A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Fri Feb 1 00:04:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rede X-Bonus: When you turn the corner / And you run into yourself / Then you know that you have turned / All the corners that are left. -Langston Hughes, poet and novelist (1 Feb 1902-1967) This week's theme: Words that have many unrelated meanings rede (reed) verb tr.: 1. To advise. 2. To interpret or explain. noun: 1. Advice. 2. An account or a narration. [From Old English rǣdan (read). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ar- (to fit together), which also gave us army, harmony, article, order, read, adorn, arithmetic, rhyme, and ratiocinate https://wordsmith.org/words/ratiocinate.html . Earliest documented use: before 450.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/rede "There master Courtenay, sitting in his own chamber, gave his rede." James Joyce; Ulysses; Sylvia Beach; 1922. "Well, rede me this riddle." L. Sprague deCamp and Catherine Crook deCamp; The Incorporated Knight; Phantasia Press; 1987. "Yet do not cast all hope away. Tomorrow is unknown. Rede oft is found at the rising of the Sun." J.R.R. Tolkien; The Two Towers (vol. 2 of The Lord of the Rings trilogy); George Allen & Unwin; 1954. -------- Date: Mon Feb 4 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mycology X-Bonus: A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it. -Lewis H. Lapham, editor and writer (b. 8 Jan 1935) I love learning about how things are made -- taking factory tours is one of my favorite things to do -- so I was delighted to read a recent article about how an Airbus A380 comes together. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/airbus-a380-parts-together/index.html Four million parts arrive from 30 countries via sea, land, and air. Then they are all put together to build a plane in Toulouse, France, by, I presume, giant kids with screwdrivers and spanners from their Meccano sets.* Words work somewhat similarly. We source components from around the world, from multiple languages, and then screw them together and let them out to fly from mouths to ears, and beyond. This week we'll feature five words made with combining forms. What are combining forms? You can think of them as Lego (from Danish, leg: play + godt: well) bricks of language. As the term indicates, a combining form is a linguistic atom that occurs only in combination with some other form which could be a word, another combining form, or an affix (unlike a combining form, an affix can't attach to another affix). This week we'll use these combining forms: myco- (mushroom, fungus), ailuro- (cat), oro- (mountain), epi- (upon), nidi- (nest) and -logy (study), -phile (lover), -geny (formation), -geal (relating to earth), -fugous (fleeing). *At least that's how we do it in our own backyard in Seattle https://www.futureofflight.org/ mycology (my-KOL-uh-jee) noun The study of fungi. [From Greek myco- (mushroom, fungus) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1836.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mycology https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mycology_large.jpg Image: Geert Weggen https://www.flickr.com/photos/hardeko/44294580461/ "[R. Gordon Wasson, a vice president of J.P. Morgan's bank] began spending less time banking and more on mycology, eventually coming to believe that 'our ancestors worshipped a divine mushroom'." Nick Richardson; Revolution in the Head: The Uses and Abuses of Psychedelics; Harper's Magazine (New York); Jun 2018. -------- Date: Tue Feb 5 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ailurophile X-Bonus: A hungry man is not a free man. -Adlai Stevenson, statesman (5 Feb 1900-1965) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms ailurophile (eye/ay-LOOR-uh-fyl) noun One who loves cats. [From Greek ailuro- (cat) + -phile (lover). Earliest documented use: 1914.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ailurophile_large.jpg Image: Cavale Doom https://www.flickr.com/photos/cavale/3666227633/ NOTES: There have been some serious ailurophiles over the years. Examples: Ben Rea of UK who left $13 million to his black cat Blackie http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/wealthiest-cat/ or Maria Assunta of Italy who also left $13 million to her black cat Tommaso. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/13/a-pet-in-the-one-percent-woman-leaves-13-million-to-her-cat/ If there are any black cats reading this, I recommend they use Google to find their nearest aging ailurophile millionaire with a net worth of $13 million. Or they could just start a YouTube channel. The opposite of an ailurophile is ailurophobe https://wordsmith.org/words/ailurophobia.html "It's said in publishing that no cat book ever loses money. Maybe it's true: bibliophiles tend to be ailurophiles, and both are tenacious breeds." Emily Toth; Meow mix; Women's Review of Books (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Jul 1, 1995. -------- Date: Wed Feb 6 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--orogeny X-Bonus: The tragedy in the lives of most of us is that we go through life walking down a high-walled lane with people of our own kind, the same economic situation, the same national background and education and religious outlook. And beyond those walls, all humanity lies, unknown and unseen, and untouched by our restricted and impoverished lives. -Florence Luscomb, architect and suffragist (6 Feb 1887-1985) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms orogeny (o-RAH-juh-nee) noun Folding and faulting of the earth's crust resulting in mountain formation. [From Greek oro- (mountain) + -geny (formation). Earliest documented use: 1890.