A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue May 1 03:30:13 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--supernumerary X-Bonus: To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) supernumerary (soo-puhr-NOO-muh-rer-ee, -NYOO-) adjective More than required; extra. noun 1. A supernumerary person. 2. An actor who appears in a drama or film with no speaking part. [Latin supernumerarius : super, above- + numerus, number.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/supernumerary.gif "When his boss wrote the word supernumerary in his performance review, Crousherd was ecstatic. Only when he got the pink slip next day did he realize he wasn't a super employee but a superfluous one." This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Wed May 2 00:01:43 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epicene X-Bonus: In seeking wisdom, the first step is silence, the second listening, the third remembering, the fourth practicing, the fifth -- teaching others. -Ibn Gabirol, poet and philosopher (c. 1022-1058) epicene (EP-i-seen) adjective 1. Having characteristics of both sexes. 2. Effeminate. noun A person or object that is epicene. [From Middle English, from Latin epicoenus, from Greek epikoinos, epi- + koinos, common.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/epicene.gif "`This time I've bought an epicene sweater so either of us can wear it!' Mrs. Fraugal chirped as she showed her husband the bright pink dress." This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Thu May 3 00:01:13 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--diastema X-Bonus: Many individuals have, like uncut diamonds, shining qualities beneath a rough exterior. - Juvenal, poet (c. 60-140) diastema (die-uh-STEE-mah) noun, plural diastemata A gap between two adjacent teeth. [Late Latin, from Greek diastema, interval, from diiastanai, to put apart.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/diastema.gif "The rock band Space Girls has made diastema cool--no wonder teenage girls are flocking to dentists to have their teeth spaced." This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Fri May 4 00:01:12 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ullage X-Bonus: Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away. -Dorothy Parker, author (1893-1967) ullage (UL-ij) noun The amount of liquid by which a container falls short of being full. [Middle English ulage, from Old French eullage, from eullier, to fill a cask, (from ouil eye, hole, from Latin oculus eye).] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/ullage.gif "`Is the gas tank half-empty or half-full,' Grouler continued driving while pondering the ullage and soon he was out of gas 47 miles from the nearest gas station." This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Mon May 7 00:01:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chevron X-Bonus: The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears. -John Vance Cheney, poet (1848-1922) chevron (SHEV-ruhn) noun A pattern in the shape of a V or an inverted V. [Middle English, from Old French chevron, rafter, from Vulgar Latin caprion (stem of caprio) from Latin caper, goat.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/chevron.gif "To increase employee morale, the company president decided to award a cheap plastic chevron to those putting in more than 70 hours per week." WordPix, words that do their own show-and-tell, have evoked an enthusiastic response. Here is another week of these words that remind us that a picture is worth a thousand words. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 8 00:01:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oology X-Bonus: All the time a person is a child he is both a child and learning to be a parent. After he becomes a parent he becomes predominantly a parent reliving childhood. -Benjamin Spock, pediatrician and author (1903-1998) oology (oh-OL-uh-jee) noun The study of birds' eggs. [Oo- egg, from Greek oio- + logy.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/oology.gif "Oeufelia is a keen student of oology. Her idea of a perfect date involves cataloguing eggs after watching a National Geographic video." This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Wed May 9 00:01:12 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--maverick X-Bonus: A house is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. -Sarah Margaret Fuller, author (1810-1850) maverick (MAV-uhr-ik) noun 1. A person independent in thought and action. 2. An unbranded animal. [After Samuel A. Maverick (1803-1870), a cattle owner who left his calves unbranded.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/maverick.gif "Always a maverick, Annelet decided to do a Ph.D. on earthworms' mating behavior instead of following her siblings to a law school." This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Thu May 10 00:01:12 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pecuniary X-Bonus: All the world's a stage, / And the men and women merely players: / They have their exits and their entrances; / And one man in his time plays many parts. -William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist (1564-1616) pecuniary (pi-KYOO-nee-er-ee) adjective 1. Relating to money. 2. Involving a monetary fine. [Latin pecuniarius, from pecunia, property, wealth, derivative of pecus, cattle.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/pecuniary.gif "When asked why he held up the bank, the robber replied, `Because that's where pecuniary objects are.'" This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Fri May 11 00:02:14 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pariah X-Bonus: Charity sees the need not the cause. -German proverb pariah (puh-RI-uh) noun An outcast. [From Tamil paraiyar, plural of paraiyan, drummer, people considered lower in rank in the former caste-system of India.