A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Nov 1 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--wimple X-Bonus: A man said to the universe: "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." -Stephen Crane, writer (1 Nov 1871-1900) This week's theme: Is it a noun, adjective, or verb? wimple (WIM-puhl) noun: 1. A covering worn around the head and neck by women in medieval times and by some nuns. 2. A fold, wrinkle, or pleat. 3. A curve, bend, or twist. verb tr.: 1. To cover. 2. To cause something to bend or ripple. verb intr.: 1. To form folds. 2. To meander or ripple. [From Old English wimpel. Ultimately from the Indo-European root weip- (to turn or tremble), which also gave us wipe, whip, vibrate, waif, and waive. Earliest documented use: before 1150, for verb: 1225.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/wimple "Portrait of a Woman", 1430-1435 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/wimple_large.jpg Art: Robert Campin "I sit / with hands folded, by a pond, a pool, wimpled by unknowing. Kathleen Ossip; The Do-Over; Sarabande; 2015. "The gray cobbles ... wimpled like the pebbles beneath the surface of a brook." William Faulkner; A Fable; Random House; 1954. -------- Date: Thu Nov 2 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sojourn X-Bonus: Our cemeteries are full of people who prayed to live. -Annie Laurie Gaylor, freethinker and activist (b. 2 Nov 1955) This week's theme: Is it a noun, adjective, or verb? sojourn (SO-juhrn, for verb: SO-juhrn or so-JUHRN) verb intr.: To stay in a place temporarily. noun: A temporary stay. [From Old French surjurner (to stay temporarily), from Latin subdiurnare (to spend the day), from sub (under) + diurnum (day). Earliest documented use: 1325, for verb: 1290.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sojourn https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sojourn_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "In his book about his American sojourn, 'America Against America', which was published in 1991, Mr Wang noted that if a political system failed to devise a way of transferring power, it would be hard for that country 'to enjoy enduring and stable political order'." Thinker-in-Chief; The Economist (London, UK); Feb 12, 2022. "Staying in an Airbnb rental may be only marginally less expensive than sojourning in a hotel." Erica Alini; Airbnb Prices Comparable to Hotels; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Aug 15, 2022. -------- Date: Fri Nov 3 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--high-grade X-Bonus: The sons of torture victims make good terrorists. -Andre Malraux, novelist, adventurer, art historian, and statesman (3 Nov 1901-1976) This week's theme: Is it a noun, adjective, or verb? high-grade (hy-grayd) adjective: Of high quality, amount, or degree. verb tr.: To steal, especially by taking high-quality parts from something. [From high, from Old English heah + grade, from French grade, from Latin gradus (degree). Earliest documented use: 1826, for verb: 1904.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/high-grade NOTES: Working in mines is hazardous, back-breaking work with poor wages. Some miners at the time this word became verbed didn't feel any qualms about pocketing high-grade ore. Over time the term generalized to any instance of taking high-quality products from a place leaving lower-quality products behind, for example, in fishing, logging, etc. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/high-grade_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "As we high-graded shrimp out of the stir-fry and then downed a quart of mint-chip ice cream, I see Kenny's boyish grin unleashed from its constantly niggling awareness of his lesser status in my life." Lee Goodman; Indefensible; Atria; 2014. "Even now, the men high-graded the best cuts of meat from whatever animal, fish, or bird they caught and threw the rest carelessly into the bush around the cabin." Hap Wilson; Dance of the Deadmen; FriesenPress; 2019. -------- Date: Mon Nov 6 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gleek X-Bonus: I don't think that combat has ever been written about truthfully; it has always been described in terms of bravery and cowardice. I won't even accept these words as terms of human reference any more. And anyway, hell, they don't even apply to what, in actual fact, modern warfare has become. -James Jones, novelist (6 Nov 1921-1977) Finding unusual, new, whimsical, I-didn't-know-there-was-a-word-for-it kind of words is delightful. But that's only half the story. The other is usage. A word just sitting between the sheets of a dictionary, waiting, can be restless. A word wants to be manipulated. "Use me," it says. "Like I'm your servant." "Play with me." I dive into magazines, newspapers, books, websites, and more, chasing words down to see what they are up to. I watch their antics, admiring their wordplay and whatever new positions they come up with. This week I have selected five usage examples that are more than functional. They illustrate the usage of words, but they do it in such a playful manner. gleek (gleek) noun: 1. A jest or trick. 