A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
--------
Date: Mon Jan 2 01:47:03 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--brahmin
X-Bonus: A poor idea well written is more likely to be accepted than a good idea poorly written. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (2 Jan 1920-1992)
The new movie "Arrival" features a linguist as its protagonist. At one point
she talks about the Sanskrit word for war. There are many, but apparently
she means gavisti, explained as a desire for more cows. In case you're
wondering, the English word for war means a desire for more oil.*
Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language, has given many words to English
directly (orange, nirvana, mantra, etc.), via its daughter languages
(guru, cot, jute, etc.), or via another language which borrowed them from
Sanskrit (Zen, candy, lilac, etc.). This week we'll look at five other
words that have their origins in Sanskrit.
If you haven't seen the movie, it's worth checking out. It would be
especially beneficial for presidents to watch before grabbing those
nuclear launch codes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/03/opinion/sunday/in-arrival-the-world-is-saved-by-words.html
* In case it wasn't clear, that was a joke. The word war comes from the
Indo-European root wers- (to confuse or to mix up), which also gave us
guerrilla, worse, worst, liverwurst, French guerre, Spanish/Italian/Portuguese
guerra, and German verwirren (to confuse).
For more Sanskrit words in English, check out a week of words from 2006:
https://wordsmith.org/words/dharma.html
brahmin (BRAH-min) noun
A member of the upper class, having wealth, social status, and political power.
[From Sanskrit Brahmin, a member of the priestly class, the highest of the
four classes, from Brahma, the creator of the universe in Hinduism. Earliest
documented use: 1481.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/brahmin
A literal brahmin https://wordsmith.org/words/images/brahmin1_large.jpg
Photo: Lucas2006 https://www.flickr.com/photos/escolante/204646682/
A Boston Brahmin (Samuel Adams) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/brahmin2_large.jpg
Art: John Singleton Copley, c.1772
"The wealthiest, the Brahmins, are zoned off from everyone else, eating
gold-leaf-sprinkled chocs, purchasing mansions and penthouses, hunting
and shooting on vast estates, protecting their billions from impertinent
tax collectors, buying political influence."
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; It's Time to Take Up the Cudgels Against Planned
Poverty; The Independent (London, UK); Jun 22, 2015.
"Mrs. Guth, a philanthropist and a descendant of one of the founders of the
pharmaceutical company Merck, was doing little to lighten the old-money
mood. She spoke with a Brahmin accent to rival Katharine Hepburn's, and
initially appeared wary of the slightest personal revelation. 'Why do we
have to do that?' she said when asked to talk about her roots in New Hampshire."
Steven Kurutz; Greening the Gilded Age; The New York Times; Aug 7, 2014.
--------
Date: Tue Jan 3 00:10:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--avatar
X-Bonus: It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. -J.R.R. Tolkien, novelist and philologist (3 Jan 1892-1973)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from Sanskrit
avatar (AV-uh-tahr) noun
1. An embodiment of a concept.
2. A representation of a person or thing in computers, networks, etc.
[From Sanskrit avatar (descent, as of a god from heaven to the earth),
from ava- (away) + tarati (he crosses). Ultimately from the Indo-European
root ter?- (to cross over or pass through, to overcome), which also gave
us through, thorough, transient, nostril, and thrill. Earliest documented
use: 1784.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/avatar
Radha, an avatar of goddess Lakshmi (detail) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/avatar1_large.jpg
Art: ISKCON http://www.krishnapath.org/art-gallery-home/art-gallery-of-krishna-and-his-devotees-transcendental-pastimes/
An online avatar https://wordsmith.org/words/images/avatar2_large.png
Image: Anandeeta Gurung/Wikimedia
"The president is our national avatar--a stand-in for what we believe we
are, or want to be."
Joy-Ann Reid; Surviving Trump's Reality Show; The Daily Beast (New York);
Dec 17, 2016.
--------
Date: Wed Jan 4 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pundit
X-Bonus: It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor. -Max Eastman, journalist and poet (4 Jan 1883-1969)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from Sanskrit
pundit or pandit (PUN-dit) noun
1. A learned person.
2. A person who offers commentary or judgments as an expert on
a certain topic.
