This week's theme
Loan translations

This week's words
psychological moment
running dog
potpourri
blue blood
deus ex machina

This week's comments
AWADmail 561

Next week's theme
Words to describe people

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(DAY-uhs eks MAH-kuh-nuh, -nah, MAK-uh-nuh)

MEANING:

noun: An unexpected or improbable person or event that saves a seemingly hopeless situation.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin deus ex machina, deus (god) + ex (from) + machina (machine), loan translation of Greek theos apo mekhanes. Earliest documented use: 1697.

NOTES:

In ancient Greek and Roman drama, often a god was lowered onto the stage by means of a crane to help a protagonist from a hopeless situation. Well, you can say they had rather mechanical plots.

USAGE:

"Warren Buffet is the deus ex machina of the stock market, a constant background presence who could decide from his bathtub in 2011 to rescue confidence in Bank of America with bags of cash."
Dan McCrum; Relish the Lessons in Buffett Ketchup Deal; Financial Times (London, UK); Feb 15, 2013.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: