A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Wed Jun 1 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--insinuendo
X-Bonus: War is merely the continuation of policy by other means. -Carl von Clausewitz, general and military theorist (1 Jun 1780-1831)
This week's theme: Portmanteaux (blend words)
insinuendo (in-sin-yuh-EN-doh) noun
An assertion or hint that's disparaging and suggestive.
[A blend of insinuation + innuendo. Earliest documented use: 1884.]
"She said that she wasn't comparing apples to oranges, she was comparing
a big juicy hard ripe red apple to a little shriveled soft one, which
is a phrase she often uses back at me. I took all that as an insinuendo
about, well, personal things, and quite without basis, by the way."
Daniel Cross; Coopers Crossing; iUniverse; 2018.
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Date: Thu Jun 2 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--coopetition
X-Bonus: If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the Inquisition might have let him alone. -Thomas Hardy, novelist and poet (2 Jun 1840-1928)
This week's theme: Portmanteaux (blend words)
coopetition (ko-op-uh-TISH-uhn) noun
A collaboration between rivals.
[A blend of cooperative + competition. Earliest documented use: 1913.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/coopetition_large.jpg
Image: Dariodraws / Dreamstime
"'I mean the fight turned into some kind of --'
'Coopetition?' Bill2.0 suggests.
'I was going to say love fest.' Steve2.0 says."
Shearling Coats; Silicon Valley Girls; 2019.
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Date: Fri Jun 3 00:01:02 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--glamazon
X-Bonus: We are on the cusp of this time where I can say, "I speak as a citizen of the world" without others saying, "God, what a nut." -Lawrence Lessig, professor and activist (b. 3 Jun 1961)
This week's theme: Portmanteaux (blend words)
glamazon (GLA-muh-zon) noun
A tall, glamorous, self-assured woman.
[A blend of glamor + amazon https://wordsmith.org/words/amazon.html .
Earliest documented use: 1943.]
"[Model Grace Elizabeth] has exhibited a chameleonic beauty that can
shift from sweet girl next door one moment to striking glamazon the
next."
Alison Syrett; Amazing Grace; InStyle (New York); Dec 2018.
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Date: Mon Jun 6 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Coronation Street
X-Bonus: Fearing no insult, asking for no crown, receive with indifference both flattery and slander, and do not argue with a fool. -Aleksandr Pushkin, poet, novelist, and playwright (6 Jun 1799-1837)
If you are a Beatles fan, you know where Abbey Road is. If Sherlock is
your guy, you can find Baker Street, no GPS or magnifying glass needed.
And if you are into Harry Potter, you know all about Diagon Alley. Real
or fictional, these British streets are known all over the world.
Yet, unlike Wall Street https://wordsmith.org/words/wall_street.html
and Madison Avenue https://wordsmith.org/words/madison_avenue.html none
of the above have become a part of the language.
There _are_ other British streets though that have become metaphors. This
week we'll take you on a guided tour of five such thoroughfares. Please
remember to stay on the left side of these roads.
Coronation Street (kor-uh-NAY-shuhn street) adjective
Working-class.
[After "Coronation Street", a British television series about the lives
of working-class people in the fictional town of Weatherfield. The soap
opera debuted in 1960 and has been running ever since. It has its own
affectionate nickname: Corrie. Ironically, Coronation Street is named
after something far from working-class, a crown (corona). Earliest
documented use: 1962.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/coronation_street_large.jpg
Photo: Jayneandd / Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coronation_Street_Sign.jpg
"She was not a Coronation Street person. ... Pamela had a terminal
fear of all things working-class."
Carole Matthews; Let's Meet on Platform 8; Headline; 1997.
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Date: Tue Jun 7 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stepney
X-Bonus: Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars. -Gwendolyn Brooks, poet (7 Jun 1917-2000)
This week's theme: British streets that became words
stepney (STEP-nee) noun
1. A spare wheel or a spare tire.
2. Something or someone treated as a backup.
[After Stepney Street in Llanelli, Wales, where such wheels were initially
manufactured. Earliest documented use: 1907.]
