A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue Sep 1 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--wildcatter X-Bonus: Of course you will insist on modesty in the children, and respect to their teachers, but if the boy stops you in your speech, cries out that you are wrong and sets you right, hug him! -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) This week's theme: Animal terms wildcatter (WYLD-kat-uhr) noun 1. One who drills for oil speculatively. 2. One who promotes an unsafe or fraudulent enterprise. 3. A worker who takes part in a wildcat strike: a sudden strike not authorized by the labor union. [Before the currency was centrally issued in the US, each bank printed its own currency notes. Often these notes were not backed by capital and were risky. It's said that the notes by one of those banks featured a drawing of a wildcat. From there the term wildcat took the sense of anything risky, rash, or unreliable. It's now used in many senses allusively, such as a wildcat well: an exploratory oil well in an area not known to be productive; a wildcat strike: a rash strike not sanctioned by a union official.] A Caracal: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/wildcatter_large.jpg [Photo: Justin Timperio http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtimperio/3828592681/ ] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The legendary wildcatter and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens has decided that drilling for more oil is not the answer to America's energy problems." A Texas Wildcatter Rides the Wind; The New York Times; Jul 22, 2008. -------- Date: Wed Sep 2 00:01:10 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--frogmarch X-Bonus: Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc., and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons. -Douglas Adams, writer, dramatist, and musician (1952-2001) This week's theme: Animal terms frogmarch (FROG-march) verb tr. To force a person to walk with arms pinned behind the back. [If you've dissected a frog in a high school biology lab, that's your clue to the frog in frogmarch. Earlier the term meant to carry someone, such as an uncooperative prisoner or a drunk, with arms and legs spread out, each limb held by a person, just like a frog pinned down on a tray. Today the term applies to someone walking upright, but arms held behind the back.] Karl Rove, the most popular picture on the Web for frogmarching: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/frogmarch_large.jpg [A photoshopped illustration. Artist unknown.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Indeed many of the spectators even allowed their camera flashes to go off during the golfers' back-swings, a crime usually punished by a frogmarch off the course during a more routine tournament." Norman Dabell; Time for Tee on the Ponte Vecchio; Reuters; Dec 31, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Sep 3 00:01:09 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mawkish X-Bonus: 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) This week's theme: Animal terms mawkish (MAW-kish) adjective 1. Excessively sentimental, especially in a false or childish manner. 2. Having a nauseating taste or smell. [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.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "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. -------- Date: Fri Sep 4 00:01:09 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shrew X-Bonus: Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. -Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (1857-1938) This week's theme: Animal terms shrew (shroo) noun A bad-tempered, nagging woman. [Shrew is a mammal of the family Soricidae, having a long, sharp snout. Several species of shrew have a venomous bite. In the beginning the term was used metaphorically for anyone of a spiteful nature, male or female. Eventually the word came to be applied exclusively to women.] Pygmy Shrew: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/shrew_large.jpg [Photo: Paul Adams http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackclough/769696800] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Bibisab's acid tongue and larger than life valour are part of her defence mechanism. She has to be bold and loud to compete with men in her male-dominated society. She may appear to be a shrew but she is not dishonest." Jamil Mahmud; Bibisab: A Woman Going Beyond Gender Roles; The Daily Star (Dhaka, Bangladesh); Jul 15, 2009. -------- Date: Mon Sep 7 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--odious X-Bonus: Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth. -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (1804-1864) This week's five words made the cut because they have a special property. What is it? Can you discover the reason these words were selected to be featured? Email your answer to (contest at wordsmith.org) by Friday. One entry per person, please. Result will be announced in next weekend's AWADmail. Two winners -- first reader to identify the theme, and a reader randomly selected from all correct entries -- will be given a signed copy of one of my books https://wordsmith.org/awad/books.html . In your email, please include your preference for the book you'd like to receive if you are a winner. And while you are writing, do not hesitate to add any comments or suggestions you might have about A.Word.A.Day. odious (O-dee-uhs) adjective Highly offensive; inspiring and deserving hatred. [From Latin odium (hatred), from odisse (to hate). Ultimately from the Indo-European root od- (to hate) that is also the source of the words annoy, noisome, and ennui.