A.Word.A.Day --pother

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Dec 18, 2009

This week's theme
Miscellaneous words

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anomie
simulacrum
avoirdupois
arrogate
pother

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Fear and Desire

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

pother

PRONUNCIATION:

(POTH-uhr)

MEANING:

noun: 1. A commotion or fuss. 2. Mental turmoil. 3. A smothering cloud of dust or smoke.
verb tr.: To confuse or worry someone.
verb intr.: To worry or fuss.

ETYMOLOGY:

Of unknown origin.

USAGE:

"Very little will change whether that appointee is Caroline Kennedy or someone else. So why all the pother?"
Ed Quillen; Expanded Non-story Season; Denver Post; Dec 28, 2008.

See more usage examples of pother in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

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