A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Jan 1 00:16:18 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hootenanny X-Bonus: To freely bloom - that is my definition of success. -Gerry Spence, lawyer (1929- ) Happy 2007! This is an odd year, so we start with some odd-looking words. Add these oddball words to your lexicon to bring some color. The odds are you'll enjoy using them to amuse your friends or to solve crossword puzzles (that is if you are a cruciverbalist, which is a very odd word). hootenanny (HOOT-nan-ee) noun 1. An informal performance by folk singers, often involving the audience. 2. A thingamajig: an unidentified or unnamed object or gadget. [Of unknown origin. Earlier a hootenanny implied a thingamajig; eventually the term took its new sense of a performance of folk singing. It's said that a hootenanny is to folk singing what a jam session is to jazz.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The yearly high-end hootenanny brings 22 singers to the stage of Place des Arts, each eager to show you what he or she is made of." A Selection of Today's Events; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada); Dec 3, 2006. -------- Date: Tue Jan 2 00:01:18 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--teetotum X-Bonus: Evil is like a shadow - it has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it. -Shakti Gawain, teacher and author (1948- ) This week's theme: odd-looking words. teetotum (tee-TO-tuhm) noun A spinning top. [From T-totum. Originally a teetotum was a kind of die used in a game of chance. It had a stick put through a six-sided die so that only four sides could be used. One of the sides had the letter T representing Latin totum (all), implying take the whole stake from the pot. Other sides had letters A aufer (take one stake from the pot), D depone (put one stake), and N nihil (do nothing). A dreidel is a form of teetotum.] A picture of a teetotum http://antiquegamblingchips.com/site/PutTakeForSale.jpg -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "In 1890s London, George Bernard Shaw's music reviews frequently took ballet to task. How weary he was of illogical plots and the empty virtuosity of what he referred to as 'teetotum spins'." Deborah Jowitt; Nothing Left to Lose; The Village Voice (New York); Jan 18, 2000. -------- Date: Wed Jan 3 00:01:16 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tohubohu X-Bonus: "Hey, it's '007," as James Bond said, "Cheers!" -Sacha Molitorisz, columnist (1969- ), in Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 3, 2007 This week's theme: odd-looking words. tohubohu (TOH-hoo-BO-hoo) noun Chaos; confusion. [From Hebrew tohu wa-bhohu, from tohu (formlessness) and bhohu (emptiness).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Our problem is tohubohu. Our industry is drowning in it. But somehow, even with all the confusion and disorder, we manage to develop systems." Jerrold Grochow; Take a Little Tohubohu Off the Top; Software Magazine (Englewood, Colorado); Nov 1995. -------- Date: Thu Jan 4 00:01:15 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--snuggery X-Bonus: He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809) This week's theme: odd-looking words. snuggery (SNUG-uh-ree) noun A snug, cozy place. [From snug, perhaps of Scandinavian origin.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The day when the Winter Olympics could be held in lovely mountain snuggeries like St. Moritz and Cortina has long passed." John Powers; Expansion Put Games on a Grander Scale; Boston Globe; Feb 24, 1992. -------- Date: Fri Jan 5 00:01:19 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hullabaloo X-Bonus: I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. -Edgar Guest, poet (1881-1959) This week's theme: odd-looking words. hullabaloo (HUL-uh-buh-loo) noun Tumultuous noise, excitement, confusion; uproar. [Of uncertain origin. Apparently a reduplication of hallo (former variant of hello), an alteration of French hola (whoa, stop there), from ho + la (there).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "After all the hullabaloo, pre-match hype and endless talks shows on radio and television, the Fenerbahçe-Besiktas derby at Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul turned out to be a Big Fat Nothing." Okan Udo Bassey; A Big Fat Nothing; Turkish Daily News (Ankara, Turkey); Nov 21, 2006. -------- Date: Mon Jan 8 00:01:19 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--malkin X-Bonus: Writing the last page of the first draft is the most enjoyable moment in writing. It's one of the most enjoyable moments in life, period. -Nicholas Sparks, author (1965- ) "That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra." Alice and Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass might as well have been talking about this week's set of words. While these words do not have as many meanings as the word "set" (the Oxford English Dictionary devotes 26 pages to it), each of this week's hard-working words has many unrelated meanings. And they are not bland, like the word set. With these words, one could say, we get our money's worth. malkin (MO-kin, MAL-kin) noun 1. An untidy woman; a slattern. 2. A scarecrow or a grotesque effigy. 3. A mop made of a bundle or rags fastened to a stick. 4. A cat. 5. A hare. [From Middle English Malkyn (little Molly), diminutive of the name Maud or Molly/Mary.] A related word is grimalkin, referring to an old female cat or an ill-tempered old woman. