A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Apr 3 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nemophilist X-Bonus: Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. -Washington Irving, writer (3 Apr 1783-1859) A vacuum cleaner would be of use to its owner even if no one else in the world had one. But an email address is completely useless if you are the only person to have it. Are you going to start spamming yourself? Like any other means of communication, a word is only as useful as the number of people having access to it. As more people know it, a word becomes of much more practical use. In this week's A.Word.A.Day we have picked words that are not widely known. We do our part to spread the word, or words, and you do yours. Use them in your TikTok, email, fax, or however you reach others. These are words that may make one say: I didn't know there was a word for it. nemophilist (ni/nuh-MOF-uh-list) noun One who loves forests. [From Greek nemos (grove, woods) + -philist (lover). Earliest documented use: 1860.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/nemophilist_large.jpg Photo: Wikimedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipko_movement Read more about the Chipko movement (tree hugging movement) in India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipko_movement "It was sad that such an ardent nemophilist should be afraid in the forest." Edgar Rice Burroughs; Tarzan and the Castaways; Canaveral Press; 1965. -------- Date: Tue Apr 4 00:01:04 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spindrift X-Bonus: We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders. -Maya Angelou, poet (4 Apr 1928-2014) This week's theme: There's a word for it spindrift (SPIN-drift) noun Spray of water, snow, sand, etc., blown by the wind. [From Scots speendrift, from speen (to run before the wind) + drift, from Old English drifan (to drive). Earliest documented use: 1611.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/spindrift https://wordsmith.org/words/images/spindrift_large.jpg Photo: Paul Appleton https://flickr.com/photos/paul_appleton/10524865406/ "We run into a small squall and get tossed about on the ocean waves, spindrift soaking our faces." Katja Gaskell; Coastal Treasures; The Independent (London, UK); Jan 17, 2021. -------- Date: Wed Apr 5 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mononymous X-Bonus: Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance. -Verna Myers, author and speaker (b. 5 Apr 1960) This week's theme: There's a word for it mononymous (muh-NON-uh-muhs) adjective Having or known by a name consisting of only one word. [From Greek mono- (one) + -nym (name). Earliest documented use: 1852.] NOTES: In the olden times, a person had only one name. Why would you need more than one anyway? As numbers grew, we needed ways to distinguish ourselves. Which Eric? The one who lives in a red house: Eric Redhouse. (As opposed to Eric Musicmaker. Or Eric Bignose.) My theory is that in modern times the number of names one has is directly proportional to one's wealth and sophistication. Paris Hilton's new baby is named Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum. Meanwhile in Africa, every night mothers put children to bed with just one name. I have only two names. Doing my part in an equitable distribution of names. Are you mononymous? Write to us (no need to write if you are anonymous). Do you have multiple names? A long name? Tell us all about your names on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/mononymous.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. PS: On a serious note, there's no reason to insist that a person should have more than one name. On our website, web forms are designed to accept one name instead of the general tyrannical insistence on the web and in paper forms that one has to have two or more. Famous mononymous people https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mononymous_large.jpg Image: Astronist Wiki https://astronism.fandom.com/f/p/4400000000000122697 "The mononymous food critic Curnonsky, known as France's Prince of Gastronomy." Katherine Mcgrath; People Places Things; The New York Times; Feb 16, 2023. -------- Date: Thu Apr 6 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--noctivagant X-Bonus: Nature never said to me: Do not be poor. Still less did she say: Be rich. Her cry to me was always: Be independent. -Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (6 Apr 1741-1794) This week's theme: There's a word for it noctivagant (nok-TIV-uh-guhnt) noun: One who wanders in the night. adjective: Wandering in the night. [From Latin nox (night) + vagus (wandering). Earliest documented use: 1614.