pneumonia. Earliest documented use: 1909.
NOTES: One Typhoid Mary is enough in the history of humankind. Don’t let yourself be the new Typhoid Mary. Wear your mask when out and about.
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TYPHOID WARY - worried about getting a Salmonella disease
TYCHOID MARY - another late 16th century Danish astronomer, daughter of Mr Brahe
TOPHOID MARY - unfortunate woman afflicted with crippling gout
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VACCINATE
PRONUNCIATION: (VAK-si-nayt)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.:
1. To administer a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease.
2. To immunize against something.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin vacca (cow), because in the beginning the cowpox virus was used against smallpox. Earliest documented use: 1803.
NOTES: Don’t vacillate when it’s time to vaccinate. But until a COVID-19 vaccine appears, the next best thing is to wear a mask. Some are resistant to the idea, so we see billboards with encouraging messages: “Real Heros Wear Masks”
No, wearing a mask does not make you a hero. Neither is having to wear a mask some sort of tyranny any more than having to wear a seat belt is. But if you need a medal, we can nominate you for a Presidential Medal of Freedom. They are going cheap these days.
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VACCINNATE - born with smallpox immunity
VA: CC IN A TEE - veterans can get their shot even if casually dressed
VACCINA-TEL - offers disease prevention and Web access together
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CLITICIZE
PRONUNCIATION: (KLIT-uh-syz)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To attach or become attached.
ETYMOLOGY: From clitic (an unstressed word that occurs in combination with another word), from enclitic/proclitic, from klinein (to lean), from klitos (slope). Ultimately from the Indo-European root klei- (to lean), which also gave us decline, incline, recline, lean, client, climax, ladder, heteroclite, and patrocliny. Earliest documented use: 1970s.
NOTES: In linguistics, to cliticize is to attach a clitic to another word. What’s a clitic? An unstressed linguistic element that can’t exist on its own and is dependent on its neighbor. An example in the previous sentence is ’t in can’t”.
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CLINICIZE - translate from research to patient care
GLITICIZE - add a single medication treat diabetes, kidney trouble, and heart failure (see SGLT2 inhibitor)
CLIO-TICIZE - reduce to the stature of a small goldfish, so it fits in a Walt Disney cartoon movie
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ORDONNANCE
PRONUNCIATION: (OR-dn-uhns, or-duh-NAHNS)
MEANING: noun: The systematic arrangement of parts in art, literature, architecture, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From French, from alteration of Old French ordenance (order), from Latin ordinantia, from ordinare (to put in order), from ordo (order). Earliest documented use: 1660.
NOTES: The same Old French ordenance has also given us two more cousins of today’s word. So the whole lineup is:
ordnance: military supplies
ordinance: an order, decree, law, etc.
ordonnance: a systematic arrangement
I say we go back to communicating in grunts.
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OR DON NANCY - then again, maybe it's the Italian nobleman with the unusual name
ORLONNANCE - conversion to a synthetic fabric
ORDO NUANCE - the ordering is very subtle
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SETTLOR
PRONUNCIATION: (SET-luhr/lohr)
MEANING: noun: One who makes a settlement of property.
ETYMOLOGY: From alteration of settler, from settle, from Old English setlan (to seat or place). Earliest documented use: 1818.
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SENT L.O.R. - I've just dispatched the Letter of Recommendation
SEAT L'OR - King Midas' Golden Chair
S.E.T.I.-LOR - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence has its own mythology
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EXORCISE
PRONUNCIATION: EK-sor/suhr-syz)
MEANING: verb tr.:
1. To drive out something or someone undesirable, such as an evil spirit, malign influence, troubling feeling, etc.
2. To free a person or place of an evil spirit.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French exorciser, from Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein (to swear a person), from ex- (out) + horkizein (to make one swear), from horkos (oath). Earliest documented use: 1546.
