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This week's theme Double trouble This week's words diptych snake_eyes portmanteau zwieback dicephalous Today's word in Visual Thesaurus (Photo: Ingrid Balko Zeitle) Give a gift that ... keeps on giving, all year long A gift subscription of AWAD Discuss Feedback RSS/XML A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg snake eyes PRONUNCIATION: (snayk aaiz) MEANING: noun: A throw of two ones with a pair of dice. Since this is the lowest possible score, by extension the term is also used to refer to bad luck. ETYMOLOGY: Either from the apparent resemblance of such a throw to a snake's eyes, or from the association of snakes with treachery. The origin of the word craps, where this term is often used, is also derived from an animal: crab. A synonym of today's term is ambsace. USAGE: "Detroit's bet on big trucks and sport-utility vehicles has turned snake eyes." David Kiley; Michigan: Epicenter of Unemployment; BusinessWeek (New York); Jun 24, 2008. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969)

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