This week’s theme
Words coined after mythical creatures

This week’s words
unicorn
bunyip
gremlin
snark
Bigfoot

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(snahrk)

MEANING:

noun:	1. A mysterious, imaginary animal.
	2. Something or someone hard to track down.
	3. A snide remark.
verb intr.:	To make a snide remark.

ETYMOLOGY:

For noun 1, 2: Coined by Lewis Carroll in the poem The Hunting of the Snark in 1876. Earliest documented use (outside the poem): 1879.
For noun 3, verb: Of imitative origin, formerly used in the sense to snore or snort. Earliest documented use: 1866.

USAGE:

“But [John Cage’s] snark hunt proved rather dull. Takis’s own search ends more happily.”
Simon Ings; Exhibitions: Takis; The Spectator (London, UK); Jul 13, 2019.

“That is why the quest for evidence that infallibly indicates guilt (or innocence) is a snark hunt.”
Larry Laudan; Eyewitness Identifications: One More Lesson on the Costs of Excluding Relevant Evidence; Perspectives on Psychological Science; May 16, 2012.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: