A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Sep 1 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ode X-Bonus: The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from. -Andrew Tanenbaum, computer science professor (1944- ) This week's theme: words about poetry. ode (rhymes with code) noun A lyric poem celebrating a person, event, thing, etc., written in an exalted style. [From Greek oide (song), ultimately from Indo-European root wed- (to speak) that's also the source of parody, comedy, tragedy, melody, and rhapsody.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The song, an ode to the nation on the occasion of Independence Day, takes on an extra dimension after 7/11* with its inspirational words." Rajiv Vijayakar; Sonu Nigam's Ode to the Nation; Screen Weekly (New Delhi, India); Aug 11, 2006. *July 11, 2006 bomb blasts in commuter trains in Mumbai, India. -------- Date: Mon Sep 4 00:01:32 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bromide X-Bonus: I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it. -Frank A. Clark, writer (1911- ) A popular joke describes the danger of dihydrogen monoxide. It's claimed that this colorless, odorless, and tasteless substance results in thousands of deaths every year. Assorted other perils are cited, and finally the reader is warned to stay away from it as far as possible. The joke is that dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) is a made-up chemical name for water (for more fun, see http://www.dhmo.org ). With their long, exotic-sounding names, chemicals often frighten us. Yet, all of us (like everything else in the universe) are made up of thousands of chemicals. No wonder, when we meet a person, the first thing we look for is chemistry. A number of words derived from chemical names have colored the English language, as we shall see this week. bromide (BRO-myd) noun 1. A tired or meaningless remark. 2. A tiresome or boring person. [From bromine, from Greek bromos (stench).] In earlier times, potassium bromide used to be taken as a sedative. So any statement that was intended to be soothing ("Don't worry, everything will be OK.") acquired the name bromide. Eventually any commonplace or tired remark and anyone uttering such remarks came to be known as a bromide. The term was popularized in the title of Gelett Burgess's 1906 book "Are You a Bromide?" It was to promote this book that Burgess coined the term "blurb". -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "His daddy occasionally pops back in to dispense nonsensical bits of advice -- 'If you're not first, you're last' -- a bromide that the young Ricky Bobby adopts as his motto." Teresa Wiltz; Where There's Will; Washington Post; Aug 4, 2006. -------- Date: Tue Sep 5 00:01:12 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--acidulous X-Bonus: Whenever morality is based on theology, whenever right is made dependent on divine authority, the most immoral, unjust, infamous things can be justified and established. -Ludwig Feuerbach, philosopher (1804-1872) This week's theme: words from chemistry. acidulous (a-SIJ-uh-luhs) adjective Somewhat sour in taste or in manner. [From Latin acidulus (slightly sour), diminutive of acidus (sour), from acere (to be sour). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ak- (sharp) that's also the source of acrid, vinegar, acid, acute, edge, hammer, heaven, eager, oxygen, and mediocre.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Like Munroe, she permitted herself no grand, expressive gestures, but then this is a wry, acidulous work. Justin Davidson; The Virtuosos of the Philharmonic; Newsday (New York); Feb 5, 1996. -------- Date: Wed Sep 6 00:01:14 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--caustic X-Bonus: In the small matters trust the mind, in the large ones the heart. -Sigmund Freud, neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis (1856-1939) This week's theme: words from chemistry. caustic (KAW-stik) adjective 1. Capable of burning or corroding. 2. Highly critical; sarcastic. [From Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaustos (combustible), from kaiein, (to burn).] Caustic soda (Sodium hydroxide) is a highly corrosive substance used in the manufacture of soap, paper, and textiles. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Some were outright sarcastic, others clearly caustic." Vijay Mruthyunjaya; ICC's Hairobics Baffle; Gulf Daily News (Bahrain); Aug 28, 2006. -------- Date: Thu Sep 7 00:01:10 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--miscible X-Bonus: War is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910) This week's theme: words from chemistry. miscible (MIS-uh-buhl) adjective Capable of being mixed together. [From Latin miscere (to mix), ultimately from the Indo-European root meik- (to mix) that's also the source of mix, miscellaneous, meddle, medley, promiscuous, melee, and mustang.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "'With old homes, some of the lead actually becomes dissolved in the hot water,' said Rahming. 'So it is advisable that hot water not be used from the sink for cooking or drinking. Even the cold side should be run for at least two minutes during the day so that any miscible lead can be washed out of the system before ingestion.'" John H. Manor; Get the Lead Out!; Michigan Chronicle; Feb 7, 1996. -------- Date: Fri Sep 8 00:01:14 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vitriolic X-Bonus: To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) This week's theme: words from chemistry. vitriolic (vi-tree-OL-ik) adjective Extremely caustic; bitterly scathing. [From Latin vitrum (glass).] Sulfuric acid, a highly corrosive substance, was formerly known as oil of vitriol or simply vitriol. It was named vitriol owing to the glassy appearance of its salts. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Unlike many other districts in Ventura County, Simi Valley has suffered a steady diet of noisy board meetings, vitriolic letters to the editor and name-calling directed at board members." Mack Reed; Simi Schools in Throes of Tumult, Hope; The Los Angeles Times; Jun 2, 1996. -------- Date: Mon Sep 11 00:01:20 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--boodle X-Bonus: We win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) If archaic words are the grizzled veterans of a language, slang terms are its feisty teenagers. These are words that are not afraid to experiment, twist, turn, blend, and innovate with language. Since slang is often born on the gritty streets of language, those words often don't get recorded in a birth register in the form of printed citations. So their origins are hard to pin down. We do have the origins of all of this week's slang though, as they all are based on words from foreign languages. This week let's look at slang originating in words from Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Italian. boodle (BOOD-l) noun An illegal payment, as in graft. verb intr. To take money dishonestly, especially from graft. [From Dutch boedel (property).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "100 years ago, June 2, 1905: [Several senators and representatives] were arrested yesterday on charges growing out of the alleged boodling operations in the last general assembly." Other Days; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Jun 2, 2005. -------- Date: Tue Sep 12 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--paisano X-Bonus: You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered. -Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th US president (1908-1973) This week's theme: slang/informal terms. paisano (py-SAH-no) noun 1. A pal, buddy. 2. A fellow countryman; a compatriot. [From Spanish paisano, from French paysan, from Latin pagus (district). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pag- (to fasten) that is also the source of peace, pacify, pact, travel, compact, pagan, and peasant.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Scott Spinelli has landed another paisano. Michael Smith, a Bronx, N.Y., point guard, signed a national letter of intent to join Nebraska basketball." Dirk Chatelain; NU's Spinelli Gets N.Y. Guard; Omaha World-Herald; May 11, 2005. -------- Date: Wed Sep 13 00:01:13 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--skosh X-Bonus: Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth. -Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824) This week's theme: slang/informal terms. skosh (skoash) noun A small amount; a little bit. [From Japanese sukoshi (a little).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "In the end, the committee reasoned that the Grizzlies' overall record was just a skosh better than the other two." Bill Kolb; Tough Decisions Put to NCS Panel; The Contra Costa Times (California); May 23, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Sep 14 00:01:14 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--goombah X-Bonus: At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to find themselves alone. -Jean de la Bruyere, essayist and moralist (1645-1696) This week's theme: slang/informal terms. Note: Many readers have enquired about adding A.Word.A.Day to their Web pages. We do have RSS feeds available: https://wordsmith.org/awad/rss.html goombah (GOOM-bah) noun 1. Friend, accomplice, or crony. 2. Godfather or mentor. 3. Gangster or Mafioso. [Dialectal pronunciation of Italian compa, a clipping of compare (godfather, friend, or accomplice), from Latin compater, from com- (with) + pater (father).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "It was his goombahs. It's the first rule in the underworld: It is not your enemies you have to worry about, it's your friends." Boston's Mobsters a Dysfunctional Family; Boston Globe; Jan 11, 1995. -------- Date: Fri Sep 15 00:01:19 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vamoose X-Bonus: The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it. -Peter. B. Medawar, scientist, Nobel laureate (1915-1987) This week's theme: slang/informal terms. vamoose (va-MOOS, vuh-) intr.verb To depart hurriedly. [From Spanish vamos (let us go).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "He (Eddie Cortez, mayor of Pomona, California) was stopped by border patrol agents one day last summer in his town, more than 100 miles from the Mexican border, and ordered to produce documents to prove he was a legal resident. "He wasn't doing anything suspicious. He was just sitting in his truck, wearing jeans and looking like he might be a Latino, which apparently is all it takes to look suspicious in the minds of some people. "Fortunately, as Cortez tells the story, he had a badge in his pocket that identified him as Pomona's mayor. Embarrassed, the border agents apologized and vamoosed." Clarence Page; Illegal Immigrants Are An Easy Target; St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Jun 15, 1994. -------- Date: Mon Sep 18 00:01:20 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--buccaneer X-Bonus: Very few established institutions, governments, and constitutions ... are ever destroyed by their enemies until they have been corrupted and weakened by their friends. -Walter Lippmann, journalist (1889-1974) Guest Wordsmith John (Ol' Chumbucket) Baur (chumbucketATtalklikeapirate.com) writes: Every September 19, people around the world celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day. It's been marked on all continents -- even Antarctica. Why? Because it's fun, it's anarchic. Its very whimsy -- trying to get everyone on the planet to talk like a stereotypical Caribbean buccaneer on the same day each year -- sets it apart from other holidays. The holiday had its genesis during a racquetball game between John Baur and Mark Summers, two friends in Albany, Oregon. It was a private joke that went around the world. The rest is, if not history, at least a good story, which you can read at their Web site http://www.talklikeapirate.com . To help you celebrate the day this year, we offer a sampling of words based on pirate lingo. A note -- I've often heard people talk about pirates' "cockney accents". Wrong! The stereotypical pirate has a Cornish accent, based on the performance of Long John Silver by actor Robert Newton in the 1950 Disney version of "Treasure Island". He was from Cornwall, and his over-the-top performance and native accent are the reason people think that's what a pirate sounded like. Of course, pirates came from all nationalities. But the pop culture image is firmly embedded, and Robert Newton is the reason. (John Baur worked 23 years in the newspaper business and two years as a university science writer before casting his lot as a pirate author and performer. He and Summers are co-authors of the book "Pirattitude!") buccaneer (buk-uh-NEER) noun 1. An unscrupulous adventurer in politics, business, etc. 2. A pirate. [From French boucanier (buccaneer, barbecuer, hunter of wild ox), from boucan (a frame for smoking meat), from Tupi mukem.] Buccaneer comes from a French adaptation of a Carib Indian word bukan, a way of slow-cooking meat over a low fire on a grill. The first bouncaniers were interlopers in "Spain's" Caribbean, and the Spaniards tried to drive them out. It was only too easy for England to recruit the buccaneers into attacking Spanish interests. So modern day barbecuers, with their Weber gas grills and comical aprons, are actually descendants of the classic Caribbean pirates. "[Greg] Palast's book is packed with groundbreaking new information about the corruption of empire, the lies of our leaders and the raiding of the treasury by crony capitalists and corporate buccaneers." John Nichols; Giving 'em Hell - And the Truth; The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin); Sep 7, 2006. -------- Date: Tue Sep 19 00:01:22 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--filibuster X-Bonus: The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing -- to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts. -John Keats, poet (1795-1821) This week's theme: words related to pirates. filibuster (FIL-uh-bus-tuhr) verb tr., intr. 1. To block or delay the passage of legislation, especially by making prolonged irrelevant speeches. 2. To block or delay something. noun Such a delaying tactic. [Filibuster was another name for pirates in the "Golden Age of Piracy", from roughly 1650 to 1720. From Spanish filibustero, from French flibustier, from Dutch vrijbuiter (freebooter or pirate).] -Guest Wordsmith John (Ol' Chumbucket) Baur (chumbucketATtalklikeapirate.com) "Anyway, [the megaphone] came in handy. For while the public address system filibustered, Mortlake filled in." Geoffrey Mortlake; Megaphone Diplomacy Helps Crowd But Baffles Tony; The Observer (London, UK); Aug 27, 2006. -------- Date: Wed Sep 20 00:01:12 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Jolly Roger X-Bonus: Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them. -Suzanne Necker, author (1739-1794) This week's theme: words related to pirates. Jolly Roger (JOL-ee ROJ-uhr) noun The pirates' flag, showing a white skull and crossbones on a black background. Also known as the blackjack or black flag. [The origin of the name Jolly Roger is uncertain.] -Guest Wordsmith John (Ol' Chumbucket) Baur (chumbucketATtalklikeapirate.com) "Three men were eventually spotted, not in a three-master with a Jolly Roger flapping in the breeze, but in powerboat near Bayvista Lane." Jonathan Jenkins; Pirates on the High ... Lake? Toronto Sun (Canada); Sep 9, 2006. -------- Date: Thu Sep 21 00:01:25 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--false colors X-Bonus: The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891) This week's theme: words related to pirates. false colors (fawls KUL-uhrs) noun Deceptive actions. [When ships approached each other at sea, sailors would look to the flag to determine whether the other vessel was from a friendly or enemy nation. They'd often try to confuse the other by flying a false flag until they were close enough to attack.] -Guest Wordsmith John (Ol' Chumbucket) Baur (chumbucketATtalklikeapirate.com) "It will be sailing under false colors, says Richard Kogan, an economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Tax cuts discussed by the Bush administration won't give much of a boost to the sluggish economy in 2003, he says." David R. Francis; Assessing the Form, Impact, of Looming Tax Package; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts); Dec 16, 2002. -------- Date: Fri Sep 22 00:01:28 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--avast X-Bonus: Globalization, as defined by rich people like us, is a very nice thing... you are talking about the Internet, you are talking about cell phones, you are talking about computers. This doesn't affect two-thirds of the people of the world. -Jimmy Carter, 39th US President, Nobel laureate (1924- ) This week's theme: words related to pirates. avast (uh-VAST) interjection Stop (used as a command to stop or desist). [From Dutch hou vast (hold fast), from houd