A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
--------
Date: Fri Apr 1 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bumf
X-Bonus: Everything you add to the truth subtracts from the truth. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn, novelist, Nobel laureate (1918-2008)
This week's theme: Words for body parts used figuratively
bumf (bumf) noun
Unwanted or uninteresting printed matter such as governmental forms,
legal documents, junk mail, promotional pamphlets, etc.
[Short for bum fodder, slang for toilet paper. Earliest documented use: 1889.]
"A mortgage loan can generate 200 pages of bumf, most of it so boring and
repetitious that no one has the energy or the time to read it all."
John Gilmour; Lenders Use The Hoover Principle; The Sydney Morning Herald
(Australia); Jan 20, 2001.
--------
Date: Mon Apr 4 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--soubrette
X-Bonus: The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626)
Novelist Stephen King once said, "French is the language that turns dirt
into romance." Is that why it is called a Romance language? But it's true
that we equate all things French with sophistication, whether it's food,
clothing, art, or dirt.
As many as 30% of the words in the English language are of French origin
(depending on whom you ask). That sure is a lot of romance. This week we'll
feature five words borrowed from French, with and without romance.
soubrette (soo-BRET) noun
1. A maidservant or lady's maid in a play or an opera, especially one who
displays coquetry and engages in intrigue.
2. A young woman regarded as flirtatious.
3. A soprano who sings supporting roles in comic opera.
[From French soubrette (maidservant), from Proven�al soubreto, feminine of
soubret (coy), from soubra (to set aside), from Latin superare (to be above).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root uper (over) which is also the source
of over, sovereign, super, supreme, sirloin, soprano, somersault, and hyper.
Earliest documented use: 1753.]
"Paloma Herrera played the soubrette who lures the hero from his longtime
girlfriend, abandoning her own fianc� in the process."
Elizabeth Zimmer; Stars in Alignment; The Australian (Sydney); Aug 1, 2009.
"Rebecca Bottone's light soubrette contrasts well with Watts's more
voluptuous timbre."
Hugh Canning; Catch Her If You Can; The Sunday Times (London, UK); Nov 8,
2009.
--------
Date: Tue Apr 5 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--beau geste
X-Bonus: You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power -- he's free again. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn, novelist, Nobel laureate (1918-2008)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from French
beau geste (bo ZHEST) noun, plural beaux gestes (bo ZHEST)
A gracious, but often meaningless, gesture.
[From French, literally fine gesture. Earliest documented use: 1920.]
"An effective encore doesn't risk becoming an empty beau geste; it is an
emotional p.s. somehow relating to the mood of the written program."
Peter Dobrin; Applauding the Orchestra for Offering Encores;
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania); Jan 15, 2011.
--------
Date: Wed Apr 6 00:01:06 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--volte-face
X-Bonus: An individual human existence should be like a river: small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from French
volte-face (volt-FAHS) noun
A reversal in policy or opinion; about-face.
[From French, from Italian voltafaccia, from voltare (to turn), from Vulgar
Latin volvitare, frequentative of Latin volvere (to turn) + faccia (face).
Earliest documented use: 1819.]
"The possibility of a flotation was a remarkable volte-face for Standard
Life."
Carmel Crimmins; Standard Life Pays Its Former Chief More Than �1m;
Irish Examiner (Cork, Ireland); Mar 1, 2004.
"Not too long after the panels indicted the former Senate President, the
Senate made a volte-face on its action, dumped the documents, and cleared
those indicted of any wrongdoing!"
Senate and Unending Bribery Scandals; Daily Times (Lagos, Nigeria);
Feb 19, 2004.
--------
Date: Thu Apr 7 00:01:09 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--entrepot
X-Bonus: To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell. -Proverb
This week's theme: Words borrowed from French
entrepot (AHN-truh-po) noun
A place, such as a warehouse, port, or trading center, to which goods
are brought for distribution to other parts of the world.
