A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Mar 1 00:01:04 EST 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dactylography X-Bonus: It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us. -Epicurus, philosopher (c. 341-270 BCE) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms dactylography (dak-tuh-LOG-ruh-fee) noun The study of fingerprints as a means of identification. [From Greek dactylo- (finger or toe) + -graphy (writing). Earliest documented use: 1884.] The combining form dactylo- also appears at the end of words, for example artiodactyl https://wordsmith.org/words/artiodactyl.html and leptodactylous https://wordsmith.org/words/leptodactylous.html . "Michael Danforth has testified making the case for the use of dactylography not anthropometry, as the primary means for England to keep track of its criminals." Gerri Brightwell; The Dark Lantern: A Novel; Crown; 2008. -------- Date: Mon Mar 4 00:01:07 EST 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gelasin X-Bonus: Errors like straws upon the surface flow: / Who would search for pearls must dive below. -John Dryden, poet and dramatist (1631-1700) You may know it as the lowly bread clip. It closes the end of the plastic bag that holds a loaf of bread or a few pounds of potatoes. Once it has done its job, you dump it in the trash can without a second thought. But there are people who have given it a third or fourth or nth thought. They call it occlupanid http://www.horg.com/horg/intro.html . And they have come up with a whole classification for these ties. There's a word for it. That's what you'll say when you look at this week's words. Each of these words describes a thing, idea, or feeling that may take a whole sentence to describe otherwise. gelasin (JEL-uh-sin) noun A dimple in the cheek that appears when someone smiles. [From Greek gelaein (to laugh), which also gave us the words agelast (one who never laughs) https://wordsmith.org/words/agelast.html and hypergelast (one who laughs too much) https://wordsmith.org/words/hypergelast.html . Earliest documented use: 1608.] "Gelasin is this pretty little dimple of which Martial says: His is the face less gracious Who has not the gelasin joyous." Laurent Joubert; Treatise on Laughter; University of Alabama Press; 1980. Translation: Gregory David De Rocher. -------- Date: Tue Mar 5 00:01:02 EST 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sprezzatura X-Bonus: Laugh, and the world laughs with you; / Weep, and you weep alone. / For this brave old earth must borrow its mirth, / But has trouble enough of its own.-Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet (1850-1919) This week's theme: There's a word for it sprezzatura (spret-sah-TOOR-uh) noun Doing (or giving the appearance of doing) something effortlessly; effortless grace; nonchalance. [From Italian. Earliest documented use: 1957.] "Norris is a man always in equipoise*, a living illustration of the art of sprezzatura. No one has ever seen him ruffled." Hilary Mantel; Bring Up the Bodies; Henry Holt; 2012. * https://wordsmith.org/words/equipoise.html -------- Date: Wed Mar 6 00:01:02 EST 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--polylemma X-Bonus: A sound mind in a sound body, is a short but full description of a happy state in this world. -John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704) This week's theme: There's a word for it polylemma (pol-ee-LEM-uh) noun A choice involving multiple undesirable options. [From Greek poly- (many) + dilemma, from lemma (proposition). Earliest documented use: 1856. Also see trilemma https://wordsmith.org/words/trilemma.html , Hobson's choice https://wordsmith.org/words/hobsons_choice.html , and Buridan's ass https://wordsmith.org/words/buridans_ass.html .] "Today's 'medical consumers' are confronted not by a mere dilemma but by a polylemma: a vast number of possibilities, each with advantages and assurances, disadvantages, and dangers." Morton Hunt; A Common-Sense Guide to Health Insurance; The New York Times; May 3, 1987. -------- Date: Thu Mar 7 00:01:03 EST 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--schadenfreude X-Bonus: Hate is a dead thing. Who of you would be a tomb? -Kahlil Gibran, poet and artist (1883-1931) This week's theme: There's a word for it schadenfreude (SHAAD-n-froi-duh) noun Pleasure derived from another's misfortune. [From German Schadenfreude, from Schaden (damage, harm) + Freude (joy). Earliest documented use: 1852.] "Right after the election was called for President Obama, I did something I rarely do: I tuned in to Fox News. Nothing is tastier than schadenfreude and I wanted to see 'Team 53 Percent' unravel