NOTES: In the early days, automobiles did not come with a spare wheel. At
the same time, roads were often not in good condition. Also, they were
more likely to have nails that had fallen from horseshoes. As a result,
flat tires or punctures were common. Walter and Thomas Davies started a
business manufacturing compact spare wheels at Stepney Street and it took
off. As a result, such wheels came to be known as stepneys. These days
the term is used mostly on the Indian subcontinent.
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/stepney_large.jpg
Photo: Maurice Michael https://flickr.com/photos/moggerhanger/4720181145/
"'It's the off-tyre here!' he muttered angrily. 'You have a stepney,
of course?'"
Mark Hodder; Sexton Blake Versus the Master Crooks; Rebellion; 2020.
"Here we can't manage one wife, and you have a stepney before your
first wife has even been declared legally dead."
Kiran Manral; Missing Presumed Dead; Amaryllis; 2018.
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Date: Wed Jun 8 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Pepper Alley
X-Bonus: There are no persons capable of stooping so low as those who desire to rise in the world. -Marguerite Gardiner, writer (1 Sep 1789-1849)
This week's theme: British streets that became words
Pepper Alley (PEP-uhr AL-ee) noun
1. Rough treatment.
2. Severe beating.
[After Pepper Alley, a street in London, UK. Earliest documented use: 1820.]
NOTES: The term arose as boxing slang, from the verb pepper, meaning to
hit repeatedly. The phrase "to pay a visit to Pepper Alley" means to
receive severe beating.
Photo: Elliott Brown https://flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/8728202417/
"Barlow came again to fight, but soon found himself in Pepper Alley."
Henry Downes Miles; Pugilistica; Weldon; 1880.
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Date: Thu Jun 9 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Carnaby
X-Bonus: My sole inspiration is a telephone call from a director. -Cole Porter, composer and songwriter (9 Jun 1893-1964)
This week's theme: British streets that became words
Carnaby (KAHR-nuh-bee) adjective
Fashionable or stylish.
[After Carnaby Street in the West End of London, which became known in
the 1960s for fashionable clothing stores. Earliest documented use:
1964.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/carnaby_large.jpg
Photo: Spudgun67 / Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:John_Stephen_(green_plaque),_Carnaby_Street#/media/File:1_Carnaby_Street_London_W1F_7DW.jpg
"We arrived ten minutes late and found her knocking her knees, shivering
in the cold breeze whipping off the ocean, looking like a waif in her
Carnaby dress, Twiggy lashes, and boyish haircut."
Rayda Jacob; The Middle Children; Second Story Press; 1994.
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Date: Fri Jun 10 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Acacia Avenue
X-Bonus: A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. -Saul Bellow, writer, Nobel laureate (10 Jun 1915-2005)
This week's theme: British streets that became words
Acacia Avenue (uh-KAY-shuh AV-uh-nyoo) noun
The middle class.
[After Acacia Avenue, a common name of streets in the UK. Earliest
documented use: 1919.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/acacia_avenue_large.jpg
Photo: Andrei Moclinda https://www.flickr.com/photos/43003484@N05/4032119007/
NOTES: Dozens of streets in the UK have the name Acacia Avenue. There was
a British film with the title "29 Acacia Avenue". The British heavy-metal
band Iron Maiden has a song titled "22 Acacia Avenue". A somewhat similar
US term is Main Street, embodying the middle class in America.
A BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5199520.stm
discussing Acacia Avenue said, "Two-thirds live in a three-bed semi ..." Why
would two out of three people in the UK live in a tractor trailer, I
wondered. Then I realized a semi in the UK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-detached
has a different meaning from the semi in the US https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-trailer .
The article also said, "In a social survey by the AA, in which researchers
visited 15 of the 60-odd Acacia Avenues ..." Again, why would Alcoholics
Anonymous survey people living on Acacia Avenues? Nope! AA is Automobile
Association in the UK. What was that about two countries separated by a
common language?
"Could Acacia Avenue boycott the paper of the noughties if it gets
too naughty?"
Roy Greenslade; Mail Domination; The Guardian (London, UK); Jun 6, 2005.
