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Apr 21, 2023
This week’s theme
Reborrowed words

This week’s words
craic
anime
turquoise
quarry
cosplay

cosplay
Cosplaying as Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service

This week’s comments
AWADmail 1086

Next week’s theme
Homophones
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

cosplay

PRONUNCIATION:
(KOZ/KOS-play)

MEANING:
noun:1. The act or practice of dressing up as a character from a work of fiction, such as a comic book, video game, film, etc.
 2. The act of, or an instance of, pretending to be someone in a deceptive manner.
verb tr.:1. To dress up as a fictional character in cosplay.
 2. To pretend to be someone in a deceptive manner.
verb intr.:To take part in cosplay.

ETYMOLOGY:
English words costume + play were borrowed into Japanese as kosuchūmupurē in 1983. Eventually, the term became shortened to kosupure. Then it was borrowed back into English as cosplay in 1993.

USAGE:
“[Putin] has been photographed riding horseback, shirtless. He has posed riding a motorcycle and doing judo and going spear fishing (again shirtless). In televised hockey exhibitions with government officials, he shoots goal after goal on an opposing team that puts up flimsy defense. All this biceps-kissing, pump-you-up cosplay moved not only his domestic admirers but also some American conservatives.”
James Poniewozik; Zelensky Once Played President for Laughs. But Now It’s for Keeps; The New York Times; Mar 10, 2022.

“I was excited to see [Tiana, a Disney princess], and I’ve even cosplayed her, but... why did it take so long to get a black Disney princess?”
Briana Lawrence; At Face Value; Uncanny Magazine; May/June 2018.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world. -Immanuel Kant, philosopher (22 Apr 1724-1804)

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