A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue May 1 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--obiter dictum X-Bonus: If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE) * Listen to Anu Garg on BBC Radio 4 program Word of Mouth, Tue 4pm GMT * or online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/wordofmouth.shtml This week's theme: words about words. obiter dictum (OB-i-tuhr DIK-tuhm) noun, plural obiter dicta 1. A passing comment. 2. An observation or opinion by a judge that is incidental to the case in question, and not binding as a precedent. [From Latin, literally, saying by the way.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'Abstract Expressionism was being deployed as a cold war weapon,' (Frances Stonor) Saunders jauntily asserts. ... Obiter dicta like Saunders's pronouncement above highlight her irreducible problem." Josef Joffe; America's Secret Weapon; New York Times Book Review; Apr 23, 2000. -------- Date: Wed May 2 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--asyndeton X-Bonus: Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched. -Guy de Maupassant, short story writer and novelist (1850-1893) This week's theme: words about words. asyndeton (uh-SIN-di-ton, -tuhn) noun Omission of conjunctions, as in "I came, I saw, I conquered." [From Late Latin, from Greek, from neuter of asyndetos (not linked), from a- + syndetos (bound together), from syndein (to bind together), from syn- + dein (to bind).] Asyndeton is a powerful device to indicate extemporaneous effect, and to add intensity or force to diction. Imagine if it were "I came, I saw, and I conquered." It's easy to see how rhythm is lost. If you're itching to use all those conjunctions you've saved with the use of asyndeton, try polysyndeton, as in "Uncle Charlie gobbled cookies and bagels and pizza and pasta." -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The unwillingness to waste words shows up in the address's telegraphic quality -- the omission of coupling words, a technique rhetoricians call asyndeton. Triple phrases sound as to a drumbeat, with no 'and' or 'but' to slow their insistency: 'We are engaged... We are met... We have come...'" The Words That Remade America: Lincoln at Gettysburg; The Atlantic Monthly (Boston); Jun 1992. -------- Date: Thu May 3 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--verbigeration X-Bonus: The automobile has not merely taken over the street, it has dissolved the living tissue of the city. Its appetite for space is absolutely insatiable; moving and parked, it devours urban land, leaving the buildings as mere islands of habitable space in a sea of dangerous and ugly traffic. -James Marston Fitch, historic preservationist (1909-2000) This week's theme: words about words. verbigeration (vuhr-bij-uh-RAY-shun) noun Obsessive repetition of meaningless words and phrases. [From Latin verbigerare (to talk, chat), from verbum (word) + gerere (to carry on).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Some words are standard, but with a twist; some are liberated from patriarchal prejudice and restored to archaic meanings; some are new and sharp as an ungrateful crone, and a feast for (Mary) Daly familiars. A sample: 'Abominable snowmen of androcratic academia: freezers and packagers of learning; chilling throng of frigid fellows, specialists in verbigeration and refrigeration of knowledge.'" Audrey DeLaMartre; Bible Speaks to Fill Readers With 'Holy Chutzpah', The Star Tribune (Minneapolis); Nov 1, 1987. -------- Date: Fri May 4 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--brachylogy X-Bonus: What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- ) This week's theme: words about words. brachylogy (bra-KIL-uh-jee) noun Conciseness of diction or an instance of such. [From Medieval Latin brachylogia, from Greek brakhulogi, brakhu-, brachy- (short) + -logy, from logos (word).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The term for the omission of words that are intended to be 'understood' by the reader is ellipsis. Its extreme or irregular form has a name in Greek rhetoric: brachylogy, relying on the listener to supply the missing words, much as I relied on the reader to put a verb in the sentence fragment 'A profound question, that.'" William Safire; Microwave of the Future; The New York Times; Oct 7, 1990. -------- Date: Mon May 7 00:41:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stormy petrel X-Bonus: In some circumstances, the refusal to be defeated is a refusal to be educated. -Margaret Halsey, novelist (1910-1997) Birds get little respect. We tend to look down at non-human animals in general, but we are particularly unfair when it comes to