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Nov 27, 2024
This week’s theme
Words that sound dirty, but aren’t

This week’s words
autogamy
nudifidian
titman
cocky
pussivant

titman
Photo: Nikchick

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

titman

PRONUNCIATION:
(TIT-muhn)

MEANING:
noun:
1. The smallest or weakest in a group, such as the runt of a litter.
2. A person of short stature, physically or metaphorically.

ETYMOLOGY:
From tit (any of various small birds), short for titmouse + man. Earliest documented use: 1807.

NOTES:
We’re all thinking about those perky little birds, aren’t we? Nothing titillating about this petite word, though it still might raise a titter or two. Handle with care.

USAGE:
“His stature was ridiculous, a small man, he was always the titman in his class in school, a regular runt.”
John Hersey; The Marmot Drive; Knopf; 1953.

“We are a race of tit-men, and soar but little higher in our intellectual flights than the columns of the daily paper.”
Henry David Thoreau; Walden; Ticknor and Fields; 1854.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. -Jimi Hendrix, musician, singer, and songwriter (27 Nov 1942-1970) [Update: This quotation is misattributed. See details here.]

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