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Date: Mon Jun 13 00:01:04 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Orphean
X-Bonus: The intellect of man is forced to choose / Perfection of the life, or of the work, / And if it take the second must refuse / A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark. -William Butler Yeats, writer, Nobel laureate (13 Jun 1865-1939)
Mythology is my trusted mine for logos, that's Greek for words.
Characters from Greek mythology never disappoint. I tap on their shoulders
and ask what they have been up to. The answer is not the usual: surfed the
web, ordered pizza, watched Netflix.
These gods, goddesses, monsters, and mortals have stories to tell. They
share their capers -- and these are no run-of-the-mill shenanigans. Many
of these mythical characters have become immortal in the language by having
words coined after them. A word coined after someone is known as an eponym,
from Greek epi- (upon) + -onym (name).
This week we'll meet five of the characters from Greek mythology and look
at the words they have inspired.
Have you ever coined an eponym after someone? Share on our website
https://wordsmith.org/words/orphean.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org
(include your location: city and state). Google first to make sure someone
else hasn't come up with the same word earlier.
orphean (OR-fee-uhn, or-FEE-uhn) adjective
1. Melodious.
2. Enchanting.
3. In the manner of Orpheus's journey to the underworld.
[After Orpheus, a musician, poet, and prophet in Greek mythology. His
lyre-playing and singing could charm animals, trees, and even rocks.
After his wife Eurydice, a nymph, died of a snakebite, he traveled to
the underworld to bring her back. His music melted the heart of Hades
https://wordsmith.org/words/hades.html , the god of the underworld, who
allowed him to take his wife back on the condition that
he not look back at her until they had reached the world of the living.
They had almost made it when he looked back and lost her again. His
mother Calliope/Kalliope has also given a word to the English language:
calliopean https://wordsmith.org/words/calliopean.html . Earliest
documented use: 1593.]
Orpheus and Eurydice emerging from the underworld http://wordsmith.org/words/images/orphean_large.jpg
Artist unknown
Image: Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Orpheus_and_Eurydice#/media/File:Orph%C3%A9e_et_Eurydice_Vienne_28072011.jpg
"Orphean strains of lute music floated preposterously up on the stench."
Geraldine McCaughrean; Vainglory; Romaunce Books; 1991.
"I had already made not one but several Orphean journeys. I had not yet
accepted her loss."
Robin Jenkins; Childish Things; Canongate Books; 2001.
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Date: Tue Jun 14 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Proteus
X-Bonus: Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and novelist (14 Jun 1811-1896)
This week's theme: Eponyms
Proteus (PRO-tee-uhs, -tyoos) noun
One who can easily change appearance, form, character, principles, etc.
[After Proteus, a sea god in Greek mythology, who could assume different
forms. He got his name from Greek protos (first) as he was one of the
earliest sea gods. Earliest documented use: 1528. The adjectival form
is protean https://wordsmith.org/words/protean.html .]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/proteus_large.jpg
Image: "Historia Deorum Fatidicorum" (1675) by Pierre Mussard https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14748272685
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Proteus
"Peter with many sides. He changes colours like a chameleon, and his
coat like a snake. He is a Proteus of a Peter. He was at first sublime,
pathetic, impressive, profound; then dull."
Percy Bysshe Shelley; Peter Bell the Third; 1839.
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Date: Wed Jun 15 00:01:06 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eolian
X-Bonus: To a father growing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter. -Euripides, playwright (c. 480-406 BCE)
This week's theme: Eponyms
eolian or aeolian (ee-O-lee-uhn) adjective
Relating to or caused by the wind.
[After Aeolus, god of the winds in Greek mythology. As keeper of the
winds, he gave a bag containing winds to help with Odysseus's sailing.
Earliest documented use: 1546.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Eolian
"Aeolus" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/eolian_large.jpg
Art: Peter Paul Rubens, early 17th c.
"'If an extremely tenuous atmosphere like that of Pluto can support the
generation of bedforms from wind-driven sediment, what kind of eolian
activity might we see on places like Io (a moon of Jupiter) or Triton?'
[Matt Telfer] wrote."
Amina Khan; Tiny Pluto Reveals Big Surprises; Los Angeles Times;
Jun 4, 2018.