[From Hindi pandit, from Sanskrit pandita (learned). Earliest documented use:
1661.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pundit
Pundit Ravi Shankar https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pundit1_large.jpg
Photo: PeterTea https://www.flickr.com/photos/petertea/8410229561/
TV pundit Bill O'Reilly https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pundit2_large.jpg
Photo: Kelly Garbato https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/212204223
"According to a top psychologist, the brain starts working the moment you're
born and never stops until you become a TV football pundit."
Grant Us Mercy; Daily Record (Glasgow, UK); Oct 22, 2003.
--------
Date: Thu Jan 5 00:17:01 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--swami
X-Bonus: It is our belief that social justice begins at home. We want those who have helped us to produce this great institution and are helping to maintain it to share our prosperity. We want them to have present profits and future prospects. ... Believing as we do, that a division of our earnings between capital and labor is unequal, we have sought a plan of relief suitable for our business. -James Couzens, Ford Motor Company treasurer, announcing the doubling of wages to $5/day on Jan 5, 1914 [The Wall Street Journal said it is "to apply biblical or spiritual principles into a field where they do not belong ... (Ford has) committed economic blunders, if not crimes." Ford actually doubled its profits in two years.]
This week's theme: Words borrowed from Sanskrit
swami (SWAM-ee) noun
1. A religious teacher, mystic, or yogi.
2. A learned man: pundit.
[From Hindi swami (master), from Sanskrit swami (master, lord). Ultimately
from the Indo-European root s(w)e- (third person reflexive pronoun), which
also gave us self, sibling, suicide, secret, sober, sullen, idiot, and Irish
Sinn Fein (literally, We Ourselves). Earliest documented use: 1773.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/swami
Swami Vivekananda, Chicago https://wordsmith.org/words/images/swami_large.jpg
Photo: Thomas Harrison, 1893
"Now Sam may one day be a candidate to buy a car with a manual shifter
before they disappear, as so many swamis of the automotive marketplace
believe."
Jeremy Cato; Enjoy That Stick Shift While You Can; The Globe and Mail
(Toronto, Canada); Jul 25, 2013.
--------
Date: Fri Jan 6 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--karma
X-Bonus: Reading is not just an escape. It is access to a better way of life. -Karin Slaughter, novelist (b. 6 Jan 1971)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from Sanskrit
karma (KAHR-ma) noun
1. A person's action (bad or good) that determines his or her destiny,
in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
2. Destiny; fate.
3. An aura or atmosphere generated by someone or something.
[From Sanskrit karma (deed, work). Ultimately from the Indo-European root
kwer- (to make), which also gave us tera- (trillion), Farsi lashkar (army),
and the word Sanskrit (literally, well-formed). Earliest documented use: 1827.]
NOTES: In Hinduism, after death a person is reborn to pay for bad
actions or to enjoy the rewards of good actions in the previous life.
The goal of life is to become free from the cycle of birth and death:
nirvana (blowing out, extinguishing).
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/karma
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/karma_large.jpg
"It Shoots Further Than He Dreams"
Cartoon by John F. Knott, 1918
"Muranetz expects they will net about $100,000 for six months' work. To keep
the karma flowing, a portion of that will be contributed to uplifting causes."
Rick Spence; How to Turn a Hopeful Quest into a Business; Montreal Gazette
(Canada); Nov 24, 2016.
--------
Date: Mon Jan 9 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cockup
X-Bonus: I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth -- and truth rewarded me. -Simone de Beauvoir, author and philosopher (9 Jan 1908-1986)
I remember reading this story of a family having dinner. The father drops
a piece of cutlery and instinctively utters the F-word. The child soaking
up the new vocabulary, repeats the word, and the parent corrects her,
"No, Suzie, it's called a 'fork'."
According to a new book, "In Praise of Profanity" http://amazon.com/dp/0199337586/ws00-20
by Michael Adams, swearing brings family together. Whether you swear
indiscriminately, like a sailor, or only in extenuating circumstances, such
as when you unintentionally bring your toe to rendezvous with a piece
of furniture, Adams assures you that you don't need to go to confession.
It's OK. In fact, it's good for you. Profanity has benefits, in his
own words, that are "personal, social, and aesthetic".
Who knows, in the coming times, you'll need profanity in order to vent and
survive. What do you think about profanity and swearing? Send your f*ck
(that is, feedback) to us at words@wordsmith.org.