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/noctivagant_large.jpg Photo: https://www.rawpixel.com/image/3285206/free-photo-image-galaxy-light-sky "And while some sleepwalkers simply rearrange the furniture in modest ways, my mother's two noctivagant journeys that year were decidedly more extreme." Chris Bohjalian; The Premonition; Doubleday; 2016. -------- Date: Fri Apr 7 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--betweenity X-Bonus: You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave. -Billie Holiday, jazz singer and songwriter (7 Apr 1915-1959) This week's theme: There's a word for it betweenity (bi-TWEE-ni-tee) noun The state of lying in the interval separating two conditions, qualities, extremes, etc. [From Old English betweonum (between), from be- (by) + tweon (two each). Earliest documented use: 1760.] NOTES: The word was coined by the novelist Horace Walpole who also gave us serendipity https://wordsmith.org/words/serendipity.html . Both words were coined in letters to friends. Describing a house, he wrote, "The house is not Gothic, but of that betweenity, that intervened when Gothic declined and Palladian was creeping in." Kjeragbolten boulder, Norway https://wordsmith.org/words/betweenity_large.jpg Photo: Wouter de Bruijn https://flickr.com/photos/w00ter/48196575537/ "Several years ago, very much between books, I was struggling to come to terms with the interplay between political culture and contemporary communications ... More recently -- and to stress the serendipity of betweenity -- I was idly looking out the window of a train in western Australia when the structure of a volume (bringing together previously published essays with new ones) magically presented itself." Robert Schmuhl; Filling the Fallow Period Between Writing Books; Chicago Tribune (Illinois); Aug 12, 2001. -------- Date: Mon Apr 10 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anastrophe X-Bonus: Joy is the best makeup. -Anne Lamott, writer (b. 10 Apr 1954) From time to time I hear from people bemoaning the decline of language. It's going to the dogs. Teenagers are destroying the language. Everyone uses emojis. They don't know how to speak. People these days, so careless, so uneducated! Some even think they can push the language to make it more logical. I sympathize with them. Their intentions spring from a good heart, but nudging language to go a certain way? "Correcting" language? Tilting at windmills is usually more productive and more fun. Take the word "go". It goes: go, went, gone. The past participle "gone" clearly came from "go" but for the past tense we went to "wend" (meaning: to go or direct one's way) and picked its past tense. Magpie much? For the word colonel we took spelling from one language and pronunciation from another. Mr. Potato Head would be proud! A human language is a reflection of humans: illogical, held together with gum and bailing wire. No central committee or god designed it intelligently. It evolved from micro changes over thousands of years. Use the language, play with it, rejoice in it. Just don't try to fix it. And, please, don't take on the mantle of making the language great again. It never was. It always is. This week we'll look at five words related to words and language. anastrophe (uh-NAS-truh-fee) noun The inversion of the usual order of words. [From Greek ana- (back) + strophe (turning). Earliest documented use: 1555.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/anastrophe https://wordsmith.org/words/images/anastrophe.jpg Poster: GoodNightOwlDesigns https://www.amazon.com/YODA-Cool-Yoda-Print-Poster/dp/B0199FOR3M "Should you try anastrophe, do you think? No, no one but Yoda pulls that off." Mike Kerrigan; Could Virgil Write a Good College Essay?; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Oct 13, 2022. -------- Date: Tue Apr 11 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--auxesis X-Bonus: A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company. -Charles Evans Hughes, jurist (11 Apr 1862-1948) This week's theme: Words about words auxesis (og-ZEE-sis, ok-SEE-) noun 1. An overstatement or hyperbole, especially when arranged in a sequence of increasing intensity. 2. Growth resulting from the increase in the size of a cell (as opposed to from cell division, which is known as merisis). [From Latin auxesis, from Greek auxesis (growth), from auxein (to increase or grow). Earliest documented use: 1577.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/auxesis "[Lucilla] had seen Gaius Vinius in his worst light. Petty, peremptory, authoritarian, unrealistic, self-centered, and vain. ... Nemurus would have called it hyperbolic auxesis. Vinius would have called that crap." Lindsey Davis; Master and God; St. Martin's Press; 2012. https://wordsmith.org/words/peremptory.html -------- Date: Wed Apr 12 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--apothegm X-Bonus: Who are we but the stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, and believe? -Scott Turow, author and lawyer (b. 12 Apr 1949) This week's theme: Words about words apothegm (AP-uh-them) noun A terse, witty, instructive saying. [From Latin apothegma/apophthegma, from Greek apophthegma (apothegm), from apophthengesthai (to speak plainl), from apo- (off, away) + phthengesthai (to speak). Earliest documented use: 1570.