A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon May 1 02:21:06 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dentigerous X-Bonus: They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me. -Nathaniel Lee (on being consigned to a mental institution, circa 17th c.) dentigerous (den-TIJ-uhr-uhs) adjective Having or furnished with teeth. [Denti- + Latin gerere, to bear.] "The jaws are generally dentigerous." Rolleston, Animal Life, 1870. We are off to a wild safari this week. Each day of the expedition promises sight of a new animal. There will be creatures large and small, leaping and crawling, chasing and being chased. But all of them have their own majestic place, their own purpose, in the grand scheme of things. There are seven of them within this week's words. Some may be easier to spot than others. How many can you find? -Anu (See the archives for Nov 1998 https://wordsmith.org/awad/themes.html for a previous visit to the verbal zoo.) -------- Date: Tue May 2 00:05:10 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--blasphemy X-Bonus: A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. -Saul Bellow, writer, Nobel laureate (1915-2005) blasphemy (BLAS-fuh-mee) noun 1. A contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing concerning God or a sacred entity. The act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God. 2. An irreverent or impious act, attitude, or utterance in regard to something considered inviolable or sacrosanct. [Middle English blasfemie, from Late Latin blasphemia, from Greek, from blasphemein, to blaspheme.] "The whole idea of such a coexistence, the creation of this mutant racino gene, is blasphemy to the purists in the sport." William Nack, A House Divided Gravely Threatened by Casino Gambling, Horse Racing Can't Decide Whether to Run With its Rival or Stay on a Different Track, Sports Illustrated, 10 Jul 1995. This week's theme: words with animals. -------- Date: Wed May 3 00:05:06 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cladogenesis X-Bonus: I hold one share in the corporate earth and am uneasy about the management. -E.B. White cladogenesis (klad-uh-JEN-i-sis) noun The evolutionary change and diversification resulting from the branching off of new species from common ancestral lineages. [Greek klados, branch + -genesis.] "If the branching pattern of a species tree reflects the evolutionary relationships among its tips, then this pattern offers clues to the process of cladogenesis and lineage diversification." Arne Oyvind Mooers, Tree balance and tree completeness, Evolution, Apr 1995. This week's theme: words with animals. -------- Date: Thu May 4 00:05:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--concatenate X-Bonus: Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both. -Oscar Wilde concatenate (kon-KAT-n-ayt, kuhn-) verb tr. 1. To connect or link in a series or chain. 2. Computer Science. To arrange (strings of characters) into a chained list. adjective (-nit, -nat) Connected or linked in a series. [Late Latin concatenare, concatenat- : com- + catenare, to bind (from Latin catena, chain).] "To deal with the deluge, you may want to ... subscribe in digest mode, in which the day's messages are concatenated and sent as a single message." Scott Spanbauer, Gloria Hansen, Lincoln Spector, Steve Bass and Judy Heim, You've Got E-Mail, PC World Monthly, Jun 1, 1998. This week's theme: words with animals. -------- Date: Fri May 5 00:05:14 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spigot X-Bonus: Math anxiety: an intense lifelong fear of two trains approaching each other at speeds of 60 and 80 MPH. -Rick Bayan spigot (SPIG-uht) noun 1. A faucet. 2. A wooden faucet placed in the bunghole of a cask. 3. The vent plug of a cask. [Middle English, perhaps from Old French *espigot, diminutive of Old Provencal espiga, ear of grain, from Latin spica.] "Strong regional development could help shut the spigot on Indiana's brain drain ...." New Economic Development Chief in Indianapolis Has Regional View, Knight Ridder Open, Apr 19, 2000. This week's theme: words with animals. -------- Date: Sat May 6 00:05:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--benevolent X-Bonus: Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910) benevolent (buh-NEV-uh-luhnt) adjective 1. Characterized by or suggestive of doing good. 2. Of, concerned with, or organized for the benefit of charity. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin benevolens, benevolent- : bene, well + volens, present participle of velle, to wish.] "Said Yee who is a trained architect and student of theology. `I see designing as a way of improving people's lifestyles and mindsets. The means to creating spiritual happiness and a benevolent community.'" Joyce Teh, Stark monastic simplicity, The New Straits Times, Mar 31, 2000. This week's theme: words with animals. -------- Date: Sun May 7 00:05:07 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--forbearance X-Bonus: Each of us has a spark of life inside us, and our highest endeavor ought to be to set off that spark in one another. -Kenny Ausubel forbearance (for-BAR-uhns) noun 1. The act of forbearing. 2. Tolerance and restraint in the face of provocation; patience. 3. The quality of being forbearing. 