A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed May 1 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gam X-Bonus: In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have. -Lee Iacocca, automobile executive (b. 1924) This week's theme: Words borrowed from other languages gam (gam) noun: A leg, especially a woman's attractive leg. [Probably from Polari, from Italian gamba (leg), from Latin gamba (leg). Polari is a jargon used among actors, circus performers, etc. in the UK. Earliest documented use: 1789.] noun: 1. A school of whales. 2. A social visit, especially between whalers or ship crews. verb tr., intr.: To hold such a visit; to spend time talking. [Perhaps a dialectal variant of game. Earliest documented use: 1850.] "They didn't call her 'The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs' for nothing: the actress Betty Grable insured her gams for $500,000 each." Celebrities and Their Insured Body Parts; Calgary Sun (Canada); Nov 3, 2009. "If the captain wanted to turn his vessel around in mid-sea to follow a gam of whales for a few miles, he could do so." Art Maier; Adventure Afloat; The Washington Post; Feb 6, 1994. -------- Date: Thu May 2 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mammonism X-Bonus: Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it. -Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745) This week's theme: Words borrowed from other languages mammonism (MAM-uh-niz-uhm) noun The greedy pursuit of riches. [Via Latin and Greek, from Aramaic mamona (riches). Mammon was personified as a false god in the New Testament. Earliest documented use: 1843.] "The IOC is just another rapacious, money-making corporation like any other, but it conceals all this behind the smokescreen of 'Olympian' values and sporting heroism. It's worse than any investment bank for mammonism and is seemingly oblivious to the supreme irony of the world's foremost sporting spectacle being sponsored by McDonald's and Coke." Heroic Ideals; Euroweek (London, UK); Jul 27, 2012. -------- Date: Fri May 3 00:01:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--leviathan X-Bonus: I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars. -Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892) This week's theme: Words borrowed from other languages leviathan (li-VY-uh-thuhn) noun Something large and powerful. [Via Latin from Hebrew liwyathan (whale). Earliest documented use: 1382.] "A merger between the two firms, which both belong to London's Magic Circle of top five law firms, would have created a legal leviathan with 950 partners and more than 10,000 staff." Liz Chong; Partners Quit; The Times (London, UK); Aug 1, 2006. -------- Date: Mon May 6 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--queer street X-Bonus: What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910) Language is meant to communicate and offending someone is also a way to communicate, though not a very nice one. There are plenty of offensive words in a language, any language, and this week's words may appear offensive, but aren't. They may sound, look, or feel like they have something to do with well-known distasteful words, but they don't. This similarity may cause some to take offense if the words are used in conversation. So should they be? A dictionary meaning of a word tells only so much. A word in a dictionary is inert. It comes alive only when we use it and give it real meaning. A word can take multiple meanings depending on the speaker, listener, tone, and the context. Take an everyday word like boy, for example. An adult man wouldn't think twice about his mother calling him a boy. But chances are he'd resent a store clerk or his boss, even an older boss, calling him thus. And that may also explain to folks who wonder, for example, why blacks use the N-word amongst themselves, yet are offended if people outside their community say it. One might say: Words don't offend people, people offend people. So should you use this week's terms? Technically, these are perfectly agreeable words, but technically is not how life works. It all depends on the context. For example, I'd avoid using the term queer street if I knew the person I was speaking to was gay. What do you think? I invite you to discuss this in our online forum Wordsmith Talk https://wordsmith.org/board/ . [Even though words featured this week are not offensive, email filters are not smart enough to understand that. It's possible that the filter at your organization tries to protect you from looking at this week's emails. If you find any missing emails, you can view them at https://wordsmith.org/words/today.html .] queer street (kweer street) noun A state of hardship, especially financial hardship. [The origin of the term is not clear. Carey Street, site of the bankruptcy court in London, has been proposed, but the court came decades after the term. It's also been suggested that traders put a query mark against customers suspected of having financial difficulties. Earliest documented use: 1811.] "Mike Bessey said: You can't really make a case that UK farmers are on queer street as a whole -- on average they are surviving and starting modest investment." Caroline Stocks; £25m Aid Won't Help Struggling UK Dairy Farmers; Farmers Weekly (UK); Jan 22, 2010. -------- Date: Tue May 7 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--niggler X-Bonus: They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) This week's theme: Terms that appear offensive but aren't niggler (NIG-luhr) noun 1. A person who pays excessive attention to petty details. 2. A person who criticizes constantly or repeatedly. [Origin unknown, perhaps of Scandinavian origin. Earliest documented use: 1781.] "A niggler might note that every element is at times an eensy bit too perfectly meshed and worked over. Today, I don't feel like niggling." Lisa Schwarzbaum; Hugo; Entertainment Weekly (New York); Nov 30, 2011. -------- Date: Wed May 8 00:01:09 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tar baby X-Bonus: Life is an adventure in forgiveness. -Norman Cousins, author and editor (1915-1990) This week's theme: Terms that appear offensive but aren't tar baby (TAHR bay-bee) noun Something to be avoided: a sticky situation or problem from which it's almost impossible to extricate oneself. [After "Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby", one of the folk stories compiled by Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908) in Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings. In the story, Brer Fox tries to trap Brer Rabbit by making a baby doll out of tar and puts it on the side of the road. Earliest documented use: 1881, in the above-mentioned story.] "The Nixon tar baby clung to Mr. Ford. A month after taking office he pardoned the ex-president, immediately dissipating much of the good will derived from his handling of the White House changeover." Editorial; A Ford, Not a Lincoln; The Blade (Toledo, Ohio); Dec 28, 2006. NOTES: The term has developed racial overtones and should be used cautiously. Check out the Toledo Blade's follow-up about the use of the term in the above editorial: http://www.toledoblade.com/JackLessenberry/2007/01/14/Editorial-on-Ford-raises-question-of-racial-sensitivity.html -------- Date: Thu May 9 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cockshy X-Bonus: People change and forget to tell each other. -Lillian Hellman, playwright (1905-1984) This week's theme: Terms that appear offensive but aren't cockshy (KOK-shy) noun 1. The game of throwing missiles at a target; such a throw. 2. An object of criticism or ridicule. [From Old English cocc (rooster) + shy (to throw), of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1836.] NOTES: At one time it was a popular sport to throw sticks or stones at roosters. Unfortunately, some people still believe it's a sport to shoot at pigeons and other animals. "Digby Jones: If he wants to take a cockshy at business for electoral reasons that's understandable. But I don't want it doing damage to the image of business, particularly in our schools." Louise Armitstead and David Smith; Which Cameron Really Means Business?; The Sunday Times (London, UK); May 28, 2006. "The rabble of Edinburgh were all out ... to hurl their missiles of hate at that sure cock-shy." Margaret Irwin; The Bride; 1939. -------- Date: Fri May 10 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--niggard X-Bonus: I'm not at all contemptuous of comforts, but they have their place and it is not first. -E.F. Schumacher, economist and author (1911-1977) This week's theme: Terms that appear offensive but aren't niggard (NIG-hurd) noun: A mean, stingy person. adjective: Stingy. [From Middle English nigard, of Scandinavian origin. Earliest documented use: 1384.] NOTES: Today's word has nothing to do with the N-word; however, the similarity in sound has led people to object to it. It's seen more often in its adjectival/adverbial form, niggardly, as in: "Japan has the world's second-largest economy, yet its promised $200m so far is niggardly." (The Economist). In the US, the word has become radioactive and its use has led to many controversies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_about_the_word_%22niggardly%22 . "It is a niggard's gift that