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/apothegm NOTES: You might expect an apothecary to dispense nuggets of wisdom but you'd be disappointed: that word is from Greek apotheka (storehouse). Back then an apothecary was a storeowner who sold all kinds of stuff: spices, candy, preserves, even pills and potions. According to the OED, "in 1617 the Apothecaries' Company of London was separated from the Grocers'." If you walk into a pharmacy these days, drugs are only a small part of the store. I say we are back to the old days. "When you feel down, count your blessings. Beatrice had so often heard people, even people she greatly respected, utter that apothegm with the same confidence with which pharmaceutical reps tout the virtues of Zoloft or Prozac." Melanie Forde; Hillwilla; D Street Books; 2018. "'To live outside the law, you must be honest.' [Hunter] Thompson, like a lot of people in the sixties and seventies, interpreted Dylan's famous apothegm to mean that in order to be honest you must live outside the law. By the time the fallacy in this reading became obvious, his persona ... was engraved in pop-culture stone." Louis Menand; Believer; The New Yorker; Mar 7, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Apr 13 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anacronym X-Bonus: Protesting is an act of love. It is born of a deeply held conviction that the world can be a better, kinder place. Saying "no" to injustice is the ultimate declaration of hope. -Amy Goodman, investigative journalist, columnist, and author (b. 13 Apr 1957) This week's theme: Words about words anacronym (an-AK-ruh-nim) noun An acronym or abbreviation whose expansion is not widely known. [Either a blend of anachronism https://wordsmith.org/words/anachronism.html + acronym, or from an- (not) + acronym. The word acronym is from Greek acro- (height, tip) + -nym (word, name). Earliest documented use: 1963.] NOTES: As an acronym becomes an everyday word, it typically loses its uppercase form, for example, laser or radar. People use the word unaware that it's an acronym: laser = light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation radar = radio detection and ranging The word is also used for acronyms known within a small group. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/anacronym_large.jpg Image: Lisa Beebe https://flickr.com/photos/lisabeebe/3697161809/ Also see: FCUK (French Connection UK) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Connection_(clothing) "'Rats,' said Tony. 'What did I hear? Who said that' The sergeant demanded. 'R.A.T.S.' Tony said. 'Roll and Triage Session, it's an anacronym.' Robert Franklin Jackson; The Blues of Portsmouth P.D.; Xlibris; 2019. "I use the anacronym BAD for her kind. Beautiful And Deadly." Ebony Olson; Protective Instinct; Eb&Muse; 2021. -------- Date: Fri Apr 14 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--merismus X-Bonus: Civilizations in decline are consistently characterised by a tendency towards standardization and uniformity. -Arnold Toynbee, historian (14 Apr 1889-1975) This week's theme: Words about words merismus (muh-RIZ-muhs) noun Describing the whole of something by specifying its two extremes, such as contrasting or complementary parts. [From Greek merismos (division), from merizein (to divide). Earliest documented use: 1589.] NOTES: Merismus is also known as merism. When someone says you have to accept the good as well as the bad, they are saying that you have to accept the whole. When someone says "head _to_ toe" it's obvious that it includes everything in between, but in merismus you could just say head _and_ toe to mean the same. Just specifying the extremes implies the whole. If you search high and low, it means you searched the whole: high, low, and in between. Two related terms are synecdoche https://wordsmith.org/words/synecdoche.html and metonymy https://wordsmith.org/words/metonymy.html . "Anderson argues that the terms 'good and evil' may be a merismus which refers to all of the law." Virginia Miller; A King and a Fool?; Brill; 2019. -------- Date: Mon Apr 17 00:01:04 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--craic X-Bonus: Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday. -Thornton Wilder, writer (17 Apr 1897-1975) The world is interconnected. We depend on each other. Give and take, lend and borrow, adopt and adapt. Share. The same goes for language. No language is an island. Whenever two languages meet, they borrow from each other. This borrowing happens all the time. See some examples here http://wordsmith.org/words/cumshaw1.html here http://wordsmith.org/words/schadenfreude1.html and here http://wordsmith.org/words/satori.html . In the process of borrowing, a word usually undergoes a change in its spelling, meaning, or pronunciation. Sometimes all three. As flight attendants say, articles may have shifted around during the flight. You thought they were talking about your luggage. Language or luggage, shift happens. Now here comes the fun part. Sometimes this "new" word gets borrowed back into its source language with its new sense. This week we'll look at words that have bounced back and forth between two languages. craic (krak, pronounced as the word crack) noun Good times involving pleasant company, enjoyable conversation, etc. [From Irish craic. It was a borrowing from English crack, respelled as