A.Word.A.Day Archives
from https://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Mon Sep 3 00:40:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--raspberry
X-Bonus: A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventurers come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, because it takes something from the world, and has something to give in return. -Sarah Orne Jewett, poet and novelist (3 Sep 1849-1909)
What would you say if I told you that "dog" is another word for a "phone",
and that "apples" can mean "stairs", and "bottle" equals "class".*
No, I'm not "elephants". I don't even "drink".
I didn't randomly pick and match words -- there's a certain rhyme and
reason to them. Welcome to the world of rhyming slang! Here's how it works:
Take a word, say, "drunk".
Find a phrase that rhymes with it: "elephant's trunk".
Drop the rhyming word: "trunk".
Voila, you have your rhyming slang: drunk = elephants.
Perverse, no? And if that's not devious enough, you can do another iteration
and come up with a rhyming slang for the rhyming slang.
This week we'll see five terms that have their origins in rhyming slang, also
known as Cockney rhyming slang, after Cockney, the word for an inhabitant of
the East End district of London. The East End was the birthplace of this form
of slang.
*dog and bone - phone
apples and pears - stairs
bottle and glass - class
raspberry (RAZ-ber-ee) noun
1. A sound, similar to breaking wind, made by pushing the tongue between
the lips and blowing air through the mouth.
2. A rejection, disapproval, or contempt.
[Rhyming slang, raspberry tart -> fart. Earliest documented use: 1890. A
synonym is Bronx cheer https://wordsmith.org/words/bronx_cheer.html .]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/raspberry
A tiger blowing a raspberry https://wordsmith.org/words/images/raspberry_large.jpg
Photo: Michael Wallace https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallaceperspective/2856499565/
Hear a child blow a raspberry https://www.flickr.com/photos/janetmck/9094517391/
"Investors blew a raspberry at the news yesterday, which accompanied
a lacklustre batch of fourth-quarter results."
Robin Pagnamenta; Last Call for 13,000 Jobs as BT Downsizes; The Times
(London, UK); May 11, 2018.
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Date: Tue Sep 4 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--titfer
X-Bonus: In hatred as in love, we grow like the thing we brood upon. What we loathe, we graft into our very soul. -Mary Renault, novelist (4 Sep 1905-1983)
This week's theme: Words coined by rhyming slang
titfer (TIT-fuhr) noun
Hat.
[Rhyming slang, tit for tat -> hat. Earliest documented use: 1927.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/titfer
Titfer tilting machine https://wordsmith.org/words/images/titfer_large.jpg
Image: Graham http://viz.co.uk/2014/09/24/titfer-tilt/
"My ex gets a Panama hat, aka Kerry Packer's titfer."
Daphne Guinness; Christmas Gift Guide; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia);
Nov 24, 2007.
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Date: Wed Sep 5 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oscar
X-Bonus: I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. -John Cage, composer (5 Sep 1912-1992)
This week's theme: Words coined by rhyming slang
oscar (OS-kuhr) noun
Cash.
[Rhyming slang, Oscar Asche -> cash. Asche (1871-1936) was an
Australian actor, director, and writer. Earliest documented use: 1917.]
Oscar Asche in "Chu Chin Chow", 1916 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/oscar_large.jpg
Photo: F.W. Burford/Wikimedia
"People are throwing away money. Not just valuable things, but actual oscar/moola/cash money."
Sunday Mail (Adelaide, Australia); May 22, 2011.
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Date: Thu Sep 6 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--boracic
X-Bonus: When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kind of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt. -Robert M. Pirsig, author and philosopher (6 Sep 1928-2017)
This week's theme: Words coined by rhyming slang
boracic (buh-RAS-ik, bo-) or brassic (BRA-sik)
adjective: Poor or broke.
[Rhyming slang, boracic lint -> skint. Boracic lint was a type of medical
dressing dipped in a solution of boracic/boric acid. See more at skint
https://wordsmith.org/words/skint.html . Earliest documented use: 1959.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/boracic
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/boracic_large.jpg
Image: PicClick https://picclick.co.uk/1940s-vintage-first-aid-box-with-lots-of-292542609741.html
"I have nothing. I am broke. Boracic. Poor."
Michelle Smart; The Sicilian's Unexpected Duty; Harlequin; 2014.
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Date: Fri Sep 7 00:01:04 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scooby
X-Bonus: I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it. -Edith Sitwell, poet (7 Sep 1887-1964)
This week's theme: Words coined by rhyming slang
scooby (SKOO-bee) noun
Clue.