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/orogeny Oreogeny: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/orogeny_large.png Photo: dhunterauthor https://www.flickr.com/photos/57764451@N07/albums/72157634076352653 "The burden of too much time was as profound as orogeny: it subjected his ordinary mind to pressures akin to those which caused earthquakes; tectonic shifts." Stephen R. Donaldson; Against All Things Ending; Putnam; 2010. -------- Date: Thu Feb 7 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epigeal X-Bonus: Language is mobile and liable to change. It is a free country, and man may call a "vase" a "vawse", a "vahse", a "vaze", or a "vase", as he pleases. And why should he not? We do not all think alike, walk alike, dress alike, write alike, or dine alike; why should not we use our liberty in speech also, so long as the purpose of speech, to be intelligible, and its grace, are not interfered with? -James Murray, lexicographer and editor of the Oxford English Dictionary (7 Feb 1837-1915) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms epigeal (ep-i-JEE-uhl) adjective Living close to the ground, as certain plants. [From Greek epi- (upon) + -geal (relating to earth), from ge (earth). Earliest documented use: 1861.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/epigeal_large.jpg L: Epigeal germination (mung bean) R: Hypogeal germination (garden pea) Image: BlueRidgeKitties https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueridgekitties/4393859638/ "He trotted along as if stepping on epigeal plant life, no longer concerned about his height above the true floor of the forest." Steven L. Davenport; A Father's Love; Tate; 2011. -------- Date: Fri Feb 8 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nidifugous X-Bonus: In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: they must be fit for it; they must not do too much of it; and they must have a sense of success in it. -John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (8 Feb 1819-1900) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms nidifugous (ny-DIF-yuh-guhs) adjective Well-developed and able to leave the nest soon after hatching. [From Latin nidi- (nest) + -fugous (fleeing). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sed- (to sit), which is also the source of nest, sit, chair, saddle, assess, sediment, soot, cathedral, and tetrahedron. Earliest documented use: 1902.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/nidifugous Nidifugous Nestlings https://wordsmith.org/words/images/nidifugous_large.jpg "Britain's birds and their nests" (1910) Illustration: George Rankin Image: Internet Archive https://archive.org/stream/britainsbirdsthe00thom/britainsbirdsthe00thom#page/n6/mode/2up NOTES: The opposite of nidifugous is nidicolous (remaining with parents for a long time after birth). Etymologically speaking, these words apply to birds, but there's no reason you can't use them elsewhere. For example, if you adult child suggests living in your basement, you could simply say, "Don't be nidicolous!" "The young of all species are -- as you well know -- nidifugous, and ours will be no exception. And as they go, they will take some of their spirit with them, leaving us, the founders as mere husks." Malcolm Macdonald; Strange Music; Severn House; 2012. -------- Date: Mon Feb 11 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bloodnoun X-Bonus: I was sixteen years old when the first World War broke out, and I lived at that time in Hungary. From reading the newspapers in Hungary, it would have appeared that, whatever Austria and Germany did was right and whatever England, France, Russia, or America did was wrong. A good case could be made out for this general thesis, in almost every single instance. It would have been difficult for me to prove, in any single instance, that the newspapers were wrong, but somehow, it seemed to me unlikely that the two nations located in the center of Europe should be invariably right, and that all the other nations should be invariably wrong. History, I reasoned, would hardly operate in such a peculiar fashion, and it didn't take long until I began to hold views which were diametrically opposed to those held by the majority of my schoolmates. ... Even in times of war, you can see current events in their historical perspective, provided that your passion for the truth prevails over your bias in favor of your own nation. -Leo Szilard, physicist (11 Feb 1898-1964) To redo is to do again, but to react does not mean to act again. Illogical is the opposite of logical, but illustrate is not the opposite of lustrate https://wordsmith.org/words/lustrate.html . Welcome to the English language! Trying to find logic in language, any language, is futile. Thousands of years of human use has produced a contraption that does a job, but looks and works like it's held together with chewing gum and baling wire. (You mean to tell me the word colonel has an R sound? About half the letters in the spelling of the word knowledge are