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Date: Thu Jun 16 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--panderer
X-Bonus: I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice. -Joyce Carol Oates, writer (b. 16 Jun 1938)
This week's theme: Eponyms
panderer (PAN-duhr-uhr) noun
One who caters to the base desires, whims, or prejudices of others.
[After Pandarus, a Trojan https://wordsmith.org/words/trojan.html warrior
in Greek mythology. He was known for his skill in archery. In later
accounts, such as Chaucer's and Shakespeare's, he acts as a go-between in
the love affair of Troilus and Cressida. This resulted in his reputation
as a procurer in the English language. Earliest documented use: 1826.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/panderer
Troilus and Cressida with Pandarus https://wordsmith.org/words/images/panderer_large.png
Art: J. Coghlan https://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/detail/FOLGERCM1~6~6~352697~129684:Troilus-and-Cressida--IV,-2--Pandar
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/panderer_cartoon_large.png
Cartoon: Matthew E. Isaac https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319546408_White_Lies_on_Silver_Tongues_Why_Robots_Need_to_Deceive_and_How
"'I think what the governor has to do is reach out to everybody, not try
to be everybody's friend, not give everybody everything they want,'
Bloomberg said as Hochul stood beside him near Ground Zero. ... 'She's
got to be a leader, not a panderer.'"
Chris Sommerfeldt; Bloomy to Kathy: So, This Is How You Govern;
New York Daily News; Sep 9, 2021.
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Date: Fri Jun 17 00:01:02 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chimeric
X-Bonus: The ultimate sense of security will be when we come to recognize that we are all part of one human race. Our primary allegiance is to the human race and not to one particular color or border. I think the sooner we renounce the sanctity of these many identities and try to identify ourselves with the human race the sooner we will get a better world and a safer world. -Mohamed ElBaradei, diplomat, Nobel laureate (b. 17 Jun 1942)
This week's theme: Eponyms
chimeric (KY/KI-mer-ik) adjective
1. Made up of parts that are very different.
2. Fanciful; imaginative; illusory.
[After Chimera, a fire-breathing female monster in Greek mythology who had
a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. From Greek khimaira
(she-goat), ultimately from the Indo-European root ghei- (winter), which
also gave us chimera (literally, a female animal that is one winter, or
one year old), hibernate, and the Himalayas, from Sanskrit him (snow) +
alaya (abode). Earliest documented use: 1655.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/chimeric
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/chimeric_large.jpg
Photo: mhobl https://flickr.com/photos/87106931@N00/49796672808/
"And yet 'The Snow Leopard' manages to convey the impression of being
subtly yet fundamentally about its stated subject matter, albeit in
some chimeric way -- part literal, part figurative."
Kathryn Schulz; Cat Tales; The New Yorker; Jul 12, 2021.
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Date: Mon Jun 20 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--verbify
X-Bonus: People change and forget to tell each other. -Lillian Hellman, playwright (20 Jun 1905-1984)
The word "pentasyllabic" actually has five syllables. The term
"seventeen-lettered" actually has 17 letters. TLA (Three-Letter
Abbreviation) has three letters.
These are autological words -- words that exhibit the property they
describe. The word "short" is short. The word "noun" is a noun. This
week we'll feature five autological words.
What autological words can you think of? Share on our website
https://wordsmith.org/words/verbify.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org.
As always, include your location (city, state).
PS: The opposite of autological is heterological, words that don't apply
to themselves. Example: the word "long" is not long. Most words fit this
category so it's not very interesting. But is "heterological" heterological?
verbify (VUHR-buh-fy) verb tr.
To convert into a verb.
[From Latin verbum (word, verb). Earliest documented use: 1820.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/verbify
NOTES: We wanted to define today's word simply as "To verb" but we've
resisted the temptation. It's important to note that the word reverberate
does not mean to convert to verb again (example: the noun "act" to the verb "act"
to the noun "action" to the verb "action"). Those who object to verbifying (or
verbing) of words should note that the word "object" was initially a noun
that got verbified. Turning one part of speech to another happens all the
time. See here https://wordsmith.org/words/allicient.html
"But Israelis freely verbify foreign words too.... In the wake of
Condoleezza Rice's shuttle diplomacy last year, Israeli officials
reportedly coined lecondel, meaning to go back and forth repeatedly
to no effect."