[From French entrep�t (warehouse), from entreposer (to store), from entre
(among) + poser (to place). Earliest documented use: 1721.]
"Jerusalem is a city that has never made anything but history. It is not
an entrepot, a manufactory, a place of finance, or a crossroads."
Barnaby Rogerson; Holy City, Murky History; The Independent (London, UK);
Jan 21, 2011.
--------
Date: Fri Apr 8 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gris-gris
X-Bonus: The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
This week's theme: Words borrowed from French
gris-gris or grigri or greegree (GREE-gree) noun
A charm, amulet, or fetish.
[From French, of West African origin. Earliest documented use: 1698.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gris-gris_large.jpg
[Photo: Kari Masson http://kariborders.blogspot.com/2004/02/gris-gris-on-our-friends-do-you-know.html]
"The marabout [a Muslim holy man] produced a small calculator, punched in
some numbers, and quoted a price of more than a thousand dollars for the
gris-gris. 'With it you can walk across the entire desert and no one will
harm you,' he promised."
Peter Gwin; The Telltale Scribes of Timbuktu; National Geographic
(Washington, DC); Jan 2011.
--------
Date: Mon Apr 11 00:21:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--knotty
X-Bonus: When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)
What do a Boy Scout, a sailor, and a naysayer have in common? They know all
about knots. OK, so it works better when said aloud. This week we are going
to be a little knotty anyway, but that's OK, we are nice the rest of the year.
Knots have been around for a long time, probably since prehistoric humans
figured out looping vines to tie kindling. As most of us have moved away
from working on farms to working in cubicles, a knowledge of knots is not as
essential, but some knots http://www.animatedknots.com/indexhousehold.php
we still have to learn sooner or later.
Enjoy this week's words related to knots. May you have the serenity to endure
the knots you can't untie, courage to cut those you must, and wisdom to know
the difference. But remember, it's not always either/or in life. Sometimes
a knot can be adjusted http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_knots as well.
knotty (NOT-ee) adjective
1. Having knots; gnarled.
2. Intricate; difficult to solve.
[From Old English cnotta. Earliest documented use: Before 1240.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/knotty_large.jpg
[Illustration: The Ashley Book of Knots, 1944
http://amazon.com/o/asin/0385040253/ws00-20 ]
"The government's collapse presents a new set of knotty difficulties for the EU."
Seven Days; The Irish Times; Mar 26, 2011.
"Mr. Frishberg's pianism, with its knotty chords and staccato phrases, was
as spiky and emphatic as his personality."
Stephen Holden; Bernie, Dorothy, and That Interior Voice; The New York Times;
Mar 22, 2011.
--------
Date: Tue Apr 12 00:01:07 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--denouement
X-Bonus: How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. -George Washington Carver, scientist (1864-1943)
This week's theme: Words originating in knots
denouement (day-noo-MAHN) noun [the last syllable is nasal]
The final resolution of the plot of a story or a complex sequence of events.
[From French d�nouement (outcome or conclusion; literally, untying), from
d�nouer (to unknot or undo), from de- (away from) + nouer (to tie), from Latin
nodus (knot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ned- (to bind), which
is also the source of node, noose, annex, connect,
ouch https://wordsmith.org/words/ouch.html , and
nettle https://wordsmith.org/words/nettle.html . Earliest documented use: 1752.]
"But in Japan's narrative, the denouement is elusive. This disaster story
keeps building, growing worse."
Japan's Crucible; Chicago Tribune (Illinois); Mar 15, 2011.
--------
Date: Wed Apr 13 00:01:07 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gordian
X-Bonus: In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences. -Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (1833-1899)
This week's theme: Words originating in knots
Gordian (GOR-dee-uhn) adjective
Highly intricate; extremely difficult to solve.
[In Greek mythology, King Gordius of Phrygia tied a knot that defied all
who tried to untie it. An oracle prophesied that one who would undo this
Gordian knot would rule Asia. Alexander the Great simply cut the knot with
one stroke of his sword. Hence the saying, "to cut the Gordian knot", meaning
to solve a difficult problem by a simple, bold, and effective action.