costs the giver nothing." George R.R. Martin; A Dance with Dragons; Bantam Books; 2011. -------- Date: Mon May 13 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ensconce X-Bonus: Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. -Leo Buscaglia, author (1924-1998) A.Word.A.Day is all about improving one's verbal ability. This week we'll improve our verb-ability with five words that are all verbs. To say "In the beginning was the verb" wouldn't be too far off as the word comes from Latin verbum which means both 'verb' and 'word'. The quotation may not be verbatim, but it's clearly pro-verb. Verbs give life to a sentence. You could say they bring verve, which also came to us from Latin verbum. At any rate, verbs are about action, so let's put them into action. ensconce (en-SKONS) verb tr. 1. To settle firmly and comfortably. 2. To hide securely. [From en- (in) + sconce (small fortification), from Dutch schans (entrenchment). Earliest documented use: 1589.] "Vladimir Putin is once more ensconced behind the Kremlin's walls." Not Such a Strongman; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 9, 2012. -------- Date: Tue May 14 00:01:06 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--equivocate X-Bonus: You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by. -James M. Barrie, novelist and playwright (1860-1937) This week's theme: Verbs equivocate (i-KWIV-uh-kayt) verb intr. To be vague or ambiguous, especially in order to mislead. [From Latin aequi-/equi- (equal) + vocare (to call), from vox (voice). Earliest documented use: 1590.] "The bishop equivocates and wrings his fat hands and procrastinates." Susan Wiggs; At the Queen's Summons; Harlequin; 2012. -------- Date: Wed May 15 00:01:05 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--petrify X-Bonus: Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought. -Matsuo Basho, poet (1644-1694) This week's theme: Verbs petrify (PE-tri-fy) verb tr.: 1. To turn into stone. 2. To harden or deaden. 3. To stun or paralyze with fear. verb intr.: To become stony or callous. [From Latin petra (rock), from Greek petra (cliff, rock). Ultimately from the Indo-European root per- (to lead, pass over), which also gave us support, comport, petroleum, sport, passport, rapporteur https://wordsmith.org/words/rapporteur.html , petrichor (the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain) https://wordsmith.org/words/petrichor.html , colporteur (a peddler of religious books) https://wordsmith.org/words/colporteur.html , Swedish fartlek (a training technique) https://wordsmith.org/words/fartlek.html , Norwegian fjord (bay) https://wordsmith.org/words/fjord.html , and Sanskrit parvat (mountain). Earliest documented use: 1425.] "The thought of death does not petrify me." Keith Roach; Dr. Roach; Idaho State Journal (Pocatello); Jan 9, 2013. -------- Date: Thu May 16 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--impute X-Bonus: "Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" "That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course." -Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (1920-2012) This week's theme: Verbs impute (im-PYOOT) verb tr. To attribute, ascribe, or credit, often unfairly. [From Old French imputer, from Latin imputare, from in- (in) + putare (to assess, reckon). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pau- (to cut, stroke, or stamp), which is also the source of amputate, compute, dispute, count, pavid https://wordsmith.org/words/pavid.html , puerile https://wordsmith.org/words/puerile.html , and catchpole https://wordsmith.org/words/catchpole.html . Earliest documented use: 1480.] "'There's a tendency to impute much greater skill on the part of somebody like Jamie Dimon, who is very smooth,' Bill Miller says." Hugh Son; Bank of America Chief's Tumbles Turn Into Strides; The Washington Post; Mar 10, 2013. -------- Date: Fri May 17 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--exscind X-Bonus: Our lives are like islands in the sea, or like trees in the forest. The maple and the pine may whisper to each other with their leaves ... But the trees also commingle their roots in the darkness underground, and the islands also hang together through the ocean's bottom. -William James, psychologist and philosopher (1842-1910) This week's theme: Verbs exscind (ek-SIND) verb tr. To cut out or off. [From Latin exscindere, from ex- (out) + scindere (to cut). Ultimately from the Indo-European root skei- (to cut or split), which also gave us excise, schism, ski, shin, scienter https://wordsmith.org/words/scienter.html and adscititious https://wordsmith.org/words/adscititious.html . Earliest documented use: 1662.] "The knife skipped off the stone and almost exscinded Shih Te's index finger." Alexander Goldstein; The Foundling; Trafford; 2009. -------- Date: Mon May 20 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vesuvian X-Bonus: May my silences become more accurate. -Theodore Roethke, poet (1908-1963) Next week marks 60 years of the first scaling of the Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. Going up nine kilometers in storms, avalanches, and thin air is not just any hike on the trail. Nearly 4,000 have made it to the top and back but more than 200 have died in the attempt. It's hard, but not impossible if you're determined. A double-amputee has scaled the peak, so has a blind person. A 13-year-old boy has done it, and so has a 76-year-old. And one man has done it as many as 21 times ("Honey, I'm stepping out for a stroll ... on Mount Everest"). We all have our mountains to scale. Some of these are not as visible as Mt. Everest though they may be equally challenging. Scaling them comes with no accolade, but they are nonetheless worthwhile. May you reach all the peaks you set out to scale. Everest has become a metaphor for a high point of something. This week we'll see five other words that are derived from mountains and hills. vesuvian (vi-SOO-vee-uhn) adjective Marked by sudden explosive outbursts. [After Mount Vesuvius, a volcano that buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum when it erupted in 79 CE. Earliest documented use: 1673.] Mount Vesuvius: https://wordsmith.org/words/vesuvian_large.jpg Photo: Julius V http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjamv/4269178976/ "It erupted without warning from a young man ... his Vesuvian sneeze rocked the room." Dr. Kate Scannell; Tis the Season of the 'Winter Flu Olympics' -- Again; Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California); Jan 20, 2013. -------- Date: Tue May 21 00:01:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--parnassian X-Bonus: True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring. -Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968) This week's theme: Words coined after mountains and hills Parnassian (pahr-NAS-ee-uhn) adjective Of or relating to poetry. [After Mount Parnassus, a mountain in Greece, considered sacred to Apollo, the Greek god of music and poetry, and the Muses. Earliest documented use: 1565.] Theater of Delphi on the southwestern spur of Mount Parnassus: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/parnassian_large.jpg Photo: Leonid Tsvetkov "Whether scaling to Parnassian heights or plunging inward to insight, the poems' impeccable musicality and craftsmanship will win the trust and admiration of many." Fiction Reviews; Publishers Weekly (New York); Oct 15, 2007. -------- Date: Wed May 22 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chevy X-Bonus: Without the freedom to criticize, there is no true praise. -Pierre Beaumarchais, playwright (1732-1799) This week's theme: Words coined after mountains and hills chevy (CHEV-ee) verb tr.: To chase or annoy. noun: A chase, hunt, or a hunting cry. [After Cheviot Hills bordering England and Scotland. A battle between English and Scottish forces over a hunting expedition is described in a 15th-century ballad (The Ballad of Chevy Chase). A chase is a tract of land reserved for hunting. The name of the city Chevy Chase in Maryland has the same origin. Earliest documented use: before 1825.] Cheviot Hills https://wordsmith.org/words/images/chevy_large.jpg Photo: Richard Johns http://www.flickr.com/photos/richiej1/5552225317/ "[Boys] chevied the younger boys to greater speed as they stumbled down the stairs." Clinton W. Trowbridge; All Tied Up; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts); Jan 22, 1999. -------- Date: Thu May 23 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chartreuse X-Bonus: We are on the cusp of this time where I can say, "I speak as a citizen of the world" without others saying, "God, what a nut." -Lawrence Lessig, professor and activist (b. 1961) This week's theme: Words coined after mountains and hills chartreuse (shahr-TROOZ, -TROOS) noun 1. A light, yellowish green. 