A.Word.A.Day --longhair

A.Word.A.Day

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Jul 13, 2015

This week’s theme
Words to describe people

This week’s words
longhair
blackleg
double-dome
white-livered
dittohead

Previous week’s theme
Words that aren't what they appear to be

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Someone good with gardening is said to have a green thumb. One clumsy at dancing has two left feet. A person known as a big mouth loves to talk and can’t keep a secret. A nosy person is too curious about others. From head to toe, our language is full of metaphors related to the body.

This week we’ll present five words related to the body parts that are used to describe people.

longhair

PRONUNCIATION:

(LONG-hair)

MEANING:

noun:
1. An intellectual.
2. One having a deep interest in the arts, especially in classical music.
3. A male with long hair, especially a hippie.
4. A cat having long hair.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English lang + haer. Earliest documented use: 1893.

USAGE:

“With the largest cast in LA Opera history (41 soloists), it delivers pure kitsch, complete with pratfalls, pie-in-the-face ... It is shamelessly slapstick, but the diehard longhairs loved it anyway.”
Patt Diroll; Party Circuit Heats Up; Pasadena Star-News (California); Feb 15, 2015.

“Ever wonder what longhairs listen to when they let their hair down? Once upon a time, when conductors were regarded as remote intellectual titans, no one would have thought to ask.”
Rick Schultz; Roll over, Beethoven; Los Angeles Times (California); Jan 6, 2013.

“Edinburgh’s student longhairs had managed to rouse themselves for an anti-apartheid protest.”
Aidan Smith; My Murrayfield of Dreams; Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh); Jan 29, 2012.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If life had a second edition, how I would correct the proofs. -John Clare, poet (13 Jul 1793-1864)

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