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EXHORCISE - to issue a command
EXO-CISE - to peel away the outer covering
EXPORCISE - to decree that bacon no longer comes from a pig
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EQUIPOLLENT
PRONUNCIATION: (ee-kwuh-PAH-luhnt)
MEANING: adjective: Equal in power, force[align:center][/align], effect, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French equipolent, from Latin aequipollent (of equal value), from aequus (equal) + pollens (able), present participle of pollere (to be strong). Earliest documented use: 1420.
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EQUIPOLLEN - allergic to two irritants exactly the same amount
EQUIPULLENT - tugging just as strongly but in opposite directions
AQUIPOLLENT - determining whether people say they prefer Evian or Poland Springs water or some other brand entirely
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WHEEL HORSE
PRONUNCIATION: (HWEEL hors)
MEANING: noun:
1. Someone responsible and diligent, especially one who bears the biggest share of burden in a group.
2. A horse harnessed closest to the front wheel(s) of a carriage.
ETYMOLOGY: From wheel, from Old English hweol + horse, from Old English hors. Earliest documented use: 1708.
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WHEEL HOARSE - the CEO has a sore throat and a raspy voice
WHEEL HORDE - a mob of Hell's Angels on their bikes
WHEEL GORSE - a variety of tumbleweed
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CABALLINE
PRONUNCIATION: (KAB-uh-lyn/leen)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Giving inspiration.
2. Relating to horses.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin caballus (horse). Earliest documented use: 1430.
NOTES: In Greek mythology, Hippocrene was a spring on Mt. Helicon that was created by a stroke of Pegasus’s hoof. If we can have a word coined after Greek hippos (horse), why not coin one after Latin caballus (horse), as well.
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CABALLINT - what's in the conspirators' belly button
COBALLINE - blue-colored
Ca BALLITE - a spherical crystal of calcium salt
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HORSE'S MOUTH
PRONUNCIATION: (HOR-ses/siz mouth)
MEANING: noun: The original or authentic source of some information.
ETYMOLOGY: The term has its origin in horse racing. If you wanted tips on how a horse was doing on a particular day, what better way than to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth? Earliest documented use: 1896.
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HORSE'S MONTH - May, when the Kentucky Derby is run (except this year)
HORSE SMOOTH - flawlessly even, like a well-trained thoroughbred's gait
GORSE'S MOUTH - what a thorny invasive bush eats with
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CHIVALROUS
PRONUNCIATION: (SHIV-uhl-ruhs)
MEANING: adjective: Having qualities of chivalry, such as courtesy, honor, bravery, gallantry, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French chevalerie, from chevalier (knight), from Latin caballus (horse). Earliest documented use: 1374.
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CHI VALOROUS - the 22nd Greek letter has done heroic and yet ethical deeds
CHIVAL ROUT - the horsemen were defeated handily
CHIVAS-ROUS - like good Scotch whiskey
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COCK-HORSE
PRONUNCIATION: (KAHK-hors)
MEANING: adverb: Mounted with a leg on each side.
noun: A hobby horse.
ETYMOLOGY: From cock (rooster) + horse, perhaps from the strutting of a rooster. Earliest documented use: 1566.
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CORK-HORSE - a child's floating swim-toy in the form of a horse that can be ridden in the water
COCK-HOUSE - medieval jargon for a brothel
CLOCK-HORSE - a model that goes around on a turntable when the clock strikes the hour
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BALLARDIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (ba-LAHR-dee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to a dystopian world, especially one characterized by social and environmental degradation, assisted by technology.
ETYMOLOGY. After the novelist and short story writer J.G. Ballard (1930-2009), whose works depict such post-apocalyptic scenarios.
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BALLYARDIAN - reminiscent of the Baltimore Orioles' baseball stadium
BALLADIAN - one who specialises in singing the songs collected by Francis James Child, published as The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
BALLARD I AM - Hugo Ballard, protagonist of an unwritten story by Herman Melville, introduces himself
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GRISELDA
PRONUNCIATION: (gri-ZEL-duh)
MEANING: noun: A meek and patient woman.