4. The act of a creditor who refrains from enforcing a debt when it falls due. [Middle English forberen, from Old English forberan, to endure.] "Of course, justice has sometimes to be tempered by mercy and forbearance." Theodore Dalrymple, Second opinion, Spectator, Mar 25, 2000. This week's theme: words with animals. -------- Date: Mon May 8 00:05:11 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Gordian knot X-Bonus: Every heart has its secret sorrows, which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) Gordian knot (GOR-dee-un not) noun 1. An exceedingly complicated problem or deadlock. 2. An intricate knot tied by King Gordius of Phrygia and cut by Alexander the Great with his sword after hearing an oracle promise that whoever could undo it would be the next ruler of Asia. "The sword that will cut the Gordian knot of race and crime will not be found in the criminal-justice system alone. Perhaps it will emerge when individuals come together to dismantle the social structures that foster racial bias." Roxann Ryan, The Gordian knot of race and crime, The Des Moines Register, Sep 12, 1999. An ad in a recent issue of a trade journal touts the efficiency of the product very forcefully. The graphic shows the classic maze scene complete with a guinea pig and a piece of cheese in one corner. In the traditional experiment, the little animal is supposed to find his way through the maze, backtracking, remembering the paths already taken, and ultimately reaching the reward. Instead, in this scene, the rodent zooms across the diagonal, turning the parts of the maze in his way to dust, and claiming the prize he richly deserves. I think that was a perfect illustration for the idiom cutting the Gordian knot. Can you think of a Gordian knot or two you could cut in your own life, at work or at home? Give it some thought. In the meantime, look for more words and phrases from classical mythology in AWAD this week. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 9 00:05:10 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cloud-cuckoo-land X-Bonus: Let this be an example for the acquisition of all knowledge, virtue, and riches. By the fall of drops of water, by degrees, a pot is filled. -The Hitopadesa cloud-cuckoo-land (KLOUD-koo-koo-land) noun An idealized, illusory domain of imagination; cloudland. [Translation of Greek Nephelokokkygia, the realm which separates the gods from mankind in Aristophanes' The Birds.] "South African President Thabo Mbeki's New Year message to Africans to aim for the stars in the new millennium, in line with his vision of an African renaissance, also castigated the West for largely ignoring Africa's problems of debts, disease and wars. But his vision, unless backed up by the essential nitty-gritty from the United Nations and other countries, is somewhere off in cloud-cuckoo-land. The explosion of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is systematically wiping out Africa's best doctors, lawyers, lecturers, economists and businesspeople." Michael Kibaara Muchiri, Will Annan finally put out Africa's fires?, Jakarta Post, Mar 6, 2000. This week's theme: words and phrases from classical mythology. -------- Date: Wed May 10 00:05:09 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Achilles' heel X-Bonus: How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. -George Washington Carver (1864?-1943) Achilles' heel (uh-KIL-eez heel) noun A seemingly small but actually mortal weakness. [From Achilles' being vulnerable only in the heel.] "Not that I think the whole Y2K thing was merely hype. From what I read and heard, it was the sounding of alarm by some people who saw this particular Achilles' heel in the technostructure that caused business and government executives around the world to take the precautionary measures that spared us real grief." Dudley Barlow, A light in the outhouse, Education Digest, Mar 1, 2000 This week's theme: words and phrases from classical mythology. -------- Date: Thu May 11 00:05:07 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aphrodisiac X-Bonus: If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. -Albert Einstein (1879-1955) aphrodisiac (af-ruh-DIZ-ee-ak, -DEE-zee-) adjective Arousing or intensifying sexual desire. noun Something, such as a drug or food, having such an effect. [Greek aphrodisiakos, from aphrodisia, sexual pleasures, from Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty in Greek Mythology.] "Here the myths have done wanton destruction to rhinos. Someone began the myth that rhino horns are an aphrodisiac. Scientifically it has been proved false and you can chew your finger nails if you like and nothing will stimulate you, for rhino horns and human finger nails are made of the same stuff called keratin, which forms nails and hair." Kapungwe Bwalya, More on How Animals Have Influence On Humanity, The Times of Zambia, Sep 6, 1999 (via Africa News Service). This week's theme: words and phrases from classical mythology. -------- Date: Fri May 12 00:05:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--maecenas X-Bonus: He who does not attempt to make peace / When small discords arise, / Is like the bee's hive which leaks drops of honey / Soon, the whole hive collapses. -Nagarjuna (c. A.D 100-200.) Maecenas (mee-SEE-nuhs, mi-) noun A generous patron or supporter, especially of art, music, or literature. [After Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, Roman statesman, friend and patron of Horace and Virgil.] "The elected or appointed Maecenas learns to think not of art but of a line of goods known as `The Arts.'" Lewis H. Lapham, Performance art, Harper's Magazine, Dec 1999. This week's theme: words and phrases from classical mythology. -------- Date: Sat May 13 00:05:15 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pander X-Bonus: An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. -G.K. Chesterton pander (PAN-duhr) verb intr. 1. To act as a go-between or liaison in sexual intrigues; function as a procurer. 