as it tried to spin Mitt Romney's defeat." Liza Sabater; Occupy the Divide; Essence (New York); Jan 2013. -------- Date: Fri Mar 8 00:01:03 EST 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palimpsest X-Bonus: One unerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant. -John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704) This week's theme: There's a word for it palimpsest (PAL-imp-sest) noun 1. A writing surface such as a parchment that has been reused after partially or completely erasing the original text. 2. Something reused but still showing traces of its earlier form. [From Greek palimpsestos, from palin (again) + psestos + (scraped). Earliest documented use: 1661 Also see pentimento https://wordsmith.org/words/pentimento.html .] "All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and re-inscribed exactly as often as was necessary." George Orwell; Nineteen Eighty-Four; 1949. "Her memories, too, are a palimpsest of the real and the staged; their courting scenes in a play." Molly and the Playwright; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 24, 2010. -------- Date: Mon Mar 11 00:02:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nineteenth hole X-Bonus: Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. -Heraclitus, philosopher (500 BCE) The number 19 appears to be an uninteresting number (or is it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninteresting_number). It seems not to have much going on, unlike the number 7 or 12 or 100, for example. It's a prime number, sure, but there are a whole bunch of primes out there. So why are we interested in this number? Well, this week marks the novedecennial of Wordsmith.org. Yes, on March 14 we'll complete 19 years. This week we have selected terms that have something to do with the number 19. It's plain to see in today's term, but it may not be so obvious in the remaining words for this week. Can you identify the connection to 19 in the remaining words this week? nineteenth hole (NYN-TEENTH hol) noun The clubhouse or another place, such as a bar or a restaurant, where golfers gather after playing a round. [A standard round of golf has eighteen holes, so the next stop after the game, a bar or a restaurant, is called the nineteenth hole. A similar term is the fifth quarter in (American) football. Earliest documented use: 1901.] "The leaders will head to the practice tee to continue perfecting their game, while most golfers head directly to the nineteenth hole for a drink and a bite to eat." Brad Brewer; Mentored by the King; Zondervan; 2011. -------- Date: Tue Mar 12 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--suffragist X-Bonus: A man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of life getting his living. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) This week's theme: Terms with connections to the number 19 suffragist (SUHF-ruh-jist) noun An advocate of extending the right to vote, especially to women. [Via French from Latin suffragium (voting tablet, right to vote). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhreg- (to break) that also gave us break, breach, fraction, fragile, fractal, infringe, irrefragable, and fractious. Suffrage? Remember, a broken piece of tile was used as a ballot in the past. Earliest documented use: 1822.] NOTES: While we have come a long way in treating people equally regarding the right to vote, there are still places where a woman is not considered fit to vote or to run for an office, for example in Saudi Arabia and the Vatican. "Women had not won the right to vote; one suffragist slapped Song Jiaoren in the face for not taking up their cause." The Song of Song; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 22, 2012. -------- Date: Wed Mar 13 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bromide X-Bonus: Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely. -Erma Bombeck, author (1927-1996) This week's theme: Terms with connections to the number 19 bromide (BRO-myd) noun 1. A tired or meaningless remark. 