A.Word.A.Day --tenderfoot

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Aug 7, 2008

This week's theme
Metaphorical descriptions of people.

This week's words
paper tiger
loose cannon
sacred cow
tenderfoot
dark horse

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

tenderfoot

PRONUNCIATION:

(TEN-duhr-foot)

MEANING:

A newcomer or a beginner at something, one not used to hardships.

ETYMOLOGY:

Originally the term was applied to newcomers to ranching and mining districts in the western US. A tenderfoot is quite different from a tenderloin.

USAGE:

"Elisabeth Moss's years of comfortable anonymity may be over because of the engrossing role as the tenderfoot who begins to climb the corporate ladder in Mad Men'."
Luaine Lee; Moss finds a perfect fit on 'Mad Men'; The Olympian (Olympia, Washington); Jul 28, 2008.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. -Henry Ford, industrialist (1863-1947)

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