vast.] -Guest Wordsmith John (Ol' Chumbucket) Baur (chumbucketATtalklikeapirate.com) "The best part, though, is the music. It dips and swells in the game right along with the action. Avast, there's treasure here!" Vance Jordan and Melissa L. Jones; Madden NFL Steps Up the Play; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Aug 27, 2006. -------- Date: Mon Sep 25 00:01:20 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prelapsarian X-Bonus: History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure. -Thurgood Marshall, US Supreme Court Justice (1908-1993) Post No Bills. Have you ever seen a wall with that notice pasted on it? That reminds me of books, manuals, and annual reports with a "blank" page bearing the text: "This page intentionally left blank." In the same vein, this week's A.Word.A.Day theme is intentionally left blank. Instead, I've selected a potpourri of interesting words to examine this week. prelapsarian (pree-lap-SAYR-ee-uhn) adjective Relating to any innocent or carefree period in the past. [From Latin pre- (before) + lapsus (fall). The term refers to the period in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve lost their innocence.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Telluride [film festival] took place in the bucolic setting of the Colorado mountains in the prelapsarian weeks prior to September 11." B. Ruby Rich; Season's Greetings; The Nation (New York); Oct 22, 2001 . -------- Date: Tue Sep 26 00:01:28 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--senectitude X-Bonus: I'm proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill. -Thomas Edison, inventor (1847-1931) Today: Join us in an online chat with Paul Dickson, author of Labels for Locals. https://wordsmith.org/chat Sep 26, 2006, 6 pm Pacific (GMT -7). This week's theme: miscellaneous words. senectitude (si-NEK-ti-tood, -tyood) noun Old age. [From Latin senectus (old age), from senex (old). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sen- (old) that's also the ancestor of senior, sir, sire, senate, senile, Spanish señor, and surly (which is an alteration of sirly, as in sir-ly).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "As for Skywalker John, his fortune is made back on earth giving television testimonials for laxatives, rheumatism medicaments, diapers and walkers. If those images are unsettling, please remember the old saw that senectitude is not for the faint of heart." Nicholas von Hoffman; All Hail the World's Oldest Lab Rat; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Nov 17, 1998. -------- Date: Wed Sep 27 00:01:15 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--diacritical X-Bonus: Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom. -Theodore Rubin, psychiatrist and writer (1923- ) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. diacritical (dy-uh-KRIT-i-kuhl) adjective 1. Distinctive; capable of distinguishing. 2. Serving as a diacritic (a mark, such as ^ or ~ or other accent marks, added to a letter to distinguish it from a similar letter, for example, to distinguish resume from résumé). [From Greek diakritikos (distinctive), from diakrinein (to distinguish), from dia- (apart) + krinein (to separate). Ultimately from the Indo-European root krei- (to sift or to discriminate) that also gave us crime, crisis, certain, excrement, secret, critic, garble, and hypocrisy.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "In a pertinent, diacritical chapter of this work, Stallabrass surveys the paucity of art criticism in turn-of-the-century Britain." Will Self; I Danced to a Decadent Drum; New Statesman (London, UK); Jan 31, 2000. -------- Date: Thu Sep 28 00:01:16 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--theriac X-Bonus: A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity. -Eleanor Roosevelt, diplomat and writer (1884-1962) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. theriac (THEER-ee-ak) noun 1. Treacle or molasses. 2. An antidote to poison. [From Latin theriaca (antidote), from Greek therion (wild beast).] The original theriac was made by combining 60-70 ingredients (including the flesh of the viper) mixed with honey. It was supposed to be an antidote against all poisons and thus the word is also used in the sense of cure-all. Around twenty years ago, there was a radiation therapy machine named Therac-25. Its buggy software delivered occasional massive overdoses of radiation and killed at least six patients. This infamous device is now a standard case study in the matters of software testing and reliability. With a name like that... -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Galen, for instance, treated the melancholic emperor Marcus Aurelius with theriac, a concoction of sixty-odd ingredients, chief among them the pulverized flesh of a viper-that is to say, snake oil." Gary Greenberg; Misery's Fogs; Harper's (New York); Aug 2005. -------- Date: Fri Sep 29 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prevenient X-Bonus: The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief ... that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart. -Walter Lippmann, journalist (1889-1974) This week's theme: miscellaneous words. prevenient (pri-VEEN-yuhnt) adjective Coming before; anticipatory; preventive. [From Latin praevenient-, present participle of praevenire (to precede), from pre- (before) + venire (to come).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "[Frank Stella's] big, shield-like 'Luis Miguel Dominguin' a silver-painted shaped canvas was acquired in 1961, a prevenient time indeed to buy Stella." Grace Glueck; A Collection That Breathes the Spirit of Modernism; The New York Times; Apr 8, 1984.