A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Apr 2 00:02:16 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pertinacious X-Bonus: Until you've lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is. -Margaret Mitchell, novelist (1900-1949) pertinacious (pur-tn-AY-shuhs) adjective 1. Holding resolutely to a purpose, belief or opinion. 2. Stubbornly unyielding. [From Latin pertinac- pertinax, per-, thoroughly + tenax, tenacious (tenere, to hold).] "A man is pertinacious when he defends his folly and trusts too greatly in his own wit." Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales: Explicit Secunda Pars Penitentie: Part I, 1387-1400 (Translation: Walter W. Skeat). Philosopher, mathematician, and writer, Bertrand Russell, once said, "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." This week's words describe people falling somewhere in that spectrum. Can you identify some of those around you in these words? -Anu -------- Date: Tue Apr 3 00:02:10 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pixilated X-Bonus: Men of genius are often dull and inert in society, as the blazing meteor when it descends to earth, is only a stone. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (1807-1882) pixilated or pixillated (PIK-suh-layt-id) adjective 1. Mentally unbalanced; eccentric. 2. Whimsical. [From pixie, a mischievous fairylike creature.] "Robert De Niro redeems himself after his disastrous work in `The Fan' by displaying a refreshing flair for screwball comedy as Bessie's pixilated physician, Dr. Wally." James Verniere, `Marvin's Room' Hits Home, The Boston Herald, Jan 10, 1997. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Wed Apr 4 00:07:14 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--oscitant X-Bonus: I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642) oscitant (OS-i-tant) adjective 1. Yawning, gaping from drowsiness. 2. Inattentive, dull, negligent. [From Latin oscitant, present participle of oscitare, to yawn : os, mouth + citare, to move.] "What is disquieting is that with the consolidation of one-party control in the late 1920s after the Mexican Revolution, the portrait of the Mexican changes to one unusual in political representation, oscitant and weary." Paul Rich, Guillermo De Los Reyes, Mexican Caricature and the Politics of Popular Culture, Journal of Popular Culture, Summer 1996. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Thu Apr 5 00:07:18 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--punctilious X-Bonus: One's age should be tranquil, as childhood should be playful. Hard work at either extremity of life seems out of place. At midday the sun may burn, and men labor under it; but the morning and evening should be alike calm and cheerful. -Thomas Arnold, educator (1795-1842) punctilious (pungk-TIL-ee-uhs) adjective Extremely attentive to minute details of action or behavior. [From Italian punctiglio, from Spanish puntillo, diminutive of punto, point, from Latin punctum, point.] "However earnest his aims and punctilious his language, Fowler had not found his genius in schoolteaching, and he did not find it in his essays." I. Shenker, For the King's English, Fighting the Good Fight, Smithsonian, Nov 1990. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Fri Apr 6 01:07:18 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pococurante X-Bonus: Poetry should please by a fine excess and not by singularity. It should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost as a remembrance. -John Keats, poet (1795-1821) pococurante (po-ko-koo-RAN-tee, -kyoo-) adjective Indifferent, apathetic, nonchalant. noun A careless or indifferent person. [From Italian, poco little + curante, present participle of curare, to care, from Latin, curare, cure, care.] "The only child of an interminably famous literary theorist, and now pococurante chair of the English Department, Hank published one critically acclaimed novel -- `Off the Road' -- 20 years ago." Gail Caldwell, College Bound Richard Russo's Comic/Sad Novel of Learning and Campus Politics, The Boston Globe, Jul 13, 1997. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Mon Apr 9 00:02:12 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--crossbuck X-Bonus: He is the best physician who is the most ingenious inspirer of hope. -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet, critic, and philosopher (1772-1834) crossbuck (KROS-buk) noun An X-shaped warning sign at a highway-railroad crossing. [From cross- + buck, from sawbuck.] "The federal investigation could result in an upgrade of warning equipment at the crossing, which is marked only by stop signs and X-shaped railroad crossbuck signs." Truck Driver is Charged in Amtrak Train Collision, The Houston Chronicle, Jul 13, 1999. As a parent of a three-year old daughter, I'm constantly besieged with questions. While on an after-dinner walk, the enquiry comes up, "Where's the sun gone?" "He's sleeping." "Why?" "Because his