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Sep 3, 2009
This week's themeAnimal terms This week's words bird-dog wildcatter frogmarch mawkish shrew 
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with Anu Gargmawkish
PRONUNCIATION:
(MAW-kish)
MEANING:
adjective:1. Excessively sentimental, especially in a false or childish manner. 2. Having a nauseating taste or smell. ETYMOLOGY:
From Middle English mawke (maggot). Are maggots sentimental? We don't know,
but the secondary sense of the word mawkish derives from the disgust we feel
at the sight of the insect. By extension the word began to refer to something
sickeningly sentimental.
USAGE:
"Diana's passing prompted a months-long orgy of mawkish and histrionic
media coverage centering on the accomplishments of a woman best known
for her romantic troubles and fashion prowess."Colleen Carroll Campbell; Michael Jackson Fatigue Syndrome; St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Jul 9, 2009. See more usage examples of mawkish in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? -Douglas Adams, writer, dramatist, and musician (1952-2001)
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