2. An aromatic, usually yellow or green liqueur, originally made by Carthusian monks in Grenoble, France. adjective Having a light, yellowish green color. [From mountain to monastery to drink to color -- that's the circuitous route for this word's origin. La Grande Chartreuse, a Carthusian monastery got its name after the Chartreuse Mountains. The liqueur got its name because it was first made by the monks in the monastery. Finally, the color got its name from the liqueur. Earliest documented use: 1806.] Chartreuse Mountains: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/chartreuse_large.jpg Photo: Luc Jamet http://www.flickr.com/photos/flurryofsmoke/7489311556/ "The tree crowns were packed together like puffballs and shimmered with every hue, tint, and shade of green: chartreuse, emerald, lime, aquamarine, teal, bottle, olive, jade." Douglas Preston; The El Dorado Machine; The New Yorker; May 6, 2013. "I must have been 7 or 8, squatting on the summer-hot pavement with my sister, scrawling disappearing messages on the concrete with snapped leaves of an ice plant, when it occurred to me that people could agree on the name of a thing, in this case, a color -- the green of the translucent fluid that oozed from the leaf, which we determined was chartreuse -- while seeing it very differently. I understood that when my sister agreed on the name chartreuse, she might, in fact, be seeing what I call red or yellow or blue. I began to see language less as a bridge between people than as a threadbare rope tossed from one edge of a precipice to open hands at another." Allison Hoover Bartlett; An Ear For Color: Exploring the Curious World of Synesthesia, Where Senses Merge in Mysterious Ways; The Washington Post; Jan 22, 2002. -------- Date: Fri May 24 00:01:04 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--himalayan X-Bonus: I have a trunk containing continents. -Beryl Markham, adventurer (1902-1986) This week's theme: Words coined after mountains and hills Himalayan (him-uh-LAY-uhn, hi-MAHL-yuhn) adjective 1. Enormously large. 2. Relating to the Himalayas. [After the Himalayas, the mountain range having Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. From Sanskrit him (snow) + alaya (abode). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghei- (winter), which is the ancestor of words such as chimera https://wordsmith.org/words/chimera.html , hibernaculum https://wordsmith.org/words/hibernaculum.html , hiemal https://wordsmith.org/words/hiemal.html , and hibernate. Earliest documented use: 1866.] "As Otago lurches towards its worst season in living memory, it is becoming plain to see the Himalayan task these coaches are facing." Steve Hepburn; Ordinary Otago Side Outclassed; Otago Daily Times (New Zealand); Oct 18, 2010. -------- Date: Mon May 27 00:01:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palatine X-Bonus: If you write to impress it will always be bad, but if you write to express it will be good. -Thornton Wilder, writer (1897-1975) Mark Twain once said, "The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter -- it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." Twain had a point, but in the definitions of this week's words, replacing a letter with another is not going to make much difference. It's still the same word that's being defined. Each of this week's words has two definitions that differ by a single letter (e.g. lightning/lightening). CONTEST: Can you think of a word like this? A word that has two definitions each of which differs by only one letter? Send your entries -- a word and its two (or more) definitions -- to (contest AT wordsmith.org). Be sure to include your location (city/state/country). Readers with the winning entries will receive their choice of the word game One Up! http://www.uppityshirts.com/oneup.shtml, the T-shirt "AWAD to the wise is sufficient" http://www.uppityshirts.com/awad.shtml or a signed copy of my book A Word A Day https://wordsmith.org/awad/books.html . Send your entries before the weekend. Results will be announced in AWADmail. palatine (PAL-uh-tyn, -teen) adjective Of or relating to a palace. [After Palatine, from Latin Palatium, the name of the centermost of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. Roman emperors built their palaces on this hill. The word palace also derives from the same source. Earliest documented use: 1436.] Of or relating to a palate. [From French palatin, from Latin palatum palate (roof of the mouth). Earliest documented use: 1656.] Roman ruins on the Palatine Hill https://wordsmith.org/words/images/palatine_large.jpg Photo: Ellyn Peirson http://www.flickr.com/photos/writing/2300542303/ "The palatine city Qal'a Bani Hammad in Algeria had terraced gardens and, in one of its palaces, an enormous rectangular pool." D. Fairchild Ruggles; Islamic Gardens and Landscapes; University of Pennsylvania Press; 2008. "The teeth, tongue, palate, and gum are subjected to a direct painful influence -- that is, direct pain which acts upon the minor palatine nerve." Aleksandr Nevzorov; The Horse Crucified and Risen; Nevzorov Haute Ecole; 2011. -------- Date: Tue May 28 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--collier X-Bonus: I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965) This week's theme: What a difference a letter makes collier (KOL-yuhr) noun 1. A coal miner. 