mommy put him to bed." "Why?" "Because he has to go to pre-school tomorrow." "Why?" "Because he likes playing with his friends and teachers." "Why?" ... A few more whys later, I'm ready to confess ignorance. Such a small question -- Why? -- yet so hard to answer. Fortunately, the whats are easier to tackle. As it happens, the English language has a word for almost everything around: from the disc on the top of a flagpole (truck), to the spot on a die or a domino (pip), to the little circle that comes out of a punched paper (we all know it by now). This week we'll look at some more words that answer, "What is this called?" -Anu P.S. Online journalism, anyone? Join us for a chat on this topic with Sreenath Sreenivasan, a professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. It runs today 6-7 PM EDT U.S. (GMT -4). For more details and to join the chat, visit https://wordsmith.org/chat/sree.html P.P.S. Perhaps I was being oscitant last week, but the word oscitant is an adjective, not a noun. -------- Date: Tue Apr 10 00:02:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hallux X-Bonus: Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish. -Anne Bradstreet, poet (1612-1672) hallux (HAL-uhks) noun, plural halluces (HAL-yuh-seez) Big toe. More generally, the innermost digit on the hind foot of animals. It is usually backward-directed in birds. [From Late Latin hallux, from Latin hallus, similar to pollex, thumb.] "Where in the human body would you find the hallux?" Roger Perkins, The Quiz, The Daily Telegraph (UK), Dec 27, 1997. This week's theme: words to describe odds and ends. -------- Date: Wed Apr 11 00:02:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ocellus X-Bonus: Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) ocellus (o-SEL-uhs) noun, plural ocelli 1. A small simple eye common to invertebrates. 2. An eyelike colored spot on an animal (as on peacock feathers, butterfly wings, fish, etc.) or on a leaf of a plant. [Latin ocellus, little eye, diminutive of oculus, eye.] "The sarcastic fringehead is an extremely territorial fish found along the Pacific Coast from San Francisco Bay to Baja California ... The ocelli on their dorsal fins are metallic blue, surrounded by a golden ring." The Kids' Reading Room, The Los Angeles Times, Jul 18, 2000. This week's theme: words to describe odds and ends. -------- Date: Thu Apr 12 00:02:16 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--newel X-Bonus: When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. -Confucius (551-479 BCE) newel (NOO-el, NYOO-) noun 1. A center column that supports the steps of a spiral staircase. 2. A post supporting the handrail of a staircase. [Middle English nowel, from Middle French nouel, kernel, from Late Latin nucalis, nutlike, from Latin nuc-, nux nut.] "Midway through the stair project he appeared with a solid pine stair newel, stripped and sanded." Mary Meier, A Millworker's House Remade, The Boston Globe, Feb 24, 2000. This week's theme: words to describe odds and ends. -------- Date: Fri Apr 13 00:02:10 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--septum X-Bonus: When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) septum (SEP-tuhm) noun, plural septa (SEP-tuh) A dividing wall, in an animal or a plant. For example, the partition between the nostrils. [Latin saeptum, partition, from neuter of saeptus, past participle of saepire, to enclose, from saepes, fence.] "A 10-year-old Massachusetts girl wound up in hospital after trying to achieve the pierced nose look with a magnetic earring on her nostril... The magnets were so powerful that they had broken from the rings and become embedded on either side of the nasal septum, out of reach of available medical instruments." U.S. Girl Gets Painful Lesson in Attraction, Reuters, May 13, 1998. This week's theme: words to describe odds and ends. -------- Date: Mon Apr 16 00:02:17 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scart X-Bonus: Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, the post of honor is a private station. -Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719) scart (skart) verb tr., intr. To scratch, scrape or scar. [Metathetic variation of scrat, to scratch.] "But despite extensive renovation, traces of barbed wire still scart its walls." Lisa Nipp, Little Sisters, World & I, Jan 1996. When you hear someone pronouncing "ask" as "aks" or "pretty" as "purty", do you find yourself looking down your nose? Not so fast! What you're witnessing is the English language busy at work, mutating, evolving, and refurbishing its wordstock, making things easier to pronounce. Known as metathesis, it is the same process that gave us dirt (from drit) and curd (from crud!). If you ever used the word flimsy, you did it: the word is the metathesized form of the word filmsy. It is somewhat like our friend spoonerism, except that here the letters or sounds get transposed within the same word. Many everyday words appear in a form created by such interchange of letters: the word bird came from Old English brid, third from thridda. Going back to "ask," here is an interesting twist. The word "ask" itself came from Old English forms acsian and ascian that co-existed. Eventually the latter won over and became standard. So what we are seeing here is history repeating itself. A few hundred years and who knows, we may be exhorting, "Aks not what your country can do for you ..." This week we'll look at a few more words that are metathetic forms of former words. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Apr 17 00:02:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--prad X-Bonus: There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- ) prad (prad) noun Horse. [By metathesis from Dutch paard, horse.] "`Just send somebody out to relieve my mate, will you, young man?' said the officer; `he's in the gig, a-minding the prad. Have you got a coach 'us here, that you could put it up in, for five or ten minutes?'" Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, 1838. This week's theme: words formed by metathesis or transposing letters. -------- Date: Wed Apr 18 00:02:20 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bort X-Bonus: To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven. -Karen Sunde, playwright bort (bort) noun Poor-quality diamond, or diamond fragment, used as an industrial abrasive, as in grinding wheel. [Possibly metathetic variation of brot, from Old English gebrot, fragment.] "Steve Issod ... estimated that 5 percent of the company's production is larger diamonds, with some over 20 carats and some fancy colors; 20-25 percent gem quality; 60 percent near-gem quality; and the remainder bort utilized for industrial purposes." Juina Mining Corp. Will Begin Operation of Its Diamond Mining Facility, Business Wire (New York), Mar 5, 1999. This week's theme: words formed by metathesis or transposing letters. -------- Date: Thu Apr 19 00:05:14 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gride X-Bonus: What a heavy oar the pen is, and what a strong current ideas are to row in! -Gustave Flaubert, novelist (1821-1880) gride (gryd) verb intr. To scrape or graze against an object to make a grating sound. verb tr. To pierce or cut with a weapon. noun A grating sound. [Metathetic variation of gird.] "And still within a hair's breadth of his ear The crunch and gride of wheels rings sharp and clear." Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, Wheels, Poems, 1917. This week's theme: words formed by metathesis or transposing letters. -------- Date: Fri Apr 20 00:05:19 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scrimmage X-Bonus: Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers. -Mignon McLaughlin, author scrimmage (SKRIM-ayg) noun 1. A rough struggle. 2. A practice game, often between two parts of the same team. 3. A tussle for the ball in games such as football, rugby, soccer, etc. verb tr, intr. To engage in a scrimmage. [Middle English metathetic variant of skirmish.] "I depict her, ah, how charming! I portray myself alarming Her by swearing I would `mount the deadly breach,' Or engage in any scrimmage For a glimpse of her sweet image, Or her shadow, or her footprint on the beach." Charles Stuart Calverley, On the Beach, Anthology of Light Verse, 1935. This week's theme: words formed by metathesis or transposing letters. -------- Date: Mon Apr 23 03:05:22 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Annie Oakley X-Bonus: You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. -Navajo Proverb Annie Oakley (AN-ee OK-lee) noun A complimentary ticket; pass. [After Annie Oakley (1860-1926), U.S. markswoman, renowned for her skill at shooting, from the association of the punched ticket with one of her bullet-riddled targets.] "If you're lucky, you've got an Annie Oakley." Tom Rouillard, Big Top Goes Up Today, The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.), May 1, 1996. This is going to be an eponym week, where we'll see words derived from people's names. In our quest for eponyms, we are going to visit, among other places, 18th century England, World War II era, and the American Wild West. Phoebe Ann Moses, better known as Annie Oakley, showed sharpshooting skills at an early age and earned the moniker "Little Sure Shot." Later this shooting star and her husband appeared in the touring Wild West Show, delighting audiences the world over. Annie was known for amazing feats such as shooting a coin tossed in the air, and knocking the ashes off a cigarette held between her husband's lips. I think it would have been more spectacular if she had knocked off the whole cigarette, not just the ashes, but I digress. In another stunt, she would shoot at a playing card thrown into the air, and before it touched the ground, riddle it with holes (I wonder if chad came out). Someone figured this matched the punched free ticket to an event, and soon all passes became known as Annie Oakleys. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Apr 24 00:01:10 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Maginot line X-Bonus: Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. -Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president (1809-1865) Maginot line (MAZH-uh-no lyn) noun An ineffective line of defense that is relied upon with undue confidence. [After André Maginot (1877-1932), French Minister of War, who proposed a line of defense along France's border with Germany. Believed to be impregnable, the barrier proved to be of little use when Germans attacked through Belgium in 1940.] "France has no shortage of linguistic generals who seek to regiment French and see an enemy lurking behind every new word or phrase. Yet what security do they bring? Franglais continues to infiltrate French ranks, despite a Maginot line of laws, word-vetting committees and diktats from the Academie Francaise." Ado Cherche Appart, The Economist (London), May 11, 1996. "Absent some sober rethinking, forward engagement is likely to produce an American Maginot Line around Asia's rim, as myopic demands to stay there automatically lead to costly missile defenses." Paul Bracken, America's Maginot Line, The Atlantic Monthly (Boston), Dec 1998. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Wed Apr 25 02:41:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Addisonian X-Bonus: Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. -Will Durant, historian (1885-1981) Addisonian (ad-uh-SO-nee-uhn) adjective 1. Related to Joseph Addison or his writings. 2. Clear and elegant in writing. [After Joseph Addison (1672-1719), English essayist and poet.] 3. Related to Addison's disease, a condition caused by decreased secretion of cortisol. [After Thomas Addison (1793-1860), English physician.] "He (Murray Kempton) enjoyed being in a group of reporters; he liked to try out ideas for columns, dropping fully formed Addisonian sentences into conversation to see which ones got a nod or a laugh. The winners turned up in the next day's paper." David Von Drehle, A Journalist's Singular Voice, The Washington Post, May 6, 1997. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Thu Apr 26 00:01:11 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Young Turk X-Bonus: If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) Young Turk (yung turk) noun, also young Turk, young turk A young member of a group who advocates reforms within an established organization or one who attempts to wrest control of it. [After members of a reformist and nationalist party in Turkey during early 20th century.] "`These young Turks in the LDP are still on the fringe,' said Hideaki Kase, a historian and political commentator. `So it's my bet that Hashimoto will win, because he controls the apparatus.'" Doug Struck, Revolt Opens Up Race to Lead Japan, The Washington Post, Apr 12, 2001. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Fri Apr 27 00:01:10 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--daltonism X-Bonus: We can be knowledgeable with other men's knowledge but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom. -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592) daltonism (DAWL-tuh-niz-em) noun Color blindness, especially the inability to distinguish between red and green. [After John Dalton (1766-1844), English chemist and physicist, who gave us Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures. He studied his own color blindness as well.] "He (Theodore R. Weeks) refers to 'national daltonism: the extreme difficulty nationalists had... in perceiving and appreciating the viewpoints or needs of members of other nationalities." Stephen D. Corrsin, Nation and State in Late Imperial Russia (book review), Canadian Slavonic Papers (Ottawa), Sep-Dec 1999. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Mon Apr 30 00:03:13 EDT 2001 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--verboten X-Bonus: The best cure for worry, depression, melancholy, brooding, is to go deliberately forth and try to lift with one's sympathy the gloom of somebody else. -Arnold Bennett, novelist (1867-1931) verboten (vuhr-BOHT-n) adjective Not allowed; forbidden. [From German, past participle of verbieten, to forbid.] WordPix: https://wordsmith.org/words/verboten.gif "After his third surgery on the wrong side of the brain, Dr. Cerebrum was declared verboten anywhere near the operating room, and his practice was limited to treating toe-nail fungus." It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. What if a word itself is a picture? That's the idea behind what I call WordPix--words presented so that they do their own show-and-tell. With each word this week, I'll give you the URL of an image that shows its WordPix. Without further ado, let's see some words and let them talk about themselves. Instead of giving citations from newspapers, magazines, and books, this week I'll write usage examples myself. -Anu