A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tintinnabulation Date: Wed, 1 Jun 1994 00:03:23 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: We will cross out that bridge when we come back to it later. tin.tin.nab.u.la.tion \.tin-t*-.nab-y*-'la_--sh*n\ n 1: the ringing of bells 2: a jingling sound as if of bells -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--transcendentalism Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 00:03:14 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: The cynic says: the pessimist is a realist who isn't afraid to admit it. tran.scen.den.tal.ism n : a philosophy holding that ultimate reality is unknowable and asserting the primacy of the spiritual over the material and empirical -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--porcine Date: Fri, 3 Jun 1994 00:03:13 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Money DOES talk -- it says goodbye. por.cine \'po_.r-.si_-n\ adj : of, relating to, or suggesting swine -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--varia Date: Sat, 4 Jun 1994 00:03:15 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: In 1869 the waffle iron was invented for people who had wrinkled waffles. var.ia \'ver-e_--*\ n, pl : MISCELLANY; esp : a literary miscellany -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dingus Date: Sun, 5 Jun 1994 00:03:12 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: We will cross out that bridge when we come back to it later. din.gus \'din_e-(g)*s\ n : something whose proper name is unknown or forgotten -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--varlet Date: Mon, 6 Jun 1994 00:03:10 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Electricity comes from electrons; morality comes from morons. var.let \'va_:r-l*t\ n 1 archaic: ATTENDANT 2: SCOUNDREL, KNAVE -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--biogeography Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 00:03:08 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: All wiyht. Rho sritched mg kegtops awound? bio.ge.og.ra.phy \-je_--'a_:g-r*-fe_-\ n : a branch of biology that deals with the distribution of plants and animals -- bio.ge.og.ra.pher \-f*r\ n -- bio.ge.o.graph.ic \-.je_--*-'graf-ik\ adj -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--littoral Date: Wed, 8 Jun 1994 00:03:08 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Smile, it takes only 13 muscles; A frown takes 64. lit.to.ral \'lit-*-r*l, .lit-*-'ral\ adj : of, relating to, or growing on or near a shore esp. of the sea -- littoral n -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--appanage Date: Thu, 9 Jun 1994 00:03:12 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Heating with wood, you get warm twice: Once chopping it, and once stacking it. ap.pa.nage \'ap-*-nij\ n 1: provision (as a grant of land) made by a sovereign or legislative body for dependent members of the royal family 2: a rightful adjunct -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--guerdon Date: Fri, 10 Jun 1994 07:27:09 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell. - Emily Dickinson guer.don \'g*rd- *n\ n : REWARD, RECOMPENSE -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lariat Date: Sat, 11 Jun 1994 00:03:30 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: All things are possible, except skiing through a revolving door. lar.i.at \'lar-e_--*t\ n [Sp la riata the rope] : a long tight rope used esp. to catch or tether livestock -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--caduceus Date: Sun, 12 Jun 1994 00:03:16 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Too many of us speak twice before we think. ca.du.ce.us \k*-'d(y)u_:-se_--*s\ n, pl -cei \-se_--.i_-\ 1: the staff of a herald; esp : a representation of a staff with two entwined snakes and two wings at the top 2: an insignia bearing a caduceus and symbolizing a physician -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scepter Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 00:03:33 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: I have not seen as far as others because giants were standing on my shoulders. scep.ter \'sep-t*r\ n : a staff borne by a sovereign as an emblem of authority -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lamia Date: Tue, 14 Jun 1994 00:03:26 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Eleven tons of hair stolen. Police combing area. la.mia \'la_--me_--*\ n : a female demon -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--philter Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 00:03:23 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Nobody ever goes there, it's too crowded. phil.ter or phil.tre \'fil-t*r\ n 1: a potion, drug, or charm held to excite sexual love 2: a magic potion -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--decalcomania Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 00:03:09 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. de.cal.co.ma.nia \di-.kal-k*-'ma_--ne_--*\ n : a transferring (as to glass) of designs from specially prepared paper; also : a design prepared for such transferring -- all those who guessed it was some kind of mania, raise hands. - anu (-; -------- Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--decalcomania Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 21:25:21 -0400 (EDT) As it turns out, decalcomania is a mania -- or at least it used to be! Alert linguaphile Mike Lake from uiuc.edu informed: Uh, it was some kind of mania. Apparently it was all the rage in the 1860s in Europe. From decalquer (to copy) and mania (madness, craze). Noland D., yet another alert linguaphile, whose