just for show?) This week we feature five words which you may be tempted to figure out by patterns. Resist the temptation. You have been warned. These words defy patterns. They look like they must mean something familiar, but they mean something completely different. bloodnoun (BLUHD-naun) noun A bullfrog: a heavy-bodied frog having a deep resonant croak. Also known as bloody noun. [Of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1910.] "Rana catesbeiana" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bloodnoun_large.jpg Photo: Jen Goellnitz https://www.flickr.com/photos/goellnitz/2739593638/ "You sit here at night, listen to the cicada and the bloodnouns." Jeffery Deaver; The Empty Chair; Pocket Books; 2000. -------- Date: Tue Feb 12 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sodalist X-Bonus: It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to infidelity. -Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (12 Feb 1809-1865) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be sodalist (SO-duh-list) noun A member of a sodality (a fellowship or association). [From Latin sodalitas (fellowship), from sodalis (companion). Earliest documented use: 1794.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/sodalist NOTE: A sodalist is not a list of Coke, Pepsi, and other carbonated beverages. "The single lamp still burned near Braethen, who watched the smacking lips of the sodalist who'd tried to swear him in." Peter Orullian; The Unremembered; Tor; 2011. -------- Date: Wed Feb 13 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--reprobate X-Bonus: In some circumstances, the refusal to be defeated is a refusal to be educated. -Margaret Halsey, novelist (13 Feb 1910-1997) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be reprobate (REP-ruh-bayt) adjective: Depraved. noun: A wicked person. verb tr.: To disapprove or condemn. [From Latin reprobare (to disapprove), from re- + probare (to test, approve), from probus (good). Ultimately from the Indo-European root per- (forward), which also gave us paramount, prime, proton, prow https://wordsmith.org/words/prow.html , probative https://wordsmith.org/words/probative.html , probity https://wordsmith.org/words/probity.html , reproof https://wordsmith.org/words/reproof.html , reprove https://wordsmith.org/words/reprove.html , German Frau (woman), and Hindi purana (old). Earliest documented use: 1532.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/reprobate NOTE: Remember, to reprobate does not mean to probate again. "Russell Crowe plays Ben Wade, the boss of a gang of degenerate reprobates." Films of the Day; The Times (London, UK); Jun 23, 2018. -------- Date: Thu Feb 14 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--appurtenance X-Bonus: Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote. -George Jean Nathan, author and editor (14 Feb 1882-1958) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be appurtenance (uh-PUHRT-uh-nuns) noun 1. An accessory, equipment, gear, etc. associated with an activity or style of living. 2. A subordinate part. 3. In law, rights belonging to a principal property (for example, the right of way). [From Anglo-Norman apurtenance, from Latin appertinere (to appertain), from ad- (near) + pertinere (to belong), from per- (through) + tenere (to hold). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ten- (to stretch), which also gave us tense, tenet, tendon, tent, tenor, tender, pretend, extend, tenure, tetanus, hypotenuse, pertinacious https://wordsmith.org/words/pertinacious.html , detente https://wordsmith.org/words/detente.html , countenance https://wordsmith.org/words/countenance.html , distend https://wordsmith.org/words/distend.html , extenuate https://wordsmith.org/words/extenuate.html , and tenable https://wordsmith.org/words/tenable.html . Earliest documented use: 1377.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/appurtenance NOTE: Appurtenance is not the opposite of purtenance, which is entrails of an animal. "So we buy handbags and hats and other overpriced appurtenances of successful people because we have to nurture our confusing identities." Wan A. Hulaimi; Walking Through the Clutter of Modern World; New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur); Feb 1, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Feb 15 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--appose X-Bonus: The question is not Can they reason?, nor Can they talk?, but Can they suffer? -Jeremy Bentham, jurist and philosopher (15 Feb 1748-1832) This week's theme: Words that aren't what they appear to be appose (uh-POHZ) verb tr. To place next to or side by side: to juxtapose. [From Latin apponere (to put near), from ad- (near) + ponere (to put). Ultimately from the Indo-European root apo- (off or away), which is also the source of after, off, awkward, post, and puny. Earliest documented use: 1593.