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Apr 2, 2010
This week's theme
Words borrowed from German

This week's words
gotterdammerung
realpolitik
zeitgeist
weltanschauung
poltergeist

What really is a poltergeist?
Check out The Skeptic's Dictionary

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

poltergeist

PRONUNCIATION:
(POHL-tuhr-gyst)

MEANING:
noun: A ghost that reveals its presence by making noises or throwing objects.

ETYMOLOGY:
From German Poltergeist, from poltern (to make noise, rattle) + Geist (ghost, spirit).

USAGE:
"The nearest Liverpool player was at least five yards away, meaning Emerson was trying to convince the referee he'd been tripped by a poltergeist."
Paul Doyle; Liverpool v Lille; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 18, 2010.

See more usage examples of poltergeist in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There's never been a true war that wasn't fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right. The really dangerous people believe they are doing whatever they are doing solely and only because it is without question the right thing to do. And that is what makes them dangerous. -Neil Gaiman, novelist and short story writer (b. 1960)

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