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "All over the US there are people whose lives are being destroyed for lack of proper health care provision, and there is no sight more odious than the rich, powerful, and arrogant trying to keep it that way." Simon Hoggart; Why the American Right Make Me Sick; The Guardian (London, UK); Aug 15, 2009. -------- Date: Tue Sep 8 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--asinine X-Bonus: The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. -John Locke, philosopher (1632-1704) This week's theme: Yours to discover asinine (ASS-uh-nyn) adjective Extremely stupid; ridiculous. [From Latin asinus (ass), from the general reputation of donkeys -- entirely undeserved -- as being stubborn and stupid.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "With banks crashing and unemployment soaring, Prohibition felt like what it was -- an asinine waste of time and money." Dan Gardner; You Can't Tell Us Drug Legalization is Impossible; The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Apr 10, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Sep 9 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cagey X-Bonus: Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry. -Terry Pratchett, novelist (b. 1948) This week's theme: Yours to discover cagey or cagy (KAY-jee) adjective 1. Evasive; reticent. 2. Shrewd; crafty. [Origin unknown. Perhaps from cage, from cavea (birdcage), from cavus (hollow).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "NBC execs were cagey about the prospects of Paula Abdul's landing on one of the network's reality-competition programs." Alex Strachan; More Reality Shows for NBC and Maybe Paula Abdul; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada); Aug 6, 2009. -------- Date: Thu Sep 10 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--arcadian X-Bonus: I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer. -Douglas Adams, satirist (1952-2001) This week's theme: Yours to discover Arcadian (ahr-KAY-dee-uhn) adjective Idyllically pastoral: simple, peaceful. noun One leading a simple rural life. [After Arcadia, a region of ancient Greece whose residents were believed to have led quiet, unsophisticated lives of peace and happiness.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Farms, fields, cottages, what [photographer Kevin G. Malella] calls 'the Arcadian view', are blended with industrial images -- mostly nuclear cooling towers -- to create new landscapes that plop the environmentally hazardous engine of contemporary society into our nostalgically folksy lap." Bob Hicks; Questioning Art's Rules and Roles; The Oregonian (Portland); Aug 21, 2009. -------- Date: Fri Sep 11 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--devious X-Bonus: "Did God have a mother?" Children, when told that God made the heavens and the earth, innocently ask whether God had a mother. This deceptively simple question has stumped the elders of the church and embarrassed the finest theologians, precipitating some of the thorniest theological debates over the centuries. All the great religions have elaborate mythologies surrounding the divine act of Creation, but none of them adequately confronts the logical paradoxes inherent in the question that even children ask. -Michio Kaku, physicist (b. 1947) This week's theme: Yours to discover devious (DEE-vee-uhs) adjective 1. Departing from the straight or the usual way. 2. Sneaky; underhanded. [From Latin devius (out of the way), from de- (out of) + via (way). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wegh- (to go or to transport in a vehicle) that resulted in words such as deviate, way, weight, wagon, vogue, vehicle, vector, envoy, and trivial.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Life has a devious way of hiding the edge of the cliff." Ed Stephens Jr.; Sun! Sand! Co-payments! Saipan Tribune (North Mariana Islands); Aug 28, 2009. "With John Jowett, he's laid bare British politicians' and lobbyists' devious, sneaky, Machiavellian manoeuvrings in a comedy that may leave audiences wondering if this kind of farce goes on closer to home." Sharu Delilkan; It's A Drag Playing A Political Leader; The Aucklander (New Zealand); Aug 27, 2009. -------- Date: Mon Sep 14 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Beau Brummell X-Bonus: What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist. -Salman Rushdie, writer (b. 1947) Eponyms are little capsules of history. They capture a bundle of stories in just a word or two. These terms, derived from the names of people, summarize their characters and the qualities that made them stand out. In the five eponyms to be explored this week, we'll meet people, men and women, real and fictional, from a diverse world that includes two playboys, seven sisters, an imaginary deity, and more. Sounds like a soap opera! Beau Brummell (bo BRUM-uhl) noun A man who pays excessive attention to his clothes and appearance. [After Beau Brummell, nickname of George Bryan Brummell (1778-1840), a British dandy. Brummell was known for his suits and elaborate neckwear and was considered an authority in matters of men's dress and etiquette. He rose in society thanks to his royal connections, but gambling debts forced him to flee to France. He died penniless in a mental institution in Caen.] George Bryan Brummell, the original Beau Brummell: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/beau_brummell.