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/appose "You look at m/e, you smile at m/e infinitely, m/y eyes are apposed to your eyes, / am seized by unnameable joy and horror." Monique Wittig (translation David Le Vay); The Lesbian Body; Peter Owen; 1975. -------- Date: Mon Feb 18 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--OK X-Bonus: Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect, and author (1743-1826) Today is Presidents* Day in the US. It's observed to commemorate two of the most popular** US presidents: George Washington (born Feb 22, 1732) and Abraham Lincoln (born Feb 12, 1809). Until 1971, each of these birthdays was observed as a public holiday. Then, with typical American efficiency, we took the average of the two dates and marked a single day -- third Monday of February -- to honor not only Lincoln and Washington, but all US presidents (though some don't deserve the honor at all). In case you have presidential aspirations, here are the current qualifications and job requirements: you have to command an army of Twitter followers; play long grueling rounds of golf; understand issues of critical national importance, such as TV ratings; and fearlessly grab others' private parts. This week we'll look at a few words with presidential connections. During the last 230 years*** of presidenting, we have had 45 presidents. So we'll pick roughly every eighth to tenth guy and feature words connected with president #8, #16, #26, #37, and ... well, you'll have to wait to see. --- *Feel free to put an apostrophe in there somewhere, if it pleases you. **What? A president more popular? Fake news! How many Twitter followers did Lincoln and Washington have, after all? ***The first president of the United States reported for duty in 1789 when George Washington punched the clock at the White House gate, metaphorically speaking. There were no punch clocks and no White House back then. There was not a Washington, DC, either. President George Washington lived in New York and Philadelphia. So who sent out presidential tweets between 1776 and 1789? To simplify things a bit: no one. We had declared independence in 1776, but for the next 13 years, we were still trying to figure out small details, such as how to kick out those pesky Brits. OK (o-KAY, O-kay) adjective: 1. Satisfactory; not very good or very bad. 2. Correct. 3. Mediocre. 4. In good health. noun: Approval or permission. verb tr.: To authorize or approve. adverb: In a satisfactory manner. interjection: Used to express acknowledgment or agreement. [In the 1830s, in Boston, there was a fad of making abbreviations; also of using jocular misspellings. So "all correct" became of "oll korrect" which became abbreviated to OK. The word would have ended as a fad, but along came US President Martin Van Buren (1782-1862). During his re-election campaign of 1840, his supporters adopted the word OK as a nickname for him (short for Old Kinderhook; he was born in Kinderhook, New York) and the word has lived on ever since, not only in the English language, but most of the languages around the world. Earliest documented use: 1839.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/OK NOTES: It's OK. It's an all-American word. And like many things made in America, it's used everywhere. Not bad for a two-letter word. It can work as an adjective, noun, verb, adverb, interjection, and probably anything else that your imagination can conjure. It's not often that a whole book is written about a single word. Check out "OK: The Improbable Story Of America's Greatest Word" https://amazon.com/dp/0199892539/ws00-20 Martin Van Buren, 8th US president. He was OK. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ok_large.jpg Image: LOC "We've had an OK season. I think we know that we could have done better." Brandon Mcneil; Team Walker Looks for Scotties Breakthrough; Calgary Herald (Canada); Jan 23, 2019. "Coulton denies she gave photographers her OK to attend the coalition launch." Andrew Hornery; PS Private Sydney; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Oct 27, 2007. "She okayed the use of the painting as a label." Virginia Winder; Saving the Day with Beer; Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand); Feb 9, 2019. "[Tony] guides me and makes sure everything is going OK." Liz Lightfoot; "Our Village Was Flooded"; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 6, 2018. "My answer: OK, but I won't pay a dime after that." Sara Al Shurafa; October Was Long; Gulf News (Dubai); Jan 18, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Feb 19 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sockdolager X-Bonus: Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations. -Anonymous (often misattributed to George Orwell) This week's theme: Words with presidential connections sockdolager (sok-DOL-uh-juhr) noun 1. A decisive blow or remark. 2. Something exceptional or outstanding. [Of unknown origin, apparently from sock. Earliest documented use: 1830.] NOTES: The word sockdolager has an unusual claim to fame in US history. It turned out to be the cue on which John Wilkes Booth fired his shot at the US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) in Ford's Theater. Lincoln was watching the play "Our American Cousin" and Booth, an actor himself and aware of the dialog, knew the line that brought the loudest burst of laughter from the audience was: "Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologising old man-trap." Booth fired his gun at that precise moment to muffle the loud noise of his shot with the guffaws from the audience. Ford's Theater scene in the Abraham Lincoln Museum, Springfield, Illinois: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/sockdolager_large.jpg Image: Wikimedia "Well, here's a sockdolager. A new poll says nearly half of Canadians can't name a single Canadian author." John Robson; Not Reading, It's the Canadian Way; The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Jan 2, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Feb 20 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--teddy bear X-Bonus: The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance. -Ansel Adams, photographer (20 Feb 1902-1984) This week's theme: Words with presidential connections teddy bear (TED-ee bear) noun 1. A stuffed toy in the shape of a bear. 2. Something or someone (especially a large or hairy person) who resembles a teddy bear in appearance or being endearing. [After US President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (1858-1919). Earliest documented use: 1906.