A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue Sep 1 00:13:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--belie X-Bonus: The less a statesman amounts to, the more he loves the flag. -Kin Hubbard, humorist (1 Sep 1868-1930) Verbs belie (bi-LY) verb tr. 1. To give a false impression: misrepresent. 2. To show to be false: contradict. [From Old English beleogan (to deceive by lying). Earliest documented use: before 1000.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/belie "Its grand name [The Great Parchment Book of The Honourable The Irish Society] belies a sorry state." Nicola Davis; Not Fade Away; The Observer (London, UK); Jul 5, 2015. -------- Date: Wed Sep 2 00:03:04 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--descry X-Bonus: Progressive societies outgrow institutions as children outgrow clothes. -Henry George, economist, journalist, philosopher (2 Sep 1839-1897) Verbs descry (di-SKRY) verb tr. 1. To catch sight of. 2. To discover or detect. [From Old French descrier (to cry out), from crier (to cry), from Latin critare, from quiritare (to cry out). Earliest documented use: before 1400. A shortening of the word descry resulted in scry https://wordsmith.org/words/scry.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/descry https://wordsmith.org/words/images/descry_large.jpg Photo: Chatwick Harpax https://www.flickr.com/photos/66682533@N07/6962708303/ "And as for the view of seven states, that turned out to be hogwash; you can descry only three from Lookout Mountain." Will Self; On Location; New Statesman (London, UK); Aug 22, 2014. -------- Date: Thu Sep 3 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cosset X-Bonus: Form follows function. -Louis Sullivan, architect (3 Sep 1856-1924) Verbs cosset (KOS-et) verb tr.: To pamper. noun: A pet; a spoiled child. [Of uncertain origin, probably from Old English cotsaeta (cot sitter or cot dweller). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sed- (to sit), which is also the source of sit, chair, saddle, assess, sediment, soot, cathedral, tetrahedron, sessile https://wordsmith.org/words/sessile.html , surcease https://wordsmith.org/words/surcease.html , assiduous https://wordsmith.org/words/assiduous.html , and eyas https://wordsmith.org/words/eyas.html . Earliest documented use: 1579.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/cosset https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cosset_large.jpg Photo: Randy Robertson https://www.flickr.com/photos/randysonofrobert/2639402501/ "As the youngest of six surviving children, Tom was distinctly cosseted, especially by his doting mother." Michael Dirda; T.S. Eliot's American Childhood; The Washington Post; Apr 15, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Sep 4 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--beleaguer X-Bonus: The rightness of a thing isn't determined by the amount of courage it takes. -Mary Renault, novelist (4 Sep 1905-1983) Verbs beleaguer (bi-LEE-guhr) verb tr. 1. To surround with troops. 2. To beset with difficulties. [From Dutch belegeren (to camp around), from be- (around) + leger (camp). Ultimately from the Indo-European root legh- (to lie or lay), which also gave us lie, lay, lair, fellow, and laager https://wordsmith.org/words/laager.html . Earliest documented use: 1589.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/beleaguer https://wordsmith.org/words/images/beleaguer_large.jpg Photo: Martin Cauchon https://500px.com/cabri "Underlying tensions and unresolved issues continue to beleaguer the Blue Line area." In Lebanon, UN Official Urges 'Calm, Restraint' Along Blue Line; Asia News Monitor (Bangkok, Thailand); Feb 19, 2015. -------- Date: Mon Sep 7 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--quixote X-Bonus: I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it. -Edith Sitwell, poet (7 Sep 1887-1964) A word coined after someone's name is called an eponym (as in the word Romeo, after the hero of Shakespeare's play https://wordsmith.org/words/romeo.html). Shakespeare has given us many eponyms, https://wordsmith.org/words/dogberry.html as has Charles Dickens https://wordsmith.org/words/wellerism.html . This week we'll see five eponyms from a work not originally in English: Don Quixote. It's a testament to the cross-linguistic appeal of Miguel de Cervantes's work that multiple characters from it have now become a part of the English Language. In honor of Cervantes's birthday this month (Sep 29) and 400 years of publication of the novel this year (vol 1 in 1605, vol 2 in 1615), this week we'll see words coined after characters in Don Quixote. These words are derived after the leading man, his sidekick, his associates, his ladylove, and even his horse. Quixote (kee-HO-tee, KWIK-suht) noun Someone who is unrealistic, naive, chivalrous, idealistic, etc. to an absurd degree. [After Don Quixote, hero of the eponymous novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). Earliest documented use: 1644. The adjectival form is quixotic