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "He [father] possessed a Beau Brummell's zest for fashion." Neal Hirschfeld; His Dad, the World's Darling; The New York Times; Jun 15, 2008. -------- Date: Tue Sep 15 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--termagant X-Bonus: All I ask is this: Do something. Try something. Speaking out, showing up, writing a letter, a check, a strongly worded e-mail. Pick a cause -- there are few unworthy ones. And nudge yourself past the brink of tacit support to action. Once a month, once a year, or just once. -Joss Whedon, writer and film director (b. 1964) This week's theme: Eponyms termagant (TER-muh-guhnt) noun A quarrelsome or overbearing woman. [From Old French Tervagant. The word comes from the name of an imaginary deity that Christians in medieval Europe erroneously believed was worshiped by Muslims. It was represented in morality plays as a violent, overbearing personage. Over time the term became generalized to apply to any brawling person, and eventually only to women.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[Mrs. Lincoln], the wife of one of our most beloved presidents, has been characterized as a sharp-tongued termagant who made her husband's life miserable." Larry Eskridge; The Tragedy of Mary Lincoln; The Daily Ledger (Canton, Illinois); May 16, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Sep 16 00:25:11 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pleiad X-Bonus: Only the educated are free. -Epictetus, philosopher (c. 60-120) This week's theme: Eponyms pleiad (PLEE-uhd) noun A group of (usually seven) brilliant persons or things. [After the Pleiades, the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and sea-nymph Pleione in Greek mythology. These seven sisters were Maia, Electra, Celaeno, Taygete, Merope, Alcyone, and Sterope. In one version of the myth, they killed themselves out of grief over the loss of their half sisters the Hyades, and were turned into a group of stars. In another version, they were placed among the stars to protect them from the hunter Orion, though he too became a star to continue to pursue them. Only six of the seven sisters shine brightly in the Pleiades star cluster. The other one is supposed to be Merope, hiding in shame for loving a mortal, or Electra, mourning the death of her son Dardanus.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pleiad_large.jpg [Photo: NASA] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'The turbulent 1990s were a time of rapid change and bold, extraordinary people. ... Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, without any exaggeration, belongs among just such a pleiad,' Putin said." Lynn Berry; Russian Leaders Honor Boris Yeltsin on 1st Anniversary of His Death; Associated Press; Apr 23, 2008. -------- Date: Thu Sep 17 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Gordon Bennett X-Bonus: Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970) This week's theme: Eponyms Gordon Bennett (GOR-dn BEN-it) interjection Expressing surprise, puzzlement, incredulity, annoyance, etc. [The expression is primarily used in the UK even though Gordon Bennett was an American. It comes from the name of newspaperman James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (1841-1918). He was known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., a Scottish immigrant to the US and founder of the New York Herald. The son inherited the paper and wealth, and was known for his extravagant and shocking life. The term Gordon Bennett alludes to his wild ways, and perhaps originated as a euphemism for gorblimey https://wordsmith.org/words/blimey.html . Gordon Bennett escaped to France to get away from scandals and became famous in Europe for establishing awards in sports such as yachting, auto and airplane racing, ballooning, etc.] Gordon Bennett: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gordon_bennett.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Gordon Bennett, have they nothing better to do than gawp*?" Robert McNeil; A Date For Your Diary; The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland); Jun 19, 2009. [* to gawk] -------- Date: Fri Sep 18 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pasquinade X-Bonus: If a book be false in its facts, disprove them; if false in its reasoning, refute it. But for God s sake, let us freely hear both sides if we choose. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect, and author (1743-1826) This week's theme: Eponyms pasquinade (pas-kwuh-NAYD) noun A satire or lampoon, especially one displayed in a public place. [Before there were Facebook protests and Twitter outcries, people complained publicly by publishing pamphlets and posting flyers. One such tradition was posting anonymous satirical verses and lampoons on an ancient statue in Rome. The locals named this statue Pasquino after a shopkeeper near whose place it had been unearthed. Over time the term came to be applied to any work of satire publicly displayed. Also see the talking statues of Rome: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_statues_of_Rome ] Statue of Pasquino in Rome, showing modern pasquinades: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pasquinade_large.jpg [Photo: Peter Heeling] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Whether these soaps are a