Lush Life; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 4, 2008.
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Date: Tue Jun 21 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--proparoxytone
X-Bonus: A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution. -Jean-Paul Sartre, writer and philosopher (21 Jun 1905-1980)
This week's theme: Autological words
proparoxytone (pro-puh-ROK-si-tohn)
adjective: Having stress on the third-from-the-last syllable.
noun: Such a word.
[From Greek proparoxytonos, from pro (before) + para (beside) + oxys
(acute) + tonos (tone). Earliest documented use: 1764.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/proparoxytone
NOTES: Here's the sequence of words in this family:
oxytone: the ultimate syllable stressed
paroxytone: the penultimate syllable stressed
proparoxytone: antepenultimate syllable stressed
"One has merely to hear a word like 'anthropos' to say to oneself,
'Aha, proparoxytone,' and place the acute on the antepenult."
Alfred Andersch (Translator: Leila Vennewitz); The Father of a
Murderer; New Directions; 1994.
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Date: Wed Jun 22 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--abstruse
X-Bonus: The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere. -Anne Morrow Lindbergh, writer (22 Jun 1906-2001)
This week's theme: Autological words
abstruse (ab-STROOS) adjective
Hard to understand; obscure.
[From Latin abstrudere (to hide), from ab- (away) + trudere (to push).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root treud- (to squeeze), which also
gave us extrude, intrude, threat, and thrust. Earliest documented use:
1549.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/abstruse
"'You Americans are abstruse,' I can't forget his saying one night while
we watched TV. My philosophy professor had assigned a French essay on
wrestling, but I'm not good at French so was viewing the Worldwide
Wrestling Championship Tournament instead.
'What does abstruse mean,' I humbly inquired.
'To be abstruse means to be recondite....'
'So what does recondite mean,' I tried again.
'Oh, it's something hard to understand.'
'Don't patronize me. Just tell me what it means.'"
Jane Ransom; Bye-Bye; NYU Press; 1997.
https://wordsmith.org/words/recondite.html
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Date: Thu Jun 23 00:01:02 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--grandiloquent
X-Bonus: It's like, at the end, there's this surprise quiz: Am I proud of me? I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth what I paid? -Richard Bach, writer (b. 23 Jun 1936)
This week's theme: Autological words
grandiloquent (gran-DIL-uh-kwuhnt) adjective
High-flown or pompous.
[From Latin grandis (grand) + loqui (to speak). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root tolkw- (to speak), which also gave us
breviloquence https://wordsmith.org/words/breviloquence.html,
obloquy https://wordsmith.org/words/obloquy.html,
pleniloquence https://wordsmith.org/words/pleniloquence.html,
sialoquent https://wordsmith.org/words/sialoquent.html,
somniloquy https://wordsmith.org/words/somniloquy.html,
ventriloquism https://wordsmith.org/words/ventriloquism.html,
loquacious https://wordsmith.org/words/loquacious.html, and
allocution https://wordsmith.org/words/allocution.html.]
Earliest documented use: 1592.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/grandiloquent
"By the time I was eight, the most grandiloquent gangster could have
added nothing to my vocabulary -- I had an awful tongue."
Jean Stafford; Bad Characters; The New Yorker; Nov 26, 1954.
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Date: Fri Jun 24 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sesquipedalianism
X-Bonus: Pray, verb. To ask the laws of the universe to be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. -Ambrose Bierce, writer (24 Jun 1842-1914)
This week's theme: Autological words
sesquipedalianism (ses-kwi-pi-DAYL-yuh-niz-uhm) noun
1. The practice of using big words.
2. A very long word.
[From Latin sesqui- (one and a half) + ped- (foot). Earliest documented
use: 1863.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sesquipedalianism_large.jpg
Illustration: Anu Garg + AI
"My son, showing that when it comes to sesquipedalianism, the fruit
does not fall far from the tree, texted me: 'Is the airplane whose
prop eviscerates a large bald man in Raiders of the Lost Ark a real
plane or is it a contrivance?'"
Peter Garrison; Remember the German Airplane?; Flying (New York);
Apr 2016.