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/teddy%20bear https://wordsmith.org/words/images/teddy_bear_large.jpg Cartoon: Clifford Berryman, The Washington Post, 1902 NOTES: The story goes that, on a hunting trip, Teddy Roosevelt wasn't able to find an animal to kill. So his people found a black bear and tied the poor animal to a tree inviting Teddy to shoot. Teddy refused (but instead ordered his people to kill the bear to put him out of his misery). Inspired by this a toymaker created a stuffed bear and called it Teddy's bear. It sold! "Dipa's coach is Bishweshwar Nandi, no teddy bear himself. The two often have clashes." Akshay Sawai; Dipa Karmakar Calms Down Only When She Gets Her Routine Right; The Economic Times (New Delhi, India); Feb 9, 2019. -------- Date: Thu Feb 21 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--watergate X-Bonus: There is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some diehard's vote. -David Foster Wallace, novelist, essayist, and short story writer (21 Feb 1962-2008) This week's theme: Words with presidential connections Watergate (WOH-tuhr-gayt) noun A scandal involving abuse of office, deceit, and cover-up. [After the Watergate office and residential complex in Washington, DC. It was the site of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 by people associated with US President Richard Nixon (1913-1994). The resulting scandal and cover-up led to Nixon's resignation. Earliest documented use: 1972.] NOTES: Watergate, a scandal of mammoth proportions, has given us a useful suffix for describing many a scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_%22-gate%22_scandals including gategate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plebgate. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Watergate After resigning, Nixon making his farewell speech, accompanied by his daughter and son-in-law: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/watergate_large.jpg Photo: Ollie Atkins Nixon, in his own words: https://www.thoughtco.com/richard-nixon-quotes-2733879 "[Thomas Donaldson] said the nature of Volkswagen's scandal had few parallels: 'I've never seen a corporate Watergate of this stripe.'" Jena McGregor; VW's Next CEO Faces Big Challenge; Los Angeles Times; Sep 27, 2015. -------- Date: Fri Feb 22 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--throttlebottom X-Bonus: Avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. -George Washington, 1st US president, general (22 Feb 1732-1799) This week's theme: Words with presidential connections Throttlebottom (THROT-l-bot-uhm) noun A purposeless incompetent in public office. [After Alexander Throttlebottom, a Vice Presidential character in "Of Thee I Sing", a 1931 musical comedy. Earliest documented use: 1932.] VP Throttlebottom, Prez John P. Wintergreen, and the beauty contest winner Diana Devereaux https://wordsmith.org/words/images/throttlebottom_large.jpg in "Of Thee I Sing"
Eureka Theatre, San Francisco Photo: DavidAllenStudio.com https://DavidAllenStudio.com NOTES: In honor of Presidents Day, this week we've been looking at words with presidential connections. It's about time we paid our dues to the Vice President too. A VP, by its very nature, is meant to play a second fiddle https://wordsmith.org/words/second_fiddle.html though it's not uncommon to find an eminence grise https://wordsmith.org/words/eminence_grise.html in that office. Here's how the term throttlebottom came to represent VPs and other similar (mostly) harmless figures. The first musical comedy to win the Pulitzer Prize, "Of Thee I Sing", is a brilliant political satire that gave us today's word. In this masterly operetta (music: George Gershwin; lyrics: Ira Gershwin; libretto: George Kaufman and Morris Ryskind), presidential candidate John P. Wintergreen runs a political campaign based on the theme of love. His National Party sponsors a beauty contest, with Wintergreen to marry the winner. Instead, Wintergreen falls in love with Mary Turner, a secretary at the pageant, and marries her on the day of his inauguration. Diana Devereaux, the contest winner, sues President Wintergreen for breach of contract; France threatens to go to war, since Devereaux is of French descent; and Congress impeaches him. Wintergreen points out the United States Constitution provision that when the President is unable to perform his duty, the Vice President fulfills the obligations. VP Throttlebottom agrees to marry Diana and forever etches his name in the language. "[Lyndon B. Johnson] wanted to be Vice President, both to position himself as JFK's successor someday and because he believed that he could convert any job -- even