craic, and then reborrowed into English. Earliest documented use: 1972.] "The Craic" 1999 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/craic_large.jpg Poster: Roadshow Entertainment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Craic "'Unbelievable golf course, brilliant craic, and stoked to record my best major finish with a T16,' Ryan Fox said on his Instagram account." Fox Signs off with a Flourish; Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand); Jul 23, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Apr 18 00:01:04 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anime X-Bonus: You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free. -Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (18 Apr 1857-1938) This week's theme: Reborrowed words anime (AN-uh-may) noun A style of animation originating in Japan, characterized by stylized colorful art, exaggerated expressions, oversized heads, large expressive eyes, etc., meant for adults as well as children. [The English word animation was imported into Japanese as animeeshon, trimmed into anime, and then imported back into English. The word is ultimately from Latin anima (breath, air, life, soul, or spirit). When we animate something, we breathe life into it. We make static pictures of comic books or manga come alive as moving characters. Earliest documented use: 1985.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/anime https://wordsmith.org/words/images/anime.jpg "Kiki's Delivery Service" directed by Hayao Miyazaki https://www.imdb.com/video/vi286197529/ "Armed with brutal adolescent candor, she would rather sit behind her closed door, playing video games and watching anime." Alexandra Schwartz; All the Wrong Places; The New Yorker; Aug 17, 2020. -------- Date: Wed Apr 19 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--turquoise X-Bonus: There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan, and the musician. -Glenn T. Seaborg, scientist, Nobel laureate (19 Apr 1912-1999) This week's theme: Reborrowed words turquoise (TUHR-koiz/kwoiz) noun 1. A blue, bluish-green, or greenish-gray semi-precious stone. 2. A bluish-green color. [Named after Turkey. The gemstone was called turquoise because either it was discovered in Turkey or transported to Europe via Turkey. Earliest documented use: 1398.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/turquoise https://wordsmith.org/words/images/turquoise_large.jpg Illustration: Karen Folsom https://kgfolsart.com/ NOTES: Is it bluish-green or greenish-blue? Grue (green + blue) or bleen (blue + green)? Opine on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/turquoise.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Some languages solve this debate by using the same word for blue and green. The bird turkey suffered the same fate as the gemstone turquoise. It was called turkey because Europeans believed it came from Turkey. No other animal has as confusing a name as this poor bird. In Turkish it's called hindi and in Hindi it's known as tarki. It's also called peru and various other names https://web.archive.org/web/20160826035406/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_names_for_turkeys Finally, Turkey is asking everyone to call them Türkiye (toor-ki-YAY), partly in an effort to disassociate themselves from the bird and other slang senses of the word. To be clear, it was already known as Türkiye (endonym: a name used by people living there https://wordsmith.org/words/endonym.html). Now they are asking that others also call it the same (exonym, a named used by outsiders https://wordsmith.org/words/exonym.html). "The breeze is balmy. The sea is turquoise. A blood-orange sun slips under the equatorial horizon." Lamu, an Island Bubble; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 12, 2022. -------- Date: Thu Apr 20 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--quarry X-Bonus: Oh, the comfort -- the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person -- having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. -Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, poet and novelist (20 Apr 1826-1887) This week's theme: Reborrowed words quarry (KWOR-ee) noun: 1. A large, deep pit from which material such as slate, stone, etc. are extracted. 2. A rich source. verb tr.: To dig, cut into, or extract. [From Latin quareia/quareria, from Old French quarriere, from Latin quadraria (where stone is squared), from quadrare (to square), from quadrum (square). Earliest documented use: 1382.] noun: Something or someone hunted or chased. [From Old French cuiree, from cuir (leather or hide, on which entrails were placed as a reward to the hounds), from Latin corium (leather). Earliest documented use: 1330.] noun: A square or diamond-shaped stone, tile, glass pane, etc. [A variant of quarrel (a square-headed bolt or arrow, diamond-shaped tile or window-pane), from Latin quadrum (square). Earliest documented use: 1537.