Earliest documented use: 1579.]
Alexander cuts the Gordian Knot:
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gordian_large.jpg
Art: Jean-Simon Berth�lemy (1743-1811)
"The Gordian complexity of Afghanistan continues to confound Washington's
top military and political strategists."
Patience, Perseverance Best Options in Afghanistan; The Dallas Morning News
(Texas); Dec 27, 2010.
--------
Date: Thu Apr 14 00:01:06 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nodus
X-Bonus: Every age is fed on illusions, lest men should renounce life early and the human race come to an end. -Joseph Conrad, novelist (1857-1924)
This week's theme: Words originating in knots
nodus (NOH-duhs) noun, plural nodi
A complicated situation or problem.
[From Latin nodus (knot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ned-
(to bind), which is also the source of node, noose, annex, connect,
ouch https://wordsmith.org/words/ouch.html ,
nettle https://wordsmith.org/words/nettle.html , and
denouement https://wordsmith.org/words/denouement.html .
Earliest documented use: before 1400.]
"The CPC project is a nodus of interests. A half of its stock belongs to
the governments of three states: Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Sultanate of Oman.
The remainder is in private hands."
Public-and-private: Easier Said Than Done; The Times of Central Asia
(Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan); Mar 31, 2006.
--------
Date: Fri Apr 15 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--knaggy
X-Bonus: No one imagines that symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them. -Alan Watts, philosopher, writer, and speaker (1915-1973)
This week's theme: Words originating in knots
knaggy (NAG-ee) adjective
Knotty; rough; rugged.
[From Middle English knag (knot). Earliest documented use: 1552.]
"Despite all odds, quarry boys do not spare a minute to chase flies or gaze
at knaggy taxi drivers."
Living on Stones; Cameroon Tribune (Yaound�); Oct 17, 2005.
--------
Date: Mon Apr 18 00:01:04 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--calliopean
X-Bonus: In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
Do you like to toot your own horn? Perhaps to drum up support for your
cause? Well, I don't mean to harp on this topic, but many musical
instruments are used metaphorically in the English language. This week
we've assembled a quintet of words derived from the names of
such instruments. Their musical origins are not always obvious till you
peek into the etymological orchestra pit.
Join us as we play the organ, percussion, brass, strings, and reeds this
week.
calliopean (kuh-ly-uh-PEE-uhn) adjective
Piercingly loud.
[After calliope, a musical instrument having a series of steam whistles
played by a keyboard. The instrument was named after Kalliope, the Muse
of heroic poetry in Greek mythology, from Greek kalli- (beautiful) + ops
(voice). Earliest documented use: 1855.]
A calliope https://wordsmith.org/words/images/calliopean_large.jpg
Photo: Robert Lz http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertlz/2637526846/
"Sunday we were doing yardwork when our ears perked to one of the season's
unmistakable aural cues... the calliopean siren's song of the ice cream
truck."
Check It Out; The News & Observer (North Carolina); Mar 18, 2004.
"Rosalind Russell may have been more 'bankable', but didn't have The Merm's
calliopean vocal cords."
Ivan M. Lincoln; 'Gypsy' Coming to Life Again; The Deseret News (Salt Lake
City, Utah); Feb 20, 1994.
--------
Date: Tue Apr 19 00:01:09 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pariah
X-Bonus: It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps. -Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968)
This week's theme: Words derived from musical instruments
pariah (puh-RY-uh) noun
An outcast.
[From Tamil paraiyar, plural of paraiyan (drummer), from parai (drum, to tell).
Because the drum players were considered among the lowest in the former
caste system of India, the word took on the general meaning of an outcast.
Earliest documented use: 1613.]
NOTES: The word is offensive to the members of the Paraiyar community. For
a discussion of this see here: https://wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail460.html .
