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A.Word.A.Day--eremite

eremite (AR-uh-myte) noun

A recluse or hermit, especially a religious recluse.

[Middle English, from Late Latin eremita.]

"Poor Joyce Maynard. Not since Martina Hingis submarined a serve to Steffi Graf in the French Open has a woman been so universally excoriated for underhanded conduct. And all Maynard did was sell a bunch of mash notes she had saved from a boyfriend of 27 years ago to raise college tuition for her children. Except that the boyfriend happened to be J.D. Salinger--the eremite of Cornish, N.H." Mark Leyner, How to Avoid Salinger Syndrome. Value your romantic privacy? To start with, don't leave a paper trail, Time, 07 May 99.

"Thou Spirit, who led'st this glorious Eremite Into the desert, his victorious field Against the spiritual foe, and brought'st him thence ...." Milton, John, Paradise Regained: The First Book.

Have you ever taken a vacation that is planned to every millisecond? At 9:37 we visit the Garden of Standonburg and spend an hour and 18 minutes there, then we reach the Pamponi Museum at 11:09, and then .... Well, that's not a vacation, is it? Sometimes it's best to let oneself roam through what may come, with no plan, no schedule, no rules, no aim and nothing to guide except a free mind and open heart.

This week's AWAD is prepared in just that spirit. A word tickles our fancy and leads us to some others that bring forth new sights, skipping some then moving ahead or perhaps going back a few in a leisurely stroll through the dictionary. There is nothing common among the words selected--at least as far as we know. There is no theme to constrain the word choices during the next seven days. Or maybe that's the theme. Well, you decide. On the other hand, going by the creativeness and ingenuity of the linguaphiles on this list who knows who may find what patterns in the words. -Anu

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