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/quarry Larvik, Norway https://wordsmith.org/words/images/quarry_large.jpg Photo: Astrid Westvang https://flickr.com/photos/astrid/37929475034/ "Gems abound in the sparkling sky of the winter Milky Way. Obvious treasures like the Orion Nebula, the Crab Nebula, and the Pleiades are no doubt favorites. But all manner of intriguing and lesser-known quarries lie scattered, awaiting your attention and a dark, moonless sky." David J Eicher; Wintertime Delights; Astronomy (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Feb 2022. "Thirty seconds later, and right on cue, my quarry appeared and walked off down the road with his small backpack slung over one shoulder, we set off in pursuit." IvanB; Bitter; BookBaby; 2013. -------- Date: Fri Apr 21 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cosplay X-Bonus: So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world. -Immanuel Kant, philosopher (22 Apr 1724-1804) This week's theme: Reborrowed words cosplay (KOZ/KOS-play) noun: 1. The act or practice of dressing up as a character from a work of fiction, such as a comic book, video game, film, etc. 2. The act of, or an instance of, pretending to be someone in a deceptive manner. verb tr.: 1. To dress up as a fictional character in cosplay. 2. To pretend to be someone in a deceptive manner. verb intr.: To take part in cosplay. [English words costume + play were borrowed into Japanese as kosuchumupure in 1983. Eventually, the term became shortened to kosupure. Then it was borrowed back into English as cosplay in 1993.] Cosplaying as Kiki from "Kiki's Delivery Service" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cosplay_large.jpg Image: Oliver Ayala https://www.flickr.com/photos/134712202@N07/19775208619/ "[Putin] has been photographed riding horseback, shirtless. He has posed riding a motorcycle and doing judo and going spear fishing (again shirtless). In televised hockey exhibitions with government officials, he shoots goal after goal on an opposing team that puts up flimsy defense. All this biceps-kissing, pump-you-up cosplay moved not only his domestic admirers but also some American conservatives." James Poniewozik; Zelensky Once Played President for Laughs. But Now It's for Keeps; The New York Times; Mar 10, 2022. "I was excited to see [Tiana, a Disney princess], and I've even cosplayed her, but... why did it take so long to get a black Disney princess?" Briana Lawrence; At Face Value; Uncanny Magazine; May/June 2018. -------- Date: Mon Apr 24 00:01:03 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--littoral X-Bonus: History is all explained by geography. -Robert Penn Warren, novelist and poet (24 Apr 1905-1989) Over the years, we have featured many trans words here. Examples: transect https://wordsmith.org/words/transect.html , transpontine https://wordsmith.org/words/transpontine.html , transitive https://wordsmith.org/words/transitive.html , and transpicuous https://wordsmith.org/words/transpicuous.html . Lately, legislatures in many Republican states in the US are busy making laws to make things hard for such words. These words never hurt anyone. They simply go about their lives, but that's apparently too much for some. We remain intransigent https://wordsmith.org/words/intransigent.html and we'll feature more in the future. Because. These politicians are probably going to go after homophones next. We have featured such words many times as well. Examples: homologous https://wordsmith.org/words/homologous.html , homophene https://wordsmith.org/words/homophene.html , homologate https://wordsmith.org/words/homologate.html , and rashomon https://wordsmith.org/words/rashomon.html . Again, heterodox that we are https://wordsmith.org/words/heterodox.html , we will continue to feature more such words in the future. In fact, this week we'll feature a whole week of homophones, words that have the same pronunciation, such as raise and raze. Homophones or heterophones, transitive or intransitive, all words make our world more colorful, more picturesque, and more descriptive. littoral (LIT-uhr-uhl) adjective: Relating to or situated at the shore. noun: A shore, especially the area between high tide and low tide levels. [From Latin litus (shore). Earliest documented use: 1656.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/littoral Literal/Littoral (a poem in sand) https://www.goingwestfest.co.nz/going-west-video/literallittoral "This could shift the balance of power within littoral countries. Coastal Bremen, one of Germany's poorest states, could gain clout at the expense of rich but landlocked Bavaria." Europe's New Powerhouse; The Economist (London, UK); Jan 7, 2023. "Where to stay insofar as the river itself is the primary attraction, it only makes sense to stay somewhere with a river view. Fortunately, there's a literal abundance of littoral opportunity." Marshall S. Berdan; New York's Thousand Island Blessing; Newsday (Long Island, New York); Jul 28, 2019. -------- Date: Tue Apr 25 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ocellated X-Bonus: Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit. -Edward R. Murrow, journalist (25 Apr 1908-1965) This week's theme: Homophones ocellated (OS-uh-lay-tid) adjective 1. Having eyelike spots. 2. Eyelike. [From Latin ocellus, diminutive of oculus (eye). Earliest documented use: 1713.