A.Word.A.Day --katzenjammer

A.Word.A.Day

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Dec 20, 2010

This week's theme
No el

This week's words
katzenjammer
quixotic
divagate
nyctophobia
frowsty

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

What word comes to mind when you hear the word Christmas? For children it's gifts, for some it may be stress, and for marketers it's definitely dollars!

For us, it's No el. This week's five words use all the letters of the English alphabet, except one. L is out of a job this week. Why? It's the time of year when we celebrate No el.

The word Noel comes to us via French from Latin natalis dies, meaning birthday, here implying the birth of Jesus. Joyeux Noel!

katzenjammer

PRONUNCIATION:

(KAT-sen-jam-uhr)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Hangover
2. Distress; depression.
3. Confusion; clamor; uproar.

ETYMOLOGY:

From German, from Katzen, plural of Katze (cat) + Jammer (distress, wailing). Earliest documented use: 1849.

NOTES:

The Katzenjammer Kids, the longest-running comic strip, debuted on Dec 12, 1897. It features the adventures of twins Hans and Fritz:

USAGE:

"What we're feeling are the aftereffects -- be they of the blissful or katzenjammer variety -- of what has become one of the best parties on the planet."
Pete Bland; Party at @CTION!; Columbia Daily Tribune (Missouri); Feb 25, 2010.

See more usage examples of katzenjammer in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

No fathers or mothers think their own children ugly; and this self-deceit is yet stronger with respect to the offspring of the mind. -Miguel de Cervantes, novelist (1547-1616)

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