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Apr 28, 2017
This week’s theme
Toponyms

This week’s words
sybaritic
dalmatic
sardine
frieze
pierian

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Ugly words
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

pierian

PRONUNCIATION:
(py-EER-ee-uhn)

MEANING:
adjective: Relating to learning or poetry.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Pieria, a region in Greece. In Greek mythology, Pieria was home to a spring that was sacred to the Muses and inspired anyone who drank from it. Earliest documented use: 1591.

NOTES:
Alexander Pope in his poem “An Essay on Criticism” (1709) wrote
“A little learning is a dang’rous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.”

USAGE:
“After I had listed my courses: English, math, and science, he said, ‘I see you have begun to drink at the Pierian Spring. In time your appetite will become insatiable.’”
Helen Hickok; Short Stories; Lulu; 2015.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience. -Harper Lee, writer (28 Apr 1926-2016)

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