2. To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses. [Middle English Pandare, Pandarus, from Old Italian Pandaro, from Latin Pandarus, from Greek Pandaros. After Pandarus, the procurer of Cressida for Troilus in medieval romance.] "For those who have been fortunate enough to catch it (the movie), it is a powerful comment about that most important and sacred segment of American society - the middle-class - which is where the moral majority resides, whose spending power floats or sinks the American economy and whom the US politicians pander to." Francis Dass, A twisted and surreal `American Beauty', The New Straits Times, Mar 24, 2000 This week's theme: words and phrases from classical mythology. -------- Date: Sun May 14 00:05:07 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--morpheus X-Bonus: Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. -Mahatma Gandhi Morpheus (MOR-fee-uhs, -fyoos), noun 1. A son of Hypnos and the god of dreams. 2. In the arms of Morpheus: asleep. [Middle English from Latin from Greek morphe + Latin -eus; coined by Ovid, with allusion to the forms seen in dreams.] "Let for the people be the first to admit a certain familiarity with sleepless nights and an envy of those who claim to fall into the arms of Morpheus the moment their head touches a pillow. But sleepless or sleep-short nights are one thing; sleepless decades are something else entirely. Decades? Yes. Nguyen Thi Tu, an elderly Vietnamese lady who lives in the southern province of Ca Mau, claims that she hasn't slept a single wink since 1967." Stephen Goode, A woman who never dreams or sleeps a wink, Insight on the News, Nov 22, 1999. This week's theme: words and phrases from classical mythology. -------- Date: Mon May 15 00:15:07 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--haplology X-Bonus: Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. -Chinese Proverb haplology (hap-LOL-uh-jee) noun The loss of one of two identical or similar adjacent syllables in a word, as in Latin nutrix, `nurse,' from earlier nutritrix. [Greek haplos, haplous, single, simple.] "There is also a consensus that arkuwar is the verbal noun to this stem, by haplology from expected arkuwawar." H. Craig Melchert, Hittite arku-, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Jan 1, 1998. It's another of those words that go out of their way not to apply to themselves. If today's word were to practice what it preaches we would be seeing a leaner, meaner version of it, one that would be more suitable for Scrabble, and save two keystrokes. How does haplogy sound? See you in a few hundred years! In the meanwhile, look for more meta-words or words about words in AWAD during this week. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 16 00:15:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--verbicide X-Bonus: As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand. -Josh Billings verbicide (VUR-buh-syd) noun 1. The willful distortion or depreciation of the original meaning of a word. 2. A person who willfully distorts the meaning of a word. [Latin verb(um) word + -i- + -cide killer, killing.] "Noggs dreads to think what fragrant words our English verbicides have been putting out for the dustmen at dead of night." Newman Noggs, Books: Between the lines, The Daily Telegraph, Sep 19, 1998. This week's theme: words about words. -------- Date: Wed May 17 00:15:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lexis X-Bonus: Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen. -Leonardo Da Vinci lexis (LEK-sis) noun The total set of words in a language as distinct from morphology; vocabulary. [Greek, speech, word.] "It might fairly be argued that the different concentrations of lexis found in, say, the Beowulf poet, Chaucer and Shakespeare in essence reflect this expansion of the word-stock." Geoffrey Hughes, The Diction of Poetry: An Overview, English Studies in Africa, 1 Jan 1999. This week's theme: words about words. -------- Date: Thu May 18 00:15:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--analects X-Bonus: All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first. -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) analects (AN-uh-lekts) also analecta (an-uh-LEK-tuh) plural noun Selections from or parts of a literary work or group of works. Often used as a title. [Greek analekta, selected things, from neuter plural of analektos, gathered together, from analegein, to gather : ana- + legein, to gather.] "The Confucian Analects are endlessly reinterpreted: the sage must have turned over in his grave several times over because of the liberties taken in his name." Chong Seck Chim, Old news and views recycled, The New Straits Times, Feb 16, 2000. This week's theme: words about words. -------- Date: Fri May 19 00:15:07 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--metathesis X-Bonus: Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which other men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life. -Jesse Lee Bennett metathesis (mi-TATH-i-sis) noun 1. Transposition within a word of letters, sounds, or syllables, as in the change from Old English brid to modern English bird or in the confusion of modren for modern. 