https://wordsmith.org/words/quixotic.html .] Title page of first edition (1605) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/quixote_large.jpg "Despite what some say, I am not a Quixote, a credulous buffoon rushing and embracing every charlatan." Simon Clark; Mammoth Book of Sherlock Holmes Abroad; Running Press; 2015. -------- Date: Tue Sep 8 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sancho X-Bonus: People forget years and remember moments. -Ann Beattie, novelist (b. 8 Sep 1947) This week's theme: Characters from Don Quixote who became words Sancho (SAN-cho) noun A companion or sidekick, especially one who joins another in an adventure. [From Sancho Panza, the squire of Don Quixote. Sancho's common sense contrasts with Don Quixote's idealism. Earliest documented use: 1870.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sancho.jpg Detail from a painting by Jules David in Histoire de Don Quichotte, 1887 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sancho_large.jpg "Parry wants Lucas to become his Sancho and join him on the quest for the holy grail." Patrick McCormick; The Fisher King; US Catholic (Chicago, Illinois); Nov 2002. -------- Date: Wed Sep 9 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dulcinea X-Bonus: A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (9 Sep 1828-1910) This week's theme: Characters from Don Quixote who became words Dulcinea (duhl-SIN-ee-uh) noun A ladylove or sweetheart. [From Dulcinea del Toboso, the mistress of Don Quixote. The name is derived from Spanish dulce (sweet) from Latin dulce (sweet) which also gave us dulcimer (a musical instrument), billet-doux (love letter), and dolce (softly, as in music direction). Earliest documented use: 1748.] Dulcinea del Toboso, 1839 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dulcinea_large.jpg Art: Charles Robert Leslie (Victoria and Albert Museum) See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dulcinea "Augusta Holland, though five years George Frederic Watts' senior, seems to have been his Dulcinea in the 1840s." Brian Sewell; Why Oblivion is the Right Fate for Watts; Evening Standard (London, UK); Nov 26, 2004. -------- Date: Thu Sep 10 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lothario X-Bonus: Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (10 Sep 1903-1974) This week's theme: Characters from Don Quixote who became words Lothario (lo-THAR-ee-o) noun A man who indiscriminately seduces women. [While the word was popularized after Lothario, a character in the play The Fair Penitent (1703), it first appeared in Don Quixote in which nobleman Anselmo tests his wife's fidelity by recruiting his friend Lothario to seduce her. Earliest documented use: 1756.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/lothario https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lothario_large.jpg Photo: Lori A Stevens https://www.flickr.com/photos/51583948@N02/5730417935/ "Chad Everett played an aging lothario who engages in a steamy audition with a young ingenue*." People; Bozeman Daily Chronicle (Montana); Jul 25, 2012. https://wordsmith.org/words/ingenue.html -------- Date: Fri Sep 11 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rosinante X-Bonus: A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows. -O. Henry, short-story writer (11 Sep 1862-1910) This week's theme: Characters from Don Quixote who became words Rosinante (roz-uh-NAN-tee) noun An old, worn-out horse. [From Rocinante, the name of Don Quixote's horse. Don Quixote took four days to think of a lofty name for his horse, from Spanish rocín (an old horse: nag or hack) + ante (before, in front of). Earliest documented use: 1641.] Don Quixote & Rosinante https://wordsmith.org/words/images/rosinante_large.jpg Photo: M.Peinado https://www.flickr.com/photos/mpeinadopa/3390798842/ "But there was still a second nag, a Rosinante nodding with shut eyelids and drooping knees over the manger, and the saddle hung ready on its pin." R. Campbell Thompson; A Pilgrim's Scrip; John Lane; 1915. -------- Date: Mon Sep 14 00:01:05 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--doryphore X-Bonus: Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, "the greatest", but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is. -Sydney J. Harris, journalist and author (14 Sep 1917-1986) A dandelion has a lion and a shrewd person is like a shrew. And these spellings are no accident. The words are indeed coined after those animals. A dandelion is named from the supposed appearance of its jagged leaves to a lion's teeth (dent de lion). Someone shrewd has qualities of a shrew, a mole-like animal https://wordsmith.org/words/shrew.html (the sense of the word shrewd has shifted over time). This week we'll see five other words that are coined after animals, some that are obvious in their animal roots, others that aren't. doryphore (DOR-uh-for) noun A pedantic or persistent critic. [From French doryphore (Colorado beetle, a potato pest), from Greek doruphoros (spear carrier). The author Harold Nicolson brought the word to English in its current sense. Earliest documented use: 1952.