2. A coal liner. [From Old English col (coal). Earliest documented use: 1594, 1661.] "Gunar turned to find a grimy-faced man, black as a collier." Lisa Hendrix; Immortal Champion; Berkley; 2011. "When the collier Marlin sailed into Hampton Roads on Jan 14, it didn't arrive like most coal ships do -- empty." Gregory Richards; Area Getting Two Facilities for Incoming Coal; The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk); Feb 1, 2007. -------- Date: Wed May 29 00:01:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lares and penates X-Bonus: On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow. -Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900) This week's theme: What a difference a letter makes lares and penates (LAR-eez and puh-NAY-teez) noun 1. Household gods (the benevolent gods in an ancient Roman household). 2. Household goods (a family's treasured possessions). [From Latin Lares et Penates, from Lares, plural of Lar (in Roman mythology, the deity or spirit who protected a household) + et (and) + Penates (deities of the household that were believed to bring wealth), from penus (provisions, interior of a house). Earliest documented use: 1616.] In an ancient Roman home, a shrine for the guardian spirits was called lararium. A lararium from Pompeii: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/lares_and_penates.jpg [Photo: Patricio Lorente] "But let's face it, the nearest thing that many Aussies have in the way of religion, or, as it is labelled with new-age vagueness, spirituality, are those little do-it-yourself offerings to the roadside gods, the lares and penates of the new-age pantheists." The Soft Toy Taking on a Religious Symbolism; The Canberra Times (Australia); Jan 14, 2006. "The storehouse of all the shame and vulnerability in Ben's life would be locked; a private museum of curios with but one visitor, himself, to stare at the degraded and rejected lares and penates." Kate Fillion; The Artful Forgery of the Self; The Toronto Star (Canada); Feb 6, 1993. -------- Date: Thu May 30 00:01:03 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hyperbolic X-Bonus: Although the connections are not always obvious, personal change is inseparable from social and political change. -Harriet Lerner, psychologist (b. 1944) This week's theme: What a difference a letter makes hyperbolic (hy-puhr-BOL-ik) adjective 1. Of or pertaining to hyperbole. 2. Of or pertaining to hyperbola. [From Greek hyperbole (excess), from hyperballein (to exceed), from hyper- + ballein (to throw). Earliest documented use: 1646, 1676.] NOTES: When you employ hyperbole in your discourse, you are doing what a devil does (to throw), etymologically speaking. The word devil ultimately comes from Greek diaballein (to throw across, slander). Some other words that share the same root are ballistic, emblem, embolism, metabolism, parable, problem, parabola, and symbol. "'My objective is to build something sustainable that lasts 100 years,' says Mr Kotak, who is upbeat without being hyperbolic." Kotak Moment; The Economist (London, UK); May 26, 2012. "She's made a skirt to wear to conferences with a crocheted hyperbolic hem. Each of its ruffles ruffles." Susan Blackwell Ramsey; A Mind Like This; University of Nebraska Press; 2012. -------- Date: Fri May 31 00:31:02 EDT 2013 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--debark X-Bonus: The words a father speaks to his children in the privacy of the home are not overheard at the time, but, as in whispering galleries, they will be clearly heard at the end and by posterity. -Jean Paul Richter, writer (1763-1825) This week's theme: What a difference a letter makes debark (dee-BARK) verb tr. To remove the bark from a dog. [From de- (from) + bark, from Old English borcian (to bark). Earliest documented use: 1943.] To remove the bark from a log. [From de- (from) + Old Norse börkr (bark). Earliest documented use: 1744.] debark (di-BARK) verb tr., intr. To disembark. [From French debarquer, from de- (from) + barque (ship). Earliest documented use: 1744.] "Dr. Marder said they will probably debark Truffle unless she quickly learns to play quietly." Sam Dolnick; Heel. Sit. Whisper. Good Dog; The New York Times; Feb 3, 2010. "Mike Rowe finds himself ... heading to a mill to help debark and process wood for a log cabin." Emily Yahr; Highlights; The Washington Post; Feb 22, 2011.