2. A stream of saliva. verb tr., intr.: 1. To play a trick. 2. To discharge a stream of saliva, especially from under the tongue. [Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1540.] How to gleek: https://www.howcast.com/videos/311095-how-to-gleek "I have seen you gleeking and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice." William Shakespeare; Henry V; 1623. "It feels as if God is gleeking his holy saliva onto my face when I use ["Apple Brightening Mist, $16.69"] to cool down after a workout." Aimee Heckel; End of Summer Might Be Approaching, But Style Always Matters; The Daily Camera (Boulder, Colorado); Aug 2, 2013. -------- Date: Tue Nov 7 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gowpen X-Bonus: Don't wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day. -Albert Camus, writer and philosopher (7 Nov 1913-1960) This week's theme: Creative usage examples gowpen (GAU-puhn) noun Two hands cupped together. [From Old Norse gaupn (cupped hands). Earliest documented use: 1325.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gowpen_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "When a human body is drained of its broths and filled again with formaldehyde and salts, or unguents and aromatic oils, and pranked up in its holiday best and laid out in a satin-lined airtight stainless steel coffin and stowed in a leakproof concrete vault -- I will know that if no fellow-creatures can pry their way in to do the underdigging and jiggling and earthing over and mating and egg laying and birthing forth, then the most that can come to pass will be centuries-long whithering down to a gowpen of dead dust, and not ever the crawling of new life out of the old, which is what we have for eternity on earth." Galway Kinnell; The Quick and The Dead; The New Yorker; Dec 25, 2000. -------- Date: Wed Nov 8 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fractal X-Bonus: Your voice dries up if you don't use it. -Patti Page, singer (8 Nov 1927-2013) This week's theme: Creative usage examples fractal (FRAK-tuhl) noun: Something, such as a shape, curve, pattern, etc., where smaller parts have the same characteristics. adjective: Having the form or qualities of a fractal. [Coined by the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot (1924-2010) from Latin fractus (broken), from frangere (to break). Earliest documented use: 1975.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/fractal https://wordsmith.org/words/images/fractal.gif Image: Cuddlyable3 / Wikimedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kochsim2.gif "After all, it's impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on, ad infinitum." Nate White; Why Do Many British People Not Like Donald Trump? https://londondaily.com/british-writer-pens-the-best-description-of-trump-i-ve-read https://twitter.com/CalltoActivism/status/1698783758072140040 -------- Date: Thu Nov 9 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--glabella X-Bonus: In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (9 Nov 1934-1996) This week's theme: Creative usage examples glabella (gluh-BEL-uh) noun, plural glabellae (-BEL-ee) The area between the eyebrows, just above the nose. [From Latin glabellus (hairless), diminutive of glaber (smooth). Earliest documented use: 1823.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/glabella Jake Tapper's glabella makes an omega sign https://wordsmith.org/words/images/glabella.gif Image: GQ https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/television/GQ-breaks-down-Jake-Tappers-WTF-Face.html "'Kiss my glabella,' she said. 'Sure.' 'That's not my glabella, silly, but, mmm, mmm, go ahead. I like that too. The glabella is the spot between my eyebrows.' 'Not in America it ain't.'" Curt Leviant; Zix Zexy Ztories; Texas Tech University Press; 2012. "My favorite Jake Tapper WTF Face is the one where ... his glabella [forms] a very satisfying omega sign." Stephanie Taffy Brodesser-Akner and Lauren Larson; The Realest Face in "Fake News"; GQ (New York); May 2017. -------- Date: Fri Nov 10 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--diachrony X-Bonus: It is criminal to steal a purse, daring to steal a fortune, a mark of greatness to steal a crown. The blame diminishes as the guilt increases. -Johan Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, poet and dramatist (10 Nov 1759-1805) This week's theme: Creative usage examples diachrony (dy-AK-ruh-nee) noun Change occurring over a period of time. [From Greek dia- (through) + chronos (time). Earliest documented use: 1939. Contrasted with synchrony.