A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Thu Mar 1 00:01:29 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--omphaloskepsis X-Bonus: Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty. -Stephen King, novelist (1947- ) This week's theme: There is a word for it. omphaloskepsis (om-fuh-lo-SKEP-sis) noun Contemplation of one's navel. [From Greek omphalos (navel) + skepsis (act of looking, examination). Ultimately from the Indo-European root spek- (to observe) which is also the ancestor of suspect, spectrum, bishop (literally, overseer), despise, espionage, telescope, spectator, and spectacles.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Readers whose main interest is literary how-to or criticism can look elsewhere, in places specifically dedicated to those matters. Doing too much of it here would smack of omphaloskepsis." Stanley Schmidt; About Science Fiction; Analog Science Fiction & Fact (New York); Jun 2001. -------- Date: Fri Mar 2 00:01:27 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--paraph X-Bonus: Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen. -Louis L'Amour, novelist (1908-1988) This week's theme: There is a word for it. paraph (PAR-uhf, puh-RAF) noun A flourish at the end of a signature, originally as a precaution against forgery. [Via French and Latin from Greek paragraphos (a line showing a break in sense or a change of speakers), from para- (beside) + graphein (write). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gerbh- (to scratch), which also gave us crab, crayfish, carve, crawl, grammar, anagram, program, and graphite.] Examples of paraphs (would that be paraphernalia?) : http://artlex.com/ArtLex/P.html#anchor5714739 -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "This was a considerable feat in that he had recognised not only the initial upon the bedcloth, but its unique paraph in one corner." Linda Berdoll; Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife; Landmark; 2004. -------- Date: Mon Mar 5 00:01:03 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--de novo X-Bonus: Lots of times you have to pretend to join a parade in which you're not really interested in order to get where you're going. -Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957) According to a story, probably apocryphal, former US Vice President Dan Quayle once said, "I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have is that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people." Latin is a dead language. No people speak it as their everyday language. The area south of the US is called Latin America because most of the people down there speak Spanish or Portuguese, both derived from Latin. Latin took its name from Latium, a region in ancient Italy. Various dialects of Latin eventually blossomed into the Romance languages: French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish, while Latin itself faded away. Fortunately, you don't have to travel to Latin America to use this week's terms from Latin. They have been borrowed into English and are now part of the language. de novo (day NO-vo) adverb Anew; from the beginning. [From Latin de novo (from new).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Living things were not created de novo, but evolved." David P. Barash; Does God Have Back Problems Too?; Los Angeles Times; Jun 27, 2005. -------- Date: Tue Mar 6 00:01:03 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pari passu X-Bonus: War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrenal glands. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) This week's theme: Latin terms in English. pari passu (PAH-ree PAS-soo) adverb At an equal rate or rank. [Latin pari passu (with equal step).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "These shares will rank pari passu with all other shares for future dividends and distribution." National Bank of Bahrain Posts Record Profit; Gulf Daily News (Bahrain); Jan 7, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Mar 7 00:01:04 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--floruit X-Bonus: For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. -Doug Larson This week's theme: Latin terms in English. floruit (FLOR-yoo-it) noun The period during which a person, movement, etc. was active. [From Latin floruit (flourished), from florere (to flourish). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhel- (to thrive or bloom) that gave us flower, bleed, bless, foliage, blossom, and blade.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Then there was the astonishing firm of Woodhull, Claflin and Company, floruit circa 1870-1872." John Brooks; The Go-Go Years; John Wiley & Sons; 1999. -------- Date: Thu Mar 8 00:01:04 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ipso facto X-Bonus: God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through. -Paul Valery, poet and philosopher (1871-1945) This week's theme: Latin terms in English. ipso facto (IP-so FAK-to) adverb By the very fact or action. [Latin ipso facto (by the fact itself).] The counterpart of this term is ipso jure, which means by reason of a particular law. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'Spiritually, I'm a New Yorker,' [Norman Mailer] said. 'If you grow up in Brooklyn, you're a New Yorker ipso facto.'" Colin Miner; Mailer on Bush, Obama & Writing; The Sun (New York); Jan 22, 2007. -------- Date: Fri Mar 9 00:01:03 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sine qua non X-Bonus: History is a vast early warning system. -Norman Cousins, editor and author (1915-1990) This week's theme: Latin terms in English. sine qua non (SY-nee kway NON) noun An indispensable condition; prerequisite. [Latin sine qua non (without which not).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Of course, the mastery of language is not the sine qua non of competence in literacy. But ease in communication in the language shows how one's cognitive abilities have developed." Kenendy Buhere; Proposal to Split TSC Ill-thought; The Kenya Times (Nairobi); Jan 19, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Mar 12 00:01:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tridecennary X-Bonus: Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations. -Faith Baldwin, novelist (1893-1978) Wordsmith.org was founded on March 14, 1994, when I began sending a daily word to a few of my university classmates. They liked it and told their friends about it, who told their own friends, until today we have more than 600,000 subscribers in some 200 countries. This week marks our tridecennial. That could mean we are in our teenage years, though in Internet years we would be middle-aged or beyond. Of all the dictionaries, today's word, tridecennary, is found in only one: the Oxford English Dictionary. Of the billions of pages on the Web, Google shows only a handful of hits for the term. Why? People don't like to celebrate thirteenth anniversaries? It's unlucky? This week in AWAD we celebrate all things 13 -- we'll feature a few words related to this much-maligned number. tridecennary (try-di-SEN-uh-ree) noun 1. A period of thirteen years. 2. A thirteenth anniversary. [From Latin tres (three), from decem (ten) + annus (year).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Mar 13 00:01:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--triskaidekaphobia X-Bonus: A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. -Henry Ford, industrialist (1863-1947) This week's theme: words related to the number 13 to mark the thirteenth anniversary of Wordsmith.org. triskaidekaphobia (tris-ky-dek-uh-FO-bee-uh) noun Fear of the number 13. [From Greek treiskaideka (thirteen), from treis (three) + kai (and) + deka (ten) + phobia (fear)]. Why a fear of the number 13? It's one more than the dozen which leaves one unlucky one out if you divide something in groups of two, three, four, or six. It's also said that there were 13 people in the Last Supper. Friday the 13th is considered especially unlucky by many, while in some cultures, in the Spanish-speaking world, for example, it's Tuesday the 13th that is believed to be unlucky. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Chowrasia probably suffering from triskaidekaphobia bungled on the 13th and allowed Harmeet to get a firm grip on the title." Harmeet Takes Trophy; Hindu (Chennai, India); Dec 23, 2006. -------- Date: Wed Mar 14 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--baker's dozen X-Bonus: Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good. -Alice May Brock, author (1941- ) This week's theme: words related to the number 13 to mark the thirteenth anniversary of Wordsmith.org. baker's dozen (BAY-kuhrs DUZ-uhn) noun A group of 13. Also known as a long dozen. [From the fact that bakers often gave an extra item when selling a dozen of something to safeguard against being penalized for light weight.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Mr. Blodget, the Merrill Lynch Internet stock analyst, stopped covering the stocks of four more dot-com companies last week, reducing his universe, which once comprised more than 20 companies, to a mere baker's dozen." Patrick McGeehan; The Shifting Fortunes Of a Prognosticator; The New York Times; Jul 1, 2001. -------- Date: Thu Mar 15 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rondeau X-Bonus: Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right. -Carl Schurz, revolutionary, statesman and reformer (1829-1906) This week's theme: words related to the number 13 to mark the thirteenth anniversary of Wordsmith.org. rondeau (RON-do) noun A poem of 13 lines with two rhymes and the opening words used as a refrain in two places. [From Old French rondeau (little circle), from rondel, diminutive of rond (round). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ret- (to run or to roll) that is also the source of rodeo, rotunda, rotate, and roulette.] Various forms of rondeaux may have 10 or 15 lines. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "If you are new to French forms, you might want to compose a rondeau or two before attempting the redouble." Michael J Bugeja; The Fixed Is In; Writer's Digest (Cincinnati, Ohio); Mar 1998. -------- Date: Fri Mar 16 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--trecento X-Bonus: Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983) This week's theme: words related to the number 13 to mark the thirteenth anniversary of Wordsmith.org. trecento (tray-CHEN-to) noun The 14th century, especially with reference to Italian art, literature, etc. [From Italian, shortening of milletrecento (1300), from mille (thousand) and trecento (three hundred).] Trecento was the beginning of the renaissance. It was the time that gave birth to great writers such as Dante (The Divine Comedy), Petrarch, and Boccaccio. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "There are lyrical romantic painters such as Mary Armstrong, inspired by Italian trecento works." Robert Taylor; Art; The Boston Globe; Jun 5, 1988. -------- Date: Mon Mar 19 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--piliferous X-Bonus: A hair in the head is worth two in the brush. -Oliver Herford, writer and illustrator (1863-1935) Hair! What a thing! People spend millions trying to grow it. Others spend even more to get rid of it. Some do both, though on different parts of their bodies. We can get in other people's hair (to annoy). We let our hair down (relax). We split hairs (make petty distinctions). Things can make our hair stand on end (terrify), or we might be having a bad hair day (an unpleasant day). Sometimes literally. I have seen my niece in tears at a family wedding just because she felt her hair wasn't done as well as she had hoped. (I know what some of you are saying to yourselves, "Just because?") Our hair grows. We cut it. And in between we spend countless hours on it. This week we devote five days to hair -- and on its absence. This week's theme in AWAD: Hair today, gone tomorrow. piliferous (py-LIF-uhr-uhs) adjective Having or producing hair. [From Latin pilus (hair).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "If there's one thing that separates us from the stars, it's hair. Film-star hair, like film-star orthodontia, bears scant relation to life as we know it; it comes and goes, changes colour at will, or sprouts overnight into rolling acres of luxuriant growth. Sometimes you can see an entire range of exciting piliferous activity within a single movie." Anne Billson; It's Hairy, It's Scary, it's Bruce's Wig; The Sunday Telegraph (London, UK); Jan 11, 1998. -------- Date: Tue Mar 20 00:01:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--calvous X-Bonus: It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace. -Andre Gide, author, Nobel laureate (1869-1951) This week's theme: Hair today, gone tomorrow. calvous (KAL-vuhs) adjective Bald. [From Latin calvus (bald).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Hubert was really hooked on false documentation. And, of course, the best false documentation isn't false. That was why Hubert had been so pleased with his latest acquisition [a passport], fresh from the pocket. Because Herr Kruger's specifics were right on mine and he had correctly considered him a good match for me. Admittedly most old, bloated, calvous Germans could double for me." Tibor Fischer; The Thought Gang; Scribner; 1997. -------- Date: Wed Mar 21 00:01:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pogonotrophy X-Bonus: Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969) This week's theme: Hair today, gone tomorrow. pogonotrophy (po-guh-NAW-truh-fee) noun The growing of a beard. [From Greek pogon (beard) + -trophy (nourishment, growth).] Pogonology is the study of beards and pogonotomy is a fancy word for shaving. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Mr. Davis fixed his gaze on the red beard [and said], "Professor Flowers, I must congratulate you on a fine example of pogonotrophy.'" Richard J. Weiss and Duane R. Chartier; Fakebusters II: Scientific Detection of Fakery in Art and Philately; World Scientific Publishing Company; 2004. -------- Date: Thu Mar 22 00:01:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pilgarlic X-Bonus: The conscience of the world is so guilty that it always assumes that people who investigate heresies must be heretics; just as if a doctor who studies leprosy must be a leper. Indeed, it is only recently that science has been allowed to study anything without reproach. -Aleister Crowley, author (1875-1947) This week's theme: Hair today, gone tomorrow. pilgarlic (pil-GAHR-lik) noun A bald-headed person. [Literally peeled garlic, from pill (to peel) + garlic.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Moving from pogonotrophy to pilgarlics, many politicians perceive that the voters won't go for a bald-headed candidate, according to John T. Capps III of (where else?) Morehead City, N.C., president and founder of Bald-Headed Men of America. Capps believes there is a cover-up in Washington where he suspects that many members of Congress are wearing rugs. "In these circles, a word like pilgarlic can come in handy. Besides being a real word in the dictionary that means a bald-headed man, pilgarlic is to bald as statesman is to political hack." Irving Long; Historic Roots The Hairiest of Political Cover-ups; Newsday (New York); Mar 12, 1995. -------- Date: Fri Mar 23 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hirsutulous X-Bonus: How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young? -Paul Sweeney This week's theme: Hair today, gone tomorrow. hirsutulous (hur-SOO-chuh-luhs) adjective Minutely hairy. [From Latin hirsutus (rough, hairy).