birds (although we have to look up at them). We call a stupid fellow a "bird brain". Australians call him a galah (a type of cockatoo). Something useless is said to be "for the birds". We name someone vain and self-conscious a peacock. One who is talkative or a hoarder is labeled a magpie. A cowardly or fearful fellow is a chicken... the list is endless. We even kill two birds with one stone. I'd rather the idiom be to feed two birds with one grain. This week we feature five terms coined after birds. Catch as many of these bird words as you can. After all, a word in the head is worth two in the book. stormy petrel (STOR-mee PE-truhl) noun 1. Any of various small sea birds of the family Hydrobatidae having dark feathers and lighter underparts, also known as Mother Carey's Chicken. 2. One who brings trouble or whose appearance is a sign of coming trouble. [The birds got the name storm petrel or stormy petrel because old-time sailors believed their appearance foreshadowed a storm. It's not certain why the bird is named petrel. One unsubstantiated theory is that it is named after St Peter who walked on water in the Gospel of Matthew. The petrel's habit of flying low over water with legs extended gives the appearance that it's walking on the water.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "A colourful stormy petrel of the Conservative Party, Anthony Beaumont-Dark frequently found himself at odds with the party line in the Commons, and was well known for expressing his dissent in memorably quotable form." Obituary: Sir Anthony Beaumont-Dark; The Times (London, UK); Apr 4, 2006. -------- Date: Tue May 8 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kibitz X-Bonus: Never eat more than you can lift. -Miss Piggy, a character in the cartoon The Muppet Show * Today: Chat with Julie Barlow, co-author of "The Story of French" and * "Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" at https://wordsmith.org/chat This week's theme: expressions coined after the names of birds. kibitz (KIB-its) verb intr. 1. To look on at some activity and offer unwanted advice or criticism. 2. To chat or banter. [From Yiddish kibitsen, from German kiebitzen (to look on at cards), from Kiebitz (busybody, literally pewit or lapwing, a shorebird with a bad reputation as a meddler).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Bochy and most managers refrain from kibitzing, and they let their pitchers and catchers decide what to throw." Henry Schulman; Homework Pays Off For Giants' Molina; San Francisco Chronicle: Apr 13, 2007. -------- Date: Wed May 9 00:41:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--clay pigeon X-Bonus: What I stand for is what I stand on. -Wendell Berry, farmer, author (b. 1934) This week's theme: expressions coined after the names of birds. clay pigeon (klay PIJ-uhn) noun Someone in a situation vulnerable to be taken advantage of. [After a piece of baked clay, called a clay pigeon, thrown into the air as a flying target in shooting practice.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[Scott Layden] is a clay pigeon in a media-intensive situation in which he's blamed for an approach that was carved in stone long before he arrived." Mark Heisler; Garden Party Lights Go Out; Los Angeles Times; Feb 7, 2003. -------- Date: Thu May 10 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jaywalk X-Bonus: There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to other animals as well as humans, it is all a sham. -Anna Sewell, writer (1820-1878) This week's theme: expressions coined after the names of birds. jaywalk (JAY-wok) verb intr. To cross a street in a reckless manner, disregarding traffic rules. [As with other birds, the name jaybird denotes a naive person or simpleton. Early last century, country folks visiting big cities were often oblivious of any approaching traffic when they were crossing streets. Eventually their nickname, jays, became associated with crossing a street illegally.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "At stoplights, bicycles queue with a Tetris-like geometry, and the natives never jaywalk." Stephen Metcalf; In the Tidy City of the World's Most Anxious Man: Soren Kierkegaard's Copenhagen; The New York Times; Apr 1, 2007. -------- Date: Fri May 11 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--catbird seat X-Bonus: An epoch will come when people will disclaim kinship with us as we disclaim kinship with the monkeys. -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931) This week's theme: expressions coined after the names of birds. catbird seat (KAT-burd seet) noun A position of power and advantage. [A catbird (named after its catlike call) is known to build a pile of rocks to attract a mate and sit on the highest point around. This expression was often used by Brooklyn Dodgers baseball commentator Red Barber and further popularized by the author James Thurber in his story "The Catbird Seat" where a character often utters trite phrases, including the expression "sitting in the catbird seat".] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "So, Stillking Films seems perched in the catbird seat. 'Things are going very well for us at the moment,' David Minkowski says." Steffen Silvis; Stillking is Still King; The Prague Post (Czech Republic); Apr 5, 2007. -------- Date: Mon May 14 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mesmeric X-Bonus: The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there. -Yasutani Roshi, Zen master (1885-1973) John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, a British politician in the eighteenth century, was so fond of gambling that he spent the whole day playing, while devouring slices of bread with a filling between them. Little did he know that his name would become eponymous with that food. From sandwich to boycott we use numerous eponyms (words named after people) in our daily discourse. In this week's AWAD, we'll look at five not so common eponyms. mesmeric (mez-MER-ik, mes-) adjective Fascinating; hypnotic. [After physician F.A. Mesmer (1734-1815) who discovered a way of inducing hypnosis through what he called animal magnetism.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Michael Dempsey: Bill would coax money out of record companies in a kind of mesmeric way." Alexis Petridis; If You're Brave, Do It Like We Did; The Guardian (London, UK); Apr 27, 2007. -------- Date: Tue May 15 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--penelope X-Bonus: The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself. -Rita Mae Brown, writer (1944- ) This week's theme: eponyms. penelope (puh-NEL-uh-pee) noun A faithful wife. [From Penelope, the wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus in Greek mythology. She waited 20 years for her husband's return from the Trojan War (ten years of war, and ten years on his way home). She kept her many suitors at bay by telling them she would marry them when she had finished weaving her web, a shroud for her father-in-law. She wove the web during the day only to unravel it during the night. Here's a painting of Penelope unraveling her web: http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=930 ] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "O.K., so maybe nobody ever accused female chimpanzees of being the virtuous Penelopes of the forest. They've long been known to mate promiscuously, as have their male counterparts; after all, the genus name for chimpanzees, Pan, derives from the Greek god famed for his lechery." Natalie Angier; Sex and the Female Chimp; The New York Times; May 27, 1997. -------- Date: Wed May 16 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Alford plea X-Bonus: Do I believe God is going to take away my illness when he turned an entirely deaf ear to the six million Jews who went into the gas chambers? -Karen Armstrong, author (1944- ) This week's theme: eponyms. Alford plea (AL-fuhrd plee) noun A plea bargain in which a defendant pleads guilty while maintaining innocence. [The Alford plea sounds illogical but there's a firm basis for it. The term is coined after Henry Alford in the 1970 murder case North Carolina v. Alford. In this case, the defendant pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder to avoid the death penalty which he might have received if found guilty of first-degree murder. Alford maintained that he was innocent and was pleading guilty to the lesser charge only to avoid capital punishment.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The Humane Society of Washington County now owns more than 70 horses, after the animals' previous owner, Barbara Reinken, 62, entered an Alford plea to a felony aggravated animal cruelty charge and 10 animal negligence misdemeanor charges." Jeremy Hauck; Starving Horses Up For Adoption; The Gazette (Gaithersburg, Maryland); Apr 5, 2007. -------- Date: Thu May 17 00:41:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--selenography X-Bonus: Lots of people think they're charitable if they give away their old clothes and things they don't want. It isn't charity to give away things you want to get rid of and it isn't a sacrifice to do things you don't mind doing. -Myrtle Reed, author (1874-1911) This week's theme: eponyms. selenography (sel-uh-NOG-ruh-fee) noun The branch of astronomy dealing with the physical features of the moon. [From Greek seleno-, from Selene (goddess of the moon in Greek mythology) + -graphy (writing).