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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 present sex-abuse scandal among Catholic clergy
WATERGAZE - Ahab looking for the White Whale
OATERGATE - Flash! Gene Autry couldn't sing! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was really lip-synched to a Frank Luther recording!
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THROTTLEBOTTOM
PRONUNCIATION: (THROT-l-bot-uhm)
MEANING: noun: A purposeless incompetent in public office.
ETYMOLOGY: After Alexander Throttlebottom, a Vice Presidential character in Of Thee I Sing, a 1931 musical comedy. Earliest documented use: 1932.
NOTES: In honor of Presidents Day, this week we’ve been looking at words with presidential connections. It’s about time we paid our dues to Vice Presidents, too. VPs, by their very nature, are meant to play second fiddle though it’s not uncommon to find an eminence grise in that office. Here’s how the term throttlebottom came to represent VPs and other similar (mostly) harmless figures.
The first musical comedy to win the Pulitzer Prize, Of Thee I Sing, is a brilliant political satire that gave us today’s word. In this masterly operetta (music: George Gershwin; lyrics: Ira Gershwin; libretto: George Kaufman and Morris Ryskind), presidential candidate John P. Wintergreen runs a political campaign based on the theme of love. His National Party sponsors a beauty contest, with Wintergreen to marry the winner. Instead, Wintergreen falls in love with Mary Turner, a secretary at the pageant, and marries her on the day of his inauguration. Diana Devereaux, the contest winner, sues President Wintergreen for breach of contract; France threatens to go to war, since Devereaux is of French descent; and Congress impeaches him. Wintergreen points out the United States Constitution provision that when the President is unable to perform his duty, the Vice President fulfills the obligations. VP Throttlebottom agrees to marry Diana and forever etches his name in the language.
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THROTTLEBOY TOM - Master Brady controls the tempo of the attack
THROATTLEBOTTOM - what happens to your voice just before complete laryngitis sets in
TH' RATTLE BOTTOM - a couple of leftover beans
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...power has ben restored, thank goodness, and with it, heat.
Time to catch up.
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CATCHALL
PRONUNCIATION: (KACH-al)
MEANING: noun:
1. A bag or another receptacle for holding odds and ends.
2. Something that covers a wide variety of situations.
ETYMOLOGY: From Old Northern French cachier (to chase), from Latin capitare (to try to catch), frequentative of capere (to take) + Old English eall (all). Earliest documented use: 1838.
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CATSHALL - 1. an example of oxymoron; 2. feline dormitory
CATCHILL - get sick
EATCHALL - supper's ready in Savannah GA, come and get it
MATCHALL - I'll see everybody's raise
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PINCHPENNY
PRONUNCIATION: (PINCH-pen-ee)
MEANING: adjective: Unwilling to spend or give money.
noun: A miserly person.
ETYMOLOGY: From pinch, from Old French pincier (to pinch) + penny (the smallest denomination of currency). Earliest documented use: 1425.
NOTES: The word penny-pincher is a synonym of pinchpenny, but you have to admit, it doesn’t have quite the same zing as the tosspot word. Another synonym of today’s word is pinchgut, but catchpenny is something entirely different.
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PINCHPEONY - what you do when you want the plant to branch
PITCHPENNY - an urban child's game
INCHPENNY - the unit used to measure how much currency is moved how far
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SCRAPEGUT
PRONUNCIATION: (SKRAYP-guht)
MEANING: noun: A fiddler.
ETYMOLOGY: Traditionally, violin strings were made of catgut, which is gut or intestines of sheep or goat (not cats). The word scrapegut is a jocular or contemptuous reference to a violinist, as if scraping the strings. Earliest documented use: 1837.
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SCRAPEOUT - what you do to an almost-empty peanut-butter jar
SERAPEGUT - a colorful blanket to cover your beer-belly
SCRAPEGUM - how to clean a dirty shoe sole
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RAKEHELL
PRONUNCIATION: (RAYK-hel)
MEANING: noun: A licentious or immoral person.
ETYMOLOGY: By folk etymology from Middle English rakel (rash, hasty). Earliest documented use: 1547.
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DRAKEHELL - where Donald Duck ultimately pays the price for being such a pest
RAKEHULL - clear off the barnacles
RAKEHEEL - occupational disease of seed-sowers
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DO-ALL
PRONUNCIATION: (DOO-ahl)
MEANING: noun: A person who does all kinds of work in a job.
ETYMOLOGY: From do, from Old English don (to do) + all, from Old English eall (all). Earliest documented use: 1631.
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DO MALL - spend an afternoon at the shopping center
D.O. WALL - Osteopathy diplomas display
DOZ-ALL - that new OTC sleeping med that's so popular these days
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MONDEGREEN
PRONUNCIATION: (MON-di-green)
MEANING: noun: A word or phrase resulting from mishearing a word or phrase, especially in song lyrics. Example: The girl with colitis goes by” for “The girl with kaleidoscope eyes” (in the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”).
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by author Sylvia Wright when she misinterpreted the line “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen” in the Scottish ballad “The Bonnie Earl O’ Moray”. Earliest documented use: 1954.
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ONDE GREEN ("Green Waves") - subtitle of La Mer, by Claude Debussy
MON DEGREE - what I earned at the Sorbonne
MONDE GREEK - fraternity life
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RESISTENTIALISM
PRONUNCIATION: (ri-zis-TEN-shul-iz-um)
MEANING: noun: The theory that inanimate objects demonstrate hostile behavior toward us.
ETYMOLOGY: Coined by humorist Paul Jennings as a blend of the Latin res (thing) + French resister (to resist) + existentialism (a kind of philosophy). Earliest documented use: 1948.
NOTES: If you ever get a feeling that the photocopy machine can sense when you’re tense, short of time, need a document copied before an important meeting, and right then it decides to take a break, you’re not alone. Now you know the word for it.
As if to prove the point, my normally robust DSL Internet connection went bust for two hours just as I was writing this. I’m not making this up.
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RESISTENTICALISM - the philosophy of struggling against octopus arms
PRE-SISTENTIALISM - an offshoot of Catholicism that rose prior to the election of Pope Sixtus
RESIST-ANTI-ALISM - opposition to those who reject the priorities of environmental activist / presidential-aspirant Gore
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SPOONERISM[see alse MARROWSKY, here] PRONUNCIATION: (SPOO-nuh-riz-em) MEANING: noun: The transposition of (usually) the initial sounds of words, typically producing a humorous result. Examples: “It is now kisstomary to cuss the bride.” (Spooner while officiating at a wedding) “Is the bean dizzy?” (Spooner questioning the secretary of his dean) ETYMOLOGY: After William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), clergyman and educator, who was prone to this. Earliest documented use: 1900. ________________________ SPOONFERISM - being born poor, with an iron spoon in your mouth SPOONERIM - more than one spooner (compare cherub, seraph) SKOONERISM - the belief that sailing vessels will ultimately dominate the seas
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