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/diachrony "It was a violence, a terrible intrusion in the succession of moments, a clot in diachrony." China Miéville; Iron Council; Del Rey; 2004. "I also like to stand in the philosophy aisle, a thicket of the world's most impenetrable prose. I don't know why, but reading a few lines of Bakhtin, Bataille, Heidegger, or Derrida makes me hungry. I love to pull out a book and read a sentence that, try as I might, I simply cannot understand. For example: '[Heidegger] has initiated a vocabulary which deconstruction can appropriate and revise for the sake of disarticulating a notion of eventhood whose temporality has been eschatologically hypostasized and thereby fixed in an Aristotelian diachrony of self-contained moments.'"* Michelle Huneven; Food for Starving Artists, Writers; Los Angeles Times; Aug 2, 1991. Please do not email us for the meaning of that sentence. Few are worthy of such esoteric knowledge. OK, we said that because we don't understand it ourselves. But in good conscience we can't leave you stranded and uninformed. So we recruited AI to explain it. Enjoy: https://wordsmith.org/words/diachrony2.html -Anu Garg -------- Date: Mon Nov 13 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--angary X-Bonus: Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences. -Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, essayist, and poet (13 Nov 1850-1894) Over the history of humanity, speakers of one language have often run into speakers of another. Sometimes they've done so journeying in search of the juiciest mangoes or the most fragrant cardamoms. Or gold. Other times, their quests have been driven by a thirst for knowledge in fields like mathematics, astronomy, or philosophy. They've ventured to hidden corners of the earth and sought the timeless wisdom whispered by the ages. They have also made business trips for expanding their property portfolios by adding countries wholesale. Call them real estate enthusiasts or Alexander the Great. Or war criminals. Whatever the reason, when two languages meet, they often trade words. With time some of these words become adopted and naturalized, blending seamlessly into the adopting language. As the years pass, these words may then be passed down to another language, and then another, in a fascinating linguistic relay. I refer to these as well-traveled words -- words that have journeyed from one language to another, eventually gracing the lexicon of the English language. Today's word, for example, has reached us via four different linguistic ancestors. This week, we'll delve into such well-traveled words. angary (ANG-guh-ree) also angaria (ang-GAR-ee-uh) noun The right of a warring nation to seize the property, for example, ships, of a neutral country, provided compensation is paid. [From French angarie (imposition), from Latin angaria (forced service), from Greek angareia (impressment for public service), from Persian hamkara (herald). Earliest documented use: 1880.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/angary_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "I had some substantive work -- a memorandum on the right of angary; the US early in 1941 impounded and took over numerous ships in American ports." Leonard C. Meeker; Experiences; Xlibris; 2007. -------- Date: Tue Nov 14 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--serenade X-Bonus: The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and the preservation of vested interests. -Jawaharlal Nehru, freedom fighter and the first Prime Minister of India (14 Nov 1889-1964) This week's theme: Well-traveled words serenade (ser-uh-NAYD) noun: 1. A love song sung directly to one's love interest. 2. A composition for such a performance. verb tr.: To sing such a song. [From French sérénade, from Italian serenata, from sereno (serene), from Latin serenus (calm). Earliest documented use: 1649.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/serenade NOTES: One of the best examples of a serenade is Mozart's Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, commonly known as "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik". Traditionally, serenades are performed in the evening, often under the windows of one's love interest. If the object of your love is a morning person, we recommend singing an aubade https://wordsmith.org/words/aubade.html , the morning equivalent. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/serenade_large.jpg Art: Theo Michael https://artbytheomichael.com/products/fine-art-print-serenade "Fans serenaded their team bus through the streets after a recent win against Asante Ko to ko, their great rivals. 'Never say die', runs their motto, 'until the bones are rotten.'" Own Goals; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 16, 2018. "What is the sound of a thousand dolphins? ... It's like being serenaded by a chorus of dentist's drills." Kennedy Warne; South Africa's Teeming Seas; National Geographic; Dec 2009. -------- Date: Wed Nov 15 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Zion X-Bonus: He who, when called upon to speak a disagreeable truth, tells it boldly and has done, is both bolder and milder than he who nibbles in a low voice and never ceases nibbling. -Johann Kaspar Lavater, poet, writer, philosopher (15 Nov 1741-1801) This week's theme: Well-traveled words Zion or Sion (ZY-uhn or SY-uhn) noun 1. Utopia. 2. Heaven. 