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Two centuries ago, the art of pastel and the science of selenography were united in the person of John Russell. Rarely, if ever, have art and astronomy united with such clarity of form." Clifford J Cunningham; Lunar Reality; Mercury (San Francisco); Jul/Aug 2004. -------- Date: Fri May 18 00:41:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Freudian slip X-Bonus: The crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness, and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five o'clock. -Margaret Halsey, novelist (1910-1997) This week's theme: eponyms. Freudian slip (FROI-dee-uhn slip) noun An error that reveals someone's subconscious mind. [After Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, who proposed the idea.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "A Freudian slip on a boyfriend's postcard puts Lavigne in a jealous rage because her lover's inscription read, 'I wish you were her' (rather than 'here' -- get it?)." Lavigne Embraces Simplicity; Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts); Apr 29, 2007. -------- Date: Mon May 21 00:05:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--peccadillo X-Bonus: The hardest-learned lesson: that people have only their kind of love to give, not our kind. -Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983) Have you ever wondered why Ecuador is so named? In Spanish, ecuador is the term for equator. Guess where Ecuador is situated on the globe. I learned many such fascinating tidbits when studying Spanish over the last few years. I discovered that learning a new language opens doors to another culture. From mosquito to parade to plaza, hundreds of terms from Spanish are now in everyday use in the English language. This week we'll take a look at a few other words in the English language that have their origins in Spanish. ¡Hasta mañana! peccadillo (pek-uh-DIL-o) noun A minor offense. [From Spanish pecadillo, diminutive of pecado (sin), from Latin peccare (to sin). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ped- (foot) which gave us not only peccadillo (alluding to a stumble or fall) but also pedal, impeccable, podium, octopus, and impeach.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "All legislation is said to aim at training citizens in good habits, but many of us count breaking of the law as a mere peccadillo." Nous; Virtue of Hanging the Veil of Purdah Over Liquor; The Sunday Times; (Colombo, Sri Lanka); May 13, 2007. -------- Date: Tue May 22 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ramada X-Bonus: I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself. -Emily Bronte, novelist (1818-1848) This week's theme: words borrowed from Spanish. ramada (ruh-MAH-duh) noun An open shelter roofed with branches. [From Spanish, from rama (branch), from Vulgar Latin rama, from Latin ramus (branch). The word "ramify" branches out from the same root "ramus".] An anagram of today's word is "armada" (a fleet of warships), another term we've taken from Spanish. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "We are issued orange White House press passes and herded under a ramada near the flight line." Rhonda Bodfield; Reporter-in-waiting Just Waits, And Waits; The Arizona Daily Star; Feb 27, 1999. -------- Date: Wed May 23 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cabana X-Bonus: What religion a man shall have is a historical accident, quite as much as what language he shall speak. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952) This week's theme: words borrowed from Spanish. cabana (kuh-BAHN-uh) noun 1. A shelter on a beach or swimming pool. 2. A cabin or cottage. [From Spanish cabaña, from Late Latin capanna (hut).] Would it surprise you to know that cabin and cabinet are related? Or that basin and basinet/bassinet are? The diminutive suffix -et doesn't only convey the sense of smallness, it can change the whole meaning. Consider table and tablet, for another example. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Calvin Klein is redecorating the cabana area of the lounge with furnishings like wall decorations featuring a new Klein logo and photographs of models wearing Klein clothes." Allison Fass; GQ Steps Out of Its Pages And Opens a Lounge; The New York Times; Feb 15, 2002. -------- Date: Thu May 24 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mesa X-Bonus: How can they say my life is not a success? Have I not for more than sixty years got enough to eat and escaped being eaten? -Logan Pearsall Smith, essayist (1865-1946) This week's theme: words borrowed from Spanish. mesa (MAY-suh) noun A flat-top land formation with steep sides. A mesa is an area bigger than a butte but smaller than a plateau. [From Spanish mesa (table), from Latin mensa (table).