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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

The tinier the point of the needle, the more easily it goes through. The thinner the blade of the sword, the more swiftly it cuts through. Often the same goes for words. A short, potent word helps convey an idea in just a few letters. This week we'll feature a few single-syllable words, and in the spirit of the week's theme, we'll keep this paragraph short.

And we begin with a word that's even shorter than short: ort.

ort

PRONUNCIATION:

(ort)

MEANING:

noun: A scrap of food left after a meal.

ETYMOLOGY:

Of Germanic origin, ultimately from the Indo-European roots ud- (out) and ed- (to eat).

USAGE:

"On the table in front of him was a plate, a few orts of supper nosed round by a pair of cats."
Bill Mesce Jr; Officer of the Court; Bantam Books; 2002.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I am an uncompromising opponent of violent methods even to serve the noblest of causes. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

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