[Rhyming slang, Scooby-Doo -> clue. Scooby-Doo is a dog in television series
and films. Earliest documented use: 1993.]
Scooby-Doo: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/scooby.png
Image: Wikimedia Commons
"'But it was just a guess. I don't actually have a scooby,' the employee added."
David A. Fahrenthold; Time Magazine Cover Hanging at Trump Golf Clubs Is
a Fake; The Washington Post; Jun 28, 2017.
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Date: Mon Sep 10 00:01:04 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--zany
X-Bonus: Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (10 Sep 1903-1974)
Recently we featured the word scaramouch, coined after Scaramouche, https://wordsmith.org/words/scaramouch.html
a stock character in Italian comic theater during 16th-18th centuries.
But Scaramouche isn't the only one. This week we have assembled a cast of
five such stock characters.
They have stepped off the stage and walked into the pages of the dictionary
where they lie for posterity. Wake them up; hire them for your prose or
poetry, office memo or college paper; and let them help you convey your
message in a livelier manner.
zany (ZAY-nee) adjective
Amusingly strange, comical, or clownish.
[From French zani, from Italian zanni, a nickname for Giovanni. The term
has its origin in the comedy theater commedia dell'arte popular in 16-18th
century Italy. Giovanni, Italian form of the name John, was originally the
generic name of the servant, a stock character who tried to mimic his
master, himself a clown. Earliest documented use: 1596.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/zany
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/zany.jpg
Image: Wikimedia Commons
"This is one of the zaniest and most delightfully wacky plays to ever
grace any stage at Bard on the Beach."
Lysistrata; The Vancouver Sun (Canada); Aug 30, 2018.
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Date: Tue Sep 11 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--punchinello
X-Bonus: You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty. -Jessica Mitford, author, journalist, and civil rights activist (11 Sep 1917-1996)
This week's theme: Words coined after stock characters
punchinello (pun-chuh-NEL-o) noun
A grotesque or absurd person.
[From Italian (Naples dialect) polecenella (a short, fat buffoon, principal
character in Italian puppet shows), diminutive of pollecena (turkey pullet),
ultimately from Latin pullus (young chicken). From the resemblance of
punchinello's nose to a turkey's beak. Earliest documented use: 1662.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/punchinello_large.jpg
Artist unknown, early 19th century
"Unlike Mr. Donahue, she doesn't automatically sympathize with every
oddball and Punchinello who feels mistreated."
Martha Bayles; Oprah vs. Phil: Warmth Wins Out; The Wall Street Journal
(New York); Jan 26, 1987.
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Date: Wed Sep 12 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--alazon
X-Bonus: The man who can make others laugh secures more votes for a measure than the man who forces them to think. -Malcolm De Chazal, writer and painter (12 Sep 1902-1981)
This week's theme: Words coined after stock characters
alazon (AL-uh-zon) noun
A person characterized by arrogance, braggadocio, lack of self awareness, etc.
[After Alazon, a stock character in ancient Greek comedy. Earliest documented
use: 1911.]
"The self often suffers for being the alazon like Don Quixote, Monkey, and Huck."
James S. Fu; Mythic and Comic Aspects of the Quest; Singapore University Press; 1977.
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Date: Thu Sep 13 00:01:04 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eiron
X-Bonus: To have and not to give is often worse than to steal. -Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, writer (13 Sep 1830-1916)
This week's theme: Words coined after stock characters
eiron (AY-ron) noun
A person characterized by self-deprecation and awareness of irony.
[After Eiron, a stock character in ancient Greek comedy. It's from Greek
eiron (dissembler), which also gave us the word irony. Eiron is the opposite
of Alazon https://wordsmith.org/words/alazon.html . He uses self-depreciation
and feigned ignorance to triumph over Alazon. Earliest documented use: 1872.]
"Her eiron, her dissembler in this constructed mythical story, is the
cyborg, a hybrid creature who takes pleasure in the confusion of
boundaries between machine and organism, between human and animal,
and indeed between social reality and fiction."
Jeanne Cortiel; Demand My Writing; Liverpool University Press; 1999.
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Date: Fri Sep 14 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--capitano
X-Bonus: Elitism is the slur directed at merit by mediocrity. -Sydney J. Harris, journalist (14 Sep 1917-1986)
This week's theme: Words coined after stock characters
capitano (kap-uh-TAH-no) noun
A swaggering, cowardly person, especially a soldier, policeman, etc.
[After Capitano, a stock character in commedia dell'arte, from Italian
capitano (captain), from Latin caput (head). Earliest documented use: 1594.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/capitano_large.jpg
Illustration from "I Comici Italiani", 1897
"The capitano strode uphill, cloak flowing, minions a respectful distance behind."
Toby Manning; My Father the Stranger; The Guardian (London, UK); Jan 1, 2011.
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Date: Mon Sep 17 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--columbine
X-Bonus: You have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. -Ken Kesey, novelist (17 Sep 1935-2001)
Shakespeare once wrote, "All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women
merely players: / They have their exits and their entrances; / And one man
in his time plays many parts."
He could just as well have been talking about words. A word in its time
plays many parts.
Words are born -- we call it coining -- and they go on to play many parts.
They play these under various parts of speech: consider the word
"part", for example. It can appear on the stage playing a noun role
(a body part), as a verb (to part the seas), adjective (part owner), or
an adverb (to pay part in kind). If you ask nicely, it might even play
other parts of speech it's not trained in. And that's not counting multiple
roles it plays in each of these parts of speech.
That's all well and good, but all those meanings listed above are similar.
What's more interesting is when a word plays parts that are wildly different --
giving us meanings that show little connection to each other. This week
we've picked five such words.
columbine (KOL-uhm-byn)
noun: 1. A servant girl.
2. A saucy sweetheart.
[After Colombina, a stock character in commedia dell'arte, the mistress of
Harlequin https://wordsmith.org/words/harlequin.html . From Italian
colombina (small dove, a guileless woman). Earliest documented use: 1723.]
adjective: Of or relating to a dove, in innocence, gentleness, color, etc.
[From Latin columba (dove, pigeon). Earliest documented use: 1656.]
noun: Any of various plants of the genus Aquilegia.
[From the resemblance of an inverted flower to five doves. Earliest
documented use: 1325.]
A related term is columbarium (a vault with niches for storing urns; a pigeon house) https://wordsmith.org/words/columbarium.html .
Columbine with Harlequin https://wordsmith.org/words/images/columbine1_large.jpg
Photo: Malene Thyssen/Wikimedia
Columbine flower https://wordsmith.org/words/images/columbine2_large.jpg
Photo: Mike https://www.flickr.com/photos/89376071@N07/35230536372/
"She was suddenly confronted by a mental image of the Duke dressed in rags,
bowing and dancing with a queen or a columbine and it made her smile."
Mary Nichols; The Incomparable Countess; Mills & Boon; 2012.
"She has all the serpentine wisdom and columbine innocence so recommended
in the Scriptures in her looks and actions."
Henry Colburn; The American in Paris - Volume 2; 1838.
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Date: Tue Sep 18 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--raddle
X-Bonus: To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (18 Sep 1709-1784)
This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings
raddle (RAD-l)
noun: Red ocher, used for marking animals, coloring, etc.
verb tr.: To mark or paint with red ocher.
[A variant of ruddle, from rud (red). Ultimately from the Indo-European
root reudh- (red), which also gave us red, rouge, ruby, ruddy, rubella,
robust, rambunctious, roborant https://wordsmith.org/words/roborant.html ,
russet https://wordsmith.org/words/russet.html ,
corroborate https://wordsmith.org/words/corroborate.html , and
robustious https://wordsmith.org/words/robustious.html .
Earliest documented use: 1325.]
verb tr.: To twist together or interweave.
[From English dialect raddle (stick interwoven with others in a fence).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root reidh- (to ride), which also gave
us ride, raid, road, ready, and raiment https://wordsmith.org/words/raiment.html .
Earliest documented use: 1470.]
verb tr.: To beat or to cause to have a worn-out appearance.
[Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1677.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/raddle
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/raddle_large.jpg
Photo: Lawrence Wright https://www.flickr.com/photos/northdevonfarmer/2979410338/
"Close to, she saw that the high colour on the raddled cheeks was rouge."
Maggie Hope; Orphan Girl; Ebury Press; 2015.
"Her hair was bright blond, although it was not raddled and stringy like
Echo's but done up in feathery swirls."
Ellen Datlow (ed.); Lovecraft's Monsters; Tachyon; 2014.
"Disease raddled Mr. Stride's fine, generous mind."
Brandy Purdy; The Ripper's Wife; Kensington Publishing; 2014.