2. Chemistry. Double decomposition. [Late Latin, from Greek, from metatithenai, to transpose : meta- + tithenai, to place.] "The mischievous imps of metathesis are at play, for instance, when rural speakers switch the 'r' and 'e' in 'pretty' and say 'perty'." Rob Kyff; Time to Bury the 'aks'?' The Hartford Courant; Dec 9, 1998. This week's theme: words about words. -------- Date: Sat May 20 00:15:09 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anadiplosis X-Bonus: The man who thinks he can do without the world is indeed mistaken; but the man who thinks the world cannot do without him is mistaken even more. -Francois, duc de La Rochefoucauld anadiplosis (an-uh-duh-PLO-sis) noun Rhetorical repetition at the beginning of a phrase of the word or words with which the previous phrase ended; for example, He is a man of loyalty--loyalty always firm. [Late Latin anadiplosis, from Greek anadiplosis, from anadiploun, to redouble : ana- + diploun, to double (from diplous, double).] "In fact, alliteration is one of 10 schemes of repetition discussed by the authors, as is anadiplosis (repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause, as in the lyrics to the song `Where Have All the Flowers Gone?')." Stephen Wilbers, Rhetorical devices will help you write with style, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jan 8, 1999. This week's theme: words about words. -------- Date: Sun May 21 00:15:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anagoge X-Bonus: The fear of capitalism has compelled socialism to widen freedom, and the fear of socialism has compelled capitalism to increase equality. -Ariel Durant anagoge also anagogy (AN-uh-go-jee) noun A mystical interpretation of a word, passage, or text, especially scriptural exegesis that detects allusions to heaven or the afterlife. [Late Latin anagoge, from Late Greek, spiritual uplift, from anagein, to lift up : ana- + agein, to lead.] "The spark of wisdom kindled by the `divine guide,' that `hidden spark which loves to conceal itself,' turns into a large flame of cognition, thus concluding the journey of the soul which Plotinus termed anagoge, the ascension toward heaven, toward divinity." Mary Ellen Waithe, Hypatia of Alexandria (book reviews), Hypatia, Sep 22, 1995. This week's theme: words about words. -------- Date: Mon May 22 00:12:10 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--erose X-Bonus: Every age is fed on illusions, lest men should renounce life early and the human race come to an end. -Joseph Conrad erose (i-ROS) adjective Irregularly notched, toothed, or indented. [From Latin erosus, past participle of erodere, to gnaw off.] "How can I best hide the gaps where the erose edges of the fireplace and the straight edges of the paneling meet?" Al Carrell, Super Handyman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jul 7, 1995. What happens when you remove the letter a from the alphabet? You b-head it. Each of this week's words sprouts another word if you behead it. Go ahead, try it. Decollate these words. Decapitate them. You won't hurt a thing. Nor would the word-police arrest you, for in each instance you would be generating another word, a 100% dictionary word. -Anu P.S. Think we can use that word we learned here last week ... verbicide? (-: -------- Date: Tue May 23 00:12:10 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ligneous X-Bonus: In death the many become one; in life the one becomes many. -Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) ligneous (LIG-nee-uhs) adjective Consisting of or having the texture or appearance of wood; woody. [From Latin ligneus, from lignum, wood.] "A profusion of water gives to South America its amazing forests; a want inflicts on Australia its shadeless trees, with their shrunken and pointed leaves. With the diminished moisture the green gardens of France are replaced in Gobi by ligneous plants covered with a gray down." Draper, John William M.D., LL.D., History Of The Intellectual Development Of Europe: Chapter II: Part I., History of the World, Jan 1, 1992. This week's theme: words that sprout other words when beheaded. -------- Date: Wed May 24 00:12:11 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scop X-Bonus: Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst. -Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis) scop (shoap) noun An Old English poet or bard. [Old English.] "This scop is tight with tetrameter, but he's turned the meter upside down." David Weiss, Rapping scops, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, Jan 1, 1998. This week's theme: words that sprout other words when beheaded. -------- Date: Thu May 25 00:12:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--junto