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/pariah.gif "Sending spam or unsolicited email is the fastest way to become a pariah on the Internet." This week's theme: WordPix, words drawn so that they explain themselves. -------- Date: Mon May 14 00:02:10 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fifth column X-Bonus: I am not sincere, even when I say I am not. -Jules Renard, writer (1864-1910) fifth column (fifth KOL-uhm) noun A group of traitors acting in sympathy with their country's enemies. [From Spanish quinta columna, from the column of supporters that General Mola claimed to have in Madrid while he was leading four columns of his army to invade the city during the Spanish Civil War.] "I shudder to think what future generations may say about our obsessions with Area 51, alien abductions, astrology, `X-Files' Web sites, black helicopters and interplanetary fifth columns in league with the CIA." John McDonough, Today's Audiences Are Just as Gullible As Orson Welles's, The Wall Street Journal, Oct 31, 2000. "Everybody line up alphabetically according to your height." These words of Casey Stengel (1891-1975), U.S. baseball player and manager, sum up nicely the deep human need to arrange things in order, to sort, classify, and enumerate them. This week we'll see phrases that characterize concepts, in descending order from fifth through first. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 15 00:02:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fourth estate X-Bonus: Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present. -English Proverb fourth estate (forth i-STAYT) noun Journalistic profession, the press. [Supposedly, a power other than the three estates (the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and the House of Commons) in UK.] "According to Akre, reporters see the case as `too inside baseball' - media code for the unwritten rule that news organizations avoid writing about themselves or the industry. It's the crux of the crisis in the Fourth Estate: no one is watching the watchdogs." Fox Guilty of Playing Chicken, Adbusters Magazine (Vancouver, Canada), March/April 2001. -------- Date: Wed May 16 00:02:23 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--third degree X-Bonus: A book is a garden carried in the pocket. -Chinese proverb third degree (thurd di-GREE) noun Intensive questioning using rough treatment. adjective Pertaining to the third degree. verb To subject to such treatment. "Halfway through the meal, I spotted his psycho ex walking toward us. She immediately gave him the third degree, asking why he had let her go and who this new girl was with him." Cara Birnbaum and Jennifer Benjamin, Mortifying Meet-the-Parents Moments, Cosmopolitan, Feb 2001. -------- Date: Thu May 17 00:02:10 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--second fiddle X-Bonus: When you re-read a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in yourself than there was before. -Clifton Fadiman, editor and critic (1904-1999) second fiddle (SEK-und FID-l) noun Secondary role. A person in such a role. "Until last year the club had played second fiddle to their great rivals Leicester in recent times." Ian Malin, Rugby Union, The Guardian (UK), Mar 10, 2001. -------- Date: Fri May 18 00:02:12 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--first water X-Bonus: There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man. -Aristotle, philosopher (384-322 BCE) first water (furst WA-tuhr) noun 1. The highest degree of quality in a precious stone, especially diamond. 2. The best grade or quality. "Anne-Sophie Mutter: The German-born former prodigy was once known more for her strapless gowns and her glamor, but she has matured into a musical diamond of the first water." Melinda Bargreen, Strings of Success, The Seattle Times, Jan 17, 1999. -------- Date: Mon May 21 00:21:12 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--albedo X-Bonus: Talking is like playing the harp; there is as much in laying the hand on the strings to stop their vibrations as in twanging them to bring out their music. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894) albedo (al-BEE-doh) noun 1. The fraction of light reflected from a body or surface. For example, earth's albedo is around 0.39. 2. The white, spongy inner lining of a citrus fruit rind. [From Late Latin albedo, whiteness, from Latin albus, white.] "The more powerful magnetic fields generated by the Sun during maximum activity are known to block many of the particles, which would theoretically lead to less cloud cover and less reflection, or a lower albedo." James Glanz, Scientists Find Way to Gauge Earth's Glow, The New York Times, Apr 21, 2001. "We don't need to tell you that oranges are full of vitamin C. But did you know that the white membrane under the skin, called the albedo, contains almost as much C as the flesh of the fruit itself? Myra Kornfeld, Giving Thanks, Vegetarian Times (Stamford, CT), Nov 2000. Some of the most interesting, unusual words describe everyday things. Who would have thought that this fleshy, spongy, white thing inside an orange had a word for itself... and that it would share it with astronomers? Or that it would have the same ancestor as the words for an egg part, a photo book, or smearing of a canvas? What all these words have in common is whiteness or albus, Latin for white. Albumen is egg white, an album is a book with white pages, and when we daub a sheet of paper, we de-albus it. Ah, the joy of words! Let's look at a few other words for odds and ends during this week. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 22 00:01:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dewlap X-Bonus: Everyone is a genius at least once a year. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher (1742-1799) dewlap (DOO-lap, DYOO-lap) noun A loose fold of skin hanging under the neck of an animal such as cow, rooster, lizard, etc. In birds this appendage is also known as a wattle. [From Middle English dewlappe; dew, of unknown origin and meaning, + lap, fold.] "Gore is rather more bearish than the last time I saw him, but still handsome, his leonine head beginning to soften with dewlaps, his fiercely intelligent eyes surrounded by innumerable wrinkles." Erica Jong, Into the Lion's Den: Visiting Gore Vidal is No Small Undertaking, The Guardian (London, UK), Oct 26, 2000. This week's theme: words for odds and ends. -------- Date: Wed May 23 00:01:13 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chaplet X-Bonus: Much Madness is divinest Sense / To a discerning Eye / Much Sense--the starkest Madness. -Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886) chaplet (CHAP-lit) noun 1. A wreath or garland worn on the head. 2. A string of beads. [Middle English chapelet, wreath; from Old French, diminutive of chapel hat, from Medieval Latin cappellus, from Late Latin cappa, cap.] "What was on Hannibal's mind as he drove his elephants over the Alps? Looking good, apparently, because on Hannibal's head was a wig, which he wore into battle to cover his lack of locks. Julius Caesar used his chaplet for the same purpose, the comb-over having not yet been discovered." Jack Reed, Men Want to Look Good, Too, St. Petersburg Times (Florida), Jan 28, 2001. This week's theme: words for odds and ends. -------- Date: Thu May 24 00:01:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gnomon X-Bonus: Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -Blaise Pascal, philosopher and mathematician (1623-1662) gnomon (NO-mon) noun 1. The raised arm of a sundial that indicates the time of day by its shadow. 2. The remaining part of a parallelogram after a similar smaller parallelogram has been taken away from one of the corners. [From Latin gnomon, pointer, from Greek, from gignoskein, to know.] "Eighty-six years in the making, one of the world's largest sundials has finally been installed at Place de la Concorde, as part of the Year 2000 festivities of the City of Paris. It takes an approach more cerebral than celebratory. The sundial's pointer, or gnomon, is the 109-foot Obelisk of Luxor. Its base is the northern half of Place de la Concorde." Rose Marie Burke, Sundial Aids Millennium Countdown, The Wall Street Journal, Oct 26, 1999. This week's theme: words for odds and ends. -------- Date: Fri May 25 04:42:03 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--finial X-Bonus: To have doubted one's own first principles is the mark of a civilized man. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894) finial (FIN-ee-ehl, FI-nee-) noun 1. An ornamental object on top of an architectural structure or a piece of furniture. 2. A curve at the end of the main stroke of a character in some italic fonts. [From Middle English, finial, final, from Latin finis, end.] "Just ahead, rolling lawns and a canopy of pecan, willow, oak and English walnut trees frame an imposing multitiered manor house complete with portico exterior, dormer windows and a welcoming 3 1/2-foot pineapple finial crowning its mansard roof." Suzanne Murphy-Larronde, Mind Your Manors, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mar 18, 2001. This week's theme: words for odds and ends. -------- Date: Mon May 28 00:01:14 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--philosophaster X-Bonus: The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) philosophaster (fi-los-uh-FAS-tuhr, fi-LOS-uh-fas-tuhr) noun A pseudo-philosopher. [From Late Latin, philosopher + -aster, a pejorative suffix indicating something that is inferior or mimics another.] "I allude more particularly to you, O stolid philosophaster, who presume to style yourself a practical chemist, a good philosopher, and yet are entirely destitute of all knowledge..." Arthur Edmund Waite, The Hermetic Museum, 1893. The pejorative suffix -aster (meaning something that is inferior, small or shallow) gives us some delightful words when it comes to name-calling. A reviewer brands a poet a poetaster (an inferior poet) and the reviewee might return the favor by calling the former a criticaster (an incompetent critic). In the same vein, we can have a politicaster, an astrologaster, and the bane of writers everywhere--a grammaticaster. Lest we get carried away here, let's remember that a grandmaster is not an inferior grandma. Well, enough of the pretend-people. For the rest of this week, we'll review some other words to describe people. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 29 00:01:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--autocrat X-Bonus: Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought; our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784) autocrat (O-tuh-krat) noun A ruler with absolute power or a person who has unrestricted authority. [From French autocrate, from Greek autokrates, auto- self + -krates, -crat, ruling.] "The plot is driven by the desire of the city's autocrats to relocate the enclave of black citizens away from the center of town by buying up the homes they live in and evicting them." Bruce Weber, A Youthful Wolfe Filled With Outrage, The New York Times, Sep 15, 2000. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Wed May 30 00:01:13 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--adamantine X-Bonus: To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and watch their renewal of life -- this is the commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do. -Charles Dudley Warner, author, editor, and publisher (1829-1900) adamantine (ad-uh-MAN-teen, -tin) adjective 1. Unyielding or firm. 2. Like a diamond in hardness or luster. [From Middle English, from Old French adamaunt, from Latin adamas, adamant, hard metal, steel, diamond, etc., from Greek adamas, adamant, a- not + daman, to conquer.] "They become adamantine critics whose distrust of power (governmental power, at any rate) is absolute." David Aaronovitch, Excuse Me, But What's Wrong With Being Pro-Government?, The Independent (London, UK) Dec 24, 1999. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Thu May 31 00:01:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--satrap X-Bonus: Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely. -Erma Bombeck, author (1927-1996) satrap (SAY-trap, SAT-rap) noun 1. A governor of a province in ancient Persia. 2. A subordinate ruler or official. [Middle English satrape, from Latin satrapes, from Greek satrapes, from Old Persian khshathrapavan, protector of the county.] "No longer Hollywood's satrap in Germany, Mr Kirch is venturing into a new arena: digital television." Lion in winter, The Economist (London, UK), Mar 9, 1996. This week's theme: words to describe people.