ETYMOLOGY: After Griselda, a woman in various medieval tales, who suffers without ever complaining as her husband puts her through various tests. The name Griselda is from Germanic roots meaning “gray battle-maid”. Talk about misnaming your character (see below)! Earliest documented use: 14th century.
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GRISELLA - what they called Cinderella after she turned grey
URISELDA - the first-born of the author's two children
GURISEL? DA! - Is that the Russian company that makes batteries?
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HOMERIC
PRONUNCIATION: (ho-MER-ik)
MEANING: adjective
1. Relating to Homer, his works, or his time.
2. Epic; large-scale; heroic.
ETYMOLOGY:\. After Homer (c. 750 BCE), who is presumed to have composed the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. Earliest documented use: 1594.
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HOME BIC - the ball-point pen I use in my kitchen
HOMER? ICK - I just can't stand The Simpsons
"WHOM," ERIC - young Severeid is admonished by his teacher for a grammatical error
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JUNO
PRONUNCIATION: (JOO-noh)
MEANING: noun: A woman of stately bearing and beauty.
ETYMOLOGY: After Juno, a goddess in Roman mythology. The name is from Latin Iuno, from iuvenis (young). Ultimately from the Indo-European root. yeu- (vital force), which also gave us youth, juvenile, rejuvenate, junior, and June. Earliest documented use: 1606. The adjectival form is junoesque.
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JUG? NO! - I don't like moonshine
JUNIO - after hours at the Mayo Clinic, the next doctor spoke Spanish
JA-NO - bizarre fortune-telling device
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PAVLOVIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (pav-LO-vee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to a conditioned or predictable response; automatic; involuntary.
ETYMOLOGY: After the physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), known for his work in classical conditioning. Earliest documented use: 1922.
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PAYLOVIAN - related to the World's Oldest Profession
PAULOVIAN - who received the loot after Petrovian was robbed
PA-BLOVIAN - about those aimless (and pointless) tales my father told
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TOXOPHILIC
PRONUNCIATION: (tok-SAH-fuh-lee)
MEANING: noun: The practice of, love of, or addiction to, archery.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek toxon (bow) + -phily (love), based on toxophilite, coined by Roger Ascham (1515-1568). Earliest documented use: 1887.
NOTES: Roger Ascham was the tutor for teen Lizzie, future Queen Elizabeth I. His book Toxophilus was the first book on archery in English. It was a treatise on archery, but it was also an argument for writing in the vernacular: in English. You could say he shot two birds with one arrow.
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TOCOPHILIC - Don't you just love being in labor
BOXOPHILIC - Little kids, who seem to like the boxes better than the presents that come in them. Cats, too.
TAXOPHILIC - one who likes to put classify things into proper categories
(and you thought it was going to be about enjoying paying money to the government. Hah!)
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SUPERCARGO
PRONUNCIATION: (soo-puhr-KAHR-goh)
MEANING: noun:
1. An officer on a merchant ship who is in charge of the cargo.
2. A superintendent or an agent.
ETYMOLOGY: By alteration of supracargo, from Spanish sobrecargo, from sobre (over), from Latin super (super) + cargo. Earliest documented use: 1667.
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SUPER-ARGO - 1. the spaceship that brought Kal-El from Krypton to Earth; 2. Jason's ship after being modified and re-outfitted
SUPER-C-ARCO - vigorously bowed on the lowest string on a cello
SUPERBARGO - to flood a port with goods so as to clog it (the shipping equivalent of a Denial-of-Service computer attack)
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VOTIVE
PRONUNCIATION: (VOH-tiv)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to a vow, wish, desire, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin votum (vow), from vovere (to vow), which also gave us vow, vote, and devote. Earliest documented use: 1582.
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VORTIVE - twisting and turning
VODIVE - plunge into the water seeking Canadian whiskey
VOTICE - an official pronouncement announcing the importance of casting your ballot
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VERBIGERATE
PRONUNCIATION: (vuhr-BIJ-uh-rayt)
MEANING: verb intr.: To obsessively repeat meaningless words and phrases.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin verbigerare (to talk, chat), from verbum (word) + gerere (to carry on). Earliest documented use: 1656.