Well, this week's A.Word.A.Day features five words that sound dirty, but aren't.
cock-up, cock up, or cockup (KOK-up)
noun: 1. A complete mess; a blunder.
2. An upward turn.
verb tr.: 1. To botch.
2. To turn upward or curl.
[From English cock (to turn up or to one side), from cock (rooster). The
first sense of the word is a construction parallel to "screw-up" probably
influenced by the slang sense of the word cock. Earliest documented use:
1693.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/cockup
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cockup.jpg
Image: http://www.zazzle.com/funnymerch
"Local people will be rightly outraged ... because local officials made
such a monumental cockup."
Neil Macfarlane; Call for Sackings Over Cash Bungles; Northern Echo
(Darlington, UK); Mar 28, 2009.
--------
Date: Tue Jan 10 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--crapulous
X-Bonus: The most certain test by which we can judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. -Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton), historian (10 Jan 1834-1902)
This week's theme: Words that appear rude, but aren't
crapulous (KRAP-yuh-luhs) adjective
Sick from excessive drinking or eating.
[From Latin crapula (drunkenness), from Greek kraipale (hangover, drunkenness).
Earliest documented use: 1540. Also crapulent https://wordsmith.org/words/crapulent.html .]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/crapulous
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/crapulous_large.jpg
Photo: Kathleen Fischer https://www.flickr.com/photos/bztraining/9736993769/
"He was feeling crapulous after drinking and wasn't thinking of anything
much when he went early to the beach."
Jim Williams; The Argentinian Virgin; Quartet Books; 2009.
--------
Date: Wed Jan 11 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pricket
X-Bonus: Our lives are like islands in the sea, or like trees in the forest. The maple and the pine may whisper to each other with their leaves ... But the trees also commingle their roots in the darkness underground, and the islands also hang together through the ocean's bottom. -William James, psychologist and philosopher (11 Jan 1842-1910)
This week's theme: Words that appear rude, but aren't
pricket (PRIK-it) noun
1. A sharp point or spike for holding a candle.
2. A male deer in its second year, before the antlers have branched.
[Diminutive of prick/prik, from Old English prica (point). Earliest documented use: 1331.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pricket
Pricket 1: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pricket1_large.jpg
Photo: Walters Art Museum/Wikimedia
Pricket 2: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pricket2_large.jpg
Photo: Graham Russell https://www.flickr.com/photos/jellybeanzgallery/9692500347/
"These first candlesticks probably were no more than hollowed-out
wood or stone, unembellished, or some sort of crude pricket."
Candelight Adds Special Warmth to Any Meal; Chicago Sun-Times;
Oct 23, 1988.
"The years passed and each year McCarricker made it a point to locate the
now full-grown stag who had had a forked antler when he was only a pricket
and now carried great antlers."
John Joseph Mathews; Old Three Toes and Other Tales of Survival and
Extinction; University of Oklahoma Press; 2015.
--------
Date: Thu Jan 12 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fard
X-Bonus: The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. -Hermann Göring, Nazi military leader (12 Jan 1893-1946)
This week's theme: Words that appear rude, but aren't
fard (fahrd)
noun: Makeup.
verb tr.: 1. To apply makeup. 2. To embellish or gloss over.
[From Old French fard (makeup), from farden (to apply makeup), of Germanic
origin. Earliest documented use: 1450.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/fard.png
Photo: Patrick https://www.flickr.com/photos/adwriter/226233780/
"This morning, during breakfast, the tourist's overnight companion -- a
young Arab woman with kohl-farded eyes -- taught him the four recognized
stages in the ripening of a date."
Len Gasparini; A Demon in My View; Guernica; 2003.
"Tell why it is not safe to be farding in a car while you drive."
Charles A. Collat; A History of Mayer and Our Vision to be First Choice;
Seacoast Pub.; 2005.
http://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2016/05/06
--------
Date: Fri Jan 13 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cunctation
X-Bonus: To move freely you must be deeply rooted. -Bella Lewitzky, dancer (13 Jan 1916-2004)
This week's theme: Words that appear rude, but aren't
cunctation (kungk-TAY-shunn) noun
Delay; procrastination; tardiness.
