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Mar 3, 2011
This week's themeWords borrowed from German This week's words sitzfleisch ersatz lebensraum diktat schwarmerei Roll the dice Get a random word from A.Word.A.Day archives 
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with Anu Gargdiktat
PRONUNCIATION:
(dik-TAT)
MEANING:
noun:1. An order or decree imposed without popular consent. 2. A harsh settlement imposed upon a defeated party. ETYMOLOGY:
From German Diktat (command, order, dictation), from Latin dictatum (something
dictated), from dictare (to dictate), frequentative of dicere (to say).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root deik- (to show, to pronounce
solemnly), which is also the source of words such as judge, verdict,
vendetta, revenge, indicate, dictate, paradigm,
interdict, and
fatidic. Earliest documented use:
1922, in reference to the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, by Germany.
USAGE:
"Public participation in politics [in China] may not yet be approaching
the raucousness in India, but it is equally incorrect to view the
Chinese as obedient zombies silently following the State's every diktat."Cultural Evolution; Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India); Dec 19, 2010. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life. -Albert Camus, writer, philosopher, Nobel laureate (1913-1960)
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