A.Word.A.Day --descamisado

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Today's Word

descamisado

PRONUNCIATION:

(des-ka-mee-SAH-doh)

MEANING:

noun: A very poor person.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Spanish descamisado (shirtless), from des- (dis-, un-) + camisa (shirt). Earliest documented use: 1821.

NOTES:

Over the years, the term has been applied to various people, such as a revolutionary in the Spanish Revolution of 1820-23 and a supporter of Argentinian President Juan Perón.

USAGE:

“Oscar and Jesse James walked past cardboard and blanket in a dry outflow wall-pipe, which was some descamisado’s home.”
Robert Newman; The Fountain at the Center of the World; Soft Skull Press; 2004.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I wanted to live my life so that people would know unmistakably that I am alive, so that when I finally die people will know the difference for sure between my living and my death. -June Jordan, writer, teacher, and activist (9 Jul 1936-2002)

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