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Date: Mon Jun 27 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mainpast
X-Bonus: The highest result of education is tolerance. -Helen Keller, author and lecturer (27 Jun 1880-1968)
Each of this week's words has a hand in its origin.
A hand in whose origin?
All of this week's words are handmade.
As opposed to machine-made?
Well, we've picked these words because this week we are featuring
words originating in the hand. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes not,
but it *is* an all-hands meeting of words.
mainpast (MAYN-past) noun
1. A household.
2. A member of a household.
3. A servant.
4. A dependent.
[From Old French mainpast (household), from Latin manupastus (household
or its member), from manus (hand) + pastus, past participle of pascere
(to feed). Earliest documented use: 1865.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/the_word_hands_formed_with_hands_large.jpg
Image: pasiphae / 123rf
"I told him it wasn't up to me, that I was in the queen's mainpast."
Harold Covington; Rose of Honor; Dorrance; 1980.
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Date: Tue Jun 28 00:01:03 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--openhanded
X-Bonus: The happiest is the person who suffers the least pain; the most miserable who enjoys the least pleasure. -Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher and author (28 Jun 1712-1778)
This week's theme: Words originating in the hand
openhanded (oh-puhn-HAN-duhd) adjective
1. Generous; liberal.
2. Delivered with an open hand, as a blow.
[The figurative meaning alludes to someone giving money or other things
away with an open hand. Earliest documented use: 1593. Some opposite
terms are clutchfist https://wordsmith.org/words/clutchfist.html ,
ironfisted https://wordsmith.org/words/ironfisted.html , and
hardfisted https://wordsmith.org/words/hardfisted.html .]
Openhanded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myjEoDypUD8d
Backhanded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XcHgJ8FEIs
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/openhanded
"[Adam McKay] was generous with his own mind, in the way that newly
rich people are often openhanded with money, as they know they can
always get more."
Michael Lewis; Big Short, Big Screen; Vanity Fair (New York); Holiday
2015-2016.
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Date: Wed Jun 29 00:01:04 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--light-fingered
X-Bonus: Real misanthropes are not found in solitude, but in the world; since it is experience of life, and not philosophy, which produces real hatred of mankind. -Giacomo Leopardi, poet, essayist, and philosopher (29 Jun 1798-1837)
This week's theme: Words originating in the hand
light-fingered (lyt-FING-uhrd, LYT-fing-) adjective
1. Prone to or skilled at stealing.
2. Having nimble fingers or having a light touch.
[From light, from Old English leoht + finger, from Old English. Earliest
documented use: 1546. A synonym of the first sense is sticky-fingered
https://wordsmith.org/words/sticky-fingered.html .]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/light-fingered
Apollo Robbins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZGY0wPAnus
"Every country has its charlatans and rogues, be they light-fingered
British MPs or pork-happy American congressmen." https://wordsmith.org/words/pork_barrel.html
Because We're Worth It; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 12, 2014.
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Date: Thu Jun 30 00:01:02 EDT 2022
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--thumbsucker
X-Bonus: In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot. -Czeslaw Milosz, poet and novelist (30 Jun 1911-2004)
This week's theme: Words originating in the hand
thumbsucker (THUHM-suhk-uhr) noun
1. Someone who likes to suck their thumb.
2. A journalistic piece that deals with the background and
interpretation of events instead of hard news.
[Why thumbsucker for such a piece of writing? It has been explained as
something that a journalist writes after sucking their thumb for a while
instead of going out there and covering hard news. Another interpretation
is that such a piece provides background and interpretation of an event
as a way to comfort the reader. It's also called news analysis or a think
piece. Earliest documented use: 1891.]
"Treatment Kit to Stop Finger Sucking" https://amazon.com/dp/B07FTZBFVJ/ws00-20
But it lets you write, so you can still crank out a thumbsucker?
"On the day the twin towers fell, after watching the carnage unfold on
TV for most of the morning, I drove into work and, seized with the
significance of the moment, composed an epic thumbsucker on How Our
World Had Changed."
Andrew Coyne; This Changes Everything, Unless It Doesn't; The Globe
and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Apr 11, 2020.