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/doryphore_large.jpg Photo: Roquessolane Sébastien https://www.flickr.com/photos/roxo15/8145364825 "Do you wind everyone up because you are nothing more than a doryphore?" Tom Whitehead; Doryphores Must Keep Away from Dinner Parties; The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland); Oct 25, 2001. -------- Date: Tue Sep 15 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ratty X-Bonus: It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them. -Agatha Christie, author (15 Sep 1890-1976) This week's theme: Words coined after animals ratty (RAT-ee) adjective 1. Of, relating to, or full of rats. 2. Shabby. 3. Irritable; angry. [From Old English raet (rat). Earliest documented use: 1852.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ratty https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ratty_large.jpg Photo: Mick Erwin https://www.flickr.com/photos/mufftrix/14205385502 "A bathing suit so ratty it nearly falls off causes her to buy a new one." Alexandra Owens; Give It Up; Allure (New York); Jul 2013. "Reduced congestion, it seems, does a lot more than soothe ratty drivers." Life Toll; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 15, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Sep 16 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pullulate X-Bonus: Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation. Tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. -Jean Arp, artist and poet (16 Sep 1886-1966) This week's theme: Words coined after animals pullulate (PUHL-yuh-layt) verb intr. 1. To sprout or breed. 2. To swarm or teem. 3. To increase rapidly. [From Latin pullulare (to sprout), from pullulus, diminutive of pullus (chicken, young animal), from Latin pullus (young animal). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pau- (few, little), which is also the source of few, foal, filly, pony, poor, pauper, poco, puerile https://wordsmith.org/words/puerile.html , poltroon https://wordsmith.org/words/poltroon.html , punchinello https://wordsmith.org/words/punchinello.html , and catchpole https://wordsmith.org/words/catchpole.html . Earliest documented use: 1602.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pullulate https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pullulate_large.jpg Photo: Geoff Trotter https://www.flickr.com/photos/geofftrotter/6270766493 "You know less than you think you do. The constant reinforcement of that sorry idea has become a drumbeat under parenting, as advice books of every kind pullulate like toadstools after a storm." Andrew Solomon; Go Play Outside; The New York Times; Dec 14, 2014. -------- Date: Thu Sep 17 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--winkle X-Bonus: What power has love but forgiveness? -William Carlos Williams, poet (17 Sep 1883-1963) This week's theme: Words coined after animals winkle (WING-kuhl) noun: A periwinkle, any of various mollusks with a spiral shell. verb tr.: To extract with effort or difficulty. [For noun: Of uncertain origin. For verb: From the process of extracting a periwinkle from its shell with a pin for eating its meat. Earliest documented use: 1585.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/winkle Mangrove Periwinkle https://wordsmith.org/words/images/winkle_large.jpg Photo: Bob Peterson https://www.flickr.com/photos/pondapple/8367330238/ "Dougherty is a smart, pragmatic but deep-thinking cop who winkles out the truth by virtue of dogged police work." Declan Burke; Intricate Confessions, Historic Skeletons, Heartbreaking Tragedy; Irish Times (Dublin); Aug 29, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Sep 18 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--capriole X-Bonus: Be not too hasty to trust or admire the teachers of morality; they discourse like angels but they live like men. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (18 Sep 1709-1784) This week's theme: Words coined after animals capriole (KAP-ree-ol) noun 1. A playful leap: caper. 2. A leap made by a trained horse involving a backward kick of the hind legs at the top of the leap. [From Middle French capriole (caper) or Italian capriola (leap), from Latin capreolus (goat), diminutive of caper (goat). Earliest documented use: 1580.