A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Oct 1 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--deleterious X-Bonus: Persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them from our own minds. -Laura Ingalls Wilder, author (1867-1957) Could you feature more practical words? That's a question we are asked from time to time. While some readers enjoy unusual words, others are looking for words that they consider more usable. Business or pleasure, that's what it comes down to, it seems. Why not mix business with pleasure, I say. Put some of those unusual words to use in your memos, theses, and papers. They just might enliven the prose. With that said, this week we have tried to pick words one would consider more practical. deleterious (del-i-TEER-ee-uhs) adjective Harmful; injurious. [From Greek deleterios (destructive), from deleisthai (to harm).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Petroleum and its products will continue to fetch escalating prices with new and deleterious effects on the world's economies and politics." Mary King; No Business as Usual in Energy; Trinidad and Tobago Express; Jun 25, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Oct 2 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oligarchy X-Bonus: The real measure of our wealth is how much we'd be worth if we lost all our money. -John Henry Jowett, preacher (1864-1923) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. oligarchy (OL-i-gar-kee) noun A government in which a few people control all power. [From Greek oligos (few) + archos (ruler).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "We are dangerously close to creating an oligarchy in this country, whereby we will be governed by a select group of people wearing black robes." Sadie Fields; Candidates' Survey Serves as Helpful Tool; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia); Jul 16, 2004. -------- Date: Wed Oct 3 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--moliminous X-Bonus: Do not be too quick to assume your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he is your enemy because he thinks you are a savage. Or perhaps he is afraid of you because he feels that you are afraid of him. And perhaps if he believed you are capable of loving him he would no longer be your enemy. -Thomas Merton, monk, writer (1915-1968) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. moliminous (mo-LIM-in-uhs) adjective Massive; laborious. [From Latin molimen (effort, weight, importance).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Finding the Christmas shopping moliminous?" Robin Young; I Just Can't Get No Satisdiction; The Times (London, UK); Dec 2, 2003. -------- Date: Thu Oct 4 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lugubrious X-Bonus: We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run. -Roy Amara, engineer, futurist (b. 1925) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. lugubrious (lu-GOO-bree-uhs) adjective Mournful, dismal, especially in an exaggerated or affected manner. [From Latin lugere (to mourn).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Although the program notes characterize the piece as dark and lugubrious, it's actually rather playful and matter-of-fact, a reflection of Russian acceptance of life's inequalities and perils." Roy C. Dicks; Russian Reality (dance review); The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina); Jun 16, 2007. -------- Date: Fri Oct 5 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--multeity X-Bonus: They deem him their worst enemy who tells them the truth. -Plato, philosopher (427-347 BCE) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. multeity (MUL-tee-i-tee) noun Multiplicity. [From Latin multus (much, many).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "When the whole and the parts are seen at once, as mutually producing and explaining each other, as unity in multeity, there results shapeliness." Samuel Taylor Coleridge; 1821. -------- Date: Mon Oct 8 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gravamen X-Bonus: O wad some Power the giftie gie us / To see oursels as ithers see us! (Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us.) -Robert Burns, poet (1759-1796) My maternal grandfather was a lawyer. When he and my grandmother had a little tiff, she would sometimes say, "Go tell your lies in court." They would soon make up, but a statement like that is perhaps an occupational hazard to any married lawyer. A lawyer's reputation for fine analysis of words is well-deserved. The outcome of a case often depends on the precise meaning of a single word. No wonder lawyers are deeply interested in words. Almost all the staff members of some law offices are AWAD subscribers. Many lawyers are well-known novelists and authors of books on language usage. This week we look at terms from the world of law. gravamen (gra-VAY-muhn) noun [plural gravamens or gravamina (-VAM-uh-nuh)] The essence or the most serious part of an accusation. [From Latin gravamen (trouble, grievance), from gravare (to burden or to weigh upon).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The gravamen of James's charge against Flaubert is that he created no characters of sufficiently deep consciousness." Joseph Epstein; Writer's Block: A French Misconnection; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Mar 31, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Oct 9 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--force majeure X-Bonus: If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. -William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757-1827) This week's theme: terms from law. force majeure (fors ma-ZHOOR) noun 1. An unforeseeable and uncontrollable event (for example, a war or a strike) that exempts a party from a contract. 