pasquinade mocking the education system here or a great landmark in popular culture is a question open to interpretation." Shweta Teoti; Ekta, a Threat to Women's Education; The Times of India (New Delhi); Oct 26, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Sep 21 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--comstockery X-Bonus: It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. -J.K. Rowling, author (b. 1965) Librarians and booksellers are two of my favorite peoples. Anyone who loves books so much as to dedicate their life to them can't be all that bad. Unfortunately there are some who feel threatened by certain books and call for them to be banned or destroyed. People have a right to be offended by any book. All they have to do is not buy or borrow it. The problem begins when they try to impose their views on others by trying to ban it. As an antidote to banning, the last week of September is observed in the US as Banned Books Week http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/ . To celebrate it, this week we are going to feature five words relating to censorship and mutilation of books. Even though people after whom some of these words are coined have long gone, censorship is still alive. But there's hope. I leave you with this thoughtful letter http://jaslarue.blogspot.com/2008/07/uncle-bobbys-wedding.html from a librarian to a patron. Comstockery (KOM-stok-uh-ree, KUM-) noun Overzealous censorship of material considered obscene. [After Anthony Comstock (1844-1915), founder of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. He crusaded against anything he considered immoral. Nothing escaped his wrath -- even anatomy textbooks for medical students and the draping of mannequins in public view in shop windows were obscene to him. He lobbied for laws against mailing any material that could be perceived as promoting immorality. He was appointed postal inspector and he seized books, postcards, and other materials by the boatload. He boasted that he had arrested more than 3,000 people and driven more than 15 to suicide. George Bernard Shaw coined the word comstockery after him when he attacked the American production of Shaw's play "Mrs. Warren's Profession".] Anthony Comstock: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/comstockery_large.jpg [photo: Wikimedia] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The language and thought police are hardly some Orwellian invention; America has been unusually susceptible to plagues of Comstockery and self-righteous tomfoolery." Jon Newlin; Well, Shut My Mouth; Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana); Oct 13, 1996. -------- Date: Tue Sep 22 00:01:08 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--imprimatur X-Bonus: I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955) This week's theme: Words about censorship and destruction of books imprimatur (im-pri-MAH-tuhr, -MAY-) noun 1. Approval or authority; imprint. 2. A license to print or publish, especially one issued by a censor of the Roman Catholic Church. [From New Latin imprimatur (let it be printed), from imprimere (to imprint), from in- (in) + premere (to press). Ultimately from the Indo-European root per- (to strike) that also gave us print, press, pressure, compress, impress, express, and espresso.] Newton's Principia Mathematica (1687), bearing the imprimatur of the Royal Society president Samuel Pepys: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/imprimatur_large.jpg [Photo: Andrew Dunn http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com/] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Under the new arrangement, the books will be published under the Anne Geddes imprimatur." Lynn Andriani; Perseus to Distribute Photographer Anne Geddes; Publishers Weekly (New York); Jul 16, 2009. "The fact that the answer has the imprimatur of Cabinet does not necessarily mean that the information is correct or relevant." Julian Kenny; Of Sardines and Red Herrings; Trinidad and Tobago Express; Jun 30 2009. -------- Date: Wed Sep 23 00:01:10 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bowdlerize X-Bonus: Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. -Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator (1904-1991) This week's theme: Words about censorship and destruction of books bowdlerize (BOAD-luh-ryz) verb tr. To remove or change parts (of a book, play, movie, etc.) considered objectionable. [After Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), a British doctor, who edited the Family Shakespeare, an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's works. Bowdler believed the original wasn't suitable for the delicate sensibilities of women and children. He also edited other books, such as Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and the Old Testament in a similar manner.] The Family Shakespeare: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bowdlerize_large.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The film [The Birth of a Nation] faced more courtroom challenges than any movie before or since, and many locales did ban or bowdlerize the movie." Gary Susman; Riot Acts; Entertainment Weekly; Nov 23, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Sep 24 00:01:05 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nihil obstat X-Bonus: He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it - namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) This week's theme: Words about censorship and destruction of books nihil obstat (NY-hil OB-stat, NEE-) noun 1. Official approval. 