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A.Word.A.Day--hobbit Pronunciation: WAV or RealAudio hobbit (HOB-it) noun An imaginary creature resembling a diminutive human being, having some rabbitlike characteristics, and being naturally peace-loving, domestic, and sociable. [From pseudo-Old English holbytla, hole-builder (coined by J.R.R. Tolkien) : Old English hol, hole + Old English bytla, builder, hammerer (from bytl, bietel, mallet.] "`I'm 4ft and that's with shoes on,' laughed 21-year-old Southon. `I could be just what they're looking for if they're after an elf or a hobbit.'" Keane Philippa, The height of fame, Sunday Star Times (New Zealand), 25 Apr 1999. This week's theme: coined words. X-Bonus The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions. -Bishop Mandell Creighton

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