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ocellated Common torpedo aka ocellate torpedo https://wordsmith.org/words/images/ocellated_large.jpg Photo: Roberto Pillon / Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Torpedo_torpedo_corsica3.jpg "Among them, I see a beautiful torpedo ocellated: has a brown back and five large round stains, dark and bluish: they are surrounded by a clear halo and give to the animal an almost mystical beauty." Luigi Savagnone; The Man Mermaid; Lulu; 2016. -------- Date: Wed Apr 26 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aweigh X-Bonus: I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves. -Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (26 Apr 1889-1951) This week's theme: Homophones aweigh (uh-WAY) adjective, adverb Just clear of the bottom (used for a ship's anchor). [From Old English wegan (to move or weigh). Earliest documented use: 1606.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/aweigh "Anchors Aweigh" 1945https://wordsmith.org/words/images/aweigh_large.jpg Poster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchors_Aweigh_%28film%29 "There were passengers on the wharf observing the loading of the ship's supplies and cargo but the order 'anchors aweigh' was still twelve hours away." Danny B. Butler; Madeleine, Daughter of the King; iUniverse; 2012. "Moreover, there was no way of blocking it from escaping to the sea, and no ship afloat on this coast that could catch them once they were aweigh." Skye Smith; The Hoodsman; Skye Smith; 2019. -------- Date: Thu Apr 27 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--euthanasia X-Bonus: Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison. -Mary Wollstonecraft, reformer and writer (27 Apr 1759-1797) This week's theme: Homophones euthanasia (yoo-thuh-NAY-zhuh, -zhee-uh) noun The practice of ending life to relieve suffering. Example: someone hopelessly injured, terminally ill, suffering from an incurable disease, etc. [From Greek eu- (good) + thanatos (death). Earliest documented use: 1646. Two related words are thanatopsis https://wordsmith.org/words/thanatopsis.html and thanatophobia https://wordsmith.org/words/thanatophobia.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/euthanasia "I'm uncomfortable with the new assisted suicide law." "Apologies. Your comfort is my number one priority." http://wordsmith.org/words/images/euthanasia_large.jpg Cartoon: Drew Sheneman https://www.nj.com/opinion/2019/03/one-small-step-for-dignity-sheneman-cartoon.html NOTES: The A.Word.A.Day mailing starts at midnight, continues for about five hours, and by early morning it's in readers' mailboxes, ready for them to enjoy with their morning coffee or tea (or afternoon or evening, depending on their time zones). Then we begin receiving readers' comments. We also receive hundreds of auto-replies. The auto-replies come if a reader is sick or traveling. This Jan 1 an auto-reply came from a reader who was both, in a manner of speaking: Thank you for your email. It is January 1, 2023 and I am planning my death with dignity for January 2, 2023. I have had a rewarding life and I love everyone who has been a part of it. Remember me with joy. It was from a reader who was also a writer: the novelist Cai Emmons from Eugene, Oregon (more here https://caiemmonsauthor.com/caroline-cai-eddy-emmons/ ) When we lose a reader it feels like losing a friend or a family member, but this one made me even more reflective, especially on New Year's Day. But Cai Emmons lived on her own terms, made her own choices, and I hope some day people anywhere in the world are able to make decisions about their lives. "Belgium has become the first nation to legalise euthanasia for children of any age. Other countries need to face the issue too." Rachel Nuwer; The World Needs to Talk About Child Euthanasia; New Scientist (London, UK); Feb 24, 2014. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129580-200-the-world-needs-to-talk-about-child-euthanasia/ "'What are your feelings on euthanasia?' Miss Arkansas blinked her false eyelashes up and down a few times before she began her carefully modulated response. 'I was raised with the belief that people the world over deserve the same respect, care, and consideration as the people in the United States. We are all one big family of humans, no matter where we hail from. As such, I believe we must respect and care and give consideration to the youth everywhere including the youth in Asia.'" Gemma Halliday; Deadly in High Heels; CreateSpace; 2015. -------- Date: Fri Apr 28 00:01:02 EDT 2023 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rawky X-Bonus: I had a terrible vision: I saw an encyclopedia walk up to a polymath and open him up. -Karl Kraus, writer (28 Apr 1874-1936) https://wordsmith.org/words/polymath.html This week's theme: Homophones rawky (pronounced as the word rocky) adjective Foggy; damp; cold. [From roke (smoke, steam, vapor, mist, rain, etc.), probably from Old Norse. Earliest documented use: 1601.] "'Tis bloody rawky weather!" William Grace; Omniverse: Book II; Outskirts Press; 2019.