[From Latin cunctari (to hesitate, delay). Earliest documented use: 1585.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/cunctation
Fabius Maximus (c. 280-203 BCE), Roman general, who earned the nickname
Cunctator from his guerrilla tactics in not engaging the enemy directly
when outnumbered. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cunctation_large.jpg
Photo: Schurl50/Wikimedia
"By postponement, we gain peace today. Have we anything to lose by it?
Our capacity for cunctation is one of our most powerful and characteristic
national weapons."
John Maynard Keynes; The Essential Keynes; Penguin Classics; 2016.
--------
Date: Mon Jan 16 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--satori
X-Bonus: Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young, / Who loved thee so fondly as he? / He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue, / And joined in thy innocent glee. -Margaret Courtney, poet (1822-1862)
The writer H.L. Mencken once said, "A living language is like a man suffering
incessantly from small hemorrhages, and what it needs above all else is
constant transfusions of new blood from other tongues. The day the gates go
up, that day it begins to die."
He might as well be talking about a community, a culture, or a country.
The reason English is such a rich language is that it's not afraid to adopt
words from other places. It has welcomed words from everywhere. If you speak
English, you know parts of at least a hundred different languages.
This week we'll see five words that came to English from Japanese, Arabic,
Spanish, Hindi, and Italian.
satori (suh-TOR-ee) noun
Sudden enlightenment or intuitive understanding.
[From Japanese satori (understanding), from satoru (to know or understand).
Earliest documented use: 1727.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/satori
Satori https://wordsmith.org/words/images/satori.png
Image: Erin Silversmith/Wikimedia
"Twenty years later, Michael Okun's enthusiasm is fresh as he describes his
neurological satori. 'A lot of people were saying all these pathways and
everything are really complicated, and they just wanted to get through
the class and get a grade. But to me it made perfect sense.'"
David Noonan; Mind Craft; Smithsonian; May 2014.
--------
Date: Tue Jan 17 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hegira
X-Bonus: Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are. -Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (17 Jan 1706-1790) [Editor's note: This quotation may be misattributed to Franklin.]
This week's theme: Words borrowed from other languages
hegira (hi-JY-ruh, HEJ-uhr-uh) noun
A journey or migration, especially when taken to escape an undesirable situation.
[From the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE to escape
persecution. From Arabic hijra (departure), from hajara (to depart).
Earliest documented use: 1590.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hegira
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hegira_large.png
Map: Google Maps
"He seamlessly presents historical information on such trail subjects as
... the Mormon hegira to Salt Lake that began in 1847."
The Oregon Trail (review); Wild West (Tysons, Virginia); Dec 2015.
"In 'Blinded by the Right', his account of his ideological hegira from
conservative button man to liberal media critic, David Brock describes
a hilarious scene at an Arkansas bait shop."
Charles P. Pierce; Politics: Sure, They Love Her Now...; Esquire
(New York); Jun 2013.
--------
Date: Wed Jan 18 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pronunciamento
X-Bonus: If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman ... because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French. -Montesquieu, philosopher, lawyer, and writer (18 Jan 1689-1755)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from other languages
pronunciamento (proh-nun-see-uh-MEN-toh) noun
An official or authoritarian announcement.
[From Spanish pronunciamiento (pronouncement, military uprising), from
pronunciar (to pronounce), from Latin pronuntiare (to put forth), from
pro- (toward) + nuntiare (to announce). Ultimately from the Indo-European
root neu- (to shout), which also gave us announce, denounce, pronounce,
and renounce. Earliest documented use: 1832.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pronunciamento
"Johnny Depp's statement, after Amber Heard ended their 15-month marriage,
was blunt:
'Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of
his mother, Johnny will not respond to any of the salacious false stories,
gossip, misinformation and lies ...'
Need I tell you that Depp's pronunciamento didn't stop the gossip?"
Doug Camilli; Depp Just Wants to Get This Over With; Montreal Gazette
(Canada); May 28, 2016.
--------
Date: Thu Jan 19 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bobbery
X-Bonus: Maybe every other American movie shouldn't be based on a comic book. Other countries will think Americans live in an infantile fantasy land where reality is whatever we say it is and every problem can be solved with violence. -Bill Maher, comedian, actor, and writer (b. 1956)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from other languages
bobbery (BOB-uh-ree) noun
Squabble; commotion; confusion.
[A corruption of Hindi "bap re" (literally, oh father!), an exclamation of
surprise, grief, etc., from bap (father) + re (oh). Earliest documented
use: 1816.]