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "And speaking o' cats, gray malkins hunt through the forest as well." Cecilia Dart-Thornton; The Battle of Evernight; Aspect; 2003. -------- Date: Tue Jan 9 00:01:17 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--os X-Bonus: No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992) This week's theme: words that have many unrelated meanings. os (aws) noun [plural ora] A mouth or an orifice. [From Latin os (mouth).] os (aws) noun [plural ossa] A bone. [From Latin os (bone).] os (oas) noun [plural osar] An esker: a long, serpentine ridge of gravel formed by a stream flowing in or under a glacial ice sheet. [From Swedish ċs (ridge).] It also appears as an abbreviation in many fields, including Chemistry: Os - symbol for the element osmium Computing: OS - Operating System Pharmacy: OS - left eye (from Latin oculus sinister) Linguistics: OS - Old Saxon -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Naturally, the students couldn't resist testing the teachers' knowledge. 'You'd better slow down,' they would tell some unsuspecting pedagogue, 'or you might fall and break your os.'" D.L. Stanley; I Hope This Doesn't Effectuate Your Dudgeon; Atlanta Inquirer (Georgia); Nov 16, 1996. -------- Date: Wed Jan 10 00:01:26 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gammon X-Bonus: Man is the religious animal. He is the only religious animal that has the true religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) This week's theme: words that have many unrelated meanings. gammon (GAM-uhn) noun 1. Backgammon. 2. A victory in a backgammon game before the loser has removed any piece. [Probably from Middle English gamen (game).] 3. A cured or smoked ham. 4. The bottom piece of a side of bacon. [From Old French gambon (ham), from gambe (leg), from Late Latin gamba (hoof), from Greek kampe (bend).] verb tr., intr. To deceive or to fool. [Of uncertain origin, perhaps from the game of backgammon.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "One low-life chats with an old lady, who 'remarked very sapiently that he would be a-gammoning of her.'" Lucy Daniel; Repro Literature; Financial Times (London, UK); Jan 27, 2006. -------- Date: Thu Jan 11 00:01:46 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--speculum X-Bonus: Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891) This week's theme: words that have many unrelated meanings. speculum (SPEK-yoo-luhm) noun 1. A mirror used as a reflector in an optical instrument, such as a telescope. 2. Speculum metal: any of various alloys of copper and tin used in making mirrors. 3. An instrument for holding open a body cavity for medical examination. 4. A bright patch of color on the wings of certain birds, for example ducks. [From Latin speculum (mirror), from specere (to look at), ultimately from the Indo-European root spek- (to observe) which is also the root of such words as suspect, spectrum, bishop (literally, overseer), espionage, despise, telescope, and spectacles.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The beautiful green speculum on the wings is common to both sexes." Charles Darwin; Descent Of Man; 1871. -------- Date: Fri Jan 12 00:01:26 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--fizgig X-Bonus: We are healed of a suffering only by expressing it to the full. -Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922) This week's theme: words that have many unrelated meanings. fizgig (FIZ-gig) noun 1. A squib: a type of firework made with damp powder that makes a hissing sound when exploding. [From fizz, a clipping of fizzle, from fysel (to break wind).] 2. A kind of top spun by pulling a string wound around it. 3. A flirty, frivolous girl. [Both from Middle English gig (a flighty girl, a whipping-top).] 4. A kind of harpoon with barbs for spearing fish. [From Spanish fisga (fish spear).] 5. A police informer. [Australian slang.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "When [the speaker] argues that philosophies and theologies are the fizgigs of the brain, he expresses an idea which Browning has repeatedly expressed in 'Ferishtah's Fancies'." Edward Dowden; Robert Browning (biography); 1904. -------- Date: Mon Jan 15 00:01:19 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Garrison finish X-Bonus: I believe I found the missing link between animal and civilized man. It is us. -Konrad Lorenz, ethologist, Nobel laureate (1903-1989) You could pay to have a football stadium named after yourself. You might be able to have a hospital wing named in your honor. But there's something money can't buy: having a word coined after your name, so that you become part of the language. Such words are called eponyms, from Greek ep- (after) + -onym (name). Five people (some from real life, others from fiction) in this week's words achieved that feat, though not intentionally. They all have eponyms coined from their names. Garrison finish (GAR-i-suhn FIN-ish) noun The finish of a contest in which the winner rallies at the last moment to score the victory. [After Edward "Snapper" Garrison (1868-1930), a jockey known for hanging back during most of the race and finishing at top speed to achieve a thrilling victory.