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/capriole https://wordsmith.org/words/images/capriole_large.jpg Photo: mgstanton https://www.flickr.com/photos/marirn/8846762363/ "This new book, the fattest so far, has a good many such rash half-caprioles of wit." Frank Kermode; Hip Gnosis; The Guardian (London, UK); Oct 12, 2002. "Spectators can watch a horse smaller than 34 inches tall do tricks such as a capriole, an upward leap combined with a backward kick of the hind feet." Martha Ellen; Miniature Horses Featured at Gouverneur & St. Lawrence County Fair; McClatchy-Tribune Business News (Washington, DC); Aug 6, 2011. -------- Date: Mon Sep 21 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kenning X-Bonus: Invention requires an excited mind; execution, a calm one. -Johann Peter Eckermann, poet (21 Sep 1792-1854) This week we are going meta. We'll feature words about words. The English language has plenty of words for things. And it has many words about words as well. As for words about words about words, we're not sure. Maybe we'll have to go to another dimension for that. kenning (KEN-ing) noun A figurative, usually compound, expression used to describe something. For example, whale road for an ocean and oar steed for a ship. [From Old Norse kenna (to know). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gno- (to know), which is also the source of know, recognize, acquaint, ignore, diagnosis, notice, normal, prosopagnosia https://wordsmith.org/words/prosopagnosia.html , gnomon https://wordsmith.org/words/gnomon.html , anagnorisis https://wordsmith.org/words/anagnorisis.html , and agnosia https://wordsmith.org/words/agnosia.html . Earliest documented use: 1320. Kennings were used especially in Old Norse and Old English poetry.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/kenning Whale Road: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/kenning_large.jpg Photo: Wikimedia "The hero, Beewolf (a kenning for bear, named the 'bee wolf' for its plundering of hives), heads to the Golden Hall." John Garth; Monster Munch; New Statesman (London, UK); May 30, 2014. "In the dawn of the English language the earliest poets or scops* invented words like 'battleflash' to describe a sword, or they would identify a boat by its function with a kenning like 'wave-skimmer'." Samuel Hazo; What's in a Name?; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Feb 17, 2008. * https://wordsmith.org/words/scop.html -------- Date: Tue Sep 22 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mot juste X-Bonus: Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket, and do not pull it out and strike it merely to show you have one. If you are asked what o'clock it is, tell it, but do not proclaim it hourly and unasked, like the watchman. -Lord Chesterfield, statesman and writer (22 Sep 1694-1773) This week's theme: Words about words mot juste (mo ZHOOST) noun The right word. [From French mot juste (right word). Earliest documented use: 1896. A related term is bon mot https://wordsmith.org/words/bon_mot.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mot%20juste https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mot_juste_large.png "Bennett Miller is a filmmaker who thinks his way long and hard into each project, and indeed each sentence, always groping for the mot juste." Tim Robey; 'It's a Film About Fathers and Fatherliness'; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Jan 8, 2015. -------- Date: Wed Sep 23 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--holophrasm X-Bonus: Our conscience is not the vessel of eternal verities. It grows with our social life, and a new social condition means a radical change in conscience. -Walter Lippmann, journalist (23 Sep 1889-1974) This week's theme: Words about words holophrasm (HOL-uh-fraz-um) noun 1. A one-word sentence, for example, "Go." 2. A complex idea conveyed in a single word, for example, "Howdy" for "How do you do?" [From Greek holos (whole) + phrasis (speech). Earliest documented use: 1862.] Residents of the village of Harmondsworth, on expansion of Heathrow airport: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/holophrasm_large.jpg Photo: hacan2009 https://www.flickr.com/photos/hacan/3666970579/ "Holophrasms aren't common in English, but any verb in command form can be holophrastic -- Go, Help, Run." Kathryn Schulz; What Part of 'No, Totally' Don't You Understand?; The New Yorker; Apr 7, 2015. -------- Date: Thu Sep 24 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pochismo X-Bonus: In my youth I thought of writing a satire on mankind; but now in my age I think I should write an apology for them. -Horace Walpole, novelist and essayist (24 Sep 1717-1797) This week's theme: Words about words pochismo (po-CHEEZ-mo) noun 1. An English word borrowed into Spanish, often given a Spanish form or spelling, such as mopear (to mop) instead of trapear or limpiar. 2. American customs, attitudes, etc., adopted by a Hispanic in the US and perceived pejoratively by his compatriots. [From Spanish pocho (discolored, faded). Earliest documented use: 1944.] NOTES: Pocho is a derogatory term used by a Hispanic for a fellow countryman living in the US who is perceived to have lost his culture and adopted American attitudes, and speaks Spanglish (Spanish heavily influenced by English). https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pochismo_large.jpg Photo: Raul Pacheco-Vega https://www.flickr.com/photos/rolexpv/7695561178/ "It was not until I was an adult and studying Spanish literature formally at the University of Texas at Austin that I questioned the fine line which designated certain words as pochismos and others as acceptable Spanish." Aida Barrera; Looking for Carrascolendas; University of Texas Press; 2001. -------- Date: Fri Sep 25 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antonomasia X-Bonus: A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others. -William Faulkner, novelist (25 Sep 1897-1962) This week's theme: Words about words antonomasia (an-toh-noh-MAY-zhuh) noun 1. The use of an epithet or title for a proper name, for example, the Bard for Shakespeare. 2. The use of the name of a person known for a particular quality to describe others, such as calling someone brainy an Einstein. Also known as eponym. [From Latin, from Greek antonomazein (to name differently), from anti- (instead of) + onoma (name). Earliest documented use: 1589.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/antonomasia_large.jpg Art: TropicalToad http://www.zazzle.com/william_shakespeare_bard_boy_portrait_t_shirt-235099308709325107 "In Florence, a rich and famous city of Italy, in the province called Tuscany, there dwelt two rich and principal gentlemen called Anselmo and Lothario, which two were so great friends, as they were named for excellency, and by antonomasia, by all those who knew them, the Two Friends." Miguel de Cervantes; Don Quixote of the Mancha. (Translation: Thomas Shelton) "One of my favourites among Obama's tricks was his use of the phrase 'a young preacher from Georgia', when accepting the Democratic nomination this August; he did not name Martin Luther King. The term for the technique is antonomasia. One example from Cicero is the way he refers to Phoenix, Achilles' mentor in the Iliad, as 'senior magister' -- 'the aged teacher'. In both cases, it sets up an intimacy between speaker and audience, the flattering idea that we all know what we are talking about without need for further exposition." Charlotte Higgins; The New Cicero; The Guardian (London, UK); Nov 26, 2008. -------- Date: Mon Sep 28 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dint X-Bonus: A man's life is interesting primarily when he has failed -- I well know. For it is a sign that he has tried to surpass himself. -Georges Clemenceau, statesman (28 Sep 1841-1929) The tinier the point of the needle, the more easily it goes through. The thinner the blade of the sword, the more swiftly it cuts through. Often the same goes for words. A short, potent word helps convey an idea in just a few letters. This week we'll feature a few single-syllable words, and in the spirit of the week's theme, we'll keep this paragraph short. dint (dint) noun: 1. Force, power. 2. A dent. verb tr.: To make a dent or to drive in with force. [From Old English dynt (blow). Earliest documented use: 897.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/dint https://wordsmith.org/words/images/dint_large.jpg Photo: 20th Century Fox "Holding the [water] can with both my hands, I sharply brought it up against a hook. A good dint. I did it again. Another dint next to the first. By dint of dinting, I managed the trick. A pearl of water appeared." Yann Martel; Life of Pi; Knopf; 2001. -------- Date: Tue Sep 29 00:01:03 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--moil X-Bonus: There's no sauce in the world like hunger. -Miguel de Cervantes, novelist (29 Sep 1547-1616) Short words moil (moyl) verb intr.: 1. To work hard; to toil. 2. To churn. verb tr.: To make wet or muddy. noun: 1. Hard work. 2. Confusion or turmoil. [From Old French moillier (to moisten), from Latin mollis (soft). Ultimately from the Indo-European root mel- (soft), which also gave us malt, melt, mollify, smelt, enamel, and schmaltz https://wordsmith.org/words/schmaltz.html . Earliest documented use: 1611.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/moil https://wordsmith.org/words/images/moil_large.jpg Photo: JD Hancock https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/8671399450/ "There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold." Robert W. Service; The Cremation of Sam McGee; 1907. "There I am, look, down there, fighting for air in the heave and moil of the lunchtime working crowd, the only unsuited citizen, wondering which way to go." Giles Coren; Eating Out; The Times (London, UK); Oct 15, 2011. -------- Date: Wed Sep 30 00:01:02 EDT 2015 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--guff X-Bonus: Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -Truman Capote, author (30 Sep 1924-1984) Short words guff (guf) noun 1. Nonsense. 2. Insolent talk. [Perhaps imitative. Earliest documented use: 1825.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/guff https://wordsmith.org/words/images/guff_large.jpg "We're expelling you, Henderson, because of your no-nonsense attitude." Cartoon: Baloo "Management literature is full of guff about how entrepreneurs should embrace failure as a 'learning experience'. But being punched in the face is also a learning experience." Entrepreneurs Anonymous; The Economist (London, UK); Sep 20, 2014.