"The whole bobbery, which has simmered for years, will finally come to
a boil on Tuesday."
Peter Fimrite; Feng Shui a Sausalito Voter Issue; San Francisco Chronicle;
Feb 27, 2002.
--------
Date: Fri Jan 20 00:06:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--camorra
X-Bonus: When the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre -- the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)
Once or twice in every generation a line is crossed so egregiously that where you stood on the issue will forever define you. -Kara Vallow, artist (b. 1967)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from other languages
camorra (kuh-MOR-uh) noun
A secret group united for unscrupulous purposes.
[After Camorra, a secret organization in Naples, Italy, engaged in
criminal activities. From Italian, possibly from Spanish camorra (fight).
Earliest documented use: 1865.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Camorra
Camorra, the film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090871/
"Flaubert had poured a stream of corrosive irony on this idea of patriotism.
Is it loyalty to a set of political jobholders, a king and his court, a
president and his bureaucracy, a parliament, a congress, a Duce or Führer,
a camorra of commissars?"
Albert Jay Nock; Memoirs of a Superfluous Man; Harper & Brothers; 1943.
--------
Date: Mon Jan 23 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--quotidian
X-Bonus: If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin. -Samuel Adams, revolutionary (1722-1803)
To dehumidify is the opposite of humidify, but to devote is not the opposite
of vote. To take is the antonym of to give, but caretaker and caregiver
are synonyms. We add -er and -est to a word to make its comparative and
superlative, but temper and tempest are not the comparative and superlative
of temp.
English language learners around the world: you have my sympathy. I believe
the language was designed as a secret handshake. Wouldn't want everyone
to learn the code so easily!
This week I have picked five random words from the code book of this language.
Five down*, 999,995 more to go. Don't let this discourage you. Google is working
on the Enigma machine to break the code http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/magazine/the-great-ai-awakening.html ).
*or 5000, if you have been with us since the beginning in 1994
quotidian (kwo-TID-ee-uhn) adjective
1. Commonplace; ordinary.
2. Occurring every day.
[From Old French cotidian, from Latin quotidianus/cotidianus, from
quotidie (each day), from quot (how many). Earliest documented use: 1393.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/quotidian
"He seemed to soar in his contempt for the quotidian. 'I daresay her
highs will be sweet highs, and her lows, will be inexorable.'"
Carrie Chang; Fork and Spoon; Xlibris; 2016.
--------
Date: Tue Jan 24 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--effluvium
X-Bonus: There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. -Edith Wharton, novelist (24 Jan 1861-1937)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
effluvium (i-FLOO-vee-uhm) noun
An unpleasant discharge, for example, fumes, vapors, or gases from
waste or decaying matter.
[From Latin effluere (to flow out), from ex- (out) + fluere (to flow).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhleu- (to swell or overflow),
from which flow words such as affluent, influence, influenza, fluctuate,
fluent, fluid, fluoride, flush, flux, reflux, and superfluous.
profluent https://wordsmith.org/words/profluent.html ,
mellifluous https://wordsmith.org/words/mellifluous.html ,
fluvial https://wordsmith.org/words/fluvial.html ,
affluenza https://wordsmith.org/words/affluenza.html , and
affluential https://wordsmith.org/words/affluential.html .
Earliest documented use: 1646.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/effluvium
"His email inbox was full of quotidian effluvia: hospital safety bulletins,
university staff postings, calls for papers, drug company propaganda."
W.D. Clarke; White Mythology: Two Novellas; All That Is Solid Press; 2016.
--------
Date: Wed Jan 25 00:01:02 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ineffable
X-Bonus: Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and author (1934-1996)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
ineffable (in-EF-uh-buhl) adjective
1. Incapable of being expressed: indescribable.
2. Not to be expressed: taboo.
[From Latin in- (not) + effari (to speak out), from ex- (out) + Latin fari
(to speak). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bha- (to speak), which
also gave us fable, fairy, fate, fame, blame, confess, and infant (literally,
one unable to speak), apophasis https://wordsmith.org/words/apophasis.html ,
and confabulate https://wordsmith.org/words/confabulate.html . Earliest
documented use: 1450.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ineffable
"I love walking the midway, opening my senses to the overload: the smells
of hot oil from the food stands and excrement from the livestock pens
rising to mix in an ineffable effluvium of mortality and feeding."