2. A tiresome or boring person. [From bromine, from Greek bromos (stench). Earliest documented use: 1836.] NOTES: In earlier times, potassium bromide used to be taken as a sedative. So any statement that was intended to be soothing ("Don't worry, everything will be OK.") acquired the name bromide. Eventually any commonplace or tired remark and anyone uttering such remarks came to be known as a bromide. The term was popularized in the title of Gelett Burgess's 1906 book "Are You a Bromide?" It was to promote this book that Burgess coined the term "blurb". "His daddy occasionally pops back in to dispense nonsensical bits of advice -- 'If you're not first, you're last' -- a bromide that the young Ricky Bobby adopts as his motto." Teresa Wiltz; Where There's Will; Washington Post; Aug 4, 2006. -------- Date: Thu Mar 14 00:19:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tinnient X-Bonus: Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE) This week's theme: Terms with connections to the number 19 tinnient (TIN-ee-uhnt) adjective Ringing or tinkling. [From Latin tinnire (to ring), of imitative origin, which also gave us tintinnabulation https://wordsmith.org/words/tintinnabulation.html . Earliest documented use: 1668.] "Designer-costumer Michael Annals's exotic, colorful (and, at one point, tinnient) costumes for the Peruvians contrast effectively with the Spaniards' blacks and grays." Caldwell Titcomb; The Royal Hunt of the Sun; The Harvard Crimson (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Nov 9, 1965. -------- Date: Fri Mar 15 00:05:06 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--extraterritoriality X-Bonus: Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (1749-1832) This week's theme: Terms with connections to the number 19 extraterritoriality (ek-struh-ter-i-tor-ee-AL-i-tee) noun 1. Exemption from the jurisdiction of local law, for example, as for diplomats. 2. The applicability of a state's laws outside its territory. [From Latin extra- (outside) + territorium (land around a town), from terra (land). Earliest documented use: 1836.] "Henry McMaster also said he plans to argue that the extraterritoriality principle bars one state from passing laws that would affect people in other states." Monica Chen; State Attorney General Addresses York County Day; The Herald (Rock Hill, South Carolina); Mar 28, 2007. "Extraterritoriality was the end goal of every colonizing power. With it, the colonizers could control the laws within the bounds of their jurisdictions." David Rotenberg; Shanghai; Viking Canada; 2008. -------- Date: Mon Mar 18 00:17:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--secrete X-Bonus: What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattering. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950) In French, the word hôte can mean either host or guest. That may sound like a recipe for confusion, but context is everything. If you are checking into a Paris hotel and the contract they ask you to sign says that hôte is responsible for all charges, you can be confident that they mean the guest. French is not the only language with these contranyms. Words with contradictory meanings exist in most languages. The English equivalent of the above word, host, once had two contradictory senses as well; the "guest" meaning died out over time. But don't despair, we have many more. This week we'll look at five contranyms. secrete (si-KREET) verb tr. To discharge or release. [Back-formation from secretion, from Latin secernere (to separate), from se- (apart) + cernere (to sift). Earliest documented use: 1707.] To conceal; to keep secret. [Alteration of obsolete verb secret, from Latin secernere (to separate), from se- apart + cernere (to sift). Earliest documented use: 1741.] "Snails and slugs move along on a body part called a foot. This foot constantly secretes mucus that allows them to slowly glide along." Laurie Garretson; Snail Bait; Victoria Advocate (Texas); May 17, 2012. "The bag has a communications device secreted in the lining." Will Pavia; Open Chanel to Moscow; The Times (London, UK); May 22, 2012. -------- Date: Tue Mar 19 00:17:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--peruse X-Bonus: We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. -Thomas Edison, inventor (1847-1931) This week's theme: Contranyms or words with an opposite set of meanings peruse (puh-ROOZ) verb tr. 1. To read or examine with great care. 2. To read or examine in a casual manner. [From Latin per- (thoroughly) + Middle English usen (to use). Earliest documented use: 1475.] "The paper ... is now being perused by a committee, where it could be stuck for weeks or months." The Islamists Reap a Reward; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 22, 2011. "Writers can peruse Sitka's online catalog and enroll in courses." Melissa Hart; Country Home; The Writer (Waukesha, Wisconsin); Mar 2013. -------- Date: Wed Mar 20 00:04:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--second-guess X-Bonus: A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE) This week's theme: Contranyms or words with an opposite set of meanings second-guess (SEK-uhnd GES) verb tr. 1. To criticize an event with the benefit of hindsight. 