3. The collective term for the Jewish people. 4. The religious and cultural practices and beliefs of Judaism. 5. A reference to the nation of Israel, especially in a historical or religious context. [From Old English Sion, from Latin Sion, from Greek Seion, from Hebrew Siyon. Historically, Zion refers to one of the hills on which Jerusalem was built thus holding significant religious and cultural importance in Judaism. Earliest documented use: c. 450 CE.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Zion Mount Zion https://flickr.com/photos/kyletaylor/4261534587/ Photo: Kyle Taylor https://flickr.com/photos/kyletaylor/4261534587/ "I'd say: Pain -- whether our own pain, or learning of someone else's -- is a Zion. It's the place our wisest teacher lives." Natashia Deon; Lessons in Our Painful History; Los Angeles Times; Nov 2, 2021. -------- Date: Thu Nov 16 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--assassin X-Bonus: It has always seemed to me that the test of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised. -Chinua Achebe, writer and professor (16 Nov 1930-2013) This week's theme: Well-traveled words assassin (uh-SAS-in) noun A person who kills someone important, especially for political or ideological reasons. [From French assassin, from Latin assassinus, from Arabic hashshashin (hashish user). The word arose from the myth that members of the Nizari sect killed under the influence of hashish. Earliest documented use: 1340.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/assassin "Et tu Brute (Death of Caesar)", 1888, depicting Julius Caesar and Marcus Brutus, one of his assassins https://wordsmith.org/words/images/assassin_large.jpg Art: William Holmes Sullivan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_tu,_Brute%3F#/media/File:Et_tu,_version.jpg "I'm a hired assassin, I carry a tommy gun in a violin case! ... They call me Killer, Killer Wingfield, I'm leading a double-life, a simple, honest warehouse worker by day, by night a dynamic czar of the underworld, Mother." Tennessee Williams; The Glass Menagerie; 1944. -------- Date: Fri Nov 17 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aprosexia X-Bonus: Through others, we become ourselves. -Lev Vygotsky, psychologist (17 Nov 1896-1934) This week's theme: Well-traveled words aprosexia (ap-ruh-SEK-see-uh) noun The inability to concentrate. [From Latin aprosexia, from Dutch aprosexia, from Greek prosekhein (to turn one's attention). Earliest documented use: 1889.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/aprosexia_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "He was exhausted by the effort of concentration. ... The doctors suspected he had simulated the symptoms of aprosexia in order to be declared medically unfit." Paul Colize (Translation: Louise Rogers Lalaurie); Back Up; Point Blank; 2018. -------- Date: Mon Nov 20 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--monosemous X-Bonus: The truth isn't always beauty, but the hunger for it is. -Nadine Gordimer, novelist, Nobel laureate (20 Nov 1923-2014) Words are cheap -- it's action that counts. In this world full of do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do, there are some that practice what they preach. I'm talking about self-referential words. Also known as autological or self-descriptive words. Whatever you call them, such words, like such people, are a rarity. "Monosyllabic" is a hypocrite (mon-uh-si-LAB-ik: five syllables: 5!), while its cousin "polysyllabic" knows the importance of keeping one's word. The word "brief", is brief, just one syllable. Maybe "hyphenated" and "non-hyphenated" can learn something, both of which are the opposite of what they claim to be. What self-referential words have you come across? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/monosemous.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org (include your location: city, state). monosemous (mon-uh-SEE-muhs) adjective Having only one meaning. [From Greek mono- (one) + sema (sign). Earliest documented use: 1975.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/monosemous The Monosemous Express: It stops only at one station. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/monosemous_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "[R]eason is confined to a monosemous logic, and the most sensible people choose their actions based on cause-and-effect calculations." Daniel Saldaña París; Among Strange Victims; Coffee House Press; 2016. -------- Date: Tue Nov 21 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--double-barreled X-Bonus: Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do. -Voltaire, philosopher (21 Nov 1694-1778) This week's theme: Self-referential words double-barreled (duhb-uhl BAR-uhld) adjective 1. Having two barrels mounted side by side, as in a gun. 2. Having two parts, purposes, impacts, etc. [From double, from Old French duble/doble (double), from Latin duplus (twofold), from duo (two) + barrel, from Old French baril, from Latin barriclus (small cask). Earliest documented use: 1709.