A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Thu Mar 1 00:01:03 EST 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--piecemeal X-Bonus: We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found. -Tzvetan Todorov, philosopher (b. 1 Mar 1939) This week's theme: Adverbs piecemeal (PEES-meel) adverb: One part at a time; gradually. adjective: Done in stages. [From Middle English pecemeale, from pece (piece) + mele, from Old English mael (fixed time). Earliest documented use: 1325.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/piecemeal https://wordsmith.org/words/images/piecemeal_large.jpg Photo: Jim Henderson https://www.flickr.com/photos/differentperspective/3278768238/ "Information is broken up piecemeal and then given out to the specific agents involved." Steven Savile & David Sakmyster; NDE: The Lazarus Initiative; Crossroad Press; 2015. -------- Date: Fri Mar 2 00:01:03 EST 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--widdershins X-Bonus: Religious freedom should work two ways: we should be free to practice the religion of our choice, but we must also be free from having someone else's religion practiced on us. -John Irving, novelist (b. 2 Mar 1942) This week's theme: Adverbs widdershins (WID-uhr-shinz) adverb In a counterclockwise, left-handed, or wrong direction. [From Old High German widar (back, against) + sin (direction). Earliest documented use: 1513. Also see deasil https://wordsmith.org/words/deasil.html .] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/widdershins_large.jpg Photo: Nick Johnson https://www.flickr.com/photos/npj/2474462641/ "There was a boat, 'The Messenger'. It went widdershins around the Middle Sea." Jim Webster; Dead Man Riding East; AUK Authors; 2012. -------- Date: Mon Mar 5 00:01:03 EST 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--expergefaction X-Bonus: Scratch a pessimist and you find often a defender of privilege. -William Beveridge, economist and reformer (5 Mar 1879-1963) Chances are you've heard about that brown fox known for his agility in jumping over an indolent canine. Yes, I'm talking about "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." It's a sentence that makes use of all the letters of the alphabet. A piece of text like this is called a pangram, from Greek pan- (all) + -gram (something written). While such a made-up sentence is nice when learning typing or showcasing a new typeface, I was curious what pangrams appear organically in "Romeo and Juliet" or the US Constitution or Harry Potter. So I created the Pangram Finder: https://wordsmith.org/pangram/ . You can feed it any text (even a whole book) and it'll find you all the pangrams in the text. What pangrams have you discovered? Share them on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/expergefaction.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Also, this week we'll feature five words that together make use of all 26 letters of the English alphabet. expergefaction (ek-spuhr-juh-FAK-shuhn) noun 1. Awakening or arousing. 2. The state of being awakened or aroused. [From Latin expergefacere (to awaken), from expergisci (to become awake) + facere (to make or do). Earliest documented use: 1639.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/expergefaction_large.jpg Photo: Carol Leigh https://www.flickr.com/photos/21977951@N07/32316304832/ "It was as if the humans' sudden reappearance was an expergefaction; their great destructive potential inspired the actions that the prophets had not deemed essential only a few short weeks before." Ivan Henley; The Black Sword of Xorimahr; Writers Club Press; 2002. -------- Date: Tue Mar 6 00:01:04 EST 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vaquero X-Bonus: Fame is very agreeable, but the bad thing is that it goes on 24 hours a day. -Gabriel García Márquez, novelist, journalist, Nobel laureate (6 Mar 1927-2014) This week's theme: Five words that use all letters of the alphabet vaquero (vah-KER-o) noun A livestock herder: a cowboy. [From Spanish vaquero (cowboy), from vaca (cow), from Latin vacca. Earliest documented use: 1826.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/vaquero https://wordsmith.org/words/images/vaquero_large.jpg Photo: Matthew Trump/Wikimedia "'Our steeds need to drink for the day ahead,' the vaquero said." Rudolfo Anaya; My Land Sings; HarperCollins; 2001. -------- Date: Wed Mar 7 00:01:03 EST 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--azymous X-Bonus: If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weeds. -Luther Burbank, horticulturist (7 Mar 1849-1926) This week's theme: Five words that use all letters of the alphabet azymous (A-zi-muhs) adjective Unleavened; unfermented. [From Latin azymus (unleavened, uncorrupted), Greek azumos (unleavened). Earliest documented use: 1728.] Matzo/matza (unleavened bread) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/azymous_large.jpg Image: Jonathunder/Wikimedia "An oval plate stood there, with three fine white azymous loaves, placed on a piece of linen." Anne Catherine Emmerich; The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ; 1833. -------- Date: Thu Mar 8 00:01:04 EST 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--whipjack