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Jan 13, 2000
This week's theme
Coined words

This week's words
grok
frabjous
galumph
hobbit
newspeak
bandersnatch
doublethink

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

hobbit

(HOB-it) Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

noun: An imaginary creature resembling a diminutive human being, having some rabbitlike characteristics, and being naturally peace-loving, domestic, and sociable.

Coined by J.R.R. Tolkien from pseudo-Old English holbytla (hole-builder), from Old English hol (hole) + bytla (builder, hammerer), from bytl bietel (mallet).

"`I'm 4ft and that's with shoes on,' laughed 21-year-old Southon. `I could be just what they're looking for if they're after an elf or a hobbit.'"
Keane Philippa; The Height of Fame; Sunday Star Times (New Zealand); Apr 25, 1999.

X-Bonus

The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions. -Mandell Creighton, historian (1843 -1901)

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