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QUINCENTENARY

PRONUNCIATION: (kwin-sen-TEN-uh-ree)

MEANING: noun: A 500th anniversary.
adjective: Of or relating to a 500th anniversary.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin quinque (five) + English centenary (100 years). Earliest documented use: 1877.
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QUINE CENTENARY - celebrated about three months ago (see HERE)

SQUINCENTENARY - strabysmus was recognized 500 years ago

QUID CENTENARY - what was celebrated one hundred years after the British Pound Sterling was introduced

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ARACHNOPHOBIA

PRONUNCIATION: (uh-rak-nuh-FO-bee-uh)

MEANING: noun: An irrational fear of spiders.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek arakhne (spider) + -phobias (fear). Earliest documented use: 1925.
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BARACH? NO! PHOBIA - your worst fear is that the President is a former black Senator from Illinois

A RANCH - NO PHOBIA - now that I'm a cattleman I'm not afraid of anything

ARACHNOPHONIA - belching

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ANECDATA

PRONUNCIATION:
(an-ik-DAY-tuh)

MEANING: noun: Anecdotal information gleaned from casual observation.

Example: My uncle has been smoking for 20 years and hasn’t been diagnosed with cancer yet; that shows that cigarettes are safe.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of anecdotal + data. From Greek anekdota (things unpublished), from an- (not) + ekdidonai (to publish), originally applied by the Greek historian Procopius to his unpublished memoirs of the Emperor Justinian and his consort Theodora. Earliest documented use: 1980s. A related term is cherry-picking. Also see anecdotage.
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ANECODATA - absence of measurement of the environmental impact

A NERD AT A - the beginning of a tasteless joke

ANECDATE - a teenager's tale of last night's exploits (some might say, another tasteless joke)

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WORKFARE

PRONUNCIATION: (WUHRK-fer)

MEANING: noun: A social welfare program in which those receiving aid are required to perform work.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of work + welfare. Earliest documented use: 1968.
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WORKFARCE - a sinecure

PORKFARE - Congressional largesse

WORKCARE - health benefits provided by your employer

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BACKRONYM

PRONUNCIATION: (BAK-ro-nim)

MEANING: noun: A word re-interpreted as an acronym.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of back + acronym. Earliest documented use: 1983.

NOTES: In a backronym, an expansion is invented to treat an existing word as an acronym. For example, some believe that the word NEWS is an acronym for North, East, West, and South. In reality, the word is coined from “new” as in: What’s new?
When naming something, sometimes a suitable name is chosen and then an acronym is retrofitted on top of it: USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism). The clunkiness of the expansion is a quick giveaway. How about forming a backronym for ACRONYM itself: A Contrived Result Of Nomenclature Yielding Mechanism?
Often, backronyms serve a useful purpose as mnemonics. For example, see Apgar score.
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HACKRONYM - Highly Appreciated Child Keeps Repairing Or Negating Your Mistakes

BACHRONYM - Hofstadter's Contracrostipunctus Acrostically Backwards Spells "JSBACH"

MACKRONYM - an extraordinarily large name, like "Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg"
(That's "Webster Lake" to you. YCLIU)

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LUNK

PRONUNCIATION: (lungk)

MEANING: noun: A dull or slow-witted person.

ETYMOLOGY: Short for lunkhead, from lunk (a blend of lump + hunk) + head. Earliest documented use: 1867.
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LUN, UK - Capital of England, in the vernacular

LUNIK - first Russian vehicle to the Moon

BLUNK - past participle of BLINK

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HERSTORY

PRONUNCIATION: (HUHR-stuh-ree)

MEANING: noun: History as seen from a woman’s point of view, one that doesn’t obscure women’s role.

ETYMOLOGY: A blend of her + history, from Latin histor (learned), ultimately from the Indo-European root weid- (to see), which is also the source of guide, wise, vision, advice, idea, story, and polyhistor. Earliest documented use: 1970.
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CHER'S TORY - pop singer goes into British politics

HEARSTORY - why you take your kids to the library Reading Hour

HERO STORY - Leander will tell you all about it if you ask

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CORNPONE

PRONUNCIATION: (KORN-pohn)

MEANING: adjective: Rustic; folksy; countrified.
noun: Unleavened corn bread, baked or fried.

ETYMOLOGY: From English corn + Virginia Algonquian apones (bread). The s in apones was dropped to make the word singular. Some other originally singular words that again became singular in English are cherry (from French cerise) and pea (from Latin pisa). Earliest documented use: 1860.
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ACORNPONE - unleavened bread, baked or fried, made of oak seeds. If sneered at, it's SCORNPONE; if eaten for breakfast it's MORNPONE

CORNBONE - an imaginative child's word for "cob"

CORNPOE - a rustic, folksy, countrified writer of horror tales and macabre verses

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BAYOU

PRONUNCIATION: (BY-yoo)

MEANING: noun: A sluggish marshy area of water, typically an overflow or tributary to a lake or river.

ETYMOLOGY: Via Louisiana French from Choctaw bayuk (small stream). Earliest documented use: 1766.
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'AYOU ! - informal greeting in Brooklyn

BAY-O - the Shrimp Boat song ("...Daylight come and I want go home")

WAYOU - sign that points to the EXI

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SAGAMORE

PRONUNCIATION: (SAG-uh-mohr)

MEANING: noun: A chief or a leader.

ETYMOLOGY: From Eastern Abenaki sakama. Earliest documented use: 1613. A related word is sachem.
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WAGAMORE - what your puppy's tail does to tell you he likes something

SAL AMORE - a crystalline love potion you sprinkle on food

SACAMORE - past tense of SYCAMORE; also, to catch up on your sleep

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