2. Superior force. [From French, literally superior force.] A related term is vis major (Latin for superior force) that is used to refer to an act of God (for example, a flood or an earthquake) that excuses one from fulfilling a contract. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "During the half year to June, Sebuku produced 1.5 million tonnes of coal as record rain in the second quarter restrained mine production, and force majeure was declared." Straights Wants Second Kalimantan Asset; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Sep 28, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Oct 10 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--per stirpes X-Bonus: Oh, the comfort -- the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person -- having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. -Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, poet and novelist (1826-1887) This week's theme: terms from law. per stirpes (pur-STUR-peez) noun A method of dividing an estate in which each branch of the descendants of a deceased person receives an equal share. [From Latin, literally "by roots" or "by stocks".] An example would be helpful. A man has three children A, B, and C, and at the time of his death, only A and B are alive. Per stirpes division of the property means that A receives one third, B receives one third, and the final one third share is equally divided among C's children. A different way to divide an estate is per capita (by heads) where each person receives equal share irrespective of how far down he or she lies in the family tree. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "When adding children [as beneficiaries in a will], beware the following trap: One child dies before you do and the whole IRA [Individual Retirement Account] goes to the others, meaning you've stiffed the offspring of the deceased child and possibly created a legal or family mess. You can avoid this (as well as avoid cutting out a child or grandchild born between the time you revise a form and your death) by using 'to my descendants per stirpes.'" Neil Weinberg and Matthew Swibel; Protect Your IRA; Forbes (New York); Nov 25, 2002. -------- Date: Thu Oct 11 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--venireman X-Bonus: Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) This week's theme: terms from law. venireman (vi-NY-ree-muhn) noun A person summoned as a prospective juror. [From Latin venire (to come), truncation of the term venire facias ("you should cause to come", directing a sheriff to summon people to serve as jurors) + man.] Here are two related terms, often used interchangeably: venire: the panel of prospective jurors venire facias: the writ asking an official to summon a jury -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Nearly every venireman wanted to join the jury, if for no other reason than that it appeared to offer a front-row seat for the proceedings." Edward J. Larson; Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial And America's Continuing Debate over Science And Religion; Basic Books; 2006. -------- Date: Fri Oct 12 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stare decisis X-Bonus: Men hate those to whom they have to lie. -Victor Hugo, poet, novelist, and dramatist (1802-1885) This week's theme: terms from law. stare decisis (STAYR-ee di-SY-sis, STAR-) noun The legal principle of following precedents in deciding a case, the idea that future decisions of a court should follow the example set by the prior decisions. [Latin for "let the decision stand".] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'The court (and, I think, the country) loses when important precedent is overruled without good reason, and there is no justification for departure from our usual rule of stare decisis here,' Justice David H. Souter wrote." Robert Barnes; 5-4 Supreme Court Weakens Curbs on Pre-Election TV Ads; Washington Post; Jun 26, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Oct 15 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--archon X-Bonus: It is said that a rogue does not look you in the face, neither does an honest man look at you as if he had his reputation to establish. I have seen some who did not know when to turn aside their eyes in meeting yours. A truly confident and magnanimous spirit is wiser than to contend for the mastery in such encounters. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) How would you describe someone who has risen up and become a manager? Embossed! The word boss has its origins in Dutch (from baas: master, foreman), but there are several homonyms of the word. Is your boss a timid manager, or a bungler, or ... ? Depending on how your boss runs the show, you apply one of these alternative meanings: 1. boss: a calf or a cow. That's where Bossy, a familiar name for a cow, comes from. (From English dialect borse/boss/buss: a six-month-old calf) 2. boss: a protuberance or swelling on the body of an animal or plant This is where the word emboss comes from. (From Old French boce) 3. boss-eyed, adjective: cross-eyed or squint-eyed. (origin uncertain) 4. boss, verb: to bungle. (origin uncertain) Why refer to your supervisor just as a plain old boss? On National Boss Day (Oct 16), why not use a more colorful word from this week's selection? archon (AHR-kon) noun A high official or ruler. [From Latin archon, from Greek arkhon (magistrate), from arkhein (to be first, to rule). An archon was one of the nine principal magistrates in ancient Athens.