2. To guess or predict. [Probably a back-formation from second-guesser (in baseball, one who criticizes a play after the fact). Earliest documented use: 1941.] "Some managers become cross when they're second-guessed, but Bruce Bochy wasn't afraid to question himself after the team's loss." Clutch, Giants' Offense Stalls; San Jose Mercury News (California); Apr 7, 2007. "Trying to second-guess the Arsenal team that will play against Liverpool is no simple task." Sam Wallace; Arsenal Teenagers Face Baptism of Fire; Belfast Telegraph (Ireland); Aug 18, 2011. -------- Date: Thu Mar 21 00:01:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--discursive X-Bonus: There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man. -Aristotle, philosopher (384-322 BCE) This week's theme: Contranyms or words with an opposite set of meanings discursive (dis-KUHR-siv) adjective 1. Jumping from topic to topic; rambling. 2. Proceeding logically, using reason or argument rather than emotion. [From Latin discurrere (to run about), from dis- (apart) + currere (to run). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kers- (to run), which is also the source of car, career, carpenter, occur, discharge, succor, and caricature. Earliest documented use: 1599.] "The book is discursive, gently meandering down the River Thames." Three Men In A Boat; Northern Echo (Darlington, UK); Sep 20, 2012. "Obama's penchant for discursive explanations has bothered no constituency more than his base, whose members see in his sometimes professorial tone a lack of passion for the cause at hand." Scott Wilson; In Arguing for Firearms Restrictions, Obama Points to Constitution; The Washington Post; Jan 17, 2013. -------- Date: Fri Mar 22 00:01:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--impregnable X-Bonus: It has been said that a pretty face is a passport. But it's not, it's a visa, and it runs out fast. -Julie Burchill, writer and journalist (b. 1959) This week's theme: Contranyms or words with an opposite set of meanings impregnable (im-PREG-nuh-buhl) adjective 1. Incapable of being taken by force; strong enough to withstand attack. [From Old French imprenable, from in- (not) + prenable (vulnerable to capture), from prendre (to take, seize). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghend-/ghed- (to seize, take), which is also the source of pry, prey, spree, reprise, surprise, pregnant, osprey, prison, and get. Earliest documented use: 1430.] 2. Capable of being impregnated. [From Latin impraegnaere (to fertilize, impregnate). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gen- (to give birth), which also gave birth to words such as generate, engine, indigenous, and germ.] "Mr Netanyahu, who seemed electorally impregnable, may suddenly look vulnerable." Nerves are Jangling Again; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 17, 2012. "She lived in daily dread of pregnancy. She was sure she broke all records as the world's most easily impregnable female." Vera Buch Weisbord; A Radical Life; Indiana University Press; 1977. -------- Date: Mon Mar 25 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--psychological moment X-Bonus: Walking is also an ambulation of mind. -Gretel Ehrlich, novelist, poet, and essayist (b. 1946) It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Overman... That's what residents of Metropolis might be saying had the creators of Superman comics chosen a different translation of the German word Übermensch. Welcome to the world of loan translations. When we fill a gap in our language by taking a term from another tongue, we go about it in several ways. The most straightforward is borrowing a term from another language (such as sang-froid from French https://wordsmith.org/words/sang-froid.html ). At other times, we borrow the term but mold it to fit its new surroundings. When we brought the Hindi word jagannath into English, we anglicized it to juggernaut https://wordsmith.org/words/juggernaut.html . In loan translation, we go a step further. Instead of borrowing the term as is, or borrowing and adapting, we literally translate it into our language. When the German word Übermensch landed on English shores, it was translated as superman though it could very well have been aboveman or overman (from German über: above, beyond, etc.). The term loan translation itself is a loan translation from German Lehnübersetzung. This week we'll look at five terms formed by a process of loan translation. psychological moment (sy-kuh-LOJ-i-kuhl MOH-muhnt) noun The most appropriate time for achieving a desired result; the critical moment. [Loan translation of French moment psychologique (psychological moment), which itself is a mistaken loan translation of German