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VERBIGERA TEA - a soothing brew made from the bark of verbigera trees
VERBIAGE RATE - number of meaningless words/phrases per minute
VERB ICE-RATE - refrigeration fee (new word, gaining popularity since Global Warming became an issue.)
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RECREANT
PRONUNCIATION: (REK-ree-uhnt)
MEANING: adjective: 1. Unfaithful to a cause, duty, person, belief, etc.
2. Cowardly.
noun: 1. A disloyal person.
2. A coward.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old French recreant, present participle of recroire (to yield, to surrender allegiance), from Latin recredere (to yield or pledge), from re- + credere (to believe). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kerd- (heart), which also gave us cardiac, cordial, courage, record, concord, discord, credit, credo, and accord. Earliest documented use: 1330.
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RECREDANT - someone whose credentials were just validated again
RECUREANT - the disease is gone once more
PRECREANT - before even being thought of
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FANCY-PANTS
PRONUNCIATION: (FAN-see-pants)
MEANING: noun: Someone attractive, silly, or pretentious.
adjective: Snobbish; pretentious; newfangled; overly complicated.
ETYMOLOGY: From fancy, a contraction of fantasy, from Old French fantasie, from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasia (imagination, appearance), from phantazein (to make visible) + pants, short for pantaloons, plural of pantaloon. St. Pantaleone/Pantalone was a popular saint in Venice. As a result, it was also a common name among the Venetians. As a result, a comic character in the Italian commedia dell’arte was named Pantalone. The leggings this character wore became known as pantalone (plural pantaloni). And that became pantaloons in English. Earliest documented use: 1870. A related word is smarty-pants.
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FANCY-PANES - stained-glass window
FANCY-PAINTS - fine art
FANNY-PANTS - very tight shorts
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SHIRTSLEEVE
PRONUNCIATION: (SHUHRT-sleev)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Relating to pleasant warm weather.
2. Informal; direct.
3. Hardworking; having a can-do attitude.
ETYMOLOGY: From the idea of rolling up the sleeves of one’s shirt in warm weather, in an informal setting, or in preparation to get down to work. Could also be from the idea of simply wearing a shirt, without a formal coat. From shirt, from Old English scyrte + sleeve, from Old English sliefe. Earliest documented use: 1567.
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SHIFTSLEEVE - the arm covering attached to a dress that falls straight down from the shoulders
SHIRT-SALE EVE - the night before the haberdashery reduced its prices
SHIRE SLEEVE - a specific cut of clothing worn in Bilbo Baggins' homeland
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TROUSER ROLE
PRONUNCIATION: (TROU-zuhr rohl)
MEANING: noun: In opera, drama, film, etc.:
1. A role in which a female character pretends to be a male.
2. A male part played by a female actor.
Also known as a breeches role or a pants role.
ETYMOLOGY: From the traditional view of trousers as male clothing. From an alteration of earlier trouse, from Scottish Gaelic triubhas, influenced by drawers. Earliest documented use: 1955.
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TROUSER POLE - a rod stuck into the wall to hang your pants on after removal
TARO USER ROLE - a part in a play involving a Hawaiian chef
TROUSER ROPE - last resort when your belt breaks
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BROWNSHIRT
PRONUNCIATION: (BRAUN-shuhrt)
MEANING: noun: A member of police or military trained for carrying out a sudden assault, especially one marked by brutality and violence.
ETYMOLOGY: After Nazi storm troopers, from the color of their shirts. Earliest documented use: 1932.
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BRAWN SHIRT - with cutoff sleeves to show off your bod
GROWN SHIRT - made completely from organic cotton
BROWNSHIRE - severe drought in Hobbit country
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SEAT-OF-THE-PANTS
PRONUNCIATION: (see-tuhv-thuh-PANTS)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Using experience, instinct, or guesswork as opposed to methodical planning.
