A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Aug 1 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mackle X-Bonus: The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within me. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) This week's theme: words with double connections. mackle (MAK-uhl) noun A blur, as from a double impression in printing. verb tr., intr. To blur. [From Latin macula (spot or stain).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "For some twenty days all recollections vanished from my mind. That period forms but a mackled page in my existence." Peter Browning; To the Golden Shore; Great West Books; 1995. -------- Date: Thu Aug 2 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--double entendre X-Bonus: Selfish, adj. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others. -Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), [The Devil's Dictionary, 1906] This week's theme: words with double connections. double entendre (DUB-uhl ahn-TAHN-druh) noun A word or phrase used in a manner that it can be interpreted in two ways, especially when one of the meanings is risque. [From obsolete French, literally double meaning.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Without double-entendre British comedy would be bereft. A short selection from a week's viewing: 'You should have heard the gasps when I showed my marrow to the Women's Institute'." Thomas Sutcliffe; In Search of Intelligent Life on Planet Sitcom; The Independent (London, UK); Mar 8, 1996. -------- Date: Fri Aug 3 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--doppelganger X-Bonus: Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it. -Lucius Annaeus Seneca, philosopher (BCE 3-65 CE) This week's theme: words with double connections. doppelganger (DOP-uhl-gang-er) noun A ghostly counterpart or double of a living person. [From German, literally a double goer.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The classic doppelganger experience is a common theme in fiction where the appearance of the double often announces the hero's death by suicide. Probably the most dramatic illustration is Edgar Allan Poe's William Wilson, who in an attempt to stab his double, kills himself." Raj Persaud; How You Could Meet Yourself; The Daily Telegraph (London); Jul 19, 2000. -------- Date: Mon Aug 6 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--malefactor X-Bonus: A woman's head is always influenced by heart; but a man's heart by his head. -Marguerite Gardiner, writer (1 Sep 1789-1849) Even though most malefactors on this planet happen to be male, the word in itself has nothing to imply that men have a monopoly in the crime biz. A woman who holds up a bank is still a malefactor, maybe a malefactress, but never a femalefactor. The combining form male- meaning 'evil' occurs in words derived from Latin. So malevolence in a person can be a precursor to violence in those belonging to the fair sex as easily as in those of the unfair sex. This week brings together five words with meanings that are not the first things that come to mind. Watch out for these red-herring words! malefactor (MAL-uh-fak-tuhr) noun One who does harm. [From Latin male- (evil) + facere (to do).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "True, most malefactors do get some sort of a break on their jail time in Orange County." Gordon Dillow; No Break for Hilton in OC; The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, California); Jun 10, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Aug 7 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--incommode X-Bonus: Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. -Robert Benchley This week's theme: red-herring words. incommode (in-kuh-MOD) verb tr. To inconvenience. [From Latin incommodus (inconvenient), ultimately from the Indo-European root med- (to take appropriate measures) that is also the source of medicine, modern, modify, modest, and modulate.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "CCTV cameras are regrettable exigencies in unstable times. The only innocent people they incommode are the poor devils who have to sift through the footage." Howard Jacobson; Thanks to New Labour, We Can Say Goodbye to Our Civil Liberties -- and Polish Potatoes; The Independent (London, UK); Jun 16, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Aug 8 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--axenic X-Bonus: Doubt comes in at the window when inquiry is denied at the door. -Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893) This week's theme: red-herring words. axenic (ay-ZEN-ik, ay-ZEE-nik) adjective Free from contamination. [From Greek a- (not) + xenikos (foreign). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghos-ti- (stranger, guest, or host, literally one who has a reciprocal duty of hospitality) that also gave us host, hostel, hostile, hostage, hospice, hospital, xenophobia, and xenon (a gas).