A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue Jul 1 00:02:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--roborant X-Bonus: It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. -Sydney Smith, writer and clergyman (1771-1845) This week's theme: Words from medicine. roborant (ROB-uhr-uhnt) adjective Strengthening. noun A tonic. [From Latin roborare (to strengthen), from robor- (oak, hardness). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reudh- (red) that also gave us red, rouge, ruby, ruddy, rubella, robust, corroborate, and rambunctious.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'A roborant against the night air, dear fellow,' Renzi whispered, proffering hot negus*." Julian Stockwin; The Admiral's Daughter; McBooks Press; 2007. * negus: a drink made of wine, hot water, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon, named after Colonel Francis Negus who invented it. -------- Date: Wed Jul 2 00:02:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--catholicon X-Bonus: A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784) This week's theme: Words from medicine. catholicon (kuh-THOL-i-kuhn) noun A panacea or cure-all. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) [Via Latin from Greek katholikos (general), from kata (according to, by) + holou (whole). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sol- (whole) that gave us words such as solid, salute, save, salvo, and soldier.] "In the end, even the most intrusive measures will not be foolproof: there is no verification catholicon. But perfect verification is as illusory as it is unnecessary." Bruce Van Voorst; Arms Control; Time (New York); Jul 31, 1989. -------- Date: Thu Jul 3 00:02:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--atrabilious X-Bonus: Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect. -Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788-1860) This week's theme: Words from medicine. atrabilious (at-ruh-BIL-yuhs) adjective 1. Gloomy. 2. Ill-tempered. [From Latin atra bilis (black bile), translation of Greek melankholia.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "A couple of nights ago on BBC Two they scheduled an amusing programme, called Grumpy Old Women at Christmas, in which a lot of atrabilious female semi celebs of a certain age moaned about the festive season." Jane Shilling; Not a Card Sent or a Bauble Hung; The Times (London, UK); Dec 23, 2004. -------- Date: Fri Jul 4 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--linctus X-Bonus: It was our own moral failure and not any accident of chance, that while preserving the appearance of the Republic we lost its reality. -Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE) This week's theme: Words from medicine. linctus (LINGK-tuhs) noun A syrupy liquid medicine, especially for treating coughs. [From Latin lingere (to lick). Ultimately from the Indo-European root leigh- (lick) that is also the source of lichen (apparently from the way it licks its way around a surface), and lecher, but not lingerie (which is from the root lino: flax).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The audience emitted a few throaty cackles, as if they had collectively drunk too much cough linctus." Simon Hoggart; Labour Conference; The Guardian (London, UK); Sep 24, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Jul 7 00:01:07 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--orthography X-Bonus: The only thing one can give an artist is leisure in which to work. To give an artist leisure is actually to take part in his creation. -Ezra Pound, poet (1885-1972) My daughter Ananya has been fitted with braces to straighten her teeth. Right now her teeth are like a bunch of teenagers slouching on a lazy summer afternoon. A couple of years of orthodontic regimen has promised to train them like soldiers at attention -- perfectly upright and ready to attack in unison any apple or pear that dares to enter the gates. With each visit to the orthodontist, I become acutely aware of the meaning of the term ortho-. I believe it derives from Greek and means lots and lots of money. Maybe not. But that's what it feels like. And to be fair to the orthos, it takes years of training, specialized equipment, and precision components to design a pair of braces. If only braces were like combining forms in a language. You take two (or more), click them together, and they are ready for work. No muss, no fuss! This week we'll see five words made with the use of combining forms ortho- (straight), copro- (dung), iatro- (healer), miso- (hate), and calli- (beautiful). [What are combining forms? You can think of them as the Legos of language. As the name indicates, a combining form is a linguistic atom that occurs only in combination with some other form. This other form could be a word, another combining form, or an affix (a prefix or suffix). Unlike a combining form, an affix can't attach to another affix to form a standalone word by itself.] orthography (or-THOG-ruh-fee) noun 1. The commonly accepted way of spelling words. 2. The branch of knowledge concerned with the study of spelling and representing sounds of a language by letters and diacritics. [Via French and Latin from Greek ortho- (correct, right, straight) + -graphy (writing).