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Sep 9, 2011
This week's themeInterjections This week's words cowabunga huzzah gesundheit bada-bing attaboy This week's comments AWADmail 480 Next week's theme Words made with combining forms Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargattaboy
PRONUNCIATION:
(AT-uh-boi)
MEANING:
interjection: Used to express approval or encouragement.
ETYMOLOGY:
Alteration of "That's the boy." Earliest documented use: 1909.
USAGE:
"The employees are not asking for a whole lot -- just an Attaboy! or an
Attagirl! And news of this small gesture moves like wildfire through
the ranks."Labonita Ghosh; Five Ways to Reward the B-player in Your Team; The Economic Times (New Delhi, India); Feb 1, 2011. "Dr. Burton refutes the notion that present-day parents have coddled and attaboyed their children." Michael Tortorello; Mom, You're One Tough Art Critic; The New York Times; Jan 27, 2011. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. -Saul Bellow, writer, Nobel laureate (1915-2005)
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