X-Bonus: Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves. -Gene Fowler, journalist and author (8 Mar 1890-1960) This week's theme: Five words that use all letters of the alphabet whipjack (HWIP-jak) noun A beggar who pretends to be an out-of-luck sailor. [Apparently from whip (to flog) + jack (man, worker). Earliest documented use: 1556.] "'I thought you were in the stocks as a whipjack, Bruce' said my master, hunting through his mantle for a coin." Michael Cadnum; Ship of Fire; Viking; 2003. -------- Date: Fri Mar 9 00:01:03 EST 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vendible X-Bonus: What has occurred over the course of the last few centuries is a growing (but by no means universal or certain) recognition that science gets the job done, while religion makes excuses. Sometimes they are very pretty excuses that capture the imagination of the public, but ultimately, when you want to win a war or heal a dying child or get rich from a discovery or explore Antarctica, you turn to science and reason, or you fail. -PZ Myers, biology professor (b. 9 Mar 1957) This week's theme: Five words that use all letters of the alphabet vendible (VEN-duh-buhl) adjective: Salable; marketable. noun: Something that can be sold. [From Latin vendere, from venum (sale). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wes- (to buy), which is also the source of vend, bazaar, vilify, venal https://wordsmith.org/words/venal.html, and monopsony https://wordsmith.org/words/monopsony.html . Earliest documented use: 1384.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/vendible A sign outside the US Supreme Court, protesting the Citizens United decision https://wordsmith.org/words/images/vendible_large.jpg Photo: takomabibelot https://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/5109769679/ "Her first book became a best-seller. 'The Tenth Muse' was listed among the most vendible books in London soon after it was published." Amy Alexander; Anne Bradstreet Didn't know The Definition of Stop; Investor's Business Daily (Los Angeles, California); May 9, 2008. "Silence is only commendable in a neat's* tongue dried and a maid not vendible**." William Shakespeare; The Merchant of Venice; 1596. * neat = bull ** not vendible = not marketable, i.e. not marriageable, i.e. old -------- Date: Mon Mar 12 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scofflaw X-Bonus: Whenever you commend, add your reasons for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and admiration of fools. -Richard Steele, author and editor (12 Mar 1672-1729) This week marks 24 years of Wordsmith.org. It was on March 14 in 1994 that I started what grew into this organization with members in more than 170 countries. Thank you for being a part of us -- you are what makes Wordsmith.org. Read more about our history here https://wordsmith.org/awad/articles.html There's no word for a 24-year anniversary, but we can coin one: quadrivicennial, from quadri- (four) + vicenary (relating to 20 years). Tosspot Contest To celebrate this occasion, we are organizing a tosspot contest. Last year I featured the term pinchgut (a miserly person) https://wordsmith.org/words/pinchgut.html . You could very well use the term gutpincher, which is how we typically coin words, but pinchgut is more direct. The verb comes first. The action gets to the gut faster. The English language has many such colorful terms to describe people, from smellfungus (a habitual faultfinder or complainer), https://wordsmith.org/words/smellfungus.html to lickspittle (a servile flatterer), https://wordsmith.org/words/lickspittle.html to makebate (one who incites quarrels) https://wordsmith.org/words/makebate.html, and beyond. These words, which follow the pattern verb + noun to describe a person, have been called tosspot https://wordsmith.org/words/tosspot.html words. Are you a "coinword"? If so, what tosspot word have you come up with? Send them to contest@wordsmith.org by this Friday. Include your location. Selected entries will win their choice of: a signed copy of any of my books https://wordsmith.org/awad/books.html a copy of the word game One Up! https://www.oldscoolcompany.com/pages/its-like-scrabble-and-bananagrams-but-way-faster-and-funner To prime the pump, do you know anyone who could be described as a tweetbull (or tweetbunk)? scofflaw (SKOF-law) noun One who displays contempt for the law, especially in minor violations, such as failure to pay parking tickets. [A combination of scoff (to mock), from Middle English scof + law, from Old English lagu, from Old Norse (lagu), plural of lag (something laid or fixed). Earliest documented use: 1924.