2. Done without instruments.
ETYMOLOGY: The term has its origin in aviation. Before modern instruments, a pilot flew a plane based on how it felt. For example, in fog or clouds, in the absence of instrumentation one could tell whether the plane was climbing or diving by how heavy one feels in the seat. Seat of the pants is the area where one sits, i.e. the buttocks. Earliest documented use: 1929.
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SEAT-OFF-THE-PANTS - what you do with your Doctor Dentins to use the toilet
SEAN-OF-THE-PANTS - saga of a plucky Irish tailor; also known as "Seven-with-One-Blow"
SEAT-OF-THE-RANTS - long-since-forgotten childhood trauma that is the source of explosive outbursts of anger in later life
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PACTOLIAN
PRONUNCIATION: (pak-TOH-lee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Golden; lavish.
ETYMOLOGY: After Pactolus (now called Sart Çayı), a river in ancient Lydia (in modern Turkey), known for its golden sands. Earliest documented use: 1586.
NOTES: According to the legend, King Midas bathed in the river Pactolus to get rid of his golden touch, really a golden curse. Midas’s story has given us such terms as Midas touch and Midas-eared. It was this golden sand that supposedly made Croesus rich.
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PECTOLIAN - pertaining to sternal alcohol
PACTOLICAN - a pelican with an overstuffed pouch
CACTOLIAN - derived from cactus oil
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JEDBURGH JUSTICE
PRONUNCIATION: (JED-buh-ruh juhs-tis)
MEANING: noun: Punishment before trial.
ETYMOLOGY: After Jedburgh, a town in Scotland, where in the 17th century people were summarily executed. The town lies on the Jed Water river. Earliest documented use: 1698.
NOTES: Jedburgh justice, also known as Jedwood justice or Jeddart justice, is, in essence: Hang now, ask questions later. The term is coined after Jedburgh, a town near Edinburgh, where under the orders of King James VI and I, people were executed without trial. See also: lynch.
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JEDI BURGH JUSTICE - performs marriages and such in Yoda's home town
JED B: URGE JUSTICE - Attention, Sheriff B: [Black Life du jour]Matters!
JEDBURGH, JUSTINE - Durrell's anti-heroine after marrying a rich magnate
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Carpal Tunnel
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DERWENTER
PRONUNCIATION: (DUHR-wuhnt-uhr)
MEANING: noun: An ex-convict.
ETYMOLOGY: After Derwent, a river in Tasmania. There used to be a convict settlement on its banks. Earliest documented use: 1853.
PRONUNCIATION: (DUHR-wuhnt-uhr)
MEANING: noun: An ex-convict.
ETYMOLOGY: After Derwent, a river in Tasmania. There used to be a convict settlement on its banks. Earliest documented use: 1853.
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DER RENTER - the Berliner who takes an apartment
DER WENTER - the one who departed without notice (or payment)
DE-RENTER - the landlord who wants to convert the property to condominiums
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Carpal Tunnel
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PALOUSER
PRONUNCIATION: (puh-LOO-zuhr)
MEANING: noun:
1. Strong, dangerous winds.
2. An improvised lantern.
3. A country bumpkin.
ETYMOLOGY: After the Palouse region in northern Idaho and eastern Washington, named after the Palouse river. Earliest documented use: 1903.
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PA, LOUDER! - Speak up, Dad, I can't hear you
PALE USER - drug addicts often don't get much sun
PAL OUSTER - they just deposed my buddy
PALO USHER - shows Stanford football patrons to their seats
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Carpal Tunnel
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SCAMANDER
PRONUNCIATION: (skuh-MAN-duhr)
MEANING: verb intr.: To take a winding course.
ETYMOLOGY: After Scamander (modern name: Karamenderes), a river in Turkey. The river was named after a river god in Greek mythology. Earliest documented use: 1864. Also see meander.