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Date: Wed Sep 19 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mizzle
X-Bonus: I think everybody who has a brain should get involved in politics. Working within. Not criticizing it from the outside. Become an active participant, no matter how feeble you think the effort is. -Cass Elliot, singer (19 Sep 1941-1974)
This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings
mizzle (MIZ-uhl)
noun: Fine rain or drizzle.
verb intr.: To rain in fine drops.
[From Middle English misellen (to drizzle). Ultimately from the
Indo-European root meigh- (to urinate), which also gave us mist, thrush,
mistletoe, and micturate https://wordsmith.org/words/micturate.html .
Earliest documented use: 1439.]
verb intr.: To leave suddenly.
[Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1772.]
verb intr.: To confuse.
[Of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1583.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mizzle
"... cold rain that mizzled down on the sterile acres ..."
Patrick Taylor; Now and in the Hour of Our Death; Forge Books; 2014.
"She ... sprang to her feet, and exclaiming abruptly 'I must mizzle!'
walked off quickly homeward."
Thomas Hardy; Jude The Obscure; Osgood, McIlvaine, & Co.; 1895.
"He told Macon, 'I looked it up on the map but evidently I was mizzled.'
'Mizzled?' Muriel asked.
'He was misled,' Macon explained."
Anne Tyler; The Accidental Tourist; Knopf; 1985.
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Date: Thu Sep 20 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rummy
X-Bonus: It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. -Upton Sinclair, novelist and reformer (20 Sep 1878-1968)
This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings
rummy (RUH-mee)
adjective: Odd or unconventional.
[Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1828.]
noun: Drunkard.
[From rum (an alcoholic drink distilled from sugarcane products).
Earliest documented use: 1843.]
noun: Any of various card games in which the objective is to make
sets or sequences of three or more cards.
[Origin unknown. Earliest documented use: 1910.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/rummy
"Fighting jet lag and no sleep in the last forty-eight hours, Pete felt rummy."
Lindsay McKenna; Beyond the Limit; Harlequin; 2006.
"'Ol' Rummy, drunk as a skunk,' Smitty laughed."
Joseph R. Barry; Basking in the Cold War; Xlibris; 2010.
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Date: Fri Sep 21 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gage
X-Bonus: There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. -Leonard Cohen, musician and writer (21 Sep 1934-2016)
This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings
gage (gayj)
noun: 1. A pledge: something offered as a guarantee.
2. Something thrown down as a symbol of a challenge to fight.
(See also: gauntlet https://wordsmith.org/words/gauntlet.html)
verb tr.: To offer something as a guarantee of good faith.
[From Old French ga(u)ge (to wage, gage), of Germanic origin. The Germanic
w sound became g or gu in some French dialects. That's the reason we have
the doublets such as wage/gage, warranty/guarantee, ward/guard (also
reward/regard), warden/guardian, war/guerre, and William/Guillaume. Earliest
documented use: 14th century.]
noun: 1. An instrument or criterion for measuring or testing.
2. The thickness or size of something. For example, diameter of a
gun barrel, thickness of sheet metal, distance between the rails
of a railroad track.
verb tr. To measure or estimate.
[From Old French gauge, of unknown origin. Earliest documented use: 1444.]
noun: Any of the varieties of plum, such as the greengage.
[After William Gage, botanist who brought it to England from France. Earliest
documented use: 1718.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/gage
The Lords Appellant throw down their gages/gauntlets in front of Richard II https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gage_large.jpg
Illustration: James William Edmund Doyle in "A Chronicle of England, BC 55 - AD 1485, Part 1485"
"Here is a letter from Queen Hecuba,
A token from her daughter, my fair love,
Both taxing me and gaging me to keep
An oath that I have sworn."
William Shakespeare; Troilus and Cressida; 1609.
"Edward lost his temper and flung down his gage, demanding that the issue
should be tried by combat."
Georgette Heyer; My Lord John; E.P. Dutton; 1975.
"Data is being collected on the bobcats to gage the population and their
roaming territory."
Steve Scauzillo; Cities, EPA Moving to Curb Use of Rat Poison Linked to
Bobcat Deaths; San Gabriel Valley Tribune (West Covina, California);
Jul 15, 2013.
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Date: Mon Sep 24 00:01:04 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spitfire
X-Bonus: If there is such a phenomenon as absolute evil, it consists in treating another human being as a thing. -John Brunner, novelist (24 Sep 1934-1995)
What do fictional characters *Luna Lovegood* and *Dr. Dolittle* have in common
with the real-life mathematician *Ada Lovelace* and playwright *William
Shakespeare*?