A parai drum player: https://wordsmith.org/words/pariah_large.jpg
[Photo: Joel Suganth http://www.flickr.com/photos/joellazarus/3309983031/ ]
"Gaddafi's rule has seen him go from revolutionary hero to international
pariah, to valued strategic partner, and back to pariah again."
Martin Asser; The Muammar Gaddafi Story; BBC News (London, UK); Mar 25, 2011.
"Sugar has replaced fat as our society's food pariah."
Randy Shore; Sugar: The New Pariah; Vancouver Sun (Canada); Mar 12, 2011.
--------
Date: Wed Apr 20 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--clarion
X-Bonus: The notion of making money by popular work, and then retiring to do good work, is the most familiar of all the devil's traps for artists. -Logan Pearsall Smith, essayist (1865-1946)
This week's theme: Words derived from musical instruments
clarion (KLAR-ee-uhn)
adjective: Loud and clear.
noun: An ancient trumpet used as a signal in war.
[From Latin clarion- (trumpet), from clarus (clear). Earliest documented use:
around 1384.]
"'For survivors, Tullia Zevi was a clarion voice that warned against the
dangers of neo-Nazism,' said Elan Steinberg."
Prominent Anti-Fascist Dies Aged 91; Belfast Telegraph (Northern Ireland);
Jan 23, 2011.
--------
Date: Thu Apr 21 00:01:04 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--second fiddle
X-Bonus: Catch-and-release, that's like running down pedestrians in your car and then, when they get up and limp away, saying -- Off you go! That's fine. I just wanted to see if I could hit you. -Ellen DeGeneres, comedian, television host, and actress (b. 1958)
This week's theme: Words derived from musical instruments
second fiddle (SEK-uhnd FID-uhl) noun
A secondary role. A person in such a role.
[In an orchestra, the first violins carry the main melody while second violins
are considered to be in a subordinate position. Earliest documented use: 1809.]
"He [Bollywood actor Navin Nischol] was known to be egoistic and did not
want to play second fiddle to any actor."
Bharati Dubey; Navin Nischol Did Not Play Second Fiddle to Any Actor;
The Times of India (New Delhi); Mar 20, 2011.
--------
Date: Fri Apr 22 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--highfalutin
X-Bonus: If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all. -Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (1475-1564)
This week's theme: Words derived from musical instruments
highfalutin or hifalutin or highfalutin' or hifalutin' or highfaluting (hy-fuh-LOOT-n) adjective
Pompous; bombastic.
[Of uncertain origin, perhaps from high-fluting, from flute. Earliest
documented use: 1839.]
NOTES: Highfalutin may or may not be high flute, but the flute's cousin,
oboe is high wood. It's a corruption of French haut (high) + bois (wood).
The musical instrument is named owing to its having the highest register
among woodwinds. An orchestra typically tunes to an oboe.
"The document talks very highfalutin' and lofty language, which sounds
great and is hard to disagree with, but at the end of the day businesses
just want to get the basics right."
Hamish Fletcher; Push for More Innovative Auckland; New Zealand Herald
(Auckland); Mar 29, 2011.
--------
Date: Mon Apr 25 00:01:06 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--flathat
X-Bonus: Co-existence / or no existence. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)
France recently began enforcing its ban on burqa veils. It's about time these
wearers realize that the burqa is a symbol of oppression and leave it where it
belongs -- in the Middle Ages.
That said, I'm leery of government telling people what they should or should
not wear. In Saudi Arabia a woman can be arrested for not covering herself
from top to bottom in public while in the US a woman could be arrested for
not covering her top.
As I see it, people should be able to dress as they like: cover themselves
from head to toe, or not at all, or anything in between.
In late December, temperatures dip to near freezing in the Seattle area and
there's snow on the roads. When I go out for my morning walk with our dog
Flower, it might look like I'm in a burqa from a distance. It's a
different scene in July, but if someone wants to dress in a burqa under the
hot sun, more power to them (especially to crank up that heavy-duty air
conditioner they may need).