Mark Baechtel; Love it, Hate It; Anchorage Daily News (Alaska); Aug 31, 2006.
"Underneath, he added in large, fiery script the signs of the ineffable
name of God."
Primo Levi; The Complete Works of Primo Levi; W.W. Norton; 2015.
--------
Date: Thu Jan 26 00:01:03 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--visage
X-Bonus: I learned compassion from being discriminated against. Everything bad that's ever happened to me has taught me compassion. -Ellen DeGeneres, comedian (b. 26 Jan 1958)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
visage (VIZ-ij) noun
Face, appearance, or expression.
[From Old French vis (face), from Latin visus (sight, appearance), from
videre (to see). Ultimately from the Indo-European root weid- (to see),
which also gave us guide, wise, vision, advice, idea, story, history,
previse https://wordsmith.org/words/previse.html ,
videlicet https://wordsmith.org/words/videlicet.html ,
vidimus https://wordsmith.org/words/vidimus.html ,
vizard https://wordsmith.org/words/vizard.html , and
invidious https://wordsmith.org/words/invidious.html .
Earliest documented use: 1303.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/visage
"The poor victim's visage grew gentler. The fury which had contracted it
was followed by a strange smile full of ineffable sweetness, gentleness,
and tenderness."
Victor Hugo (translation: Isabel F Hapgood); The Hunchback of Notre Dame; 1888.
--------
Date: Fri Jan 27 00:01:03 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--inexorable
X-Bonus: It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. -Ansel Adams, photographer (1902-1984)
This week's theme: Miscellaneous words
inexorable (in-EK-suhr-uh-buhl) adjective
Incapable of being persuaded, moved, or stopped.
[From Latin in- (not) + exorare (to prevail upon), from ex- (out) + orare
(to pray, beg). Earliest documented use: 1553.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/inexorable
"Another star who shuffled off this mortal coil before continuing down an
inexorable slide toward personal catastrophe and artistic irrelevance:
Doors frontman Jim Morrison, whose insouciant visage also graced
pulp-stock posters of the time."
Jim Reed; Join the Cult of Marilyn; Savannah Morning News (Georgia);
Jun 6, 2013.
https://wordsmith.org/words/insouciant.html
--------
Date: Mon Jan 30 01:41:04 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--verklempt
X-Bonus: Story, finally, is humanity's autobiography. -Lloyd Alexander, novelist (30 Jan 1924-2007)
In his Nobel lecture the writer Isaac Bashevis Singer said, "Yiddish is
the wise and humble language of us all, the idiom of frightened and hopeful
humanity." In these troubled times maybe we all should speak Yiddish.
Where else can you find such expressive and colorful terms as
kibitzer https://wordsmith.org/words/kibitzer.html and
schlockmeister https://wordsmith.org/words/schlockmeister.html and
kvell https://wordsmith.org/words/kvell.html and
kvetch https://wordsmith.org/words/kvetch.html . Learning a language as an
adult takes time, so in the meantime we can do with these words borrowed
from Yiddish.
This week's A.Word.A.Day features five words from Yiddish that are now a
part of the English language. Sprinkle them in your conversation, memos,
theses, email, texts, and tweets.
verklempt (fuhr-KLEMT, vuhr-) adjective
Overcome with emotion; choked up.
[From Yiddish farklempt (overcome with emotion), from German verklemmt
(inhibited). Earliest documented use: 1991.]
"But it always makes me a little verklempt too, like my heart's in my
throat and I'm overcome with love."
Christie Blatchford; All Connected to the Hip; The Ottawa Citizen
(Canada); May 28, 2016.
--------
Date: Tue Jan 31 00:01:03 EST 2017
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--yentz
X-Bonus: To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged. -Norman Mailer, author (31 Jan 1923-2007)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from Yiddish
yentz (yents) verb tr.
To cheat.
[From Yiddish yentzen (to copulate). Earliest documented use: 1930.]
"Enron's thugs extorted $30 billion from California: a yentzing worthy
of the Gilded Age."
Richard von Busack; Scam Artists; Metro (San Jose, California); Apr 29, 2005.
"You'll tell them how you yentzed big Herman Wolff out of five hundred
grand."
D. Keith Mano; Take Five; Dalkey Archive Press; 1998.