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "I resemble a Mexican Shirley Jackson, I think, librarianlike, hirsutulous, and secretly prurient." Yxta Maya Murray; The Conquest; Rayo Books; 2002. -------- Date: Mon Mar 26 00:01:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--omnifarious X-Bonus: For truly it is to be noted, that children's plays are not sports, and should be deemed as their most serious actions. -Michel De Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592) Have you ever opened a dictionary to look up a word, only to find yourself distracted by another word on the page? The definition of that word steers you to yet another, some two hundred pages ahead, and before you know it your fingers are cavorting as if in a random dance on the leaves of the lexicon. This week's words in AWAD are chosen by following precisely that route. I think Brownian motion (yes, that's an eponym you may like to look up) is the best way to describes what happens when a linguaphile casually opens a dictionary. omnifarious (om-ni-FAR-ee-uhs) adjective Of all kinds or sorts. [From Late Latin omnifarius, from Latin omni- (all) + -farius.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "I am having an affair. My wife knows about it. How could she not, considering all the afternoons I'm away from home, working at satisfying my extracurricular passion? From all this I experience emotions quite omnifarious, from joy to anger to frustration to deep love. And it's been going on for 30 years. It's golf I'm talking about." Hubert Mizell; Only One Sport is Worthy of Undying Love; St. Petersburg Times (Florida); Aug 16, 1988. -------- Date: Tue Mar 27 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--acescent X-Bonus: The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos. -Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist, biologist, author (1941-2002) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. acescent (uh-SES-uhnt) adjective Turning sour; slightly sour. [From Latin acescere (to turn sour). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ak- (sharp) that's also the source of acrid, vinegar, acid, acute, edge, hammer, heaven, eager, oxygen, and mediocre.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Heaven indeed must be a very dull place to inspire such saccharine chords from the composer of the acescent and biting Elektra." Carl Van Vechten; In the Garret; Kessinger Publishing; 2005. -------- Date: Wed Mar 28 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sessile X-Bonus: It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. sessile (SES-il) adjective 1. Attached directly to the base, without a stalk (as a leaf or a flower). 2. Permanently attached; immobile (as an animal, for example a barnacle). [From Latin sessilis (relating to sitting), from sedere (to sit). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sed- (to sit) that is also the source of sit, chair, saddle, soot, sediment, cathedral, and tetrahedron.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The history of seating is a serious subject... several books pay tribute to what might be called great moments in modern chair history... here is the bottom line on them. The archdruid, or should I say the chairman, of the sessile sect is Alexander von Vegesack, the director of the Vitra Design Museum, the major collection of modern chairs extant." Raymond Sokolov; Staying Put; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Dec 4, 1997. -------- Date: Thu Mar 29 00:01:03 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--paludal X-Bonus: For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery. -Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. paludal (puh-LOOD-uhl) adjective Of or relating to marshes. [From Latin palus (marsh).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "At 2 am, in this paludal hinterland, a lone roadside figure bristling with electronic and photographic gear must present a curious sight." Mark Wilson; A Rarity of a Book About Rare Birds; Boston Globe; Mar 5, 1995. -------- Date: Fri Mar 30 00:01:04 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--embrocation X-Bonus: A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (1907-1988) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. embrocation (em-broh-KAY-shuhn) noun 1. A liquid medication rubbed on the skin. 2. The act of applying a lotion to the bruised part of the body. [From Middle English, from Medieval Latin embrocare (to rub with lotion), from Greek embroche (lotion).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Those which had finished courses had their paws soaking; those yet to go were being rubbed with embrocation, giving the car park the air of an enormous dressing-room." Michael Moyniha; Give Me A Dog's Life Any Day; The Irish Examiner (Cork, Ireland); Feb 2, 2005