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The Spelling Society declared at the weekend that the apparently arbitrary and complicated orthography of the English language holds back children in acquiring writing skills, and costs the economy countless billions a year." Philip Hensher; The Peculiarities of English Retain Its Spell; The Independent (London, UK); Jun 9, 2008. -------- Date: Tue Jul 8 00:01:07 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--coprolite X-Bonus: You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements. -Norman Douglas, novelist (1868-1952) This week's theme: words made using combining forms. coprolite (KOP-ruh-lyte) noun Fossilized excrement. [From Greek kopro- (dung) + -lite (stone), from lithos (stone).] Why study coprolites? Because by analyzing them we can learn much about an animal's behavior: its diet, its surroundings, and more. A coprolite of a carnivorous dinosaur, found in Saskatchewan, Canada: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/coprolite.jpg (actual size: about 1 foot) Picture source: US Geological Survey -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Visitors to the centre can see genuine mineralised Viking excrement on permanent display. The coprolite was discovered in 1972." Unusual 'Display'; Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph (UK); Jun 19, 2008. -------- Date: Wed Jul 9 00:01:08 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--iatrogenic X-Bonus: To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952) This week's theme: words made using combining forms. iatrogenic (eye-at-ruh-JEN-ik) adjective Caused inadvertently by medical treatment, such as an infection or a complication. [From iatro- (healer, medicine), from Greek iatros (healer) + -genic (producing).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "ICU care, provided to the most frail and sick patients, often results in the worst iatrogenic injuries." Sandeep Jauhar, MD; First, Do No Harm; The New York Times; Aug 10, 1999. -------- Date: Thu Jul 10 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--misoneism X-Bonus: Roads endure longer than pyramids. -Karol Bunsch, novelist (1898-1987) This week's theme: words made using combining forms. misoneism (mis-uh-NEE-izm) noun A hatred or fear of change or innovation. [From Italian misoneismo, from Greek miso- (hate) + neos (new). Ultimately from the Indo-European root newo- (new) that also gave us new, neo-, neon, novice, novel, novelty, innovate, and renovate.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The prevailing attitude was therefore one of extreme conservatism: may I indeed say of misoneism?" Expanding Trade, Changing Ways of Life-Conclusions; Addis Tribune (Ethiopia); May 15, 1998. -------- Date: Fri Jul 11 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--callipygian X-Bonus: To read fast is as bad as to eat in a hurry. -Vilhelm Ekelund, poet (1880-1949) This week's theme: words made using combining forms. callipygian (kal-uh-PIJ-ee-uhn) adjective Having well-shaped buttocks. [From Greek calli- (beautiful) + pyge (buttocks).] Two related words are: dasypygal: https://wordsmith.org/words/dasypygal.html steatopygia: https://wordsmith.org/words/steatopygia.html -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "And it hasn't been lost on modern film directors that a nice set of tights can showcase the callipygian assets of a well-formed leading man." Heroes in Hosiery; South China Morning Post (Hong Kong); Jul 20, 2006. -------- Date: Mon Jul 14 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--magna carta X-Bonus: Invention requires an excited mind; execution, a calm one. -Johann Peter Eckermann, poet (1792-1854) Royalty -- an outdated idea. Kings and queens, princes and princesses mostly appear in fairy tales now, and that's exactly where they belong. Most of the world did away with them long ago. Others, such as the citizens of Nepal recently, are realizing that having someone appointed as the head of a country just because he or she was born in a certain family makes about as much sense as fire-breathing dragons and gold-spinning maidens. Well, what would happen to the publishing world without them, one might ask. Sure, the royals do help the tabloid industry, but in their absence we can count on Paris Hilton and Michael Jackson to fill the vacuum. As a service to humanity, they would selflessly agree to ratchet up their daily quota of antics. And they would do it without being a burden on the taxpayers. The only species of monarchs I support is the monarch butterfly. Monarchy deserves to be extinct. In the meantime this week let's look at five terms related to royalty. magna carta (MAG-nuh KAHR-tuh) noun A document or a law recognizing basic rights and privileges. [From Latin magna carta (great charter). After Magna Carta, a charter of political and civil liberties that King John of England was forced to sign on June 15, 1215. It was revised several times over the years, and it became an important symbol, establishing for future generations that there were limits to royal power.] Image of Magna Carta: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/magna_carta_large.jpg -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "A magna carta for industry development recognizing that 'small and medium enterprises are the dominant constituent of the industry' is an absolute necessity." Integrated Approach Needed For Construction Industry; The Island (Colombo, Sri Lanka); Jun 18, 2008. -------- Date: Tue Jul 15 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--royal we X-Bonus: There are none so sour as those who are sweet to order. -Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues, essayist (1715-1747) This week's theme: Words related to royalty. royal we (ROI-uhl wee) noun The first-person plural pronoun used by a king or queen to refer to himself or herself, for example, "We are not amused," a line attributed to Queen Victoria. [From Old French roial, from Latin regalis (kingly) + Old English we. The practice of using "we" to refer to oneself is called nosism.] As it's often used by newspaper editors, the term is also known as the "editorial we". Mark Twain once said, "Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we'." -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The pervasive influence of Fr O'Hea may explain Robert Mugabe's strange obsession with the Royal Family. He uses the royal we of himself in conversation -- 'we still have our love for the Royal Family,' he told me solemnly during the interview." Heidi Holland; Zimbabwe: What Makes Monster Robert Mugabe Tick?; The Telegraph (London, UK); Jul 1, 2008. -------- Date: Wed Jul 16 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--morganatic X-Bonus: One does not advance the swimming abilities of ducks by throwing the eggs in the water. -Multatuli (pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), novelist (1820-1887) This week's theme: Words related to royalty. morganatic (mor-guh-NAT-ik) adjective Of or relating to a marriage between two people of different social ranks such that the spouse of lower rank and the children do not share the titles or possessions of the higher-ranking spouse. [From Latin matrimonium ad morganaticam (marriage with a morning gift), implying that the gift given on the morning after the wedding was the only gift received by the wife. It was also known as a left-handed marriage because the groom held his bride's hand with his left (instead of right) hand. The word is of Germanic origin (morgen: morning, e.g. guten morgen: good morning). From a word for 'morning' to a word for a kind of marriage, that's an example of the idiosyncratic ways languages evolve.