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/double-barreled NOTES: Should you get a double-barreled name? Here's some perspective from around the world: Australian https://harpersbazaar.com.au/celebrities-with-double-barrelled-surnames/ British https://www.countrylife.co.uk/luxury/everything-know-getting-double-barrelled-name-172318 German https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/germany-double-barrelled-named-rules-b2305776.html New Zealand https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/76257451/should-you-give-your-child-a-double-barrelled-surname What are your thoughts? Do you have a double-barreled name? How has it been treating you? A triple- or quadruple-barreled name? Have you blended two or more names https://wordsmith.org/words/hermaphrodite.html? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/double-barreled.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/double-barreled_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "She has a past as a spoiled rich girl and a double-barreled surname to go along with it." Maya Corrigan; The Tell-Tale Tarte; Kensington Books; 2017. -------- Date: Wed Nov 22 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--exolete X-Bonus: What loneliness is more lonely than distrust? -George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans), novelist (22 Nov 1819-1880) This week's theme: Self-referential words exolete (EK-suh-leet, ek-suh-LEET) adjective 1. Obsolete. 2. Stale. 3. Faded. [From Latin exoletus , past participle of exolescere (to be obsolete), from ex- (out) + -olescere (to grow). Earliest documented use: 1611.] NOTES: The latest usage of this word we were able to find is from 1689, more than 300 years ago. The word exolete is exolete. Save the word! Put it to use in your letters, blogs, memos, contracts, and novels. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/exolete_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "I have declaimed so vehemently against the use of exolete and interpolated repetitions of old fables in poetry." Abraham Cowley (Translation: Nahum Tate); Six Books of Plants; Charles Harper; 1689. -------- Date: Thu Nov 23 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pentasyllabic X-Bonus: To seek understanding before taking action, yet to trust my instincts when action is called for. Never to avoid danger from fear, never to seek out danger for its own sake. Never to conform to fashion from fear of eccentricity, never to be eccentric from fear of conformity. -Steven Brust, novelist (b. 23 Nov 1955) This week's theme: Self-referential words pentasyllabic (pen-tuh-si-LAB-ik) adjective Having five syllables. [From Greek penta- (five) + syllabic, from syllabe (syllable). Earliest documented use: 1771.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pentasyllabic NOTES: The word fifteen-lettered has 15 letters and seventeen-lettered has 17. The word odd has an odd number of letters, while even has an even number of letters. There's still some truth and justice in this world! https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pentasyllabic_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "Of course, 'Chinese restaurant' is pentasyllabic! Was even rash enough to take out notebook to record idea." Peter Burt; Confessions; Lulu; 2014. -------- Date: Fri Nov 24 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--back-form X-Bonus: People rarely win wars; governments rarely lose them. -Arundhati Roy, author (b. 24 Nov 1961) This week's theme: Self-referential words back-form (BAK-form) verb tr. To make a word by dropping an apparent affix from a longer word. [Back-formation from back-formation.Earliest documented use: 1911.] NOTES: The word "make" has been with us from at least 1150. We later added the suffix "-er" to make "maker" (from 1297). Had "maker" come first, and we made "make" from it by removing a part, that would be a back-formation. To back-form is to coin a new word (usually a verb) by removing an actual or supposed affix from another word (usually a noun). Examples: the verb burgle, formed from the noun burglar the verb emote, formed from the noun emotion the verb vacuum clean, formed from the noun vacuum cleaner The word "back-form" itself is back-formed from "back-formation". https://wordsmith.org/words/images/back-form_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "The verb edit was back-formed from editor." R.M.W. Dixon; Making New Words; Oxford University Press; 2014. -------- Date: Mon Nov 27 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--liaise X-Bonus: A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment's life -- that's me. -Harivansh Rai Bachchan, poet (27 Nov 1907-2003) Which came first liaison or liaise? That's easy to answer. The noun liaison has been with us since the early 1800s. The verb liaise popped out some 100 years later. This process of forming words by removing a part (an actual or supposed affix) from an existing word is known as back-formation. This week we'll see five words formed by this process. That out of the way, let's ponder weightier questions in life, such as: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Well, an egg doesn't come just like that. As these things go, most likely some fowl play happened. Whichever came first, the rooster would take credit for it either way. Discuss on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/liaise.