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/scofflaw NOTES: It's not often that a word coined as a result of a competition becomes part of the language, but scofflaw did. In 1924, during Prohibition, banker Delcevare King of Quincy, Massachusetts announced a contest to coin a word to describe "a lawless drinker". The prize was $200 in gold. Of the more than 25,000 entries that poured in, coinages such as wetocrat, violist, boozshevic lost out to the scofflaw. Read all about it at https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/08/09/scofflaw-spigot-bigot-the-word-contests-prohibition/dmEKG0aKbMw7sCmk1REOoK/story.html https://wordsmith.org/words/images/scofflaw_large.jpg Photo: Glenn Dettwiler https://www.flickr.com/photos/swisschef/16151083130/ "The cop knew our address and would drive her home, which is why our scofflaw luckily never went to the pound. My mother would apologize, yet again, and pay the ticket." Amy Sutherland; Rescuing Penny Jane; Harper; 2017. -------- Date: Tue Mar 13 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--killjoy X-Bonus: Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life. -Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (13 Mar 1900-1971) This week's theme: Tosspot words killjoy (KIL-joi) noun One who spoils the enjoyment of others. [Perhaps from Old English cyllan (to kill) + Old French joie/joye (joy), from Latin gaudium (joy), from gaudere (rejoice). Earliest documented use: 1776.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/killjoy https://wordsmith.org/words/images/killjoy_large.jpg Image: Zhu https://www.flickr.com/photos/xiaozhuli/5910455504/ "Too often the authorities have shared the misconception that corruption in sport is essentially benign. Worried about appearing killjoys, they have let it be." Bigger than Blatter; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 6, 2015. -------- Date: Wed Mar 14 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sawbones X-Bonus: Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (14 Mar 1879-1955) This week's theme: Tosspot words sawbones (SAW-bonz) noun A doctor, especially a surgeon. [From Old English saga (to cut with a saw) + ban (bone). Earliest documented use: 1837.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sawbones https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sawbones_large.jpg Cartoon: Saw Bones Dan Piraro https://www.facebook.com/bizarrocomics/ "The sawbones then manipulated my right arm back into its socket and secured it in a sling." Christopher Joll; The Speedicut Papers 4; AuthorHouse; 2018. -------- Date: Thu Mar 15 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spoilsport X-Bonus: Beware the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world. -Ben Okri, poet and novelist (b. 15 Mar 1959) This week's theme: Tosspot words spoilsport (SPOIL-sport) noun One who ruins other people's enjoyment. [From spoil, from Old French espoille, from Latin spoliare (to rob), from spolium (booty, skin, hide) + sport, from disport (diversion), from Old French desport, from desporter, from des (away) + porter (to carry), from Latin portare (to carry). Earliest documented use: 1801.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/spoilsport https://wordsmith.org/words/images/spoilsport_large.jpg Photo: vip223 https://www.flickr.com/photos/vip223/8455924558/ "The most common misconception about the Puritans is that they were uptight spoilsports." Ralph Young; Dissent: The History of an American Idea; NYU Press; 2015. -------- Date: Fri Mar 16 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dreadnought X-Bonus: If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison, fourth US president (16 Mar 1751-1836) [THIS QUOTATION IS UNSOURCED.] This week's theme: Tosspot words dreadnought (DRED-not) noun 1. A fearless person. 2. A battleship armed with all heavy guns. 3. A thick cloth. 4. A warm garment made of thick cloth. 5. A type of acoustic guitar with a large body and loud sound. [Literally "fear nothing", from dread (fear), from Old English adraedan, ondraedan (fear) + nought (nothing), from naught, from na (no) + wiht (thing). Earliest documented use: 1573.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dreadnought NOTES: Sense 1 is inspired from the 1573 English ship Dreadnought. Sense 2 & 5 are from the 1906 battleship HMS Dreadnought which had heavy guns. Sense 3 & 4 are from heavy garments worn on ships to protect from the elements. British battleship HMS Dreadnought, 1906 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dreadnought_large.jpg Photo: US Navy/Wikimedia "Could he not see that the gullible young man they'd roped into this union had returned as a dreadnought?" Christine Merrill; The Secrets Of Wiscombe Chase; Harlequin; 2016. -------- Date: Mon Mar 19 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ambivalent X-Bonus: It's best to give while your hand is still warm. -Philip Roth, novelist (b. 19 Mar 1933) Imagine you're running a store that sells things by weight: sugar, rice, iPhones, whatever. You have only a few weights for your weighing scales. It would be difficult to give precise amounts. Sure, there may be times when you're able to improvise. Put a weight on the left pan, another on the right pan, etc., in the style of logic puzzles, but it wouldn't be very efficient (and long lines at your store might cause some customers to go the store next door that has a better assortment of weights and buy an Android phone instead.) It's something similar with words. With a limited set of words, you could say that Jane is having contradictory thoughts about marrying John or you could efficiently and precisely use today's word and say that she is ambivalent. The richer our vocabulary, the better we can convey our thoughts with nuance and precision. This week we'll see five nouns and adjectives to describe people. ambivalent (am-BIV-uh-luhnt) adjective Having contradictory thoughts about something or someone. [From Latin ambi- (both) + valent (having a valence), from Latin valere (to be strong). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wal- (to be strong) that also gave us valiant, avail, valor, value, wieldy https://wordsmith.org/words/wieldy.html , countervail https://wordsmith.org/words/countervail.html , valence https://wordsmith.org/words/valence.html , valetudinarian https://wordsmith.org/words/valetudinarian.html , and valorize https://wordsmith.org/words/valorize.html . Earliest documented use: 1916. Being polyvalent https://wordsmith.org/words/polyvalent.html is not an extreme version of ambivalent.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ambivalent "She was ambivalent in her feelings, alternating between a joyful acceptance and an anxious resentment." Francis King; Prodigies; Arcadia Books; 2013. -------- Date: Tue Mar 20 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--trencherman X-Bonus: We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes. -Fred Rogers, television host, songwriter, and author (20 Mar 1928-2003) This week's theme: Words to describe people trencherman (TREN-chuhr-man) noun 1. A hearty eater. 2. A hanger-on; parasite. [From trencher (a flat piece of wood on which food is served or carved), from Old French trenchier (to cut), from Latin truncare (to lop). Earliest documented use: 1590.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/trencherman Trencher https://wordsmith.org/words/images/trencherman_large.jpg Image: Wikimedia "The detective constable was attacking his food like a trencherman." Mike Hollow; Direct Hit; Lion Fiction; 2015. -------- Date: Wed Mar 21 00:01:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stridulant X-Bonus: The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. -Jean Paul Richter, writer (21 Mar 1763-1825) This week's theme: Words to describe people stridulant (STRIJ-uh-luhnt) adjective Shrill; making a harsh grating sound. [From Latin stridere (to make a harsh sound). Earliest documented use: 1843.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/stridulant_large.jpg Image: Dr Vipin Challiyil https://www.flickr.com/photos/challiyan/2349293536/ "They're ugly, come and see just how ugly they are, she repeats several times, her voice stridulant and too loud." Claudio Magris; Microcosms; Harvill; 2000. -------- Date: Thu Mar 22 00:01:04 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mondain X-Bonus: One day I was speeding along at the typewriter, and my daughter -- who was a child at the time -- asked me, "Daddy, why are you writing so fast?" And I replied, "Because I want to see how the story turns out!" -Louis L'Amour, novelist (22 Mar 1908-1988) This week's theme: Words to describe people mondain (mon-DAYN) noun: A sophisticated man; a man belonging to fashionable society. adjective: Worldly; fashionable. [From French mondain (socialite), from Latin mundus (world). Earliest documented use: 1833.] "It's reassuring, however, to see even this seasoned mondain go weak at the knees when he meets Catherine Deneuve, while being arm in arm with Julia Roberts almost causes him a nosebleed." Jonathan Romney; Gatekeeping Without Tears; Film Comment (New York); Jul/Aug 2017. -------- Date: Fri Mar 23 00:01:04 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--artless X-Bonus: Understanding a person does not mean condoning; it only means that one does not accuse him as if one were God or a judge placed above him. -Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and author (23 Mar 1900-1980) This week's theme: Words to describe people artless (ART-les) adjective 1. Without guile; sincere; simple. 2. Free of artificiality. 3. Lacking art or skill. [From art, from Latin ars (art) + less, from Old English leas (without). Earliest documented use: 1586.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/artless "District Judge Shawn Ho said both parties were like 'chalk and cheese' -- the pastor being 'polished and glib' and Mr Tay 'sincere, straightforward, and artless'." Elena Chong; Pastor Jailed Two Weeks for Road Rage; The Straits Times (Singapore); Jul 2, 2016. -------- Date: Mon Mar 26 00:11:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--listerize X-Bonus: Evidence is the only good reason to believe anything. -Richard Dawkins, biologist and author (b. 26 Mar 1941) Would you say a dormitory is a dirty room? Well, we won't comment on the housekeeping habits of college students, but we'll note that the word "dormitory" is an anagram of "dirty room". Both use the same letters in a different order. In the same vein, you could say a "dictionary" is an "indicatory". You probably know where this is going. I'm wondering if we can describe other words using exactly the same letters. Well, it's not possible with all words, but certainly there must be some words like this. Let's call them synonagrams. Here are some examples: angered = enraged brush = shrub These are everyday words, but this week we'll pick five uncommon words and, besides