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S. CA. MEANDER - southern California doesn't come to an end, it just wanders about near the Mexico border
SHAMAN, DER - the German word for "indigenous magical practitioner" is masculine
SCAM ENDER - a combined FBI/FCC/telecommunication-industry megaproject project
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UNICORN
PRONUNCIATION: (YOO-nih-korn)
MEANING: noun:
1. A mythical horse-like creature with a horn on the forehead.
2. Something or someone rare or unusual: highly desirable but hard or impossible to find.
3. A startup valued at one billion dollars or more.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin unicornis, from uni- (single) + cornu (horn), ultimately from the Indo-European root ker- (horn, head), which also gave us cornucopia, carrot, cranium, cornea, cervix, and cancer. Earliest documented use: 1225.
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UNICON - there's never been a scam like this before
U NICE, RN - Glad to have met you, Nurse
UNiCoRb - a semi-crystalline mixture of Uranium, Nickel, Cobalt, and Rubidium used to make superconducting magnets
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BUNYIP
PRONUNCIATION: (BUHN-yip)
MEANING: noun: An impostor.
adjective: Counterfeit; phony.
ETYMOLOGY: After bunyip, a large mythical creature of Australian Aboriginal legend, who lives in swamps, riverbeds, etc. The word is from Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of the Aboriginal people in Victoria. Earliest documented use: 1848.
NOTES: The most popular usage of the word is in the term “bunyip aristocracy” to refer to people pretending to be socially superior. It was first used by the journalist and politician Daniel Deniehy satirizing an attempt to establish a hereditary peerage in Australia. The label “bunyip aristocracy” stuck and the proposal was dropped
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BUNYIN - either a folklore logger or a painful big toe, take your pick
B. UNZIP - second line in the directions for putting on your new pants
CUNY IP - City University of New York has implemented its own Internet protocol
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GREMLIN
PRONUNCIATION: (GREM-lin)
MEANING: noun: A source of trouble, especially problems of technical nature.
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps from an alteration of the word goblin or from Irish gruaimin (a gloomy person). Earliest documented use: 1929.
NOTES: Originally, the word gremlin was Royal Air Force slang for a low-level employee. From there it evolved to refer to a mythical creature responsible for problems in aircraft. The word was popularized by the novelist Roald Dahl, a former fighter pilot with the RAF, when he published his children’s book The Gremlins in 1943. It’s not certain how the term was coined.
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GRIM LIN - that guy who wrote Hamilton looks concerned
G: REM-LINE - the seventh trace on the EEG; reflects dream activity
GREMLING - a young grem
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Carpal Tunnel
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SNARK
PRONUNCIATION: (snahrk)
MEANING: noun: 1. A mysterious, imaginary animal.
2. Something or someone hard to track down.
3. A snide remark.
verb intr.: To make a snide remark.
ETYMOLOGY: For noun 1, 2: Coined by Lewis Carroll in the poem The Hunting of the Snark in 1876. Earliest documented use (outside the poem): 1879.
For noun 3, verb: Of imitative origin, formerly used in the sense to snore or snort. Earliest documented use: 1866.
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U.S.N. ARK - a US navy vessel for sheltering couples
SIN-ARK - an trigonometry inverse function
SNARY - trappily frightful
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Carpal Tunnel
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BIGFOOT
PRONUNCIATION: (BIG-foot)
MEANING: noun: A prominent person in a commanding position, especially a journalist.
verb tr.: To dominate or to take control of a situation from someone.
verb intr.: To behave in an authoritative, domineering manner.
ETYMOLOGY: Bigfoot is a nickname for a Sasquatch, a large, ape-like mythical creature who lives in a remote wilderness, especially the Pacific Northwest region of the US and the adjacent part of Canada. Earliest documented use: 1833.
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GIGFOOT - one billion feet, or just over one light-second (1.06 light-seconds, to be precise)
BIGFONT - what you use for newspaper headlines
BIGFOOL - who tells you to press on when you're Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
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