das psychologische Moment (psychological element or factor) taken as der psychologische Moment (the psychological moment of time). The word came to French during the German Siege of Paris in 1870. Earliest documented use: 1871.] "I always pride myself in recognizing the psychological moment, and acting on it." James Lear; The Back Passage; Cleis Press; 2006. -------- Date: Tue Mar 26 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--running dog X-Bonus: Although men flatter themselves with their great actions, they are not so often the result of a great design as of chance. -Francois, duc de La Rochefoucauld, moralist (1613-1680) This week's theme: Loan translations running dog (RUN-ing dog) noun A servile follower; lackey. [From Chinese zougou, from zou (running) + gou (dog), apparently as an allusion to a dog running to follow his or her master's commands. This term was employed in Chinese Communist terminology to refer to someone who was considered subservient to counter-revolutionary interest. Earliest documented use: 1925.] "Before now, I never suspected Strickland of being a running-dog, lickspittled lackey of the Nanny State." Nick Welsh; Dog Is as Dog Does; Santa Barbara Independent (California); Apr, 26, 2012. -------- Date: Wed Mar 27 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--potpourri X-Bonus: We should be slower to think that the man at his worst is the real man, and certain that the better we are ourselves the less likely is he to be at his worst in our company. Every time he talks away his own character before us he is signifying contempt for ours. -James M. Barrie, novelist, short-story writer, and playwright (1860-1937) This week's theme: Loan translations potpourri (poh-poo-REE, POH-poo-ree) noun 1. A mixture of dried flower petals, spices, herbs, etc., kept for fragrance. 2. A musical medley. 3. A mixture of incongruous things. [From French pot pourri, literally rotten pot (loan translation of Spanish olla podrida), from pot (pot) + pourri (rotten), from pourrir (to rot). English has borrowed not only the loan translated term potpourri from French, but also the original Spanish olla podrida https://wordsmith.org/words/olla_podrida.html . It has borrowed from other languages a whole bunch of terms to describe hodgepodge or miscellany, such as, from Swedish smorgasbord https://wordsmith.org/words/smorgasbord.html , from French salmagundi https://wordsmith.org/words/salmagundi.html , and from Hungarian goulash https://wordsmith.org/words/goulash.html . Earliest documented use: 1611.] "The Moisture Festival, an exuberant potpourri of variety and burlesque, is now in its seventh year and as raffishly welcoming as ever." Misha Berson; Neo-vaudeville Delights at Moisture Festival's Opening Night; The Seattle Times; Mar 12, 2010. -------- Date: Thu Mar 28 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--blue blood X-Bonus: Ambition is like hunger; it obeys no law but its appetite. -Josh Billings, columnist and humorist (1818-1885) This week's theme: Loan translations blue blood (BLOO bluhd) noun 1. An aristocratic or socially prominent lineage. 2. A member of such a family. [Loan translation of Spanish sangre azul (blue blood). The term arose from the visible veins of light-skinned royalty. Earliest documented use: 1835.] "It figures that a golf blue blood would feel at home on such a classic course. 'I love telling people that my great-uncle is a Masters champion, and that's how my dad got started, and that's the reason I play the game,' Haas said." Karen Crouse; Leading After Three Rounds; The New York Times; Feb 16, 2013. -------- Date: Fri Mar 29 00:01:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--deus ex machina X-Bonus: Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. -William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994) This week's theme: Loan translations deus ex machina (DAY-uhs eks MAH-kuh-nuh, -nah, MAK-uh-nuh) noun An unexpected or improbable person or event that saves a seemingly hopeless situation. [From Latin deus ex machina, deus (god) + ex (from) + machina (machine), loan translation of Greek theos apo mekhanes. Earliest documented use: 1697.] NOTES: In ancient Greek and Roman drama, often a god was lowered onto the stage by means of a crane to help a protagonist from a hopeless situation. Well, you can say they had rather mechanical plots. "Warren Buffet is the deus ex machina of the stock market, a constant background presence who could decide from his bathtub in 2011 to rescue confidence in Bank of America with bags of cash." Dan McCrum; Relish the Lessons in Buffett Ketchup Deal; Financial Times (London, UK); Feb 15, 2013.