mail carries the stamp of uncwil.edu, reported, "It IS a mania; OED's entry implies a mid-19th century French one." It seems the word touched a creative vein in the subscribers. Stanton McCandlish at eff.org guessed it was obsessive sticker collecting. Milind R. Agarwal from msu.edu figured it was "something to do with a person who was afraid of breaking his bones, due to poor calcium levels in the body. And Michael G. Koopman of ctc.com suggested: de.cal.cola.ma.nia \di-.kal-k*-la-'ma_--ne_--*\ n : fear of diet cola drinks I'd take this opportunity to introduce a very creative linguaphile on our list. Debbie Burhans from buffalo.edu uses the word from A.Word.A.Day to write a limerick -- kind of A.Limerick.A.Day. (-: Here is what she penned for today: If you're into decalcomania When you tell folks they say, please explania Does it make you depressed To be decal obsessed? And they look at you like you're insania Finally, all of you with raised hands may put them down. you were right after all. Or used to be. Anu -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--suzerain Date: Fri, 17 Jun 1994 00:03:13 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Where there is a will, there is an Inheritance Tax. su.zer.ain \'su_:z-(*-)r*n, -*-.ra_-n\ n 1: a feudal lord 2: a nation that has political control over another nation -- su.zer.ain.ty n -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--polymath Date: Sat, 18 Jun 1994 00:03:12 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Actual newspaper headline, 1/17/77: "Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures" pol.y.math \'pa_:l-i-.math\ n : a person of encyclopedic learning -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--donnybrook Date: Sun, 19 Jun 1994 00:03:08 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: He who does not hope to win has already lost. don.ny.brook \'da_:n-e_--.bru_.k\ n, often cap : an uproarious brawl -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--campanology Date: Mon, 20 Jun 1994 00:03:08 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: It's not the load that breaks you down - its the way you carry it. cam.pa.nol.o.gy \-'na_:l-*-je_-\ n : the art of bell ringing -- cam.pa.nol.o.gist n -- this is a -logy week, folks. see how you score at the end of the week. - anu -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--doxology Date: Tue, 21 Jun 1994 00:03:05 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Genderplex: Trying to determine from the cutesy pictures which restroom to use. dox.ol.o.gy \da_:k-'sa_:l-*-je_-\ n : a usu. short hymn of praise to God -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--etiology Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 00:03:07 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Backups? We doan *NEED* no steenking baX%^~,VbKx NO CARRIER eti.ol.o.gy \.e_-t-e_--'a_:l-*-je_-\ n : CAUSE, ORIGIN; also : the study of causes -- eti.o.log.ic \.e_-t-e_--*-'la_:j-ik\ adj -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--horology Date: Thu, 23 Jun 1994 00:03:17 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Money DOES talk -- it says goodbye. ho.rol.o.gy \h*-'ra_:l-*-je_-\ n : the science of measuring time or constructing time-indicating instruments -- hor.o.log.i.cal \.ho_.r-*-'la_:j-i-k*l\ adj -- ho.rol.o.gist \h*-'ra_:l-*-j*st\ n -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ichthyology Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 00:03:16 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: You can't hold a man down without staying down with him. ich.thy.ol.o.gy \.ik-the_--'a_:l-*-je_-\ n : a branch of zoology dealing with fishes -- ich.thy.ol.o.gist \-j*st\ n -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--logy Date: Sat, 25 Jun 1994 00:03:20 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: God gives burdens; also shoulders. lo.gy \'lo_--ge_-\ adj : deficient in vitality : SLUGGISH -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cosmogony Date: Sun, 26 Jun 1994 00:03:15 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. cos.mog.o.ny \ka_:z-'ma_:g-*-ne_-\ n : the origin or creation of the world or universe -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--zeitgeist Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 00:03:16 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Never eat prunes when you're famished. zeit.geist \'tsi_-t-.gi_-st\ n : the general intellectual, moral, and cultural state of an era -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gymnasium Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 00:03:09 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: In 1869 the waffle iron was invented for people who had wrinkled waffles. gym.na.si.um \jim-'na_--ze_--*m for 1, gim-'na_:- for 2\ n, pl - si.ums or -sia \-ze_--*\ [L, fr. Gk gymnasion, fr. gymnazein to exercise naked, fr. gymnos naked] 1: a place or building for sports activities 2: a German secondary school that prepares students for the university -- yes, i know you know the word, but i thought it has an interesting etymology and secondary definition. - anu -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--monody Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 00:03:15 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. mon.o.dy \'ma_:n-*d-e_-\ n : ELEGY, DIRGE -- mo.nod.ic \m*-'na_:d-ik\ adj -- mon.o.dist \'ma_:n-*d-*st\ n -------- Subject: A.Word.A.Day--farrago Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 00:03:13 -0400 (EDT) X-Bonus: This statement is in no way to be construed as a disclaimer. far.ra.go \f*-'ra_:g-o_-\ n, pl -goes : a confused collection : MIXTURE