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Wetherill and Mason spent several hours on that December day exploring the site and collecting artifacts. They climbed to the top of the mesa and separated, searching for more cliff dwellings." Robin Chalmers; A Historic Rediscovery; Cobblestone (Peterborough, New Hampshire); Sep 1999. -------- Date: Fri May 25 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cay X-Bonus: The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe. -Peter De Vries, editor, novelist (1910-1993) This week's theme: words borrowed from Spanish. cay (kay, kee) noun A small low island of coral, sand, etc.; key. [From Spanish cayo (shoal).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Its terrain ranges from a myriad offshore islands, coral reefs and cays, white and black sand beaches, savannah, alpine meadows to the largest area of pristine rainforest outside the Amazon basin." Neil Hanson; Travel: Papua New Guinea; The Guardian (London); Mar 23, 2002. -------- Date: Mon May 28 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pawky X-Bonus: If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied. -Rudyard Kipling, author, Nobel laureate (1865-1936) It takes all kinds to make the world and it shows in this week's selection of words. For the next five days we'll see words to describe people of various persuasions. You may meet them at work or on a train, in a park or in the house next door -- almost anywhere on earth. Here's a fun exercise for you: find at least one person epitomizing the day's word, every day this week. With some six billion of us around there can't be any excuse for insufficient data. pawky (PAW-kee) adjective Sly, shrewd; dryly humorous. [From Scots pawk (trick).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "I run into David, the outspoken protester from the Kerry rally, standing next to a pawky, whey-faced fellow." Wells Tower; Bird-Dogging the Bush Vote; Harper's (New York); Mar 2005. "[Old Tom] had a pawky sense of fun, a dry humor." John Garrity; Old Tom Morris is But One of Many Legends; Sports Illustrated (New York); Feb 17, 1995. -------- Date: Tue May 29 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lowering X-Bonus: Underground nuclear testing, defoliation of the rain forests, toxic waste ... Let's put it this way: if the world were a big apartment, we wouldn't get our deposit back. -John Ross This week's theme: words to describe people. lowering (LOU-uhr-ing) adjective Sullen, frowning, gloomy. [From Middle English louring, from louren (to frown, lurk).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Miss Deane, with a lowering frown of her blackened eye-brows, found occasion to reprimand the elderly parlour-maid." John Davys Beresford; The Looking-Glass; 1922. -------- Date: Wed May 30 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sequacious X-Bonus: What loneliness is more lonely than distrust? -George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), novelist (1819-1880) This week's theme: words to describe people. sequacious (si-KWAY-shuhs) adjective Unthinkingly following others. [From Latin sequax (inclined to follow), from sequi (to follow).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In the April 1945 Catholic Worker, Janet Kalven of the Grailville Agricultural School for Women in Loveland, Ohio called for 'an education that will give young women a vision of the family as the vital cell of the social organism, and that will inspire them with the great ambitions of being queens in the home.' By which she did not mean a sequacious helpmeet to the Man of the House, picking up his dirty underwear and serving him Budweisers during commercials." Bill Kauffman; The Way of Love; Whole Earth (San Rafael, California); July 2000. -------- Date: Thu May 31 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tatterdemalion X-Bonus: Whatever people in general do not understand, they are always prepared to dislike; the incomprehensible is always the obnoxious. -Letitia E. Landon, author (1802-1838) This week's theme: words to describe people. tatterdemalion (tat-uhr-di-MAYL-yuhn, -MALEE-uhn) adjective Ragged, tattered. noun A person in ragged clothes. [From Middle English tater, from Old Norse toturr (rag). The origin of demalion is uncertain.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "He might look like lord of all he surveys, but look closer: He's a tatterdemalion emperor, a dictator in rags constantly patrolling his hard-won fiefdom." Washington City Paper; Theater Review: Free Your Mind; May 17, 2007.