This week’s theme
Nouning the verb, verbing the noun

This week’s words
cavil
shirtfront
foin
flyspeck
toboggan

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(tuh-BOG-uhn)

MEANING:

noun:	1. A flat-bottomed sled curled up at the front.
	2. A sharp decline.
verb intr.:	1. To ride a toboggan.
	2. To decline rapidly.

ETYMOLOGY:

From one of the languages of the Algonquian family spoken by American Indians. Perhaps from Mi’kmaq topagan (sled). Earliest documented use: 1829.

NOTES:

The word began on snowy hills but now often appears on Wall Street, where tobogganing is significantly less fun.
Childhood: toboggan = delight
Adulthood: toboggan = your portfolio
Ideally, a toboggan is the only place where it’s optimistic to say, “It’s all downhill from here.” When politicians toboggan in polls, there is rarely a hot cocoa at the bottom. In the Southern US, a toboggan is also a knit hat (a beanie).

USAGE:

“Retirement Association of Colorado took an $11 billion investment hit in 2008, when Wall Street tobogganed into recession.”
Tom Roeder; Unenviable Tasks Await Returning Lawmakers; The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado); Jan 12, 2010.

See more usage examples of toboggan in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: