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May 23, 2023
This week’s themeMetaphors & idioms This week’s words baloney daisy cutter swan song haircut Piccadilly Circus
Daisy Cutter, an animated film, 7 min.
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargdaisy cutter
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
noun: 1. In a ball game, a ball that moves close to the ground. 2. A horse that lifts its feet very little off the ground. 3. A bomb powerful enough to flatten a large area, such as a forest. ETYMOLOGY:
From daisy, from Old English dæges eage (day’s eye, referring to the
flower closing at night) + cutter, from Middle English cutten. Earliest
documented use: 1791.
NOTES:
A daisy cutter in a ball game is a cute term for a ball that moves
close to the ground. In the military, it’s a euphemism. It doesn’t cut daisies,
it flattens a forest. It’s another name for the 15,000-pound bomb, also
known as BLU-82, that detonates close to the ground and clears the land.
It was dropped in Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Afghanistan. Better to make
daisy chains for someone
than to drop daisy cutters.
USAGE:
“First used in Vietnam, daisy cutters would reappear years later,
eviscerating bodies and landscapes in Afghanistan.” Thuy Linh Tu; An American Dream Built on Warfare (permalink); The New York Times; Apr 5, 2022. “Palmer did not play golf courses; he attacked them. Armed with a brutish swing that more resembled a hockey slap shot than a daisy cutter, Palmer brought energy and zest to the staid game.” T. Rees Shapiro; “The King” Attracted Fans to Golf With His Charisma, Risky Shots; The Washington Post; Sep 26, 2016. See more usage examples of daisy cutter in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. -Margaret
Fuller, author (23 May 1810-1850)
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