2. In the Roman Catholic Church, a statement by a church censor that a book is not offensive to the Church. [From Latin nihil obstat (nothing hinders), from nihil (nothing) + obstare (to hinder), from ob- (against) + stare (to stand). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sta- (to stand) that is also the source of stay, stage, stable, instant, establish, static, and system.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The Army Corps of Engineers last week gave its nihil obstat to the Hudson River Park, New York City's scheme." New York's Finny Friends; New York Post; Jun 5, 2000. -------- Date: Fri Sep 25 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--grangerize X-Bonus: The most miserable pettifogging in the world is that of a man in the court of his own conscience. -Henry Ward Beecher, preacher and writer (1813-1887) This week's theme: Words about censorship and destruction of books grangerize (GRAYN-juh-ryz) verb tr. 1. To mutilate a book by clipping pictures out of it. 2. To illustrate a book by adding pictures cut from other books. [After James Granger (1723-1776), an English clergyman whose Biographical History of England had blank leaves for illustrations, to be filled with pictures, clippings, etc. by the reader.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Bagtoothian looked up from his reading, An Illustrated History of Sparta, which he proceeded to grangerize." Roger Rosenblatt; Beet: A Novel; HarperCollins; 2008. -------- Date: Mon Sep 28 00:01:06 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prestidigitation X-Bonus: The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) A writer usually doesn't have a boss. On the other hand, a writer's boss is his readers. You could say I have hundreds of thousands of bosses https://wordsmith.org/awad/stats.html . But this relationship is not so clearcut. Let me explain. From time to time a reader is displeased with something I have written, and emails: "Keep your opinions to yourself or you will lose readers." Appreciative as I am of my readers -- they are whom I write for -- I do not always write to try to please them. I express my opinion. Some opinions resonate and some leave them fuming, but they all can see -- I hope -- that it comes from my heart. I don't expect everyone to agree with me or my beliefs. Well, at least this week, I'm at your service hand and foot, etymologically speaking. All words to be featured have either hand or foot as their origin, even though it may not always be obvious. prestidigitation (pres-ti-dij-i-TAY-shuhn) noun 1. A sleight of hand. 2. Deceitfulness, trickery. [From French prestidigitation (conjuring), from preste (nimble) + Latin digitus (finger).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "It is, of course, a nonsense number, a statistical prestidigitation." Polly Toynbee; Is There Pensions Apartheid?; Guardian (London, UK); Jul 4, 2009. -------- Date: Tue Sep 29 00:01:07 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antipodal X-Bonus: The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900) This week's theme: Words derived from hands and feet antipodal (an-TIP-uh-duhl) adjective 1. Situated on the opposite side of the earth (or another body). 2. Diametrically opposite or completely opposite. [Via Latin from Greek antipodes (literally, those having the feet opposite), plural of antipous, from anti- (opposite) + pous (foot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ped- (foot) which gave us peccadillo (alluding to a stumble or fall) https://wordsmith.org/words/peccadillo.html , pedal, impeccable, podium, octopus, and impeach.] Find your antipodal point at http://antipodr.com/ or http://www.antipodemap.com/ -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Paris was the starting point and the antipodal points I had to pass through were Madrid and Wellington." Brian McIver; Ukraine to USA: the World is Just Too Vast to Grasp at 13mph; Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland); May 16, 2009. "The antipodal views between Stephan and Yanik regarding how to fight against their common enemy makes for the crux of the play. Stephan is headstrong and vocal while Yanik is soft-person, loving, and peaceful, although both fight against the oppression." Justice in the Barrel; The Kathmandu Post (Nepal); Feb 2, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Sep 30 00:01:05 EDT 2009 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--legerdemain X-Bonus: Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950) This week's theme: Words derived from hands and feet legerdemain (lej-er-duh-MAYN) noun 1. Sleight of hand. 2. A display of skill. [From French leger de main (light of hand), from leger (light) + de (of) + main (hand). Ultimately the from Indo-European root man- (hand) that's also the source of manage, maintain, maneuver, manufacture, manuscript, and command.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "It's a fantastic spot. But what happens to viewers' trust of Barclays when they realize all commercials are fake, shot on soundstages, and built on camera tricks and fancy editing and legerdemain?" Simon Houpt; Spotting the Fake; Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Aug 14, 2009. "Christoph Waltz has mastered Quentin Tarantino's linguistic legerdemain in four languages." David Germain; Waltz Crafts Linguistic Magic for 'Basterds'; Associated Press; Aug 17, 2009.