If you can't figure it out, that's OK. No one is going to call you a
*know-nothing*. OK, here's the *tell-all* about them: All four names
are tosspot words, created by combining a verb and its object. (See more
here https://wordsmith.org/words/shunpike.html
and here https://wordsmith.org/words/scofflaw.html .)
Do you have a tosspot name? Have you coined a tosspot word? Share on our
website https://wordsmith.org/words/spitfire.html or write to us at words@wordsmith.org.
Enjoy this week's selection of five tosspot words that are a part of the
English language.
spitfire (SPIT-fyr) noun
Someone high-spirited, quick-tempered, and outspoken.
[Describing one who appears to spit fire. Earliest documented use: 1600.
A synonym, also a tosspot word, is shitfire.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/spitfire
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/spitfire_large.jpg
Photo: Mandias https://www.flickr.com/photos/mutantmandias/12698188535/
"Played by Michala Banas with a ready scowl and a vocabulary loaded
with expletives, she's a spitfire, a ball of combustible energy."
Debi Enker; Supporting Players Pack a Punch; The Age (Melbourne,
Australia); Nov 10, 2016.
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Date: Tue Sep 25 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shuteye
X-Bonus: Aphorisms respect the wisdom of silence by disturbing it, but briefly. -Yahia Lababidi, aphorist (b. 25 Sep 1973)
This week's theme: Tosspot words
shuteye (SHUHT-eye) noun
Sleep.
[Describing the literal shutting of one's eyes when sleeping. Earliest documented use: 1899.]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/shuteye
From L to R: Shuteyes, Shuteye https://wordsmith.org/words/images/shuteye_large.jpg
Photo: ndbutter https://www.flickr.com/photos/ndbutter/341604167/
"Zaifa was discreetly taking 40 winks near the edge of our boat. It was
probably her first shuteye in more than 20 hours."
Elaine Lim; An Enterprising Mother and Wife; New Straits Times (Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia); Jun 13, 1998.
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Date: Wed Sep 26 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rotgut
X-Bonus: Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them. -T.S. Eliot, poet (26 Sep 1888-1965)
This week's theme: Tosspot words
rotgut (ROT-guht) noun
A cheap or inferior alcoholic drink.
[From the possibility that a drink that's poorly made or adulterated could
damage the internal organs of the drinker. Earliest documented use: 1632.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/rotgut.jpg
Image: Amazon https://amazon.com/o/asin/0762755369/ws00-20
"Secrecy is like wine. The good stuff is delectable, essential to the
functioning of civilisation, a boon, and a blessing. The bad stuff is
rotgut, frequently overpriced and dangerously inebriating."
Ben Macintyre; The Stench of a Cover-Up over Libya Grows; The Times
(London, UK); Jan 10, 2014.
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Date: Thu Sep 27 00:01:02 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--clutchfist
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 (27 Sep 1722-1803)
This week's theme: Tosspot words
clutchfist (KLUHCH-fist) noun
A miser.
[Describing someone who clutches money in a fist. From Old English clyccan
(to clench) + fyst (fist). Earliest documented use: 1643.]
https://wordsmith.org/words/images/clutchfist_large.jpg
Photo: Farouq Taj https://www.flickr.com/photos/farouqtaj/6264363225/
"Are you really such a clutchfist that you would throw away a London
Season only to avoid spending a few guineas?"
Julie Caille; The Scandalous Marquis; Zebra Books; 1990.
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Date: Fri Sep 28 00:01:03 EDT 2018
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fusspot
X-Bonus: It is by character and not by intellect the world is won. -Evelyn Beatrice Hall, biographer (28 Sep 1868-1956)
This week's theme: Tosspot words
fusspot (FUHS-pot) noun
One who worries or complains about unimportant things: a fussy person.
[From fuss (to worry or complain about trifles), of uncertain origin, perhaps
an echoic word. Earliest documented use: 1921. A synonym, that is also a
tosspot word, is fussbudget https://wordsmith.org/words/fussbudget.html .]
See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/fusspot
"Anxious about the weight gain, the fusspots at Mazda redesigned the
cylinder head to boost output to 140 hp."
Mark Toljagic; Miata: Many Flock to Fountain of Youth; Toronto Star
(Canada); Jul 17, 2010.