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Include your location (city, state). For extra credit, discuss which came first: The seed or the plant? Humans or gods? Man or woman? liaise (lee-AYZ) verb intr. 1. To establish a connection with someone in a different group or organization for purposes of working together, coordinating efforts, exchanging information, etc. 2. To act as a link between two or more parties. [Back-formation from liaison, from French liaison, from Latin ligation (binding), from ligare (to bind). The word rose to prominence as British military slang during WWII. Earliest documented use: 1928.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/liaise https://wordsmith.org/words/images/liaise_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "When they'd first liaised, Royston had been a little scared of this strong, fiery, extremely attractive woman, who'd been all probing questions and serious faces." Mat Blackwell; Beef; Lulu; 2016. -------- Date: Tue Nov 28 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jerry-build X-Bonus: One law for the lion and ox is oppression. -William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (28 Nov 1757-1827) This week's theme: Back-formations jerry-build (JER-ee-bild) verb tr. To build cheaply and sloppily. [Back-formation from jerry-built. Further derivation unknown. Earliest documented use: 1832.] NOTES: Do not confuse jerry-build with jury-rig https://wordsmith.org/words/jury-rig.html (to fix something using whatever is at hand). Some have even coined a third term, jerry-rig, most likely a blend of jerry-build + jury-rig. Where to use which one? jerry-build: when you do something cheaply and sloppily jury-rig: when you do something in a makeshift or temporary manner due to lack of proper time or materials jerry-rig: when you are neither a rocket scientist nor a brain surgeon, yet are called upon to do brain surgery aboard a rocket See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/jerry-build https://wordsmith.org/words/images/jerry-build_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "I grew up in a jerry-built 1930s terraced house in an unfashionable London suburb. My father, a writer, made it his goal to one day match the annual salary of a London bus driver: When that thrilling day came, in the 1980s, he took the whole family out to KFC to celebrate. But one of the curiosities of the English class system is that it is defined by style as much as money." Jemima Lewis; The Prejudice Against Brown Shoes Is a Classic Case of Class Snobbery; The Telegraph (London, UK); Sep 2, 2016. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/work/the-prejudice-against-brown-shoes-is-a-classic-case-of-class-sno/ https://web.archive.org/web/20201112014538/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/work/the-prejudice-against-brown-shoes-is-a-classic-case-of-class-sno/ -------- Date: Wed Nov 29 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--osmose X-Bonus: Write on my gravestone: "Infidel, Traitor" -- infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people. -Wendell Phillips, human rights activist and attorney (29 Nov 1811-1884) This week's theme: Back-formations osmose (OZ/OS-mos) verb tr., intr. 1. To diffuse gradually. 2. To undergo or to subject to osmosis: the diffusion of fluid from a solution of low concentration to one of high concentration through a semipermeable membrane. [Back-formation from osmosis, from Greek osmos (to push). Earliest documented use: 1884, for osmosis: 1863.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/osmose_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "A sense of humor osmoses from one to the other." James Somers; The Friendship That Made Google Huge; The New Yorker; Dec 10, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/10/the-friendship-that-made-google-huge -------- Date: Thu Nov 30 00:01:02 EST 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--manumise X-Bonus: Although the connections are not always obvious, personal change is inseparable from social and political change. -Harriet Lerner, psychologist (b. 30 Nov 1944) This week's theme: Back-formations manumise (MAN-yuh-myz) verb tr. To free from slavery, servitude, or restraint. [Back-formation from manumission https://wordsmith.org/words/manumission.html , from Latin manus (hand) + mittere (to let go). Earliest documented use: 1523. A synonym is manumit https://wordsmith.org/words/manumit.html .] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/manumise_large.jpg Illustration: Anu Garg + AI "[M]anumise, enfranchise, and from every tie of slavery or servitude set free." Garfield Ellis; The Angels' Share; Akashic Books; 2016.