giving their regular definitions, also describe or define them using their anagrams. What other words can you describe or define with anagrams? Share them on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/listerize.html or write to us at words@wordsmith.org. To get inspiration, visit the Anagram Hall of Fame https://wordsmith.org/anagram/hof.html To help with anagramming, use the Internet Anagram Server https://wordsmith.org/anagram/ listerize (LIS-tuh-ryz) verb tr. To make antiseptic. [Coined after Joseph Lister (1827-1912) surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic medicine. Earliest documented use: 1888.] NOTES: Besides this word, some other things named after Joseph Lister are Listerine (originally a surgical antiseptic), the bacterial genus Listeria, and the slime mold genus Listerella. ANAGRAM: listerize = sterilize Joseph Lister https://wordsmith.org/words/images/listerize_large.jpg Artist unknown; Image: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/bqnm9cdm "[The quarantine authority] has thoroughly listerized a poultry farm suspected of bird flu infection." Macao Receives Safety Warrants from Mainland Poultry Exporters; Xinhua News Agency (Woodside, New York); Feb 11, 2004. -------- Date: Tue Mar 27 00:11:02 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--adulatory X-Bonus: History is a novel whose author is the people. -Alfred de Vigny, poet, playwright, and novelist (27 Mar 1797-1863) This week's theme: Words described using their anagrams adulatory (AJ-uh-luh-tor-ee) adjective Praising or admiring slavishly. [From Latin adulari (to flatter, to fawn upon, like a dog wagging its tail). Earliest documented use: 1587.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/adulatory ANAGRAM: adulatory = laudatory https://wordsmith.org/words/images/adulatory_large.jpg Cartoon: Clay Jones https://claytoonz.com/2017/06/13/praise-for-dear-leader/ Also see: In Cabinet meeting, Pence praises Trump once every 12 seconds for three minutes straight: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/12/20/in-cabinet-meeting-pence-praises-trump-once-every-12-seconds-for-3-minutes-straight/ "An emerging 'cult of personality' around the Chinese leader has seen him being bestowed with a range of adulatory titles, and one local official recently likened him to a living Buddhist deity." Neil Connor; Xi Jinping Cleared to Rule for Life as China Abolishes Term Limits; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Mar 11, 2018. -------- Date: Wed Mar 28 00:11:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--babble X-Bonus: A scholar is just a library's way of making another library. -Daniel Dennett, philosopher, writer, and professor (b. 28 Mar 1942) This week's theme: Words described using their anagrams babble (BAB-uhl) noun: 1. Foolish, excited, or incoherent chatter. 2. A murmuring sound, for example of flowing water. verb intr.: 1. To talk excitedly, excessively, or incomprehensibly. 2. To make a murmuring sound, as flowing water. verb tr.: 1. To say something rapidly, excitedly, or incoherently. 2. To reveal something confidential carelessly. [Probably from the repetition of the syllable ba, which occurs in a child's early speech. Earliest documented use: 1250. The word babel (as in the Tower of Babel) https://wordsmith.org/words/babel.html has nothing to do with babbling or blabbing.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/babble ANAGRAM: babbled = blabbed :-) "The babble of voices, clinking chips and glasses, and gruff mirth assaulted Tyree's ears." Ralph Compton & David Robbins; The Evil Men Do; Signet; 2015. -------- Date: Thu Mar 29 00:11:02 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--metathesis X-Bonus: Kindness is always fashionable. -Amelia Barr, novelist (29 Mar 1831-1919) This week's theme: Words described using their anagrams metathesis (muh-TATH-uh-sis) noun 1. The transposition of letters, sounds, or syllables in a word. Example: aks for ask. 2. In chemistry, double decomposition. [Via Latin from Greek metatithenai (to transpose), from meta- (among, after) + tithenai (to place). Earliest documented use: 1538.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/metathesis ANAGRAM: metathesis = It's the same. "As Caractacus, Cedric was the heroic British chieftain who rebelled against Roman rule. As Cerdic son of Cymbeline, Cedric by metathesis was the founder of the kingdom of Wessex." Philip Howard; Column; The Times (London, UK); Mar 10, 1995. -------- Date: Fri Mar 30 00:11:03 EDT 2018 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--blate X-Bonus: We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words. -Anna Sewell, writer (30 Mar 1820-1878) This week's theme: Words described using their anagrams blate (blayt) verb intr.: To babble or to cry. [Apparently an alteration of bleat, whose earlier pronunciation rhymed with the word great. Earliest documented use: 1878.] adjective: Timid. [From Scots blate (timid, sheepish). Earliest documented use: 1000.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/blate ANAGRAM: blate = bleat "The sound of frogs blating like new calves from the culvert horn of the ramp." Janice Daugharty; Vision Quest; 2010.