Throttlebottom's -- into a power base." James MacGregor Burns; The Crosswinds of Freedom; Knopf; 1989. -------- Date: Mon Feb 25 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--catchall X-Bonus: The pain passes but the beauty remains. -Pierre-Auguste Renoir, artist [responding to Matisse on why he painted in spite of his painful arthritis] (25 Feb 1841-1919) You might find a person who is a know-nothing and someone who is a do-nothing. That's OK, as long as a know-nothing is also a do-nothing. The problem begins when know-nothings reach someplace and start doing something. And they often believe they have cure-alls. But enough about stable geniuses of the world! Instead, let's talk about something more productive. How many tosspot words did you catch above? Tosspots are words coined by combining a verb and a noun. Some examples: spitfire https://wordsmith.org/words/spitfire.html , shunpike https://wordsmith.org/words/shunpike.html , and scofflaw https://wordsmith.org/words/scofflaw.html . Important: The noun has to be the object of the verb. So shuteye https://wordsmith.org/words/shuteye.html is a tosspot word, but shut-in is not. This week we'll feature five tosspot words. What tosspot words have you come up with? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/catchall.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. catchall (KACH-al) noun 1. A bag or another receptacle for holding odds and ends. 2. Something that covers a wide variety of situations. [From Old Northern French cachier (to chase), from Latin capitare (to try to catch), frequentative of capere (to take) + Old English eall (all). Earliest documented use: 1838.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/catchall All-cat catch-all: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/catchall_large.jpg Photo: Zoran Milutinovic https://500px.com/photo/47455302/kitty-tetris-by-zoran-milutinovic "'Dysfunctional' is one of those eminently useful modern words that serves as a catchall for so many otherwise complicated issues." Carrie Vaughn; Low Midnight; Tor; 2014. -------- Date: Tue Feb 26 00:01:03 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pinchpenny X-Bonus: Humankind's wounds, those huge sores that litter the world, do not stop at the blue and red lines drawn on maps. -Victor Hugo, poet, novelist, and dramatist (26 Feb 1802-1885) This week's theme: Tosspot words pinchpenny (PINCH-pen-ee) adjective: Unwilling to spend or give money. noun: A miserly person. [From pinch, from Old French pincier (to pinch) + penny (the smallest denomination of currency). Earliest documented use: 1425.] NOTES: The word penny-pincher is a synonym of pinchpenny, but you have to admit, it doesn't have quite the same zing as the tosspot word. Another synonym of today's word is pinchgut, but catchpenny https://wordsmith.org/words/catchpenny.html is something entirely different. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pinchpenny_large.jpg Photo: Kevin Trotman https://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/7216514976/ "At the Dollar Market ... Freddy was a steady customer, if a bit of a pinchpenny. He browsed, but never bought." Peter Schworm; Town in Tears over Gadabout Gobbler; Boston Globe (Massachusetts); Aug 8, 2009. -------- Date: Wed Feb 27 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scrapegut X-Bonus: Fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman. -Marian Anderson, singer (27 Feb 1897-1993) This week's theme: Tosspot words scrapegut or scrape-gut (SKRAYP-guht) noun A fiddler. [Traditionally, violin strings were made of catgut, which is gut or intestines of sheep or goat (not cats). The word scrapegut is a jocular or contemptuous reference to a violinist, as if scraping the strings. Earliest documented use: 1837.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/scrapegut_large.jpg Image: Geert Weggen https://www.flickr.com/photos/hardeko/34264093924/ "I am in tune with the fork, and ready ere* master scrape-gut yonder has his rosin out." Arthur Maquarie; The Happy Kingdom; Bickers and Son; 1913. * https://wordsmith.org/words/ere.html -------- Date: Thu Feb 28 00:01:04 EST 2019 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rakehell X-Bonus: It is good to rub and polish your mind against that of others. -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (28 Feb 1533-1592) This week's theme: Tosspot words rakehell (RAYK-hel) noun A licentious or immoral person. [By folk etymology from Middle English rakel (rash, hasty). Earliest documented use: 1547.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/rakehell "The Righteous Rakehell" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/rakehell.jpg https://amazon.com/dp/1514250667/ws00-20 For some reason, the word rakehell seems to occur often in romance titles. https://amzn.to/2TWC2Xg Is it because of the belief that women are attracted to bad boys? "The titular character, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, was a notorious rakehell as well as being a classically influenced, but principally obscene poet and playwright. He was repeatedly exiled from the court of Charles II for everything from abducting his future wife to vandalising a sundial, and died at the age of 33 from alcoholism and venereal disease." Ian Shuttleworth; Thoroughly Unlikeable, Highly Enjoyable; Financial Times (London, UK); Sep 29, 2016.