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Nick Sylvester, editor of The Harvard Lampoon calls James Murphy 'The supreme eminent archon of dance.'" Tammy la Gorce; From Sulking Teenager to the King of Disco-Punk; The New York Times; May 22, 2005. -------- Date: Tue Oct 16 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pasha X-Bonus: I may be a despicable person, but when Truth speaks through me I am invincible. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) This week's theme: words for bosses, officials, and leaders. pasha (PA-shuh, PASH-uh, puh-SHAH) noun A person of high rank or importance. [From Turkish pasa, from Persian padshah, from pati (master) + shah (king). Pasha was used as a title of high-ranking officials in the Ottoman Empire.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The rise and rise of Ajay Bijli as the pasha of Indian multiplexes is born out of his passion for motion pictures." Moinak Mitra & Shubham Mukherjee; Sundowner with Ajay Bijli; The Economic Times (New Delhi, India); Oct 6, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Oct 17 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fugleman X-Bonus: The most futile thing in this world is any attempt, perhaps, at exact definition of character. All individuals are a bundle of contradictions -- none more so than the most capable. -Theodore Dreiser, author (1871-1945) This week's theme: words for bosses, officials, and leaders. fugleman (FYOO-guhl-muhn) noun One who leads a group, company, or party. [From German Flügelmann (flank man), from Flügel (wing) + Mann (man). A fugleman was once a soldier placed usually on a flank during drill to serve as a guide for his company.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[Mencken] was trying single-handedly to drag American culture out of Puritanism and into the twentieth century, to act as fugleman on this side of the Atlantic for a literary and artistic renaissance comparable to the one then taking place on the other side." Jonathan Yardley; The Sage of Baltimore; The Atlantic Monthly (New York); Dec 2002. -------- Date: Thu Oct 18 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vizier X-Bonus: Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now -- always. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965) This week's theme: words for bosses, officials, and leaders. vizier (vi-ZEER, VIZ-yuhr) noun A high official. [From Turkish vezir, from Arabic wazir (minister).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In fact, poor Jeff Immelt, the grand vizier of all General Electric, gets only $15 million, plus perks." Mark Drought; Love of Money is the Root of All Evil; East Texas Review; Oct 9, 2007; -------- Date: Fri Oct 19 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hierarch X-Bonus: What men call social virtues, good fellowship, is commonly but the virtue of pigs in a litter, which lie close together to keep each other warm. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) This week's theme: words for bosses, officials, and leaders. hierarch (HY-uh-rark) noun A high-ranking person. [From Latin hierarcha, from Greek hierarkhes (high priest), from hieros (sacred) + arkhes (ruling), from arkhein (to be first, to rule).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "But the sense among delegates at Blackpool is good, the party hierarchs are pleased - and the press has been kind." Martin Kettle; Good in Parts; The Guardian (London, UK); Oct 3, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Oct 22 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--famulus X-Bonus: A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobelist (1875-1965) A reader wrote: Dear Anu, Some time ago I wrote to ask if there was a word in any language for a parent who has lost a child. My husband and I lost our son in the insane war in Iraq. You sent me a kind reply saying no. I am submitting this Pennsylvania-Dutch word, zeitlang, I found in the paper: http://ap.lancasteronline.com/4/pa_exchange_amish_shooting I shared it with some other Gold Star families who liked the word and description. Yesterday was Gold Star Mothers Day*. I hate it. Everyone in the family is suffering, not just the mother. I like the sound of this Pennsylvania-Dutch word, perhaps because of my German heritage. So my family, my brothers and sisters in sorrow and I remain forever zeitlangers. Sincerely, Diane Davis Santoriello Proud mother of 1st Lt. Neil A. Santoriello KIA 9-13-04 (dianesantoriello at hotmail.com) The English language has the largest vocabulary of any language but there are moments when all those hundreds of thousands of words in a dictionary might as well be random scribblings with little meaning. We can't find a single word to describe what tugs at our hearts. Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German spoken by 17/18th century migrants from south Germany and Switzerland who had settled in Pennsylvania. The word Dutch here is a variant spelling of Deutsch (German language). Zeitlang in German means "a while" (from Zeit: time + lang: long). The sense mentioned in the newspaper article is not found in German, but that doesn't mean one can't extend it. After all, that's one of the ways a language grows. And what good is a language if it can't give voice to our deepest sorrows and joys? This week we'll see a few words that do exist, words that make us say, "I didn't know there was a word for it." * Last Sunday in September: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Star_Mothers_Club famulus (FAM-yuh-luhs) noun An assistant, especially to a magician or a scholar. [From Latin famulus (servant).