X-Bonus: I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him. -Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) junto (JUN-to) noun A small, usually secret group united for a common interest. [Alteration of junta, Spanish and Portuguese, conference, probably from Latin iuncta, feminine past participle of iungere, to join.] "Not a member of that board, that I conversed with, but expressed the highest detestation of the perverted principles and conduct of the Quaker junto ...." Thomas Paine, Political Works Of Thomas Paine: Number III, Part I. This week's theme: words that sprout other words when beheaded. -------- Date: Fri May 26 00:12:12 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sallow X-Bonus: Appeal, v.t. In law, to put the dice into the box for another throw. -Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary (1906) sallow (SAL-o) adjective Of a sickly yellowish hue or complexion. verb tr. To make sallow. [Middle English salowe, from Old English salo.] "Upstairs, a few desperately merry waiters are serving nonalcoholic drinks and cheeseburgers to sallow diners who look as if they've arrived at the end of the world ...." Pico Iyer, Where worlds collide: in Los Angeles International Airport, the future touches down, Harper's Magazine, Aug 1995. This week's theme: words that sprout other words when beheaded. -------- Date: Sat May 27 00:12:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vaward X-Bonus: Strange that creatures without backbones have the hardest shells. -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam] vaward (VAH-ward, VOU-ord) noun Vanguard. [Middle English, variant of va(u)mwarde, vantward, aphetic for avantward from Anglo-French avantwarde, equivalent to avant + warde from Old English weard ward.] "If Sir John Fastolfe had not play'd the coward: He, being in the vaward, placed behind With purpose to relieve and follow them, Cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke." William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part I: Act I, Scene I. This week's theme: words that sprout other words when beheaded. -------- Date: Sun May 28 00:12:08 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pelf X-Bonus: It is difficult to begin without borrowing, but perhaps it is the most generous course thus to permit your fellow-men to have an interest in your enterprise. -Henry David Thoreau [Walden] pelf (pelf) noun Wealth or riches, especially when dishonestly acquired. [Middle English, from Medieval Latin pelfra, pelfa, probably from Old French pelfre.] "Despite those titles, power and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self." Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel. This week's theme: words that sprout other words when beheaded. -------- Date: Mon May 29 00:12:12 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sternutation X-Bonus: This will never be a civilized country until we spend more money for books than we do on chewing gum. -Elbert Hubbard sternutation (stur-nyuh-TAY-shuhn) noun 1. The act of sneezing. 2. A sneeze. [Middle English sternutacioun, from Latin sternutatio, sternutation-, from sternutatus, past participle of sternutare, frequentative of sternuere, to sneeze.] "You can't escape it. Salutation on sternutation -- the act of sneezing -- is universal." God BLESS you! / Examining a social mannerism that's nothing to sneeze at, The State Journal-Register Springfield, Sep 27, 1998. Prevention is better than cure, so the saying goes. But sometimes no amount of prevention helps and we are forced to visit those trained in the healing arts. Like any profession, the world of medicine has its own jargon. If you have come down with a bad case of medical jargonitis, help is near. Here is AWAD's prescription: take this week's seven words and email me next week. -Anu -------- Date: Tue May 30 00:12:11 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nosocomial X-Bonus: Memory moderates prosperity, decreases adversity, controls youth and delights old age. -Lactantius Firmianus nosocomial (nos-uh-KO-mee-uhl) adjective (of infections) contracted as a result of being hospitalized; hospital-acquired. [Neo-Latin nosocomi(um) hospital from Late Greek nosokomeîon, equivalent to Greek noso- + kom- (base with sense `care, attendance,' as in gerokomos caring for the old) + -eion suffix of location) + -al.] "The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has announced that nosocomial (in-hospital) infections cost up to $29 billion annually and up to 98,000 deaths in the US alone." Nosocomial Infections Cost Up To $29 Billion Annually, Business Wire, Mar 31, 2000. This week's theme: words from medicine. -------- Date: Wed May 31 00:12:14 EDT 2000 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--antitussive X-Bonus: What government is the best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves. -Goethe (1749-1832) antitussive (an-tee-TUS-iv, an-ti-) adjective Capable of relieving or suppressing coughing. [Greek anti- opposite + Latin tuss(is) cough + -ive] "Liquorice is an anti-tussive herb (cough-stopping) while cat's claw and baptisia are both traditionally used to treat colds and flu." Prone to colds and cough, The New Straits Times, Aug 6, 1998. This week's theme: words from medicine.