This week in AWAD we'll cover you with words from head to toe, metaphorically
speaking. We'll start with a hat and make our way down to boots.
flathat (FLAT-hat) verb intr.
To fly close to the ground.
[From the allusion to a plane flying so low as to flatten a hat on someone's
head. Earliest documented use: 1940.]
"Those impromptu flights often took him only feet above the beach on
Cumberland Island where he'd practice 'touch-and-go's and flathatting."
Scott Keepfer; Record Still Stands After 75 Years; The Greenville News
(South Carolina); Jun 24, 2007.
--------
Date: Tue Apr 26 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--turncoat
X-Bonus: Avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. -George Washington, 1st US president, general (1732-1799)
This week's theme: Words related to clothing
turncoat (TUHRN-koht) noun
Someone who changes allegiance and joins the opposite side.
[The color, and especially the color of clothing, has long symbolized
association with a particular cause. For example, soldiers in an army or
players in a sports team don a designated color. The idea behind the word
turncoat is someone switching allegiances and turning his coat inside out
to hide his earlier colors. Earliest documented use: 1567.]
"You could almost imagine the little turncoats from the last poster creeping
off and taking up residence in another series of photographs downstairs."
Julius Purcell; Faces That Cannot be Argued Away; Financial Times
(London, UK); Jul 18, 2006.
--------
Date: Wed Apr 27 00:01:06 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shirty
X-Bonus: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. -Michael Pollan, author, journalism professor (b. 1955)
This week's theme: Words related to clothing
shirty (SHUHR-tee) adjective
Bad-tempered, irritable.
[From the expression "to get someone's shirt out" to annoy or to lose one's
temper. Earliest documented use: 1846.]
"We can appreciate why Lukie Muhlemann is a little agitated and shirty, but
he should remember that CSFB [Credit Suisse First Boston] is essentially a
law unto itself."
Ian Kerr; A Week in the Markets; Euroweek (London); Jan 26, 2001.
--------
Date: Thu Apr 28 00:01:05 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pantywaist
X-Bonus: It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. -Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745)
This week's theme: Words related to clothing
pantywaist (PAN-tee-wayst)
noun: A weak or effeminate man.
adjective: Weak; cowardly; effeminate.
[A pantywaist was formerly a child's undergarment in which a shirt and
pants were buttoned together at the waist. Earliest documented use: 1910.]
"The question on many people's minds: Will the genteel Mr. Creel, more
comfortable buried in legal briefs than in the trenches of hand-to-throat
political combat, be able to respond in kind? He doesn't see himself as
a political pantywaist."
Peter Fritsch and Jose de Cordoba; Would You Fall into Line for This Man?;
The Wall Street Journal (New York); Jan 11, 2001.
--------
Date: Fri Apr 29 00:01:08 EDT 2011
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bootstrap
X-Bonus: A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. -Greek proverb
This week's theme: Words related to clothing
bootstrap (BOOT-strap)
verb tr.: To help oneself with one's own initiative and no outside help.
noun: Unaided efforts.
adjective: Reliant on one's own efforts.
[While pulling on bootstraps may help with putting on one's boots, it's
impossible to lift oneself up like that. Nonetheless the fanciful idea is
a great visual and it gave birth to the idiom "to pull oneself up by one's
(own) bootstraps", meaning to better oneself with one's own efforts, with little
outside help. It probably originated from the tall tales of Baron M�nchausen
who claimed to have lifted himself (and his horse) up from the swamp by
pulling on his own hair.
In computing, booting or bootstrapping is to load a fixed sequence of
instructions in a computer to initiate the operating system. Earliest
documented use: 1891.]
Baron M�nchausen lifting himself up from the swamp by his own hair
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bootstrap_large.jpg
Illustrator: Theodor Hosemann (1807-1875)
"At Yale, Timeica Bethel met and became close with other students who had
also bootstrapped themselves out of poverty."
Colleen Mastony; Timeica Bethel Goes from Chicago's Housing Projects to
Ivy League and Back; Chicago Tribune; Mar 27, 2011.