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Bill said bravely, 'I think we're going to see a real garrison finish. It's the pattern of every classic game -- go ahead, fall behind, come storming back.'" John Helyar; Last Day at Fenway Park; Yankee (Dublin, New Hampshire); Apr 2005; -------- Date: Tue Jan 16 00:01:16 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Rip Van Winkle X-Bonus: I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone. -Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969) This week's theme: eponyms. Rip Van Winkle (rip van WING-kuhl) noun One who fails to keep up with the times. [After Rip Van Winkle, a character in a story by Washington Irving (1783-1859). Rip falls asleep for 20 years in the Catskill mountains and wakes up to discover the world around him has changed. He finds that the American Revolutionary war has taken place and instead of being a subject of His Majesty George the Third, he is now a free citizen of the United States.] Rip Van Winkle has plenty of company when it comes to sleeping. His 20 years are nothing compared with Sleeping Beauty who dozed off for 100 years. The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus fell asleep in a cave for some 250 years, and Endymion in Greek mythology received the gift of eternal youth by sleeping forever. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Does Gordon Brown sincerely want to be Prime Minister? To ask such a question you would have to be a Rip Van Winkle, slumbering obliviously through every event in British politics throughout the past decade." Anatole Kaletsky; Unless Gordon Brown Wakes Soon, He'll Sleepwalk Past the Door to Power; The Times (London, UK); Dec 7, 2006. -------- Date: Wed Jan 17 00:01:18 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Talmi gold X-Bonus: We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983) This week's theme: eponyms. Talmi gold (TAL-mee gold) noun Brass, plated with gold, used in making cheap jewelry. [After Tallois, the French inventor in the 19th century. The term comes to English from German Talmigold, a partial translation of French Tal. mi-or, a contraction of Tallois demi-or, from demi (half) + or (gold).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Talmi-gold and similar trinkets are identical with what they momentarily do for their wearer; genuine jewels are a value that goes beyond this." Georg Simmel; Simmel on Culture; Sage Publications; 1997. -------- Date: Thu Jan 18 00:01:16 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jarvey X-Bonus: The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal. -Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and author (1900-1980) This week's theme: eponyms. jarvey (JAR-vee) noun 1. A hackney-coach driver. 2. A hackney coach. [After Jarvey, a variant of the name Jarvis. Who Jarvey/Jarvis was is unknown.] The word hackney is a toponym, after Hackney, a borough of London, UK, and that's where the term hack (as in a hack writer) comes from. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The empty vehicle was waiting without a fare or a jarvey." James Joyce; Ulysses; 1922. -------- Date: Fri Jan 19 00:01:19 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--eonism X-Bonus: When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked for forgiveness. -Emo Philips, comedian (1956- ) This week's theme: eponyms. eonism (EE-uh-niz-uhm) noun Adoption of female clothing and manners by a male. [After Chevalier d'Éon (1728-1810), a spy and soldier who lived the second half of his life as a woman.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Major Fosdick has converted a not uncommon introversion into eonism." Robert K. Morris; The Novels of Anthony Powell; University of Pittsburgh Press; 1968. -------- Date: Mon Jan 22 00:01:15 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--livid X-Bonus: I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784) In the next five days we'll offer you five words. How were they selected? What do they have in common? Instead of telling you in advance, as we usually do, this week we challenge you to figure it out. If you think you know the selection criterion, email your answer to (words AT wordsmith.org). Only one answer per person please. From among the correct answers, one person will be selected at random to win an autographed copy of my book Another Word A Day. We'll reveal the answer and the winner's name this weekend. livid (LIV-id) adjective 1. Extremely angry. 2. Reddish, grayish, bluish, or pallid. [From Latin lividus, from livere (to be bluish).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Andrew Price, coach of Boys' Town, was livid last night after learning that his team's home ground was banned for two games." Howard Walker; Boys' Town Ban Upsets Price; Jamaica Observer (Kingston); Jan 9, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Jan 23 00:01:17 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vim X-Bonus: Every natural form -- palm leaves and acorns, oak leaves and sumach and dodder -- are untranslatable aphorisms. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) This week's theme: yours to discover. vim (vim) noun Energy, enthusiasm, exuberance, vigor. [From Latin vis (strength, energy, force).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Watford, playing with enthusiasm and vim, had dominated the opening minutes." Tim Collings; Watford Suffer Sinking Feeling; The Independent (London, UK); Dec 31, 2006. -------- Date: Wed Jan 24 00:01:13 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vivid X-Bonus: Speech is for the convenience of those who are hard of hearing. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) This week's theme: yours to discover. vivid (VIV-id) adjective Bright; clear and fresh; lively. [From Latin vividus, from vivere (to live).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "[Emily] Rapp's account of what it's like to incorporate prostheses into her fleshly body makes for some of the most vivid writing in the book." Donna Minkowitz; Amputee's Pain on Paper; Newsday (New York); Jan 14, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Jan 25 00:01:15 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dilli X-Bonus: Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in. -Sam Harris, author (1967- ) This week's theme: yours to discover. dilli or dilly (DIL-ee) noun Someone or something that is remarkable or unusual. [Shortening of delightful or delicious.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "You're the most impossible man I ever met. And I've met some dillies." Raymond Chandler; Playback; Hamish Hamilton; 1958. -------- Date: Fri Jan 26 00:01:17 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--immix X-Bonus: The living are soft and yielding; the dead are rigid and stiff. Living plants are flexible and tender; the dead are brittle and dry. -Lao Tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE) This week's theme: yours to discover. immix (i-MIKS) verb tr. To mix; to blend. [Back-formation of Middle English immixt, from Latin immixtus, past participle of immiscere (to blend), from in- (intensive prefix) + miscere (to mix). Ultimately from the Indo-European root meik- (to mix) that's also the source of mix, miscellaneous, meddle, medley, melee, promiscuous, and mustang.] What's common among the five words this week (livid, vim, vivid, dilli, and immix)? If you know the answer, send it to (words AT wordsmith.org). Only one entry per person please. Someone randomly selected from among the correct answers will receive an autographed copy of my book Another Word A Day. We'll reveal the answer and the winner's name at the weekend. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Settle in with the two-disc best of the 2004 festival, which immixed Japanese ska, Tex-pop and angry Ani DiFranco folk." Erie Times-News (Pennsylvania); Jun 9, 2005. -------- Date: Mon Jan 29 00:01:19 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cynosure X-Bonus: It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at all. -James Thurber, writer and cartoonist (1894-1961) I remember that biology class many years back. We took a few drops of water from a nearby pond and put them on a slide under the microscope. When we peeked through the eyepiece we saw all sorts of life forms -- amoeba, paramecium, and others -- floating around. This week's words are something like that. There are animals hidden in these words. You just need to put them under the microscope of etymology to see them. cynosure (SY-nuh-shoor) noun 1. One who is the center of attraction or interest. 2. One who serves to direct or to guide. [Originally the term was applied to the constellation Ursa Minor or the North Star (Polaris) that was used in navigation. The term is derived from Latin Cynosura (Ursa Minor), from Greek kynosoura (dog's tail), ultimately from the Indo-European root kwon- (dog) that is also the source of canine, chenille (from French chenille: caterpillar, literally, little dog), cynic, kennel, canary, hound, dachshund, and corgi.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "If Bipasha became the cynosure of all eyes, Payal too hogged the limelight." Dancing Their Way to the Bank; Economic Times (New Delhi, India); Dec 31, 2006. -------- Date: Tue Jan 30 00:01:19 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chatoyant X-Bonus: The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards. -Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924) This week's theme: words with hidden animals. chatoyant (shuh-TOI-uhnt) adjective Having a changeable luster like that of a cat's eye at night. noun A chatoyant gemstone, such as a cat's eye. [From French, present participle of chatoyer (to shine like a cat's eye), from chat (cat).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Her deep green chatoyant eyes were stunning." Leo L. Sullivan; Life; Triple Crown Publications; 2006. -------- Date: Wed Jan 31 00:01:15 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--coxcomb X-Bonus: Many are concerned about the monuments of the West and the East- to know who built them. For my part, I should like to know who in those days did not build them- who were above such trifling. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) This week's theme: words with hidden animals. coxcomb (KOKS-kom) noun A conceited man excessively interested in his appearance and dress; a fop. [A variant of cock's comb (a rooster's crest).] Jesters in medieval courts wore a cap with red strips like those in a rooster's crest. From there the sense of the term extended to a vain, pretentious dandy. Today we would describe him as metrosexual. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "At this general assembly of coxcombs, fops and the world's greatest dunces, Theobald, an unsuccessful writer, is crowned 'Chief of the Dunces'." Fame Ndongo's Pyrrhic Victory; Peterkins Manyong; The Post (Buea, Cameroon); Jan 16, 2007.