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Operation Axenic was launched in July to help improve the streets in New Shildon. Action was taken following complaints about antisocial behaviour and litter." Helen Miller; Arrests Made in Joint Bid to Clean Up the Streets; Northern Echo (Darlington, UK); Oct 30, 2004. -------- Date: Thu Aug 9 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hardscrabble X-Bonus: Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from that of their social environment. -Albert Einstein (1879-1955) This week's theme: red-herring words. hardscrabble (HARD-skrab-uhl) adjective 1. Yielding little for much effort. 2. Relating to a place that provides for bare subsistence. [From English hard + Dutch schrabbelen (to scrape). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sker- (to cut) that's also the source of words such as skirt, sharp, scrape, screw, shard, shears, carnage, curt, and carnivorous.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "How did young Mildred, a homely, chubby, fatherless kid, reared on a hardscrabble Iowa farm during the Great Depression manage to work up the genius to relish every minute of her life?" Elizabeth Gilbert; The Home Place; The New York Times; Jul 1, 2007. -------- Date: Fri Aug 10 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--breastsummer X-Bonus: Pray, v. To ask the laws of the universe to be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy. -Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), [The Devil's Dictionary, 1906] This week's theme: red-herring words. breastsummer (BRES-sum-uhr, BREST-, BRES-e-muhr) noun A horizontal beam supporting a wall over a large opening, such as a shop window. [From breast (in architecture, part of a wall between a window and the floor) + Old French somier (packhorse, beam), from Latin sagma (packsaddle).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Breakfast-room has inglenook fireplace with breastsummer beam over window seat." Alexander Garrett; Room for Improvement; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Jan 8, 2000. -------- Date: Mon Aug 13 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ides X-Bonus: Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say? -Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., novelist (1922-2007) "Beware the Ides of March", the soothsayer warned Julius Caesar. Caesar didn't heed the warning and we all know his fate. At least that is what history tells us. I've a feeling Caesar did mind the date but he simply got lost in the hopelessly complex Roman calendar and confused the D-day. Ides are only one of the ingredients of the Roman calendar. The other two are calends (or kalends) and nones. The calends are straightforward -- they always fall on the first of every month. Nones on the fifth or the seventh, and ides on the thirteenth or the fifteenth. All dates are counted backwards from the nearest nones, calends, or ides. Here's a little rhyme to help you remember the dates: March, July, October, and May The nones are on the seventh day. And ides fall eight days after the Nones. More words about calendar this week. Interestingly, the word calendar derives from Latin calendarium (account book) since it was used to keep track of the date when debts were due. ides (eyedz) noun The 15th day of March, May, July, or October, and the 13th day of the other months in the ancient Roman calendar. [From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin idus.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "No need to beware the ides of June. Good news on the inflation front fueled a Wall Street rally for the second consecutive day on Friday." Andrew Farrell; Sunny Day On Wall Street; Forbes (New York); Jun 15, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Aug 14 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--intercalary X-Bonus: If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart. -Socrates (469?-399 B.C.) This week's theme: words related to calendar. intercalary (in-TUHR-kuh-ler-ee, -KAL-uh-ree) adjective Inserted in a calendar (for example, a day or a month). [From Latin inter- (between) + calare (to proclaim).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Ayyam i-Ha, the intercalary days of celebration, will be marked Sunday through Thursday by Baha'is." Seven Days; Peoria Journal Star (Illinois); Feb 24, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Aug 15 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bissextile X-Bonus: The vast majority of human beings dislike and even dread all notions with which they are not familiar. Hence it comes about that at their first appearance innovators have always been derided as fools and madmen. -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963) This week's theme: words related to calendar. bissextile (by-SEKS-til) adjective Of or pertaining to the leap year or the extra day in the leap year. noun Leap year. [From Latin bisextilis annus (leap year), from Latin bissextus (February 29: leap day), from bi- (two) + sextus (sixth), from the fact that the sixth day before the Calends of March (February 24) appeared twice every leap year.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "It's finally bissextile day. Calm down, this story has nothing to do with gender preferences. For the 200,000 of you Americans out there born on Feb. 29, the long wait is over. Have a happy birthday." Tony Germanotta; The Virginian-Pilot; Let's Leap for Joy; Feb 29, 2004. -------- Date: Thu Aug 16 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--greek calends X-Bonus: The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, "Thus far and no farther." -Ludwig van Beethoven, composer (1770-1827) This week's theme: words related to calendar. Greek calends (greek KAL-undz) noun, also Greek kalends A time that doesn't exist. [From the fact that calends exist in the Roman calendar.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Let's hope your wife is on time, so the judge doesn't reschedule your divorce for the Greek calends." Antonio Lobo Antunes; The Inquisitors' Manual; Grove Press; 2004. -------- Date: Fri Aug 17 00:01:05 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--menology X-Bonus: Do not believe that it is very much of an advance to do the unnecessary three times as fast. -Peter Drucker, management consultant, professor and writer (1909-2005) This week's theme: words related to calendar. menology (mi-NOL-uh-jee) noun A calendar, especially one commemorating specific people. [From Modern Latin menologium, from Late Greek menologion, from meno- (month) + -logy (account). It's the same meno that appears in menopause.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The state Department of Archives and History's 1994 calendar, available beginning this month, is the first in a series of menologies to honor Mississippi's writers." Jack Elliott Jr.; Mississippi Writers Calendar a Talent Roll Call: The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana); Nov 28, 1993. -------- Date: Mon Aug 20 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dentigerous X-Bonus: Kindness is loving people more than they deserve. -Joseph Joubert, moralist and essayist (1754-1824) We are off to a wild safari this week. Each day of the expedition promises the sighting of a new animal. There will be creatures large and small, leaping and crawling, chasing and being chased. But all of them have their own majestic place, their own purpose, in the grand scheme of things. There are five of them within this week's words. Some may be easier to spot than others. How many can you find? dentigerous (den-TIJ-uhr-uhs) adjective Having teeth. [From Latin denti- (teeth) + -gerous (bearing), from gerere (to bear).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "For a man in his awkwardly dentigerous position, the order to 'flash those teeth' must doubly hurt." Neville Marten and Jeff Hudson; Kinks; Bobcat Books; 2007. -------- Date: Tue Aug 21 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--perihelion X-Bonus: Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931) This week's theme: Words with hidden animals. perihelion (per-i-HEE-lee-uhn_, -HEEL-yun) noun The point in the orbit of a celestial body that is nearest to the sun. [From Greek peri- (around, near) + helios (sun). The point farthest from the sun is called aphelion, from apo- (away).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Come Jan. 3, Earth will reach perihelion, its closest approach to the sun at 91,399,727 miles." Pete Zapadka; That Sun Feels Mighty Close During Summer. False!; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Jul 6, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Aug 22 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--forbearance X-Bonus: You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) This week's theme: Words with hidden animals. forbearance (for-BAIR-uhns) noun 1. Refraining from enforcing something, such as a right or a debt. 2. Tolerance, patience, restraint, or leniency. [From forbear, from Old English forberan (to endure), from for- (away) + beran (to bear).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Now the Buddhists are fighting back -- with good thoughts, forbearance and chanting." Tim Elliott; Chant of the Scrub Turkey; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Jun 19, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Aug 23 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--welkin X-Bonus: I find that principles have no real force except when one is well fed. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) This week's theme: Words with hidden animals. welkin (WEL-kin) noun The sky or heaven. [From Old English wolcen (cloud).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The MPs made the welkin, or at least the chamber, shake with mockery." Simon Hoggart; Master of the Euro Flimflam Mountain; The Guardian (London, UK); Jun 26, 2007. -------- Date: Fri Aug 24 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--interregnum X-Bonus: By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. -Charles Wadsworth This week's theme: Words with hidden animals. interregnum (in-tuhr-REG-nuhm) noun The period between the end of a reign and the beginning of the next; a time when there is no government. [From Latin, from inter- (between) + regnum (reign).