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "But now television is trying to coolify magic by ridding it of its associations with slimeballs in sequined suits, assisted by a mute famulus bedecked in feathers, mascara, and an inane grin, together partaking in a mindless ritual of sawing, stabbing, and vanishing." Victor Lewis-Smith; Don't Shoot, This is Live; The Evening Standard (London, UK); Oct 6, 2003. -------- Date: Tue Oct 23 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--caruncle X-Bonus: In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) This week's theme: There is a word for it. caruncle (KAR-ung-kuhl) noun A fleshy growth, such as a rooster's comb. [From Latin caruncula (small piece of flesh), diminutive of caro (flesh). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sker- (to cut) that is also the source of skirt, curt, screw, shard, shears, carnage, carnivorous, carnation, sharp, and scrape.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Some turkeys feint, some scream, some just shake their caruncles." Barry Janoff; Why Turkeys Use Fowl Language; Brandweek (New York); Apr 4, 2005. -------- Date: Wed Oct 24 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lexiphanes X-Bonus: They laughed when I said I was going to be a comedian. They're not laughing now. -Bob Monkhouse, comedian (1928-2003) This week's theme: There is a word for it. lexiphanes (lex-SIF-uh-neez) noun One who uses words pretentiously. [From Greek lexiphanes (phrase monger), from lexis (word or phrase) + -phaneia (to show).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The danger is in becoming so seduced by the lexiconic that we become lexiphanes. There's no excuse for indulging in the bombastic at any time, of course." Murray Waldren; That's Language; The Australian (Sydney); Jul 16, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Oct 25 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dewclaw X-Bonus: It is not giving children more that spoils them; it is giving them more to avoid confrontation. -John Gray, author (b. 1951) This week's theme: There is a word for it. dewclaw (DOO-klaw, DYOO-) noun A small claw not reaching the ground, on the foot of some animals. [Origin uncertain, perhaps from the fact that other claws touch the ground, but a dewclaw only brushes the dew on the grass. A related term is dewlap, a loose fold of skin hanging under the neck of an animal such as a cow.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Dog lovers need to keep an eye on dewclaws and remember to keep the nails trimmed." Gina Spadafori; Beware of Halloween Hazards for Animals; The Sacramento Bee (California); Oct 28, 2006. -------- Date: Fri Oct 26 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nosism X-Bonus: The greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, and to some extent even antibiotic -- in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea -- known to medical science is work. -Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry (b. 1920) This week's theme: There is a word for it. nosism (NO-siz-em) noun The use of 'we' in referring to oneself. [From Latin nos (we).] As it's often used by editors, it's also known as the "editorial we". It's also called "the royal we" owing to its frequent use by royalty. Mark Twain once said, "Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we'." -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "We must avoid both egoism and nosism in order to realize the glory of humanity." J. Odera Oruka; Philosophy, Humanity and Ecology; Diane Publishing; 1996. -------- Date: Mon Oct 29 00:01:09 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--verjuice X-Bonus: To a poet, silence is an acceptable response, even a flattering one. -Colette, author (1873-1954) There are times when we have to eat our words, and that's never pleasant. But this week's words are all edible and potable (from Latin edere: to eat, and potare: to drink). Some describe food, others are used metaphorically, and in some cases, the food origin is hidden in the etymology. And we have quite a varied menu. We serve words from French, Latin, Italian, and Greek. Bon appétit! verjuice (VUHR-joos) noun The sour juice of unripe grapes, crab apples, etc. adjective Sour in temper. [From French verjus, from vert (green) + jus (juice).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Then, leaning forward with a most verjuice expression on his pale face, he said, `Give that gentleman half a minute to get out of the way.'" Charlotte Brontë; Tales of Angria; 1834. -------- Date: Tue Oct 30 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jentacular X-Bonus: That is a good book which is opened with expectation, and closed with delight and profit. -Amos Bronson Alcott, teacher and author (1799-1888) This week's theme: words related to food. jentacular (jen-TAK-yuh-luhr) adjective Relating to breakfast. [From Latin jentare (to breakfast).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The Gentleman loved to hold that crackling rectangle in front of his face (folded, of course, into courteous fourths), loved the slant of the jentacular sun, the slightly acrid odor of the newsprint, the snappy headlines." Michael Griffith; Bibliophilia: A Novella and Stories; Arcade Publishing; 2003. -------- Date: Wed Oct 31 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cibarious X-Bonus: Every man's memory is his private literature. -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963) This week's theme: words related to food. cibarious (si-BAR-ee-uhs) adjective 1. Relating to food. 2. Edible. [From Latin cibus (food).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In the flow of these exquisite sentences Mary was giving a cibarious concentration to the greasy menu card. 'Yes, they've got ravioli.'" Wanda Fraiken Neff; We Sing Diana; Houghton Mifflin; 1928.