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A.Word.A.Day--astrobleme

astrobleme (AS-tro-bleem) noun

A scar on the earth's surface caused by the impact of a meteorite.

[Literally star-wound, from astro-, from Greek astron (star) + -bleme, from Greek blema (missile, wound).]

"The biggest astrobleme is the 275-mile wide formation on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, Canada, near the Nastapoka Islands." Ask the Globe, The Boston Globe, Jun 16, 1999.

"Down on Earth, the central geological feature of the House of Commons yesterday during question period was what Mr. Hadfield's astronomer colleagues would call an astrobleme: the massive circular crater left by the bone-crushing impact of a heavenly body. When Stockwell Day crashed to Earth the blast radius took out most of the Alliance front bench and much of the surrounding territory." Paul Wells, Space oddities of the political kind, The National Post (Canada), Apr 25, 2001.

Order is good. Mostly. It makes sure that the earth will go around the sun in the same way as it has in the past and bring the summer to ripen the mangoes. Patterns are good too - most of the time. They help us find our shoes easily among an array of other pairs.

But stick too much to the same order and pattern and we lose. We lose the opportunity to discover new lands, new paths, new flowers, new ways (and new words!). Sometimes the break in order is by choice and at times it's forced, as when you lose a job. But often it's a blessing in disguise. It's an opportunity to explore and discover what remains hidden from the old path.

This week's words are selected with no order, pattern or theme. These words just are. But they're all interesting. -Anu

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