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "In this unprecedented interregnum Tony Blair has no authority to do anything that attempts to tie the hands of his successor." Melanie Phillips; Brown's First Great Test; Daily Mail (London, UK); Jun 10, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Aug 27 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bedswerver X-Bonus: Infidel, n. In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does. -Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), [The Devil's Dictionary, 1906] This week we feature a potpourri of words. We opened a dictionary, shook it gently, and these words fell out. They came in all shapes, sizes, and senses. They're short and long. They're flighty and grouchy. Call 'em what you will, a medley of words, a farrago, or a gallimaufry. They're disparate, they're diverse. They are varied and variegated, unclassified and unsorted. And they're all ready to serve. bedswerver (bed-SWUR-vuhr) noun An unfaithful spouse. [From Old English bedd (bed) + sweorfan (to rub, to file away).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "I knew that she was a bedswerver, aiming to sweep out from her hubby's cot into mine." Richard Flanagan; Gould's Book of Fish; Grove Press; 2002. -------- Date: Tue Aug 28 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eyeservice X-Bonus: They know enough who know how to learn. -Henry Adams (1838-1918) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. eyeservice (EYE-sur-vis) noun Work done only when the employer is present. [Referring to the service performed only when the employer is watching.] What should you call the opposite of eyeservice? How about webservice: web surfing performed while the employer is away? -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The owner felt assured [the excuses] were false -- all going to show habitual carelessness, indolence, and mere eyeservice." Frederick L. Olmsted; A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States; 1856. -------- Date: Wed Aug 29 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--malacia X-Bonus: Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase. -John Balguy This week's theme: miscellaneous words. malacia (mu-LA-shuh, -shee-uh) noun 1. An abnormal craving for spiced food. 2. Softening of the organ or tissue. [From Greek malakia (softness), ultimately from the Indo-European root mel- (soft) which also gave us malacology (study of mollusks), malt, melt, and mulch.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Des Esseintes had tasted the feasts of the flesh, with the appetite of a capricious man who suffers from malacia." Joris-Karl Huysmans, translated by Margaret Mauldon; Against Nature; Oxford University Press; 1998. -------- Date: Thu Aug 30 00:01:07 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--transpontine X-Bonus: Just as a cautious businessman avoids tying up all his capital in one concern, so, perhaps, worldly wisdom will advise us not to look for the whole of our satisfaction from a single aspiration. -Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. transpontine (trans-PON-tyn) adjective 1. Across the bridge. 2. Situated on the south side of the Thames River in London. 3. Melodramatic (alluding to the type of dramas once performed in theaters south of the Thames). [From Latin trans- (across) + pons (bridge). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pent- (to tread) that also gave us words such as English find, Dutch pad (path), French pont (bridge), and Russian sputnik (traveling companion).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Baker was short and chunky and transpontine -- he lived over the bridge in Barnes with his mum and cacti." Johnny Green and Garry Barker; A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with the Clash; Faber & Faber; 1999. "The singer who makes the biggest splash is Lauren Flanigan, prone to transpontine acting at critical moments." Michael Tanner; Solemnity of Weber; The Spectator (London, UK); Jul 6, 2002. -------- Date: Fri Aug 31 00:01:06 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rasorial X-Bonus: No man is clever enough to know all the evil he does. -La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. rasorial (ruh-SOR-ee-uhl) adjective Given to scratching the ground to look for food. [From Latin radere (to scrape), ultimately from the Indo-European root red- (to scrape or scratch) that's also the source of raze, razor, erase, corrode, rascal, rat, and rodent.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "By the time the estate's settled -- it'll be a while -- I hope to be long gone. Otherwise I'll be a rich jailbird. But even if I hung around I wouldn't see much of it. With two rasorial ex-wives -- the Skanks from Hell are both well practiced at deficit financing -- and a third who spends like the Hilton sisters, and three kids with college funds, what do you think?" F. Paul Wilson; Infernal: A Repairman Jack novel; Forge Books; 2005.