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Nicholas [Sheremetev] was severely punished by society and his friends for his morganatic marriage, which was regarded as class treason." Simon Sebag; The Serf Who Married Her Owner; The Telegraph (London, UK); Jun 20, 2008. -------- Date: Thu Jul 17 00:09:12 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--king's ransom X-Bonus: Profits, like sausages and laws, are esteemed most by those who know least about what goes into them. -Gary Hector, author and journalist (b. 1951) This week's theme: Words related to royalty. king's ransom (kingz RAN-suhm) noun A very large sum of money. [From the reference to the large sum required to secure the release of a king from captivity.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Its nickname, CrackBerry, says it all. [A study] found that a third of BlackBerry users show signs of addiction 'similar to alcoholics'. Many companies would give a king's ransom for such customer dependency." Are You Addicted To Your BlackBerry?; Forbes (New York); Apr 3, 2008. -------- Date: Fri Jul 18 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--queen regnant X-Bonus: Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty. -Stephen King, novelist (b. 1947) This week's theme: Words related to royalty. queen regnant (kween REG-nuhnt) noun A queen reigning in her own right, as opposed to one having a royal title by marriage. [From Latin regnare (reign). Ultimately from the Indo-European root reg- (to move in a straight line, to lead or rule) that is also the source of regime, direct, rectangle, erect, rectum, alert, source, and surge. The wife of a ruling king is known as a queen consort. The husband of a queen regnant would be a king consort, though usually he is called a prince. A queen ruling during the youth, disability, or absence of a monarch is known as a queen regent.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "It's up to a queen regnant what title her husband will have, Cooper added." Q&A; The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution; Apr 4, 2002. -------- Date: Mon Jul 21 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--grammatolatry X-Bonus: There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) "So difficult it is to show the various meanings and imperfections of words when we have nothing else but words to do it with," wrote philosopher John Locke (1632-1704). While there's truth in Locke's assertion, it's possible to overcome the difficulty to some extent. We construct small unambiguous building blocks, define them as precisely as we can, and then put them to work for bigger purposes (though in some languages, such as German, we often get carried away). Fortunately, the English language abounds in words. And there are plenty of terms to describe these words themselves. This week we'll look at some of these meta-words or words about words and language. grammatolatry (gram-uh-TOL-uh-tree) noun The worship of words: regard for the letter while ignoring the spirit of something. [From Greek gramma (letter) + -latry (worship).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The worship of words is more pernicious than the worship of images. Grammatolatry is the worst species of idolatry." Robert Dale Owen; The Debatable Land Between This World And the Next; Trubner and Co; 1871. -------- Date: Tue Jul 22 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--catachresis X-Bonus: The noble and the nobility are usually at odds with one another. -Johann Gottfried Seume, author (1763-1810) This week's theme: Words about words and language. catachresis (kat-uh-KREE-sis) noun The misuse of words. [Here's a catchall word for all those mixed metaphors, malapropisms, and bushisms. It derives via Latin from Greek katakhresthai (to misuse).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Our neighbors to the north aren't spared the disease of catachresis, either. A Canadian politician displayed this manifestation of the illness: 'If this thing starts to snowball, it will catch fire right across the country.'" Jaime O'Neill; A Verbal Ship Lost in a Sea of Words; San Francisco Chronicle; Sep 25, 2005. -------- Date: Wed Jul 23 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--parapraxis X-Bonus: It's not the genius who is 100 years ahead of his time but average man who is 100 years behind it. -Robert Musil, novelist (1880-1942) This week's theme: Words about words and language. parapraxis (par-uh-PRAK-sis) noun A slip of the tongue (or pen) that reveals the unconscious mind. [Parapraxis is a fancy word for the Freudian slip. It's derived from Greek para- (beside, beyond) + praxis (act).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Only one parapraxis suggested a little lingering Scottish resentment*. [Andrew Marr] pronounced Gough Square, where [Samuel] Johnson lived and wrote his dictionary, 'guff'. A good joke but not, I think, a deliberate one." Andrew Billen; Ruling the Radio Waves; New Statesman (London, UK); Oct 1, 2007. *And not entirely without reason. In his famous dictionary, Johnson defined oats as, "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." -------- Date: Thu Jul 24 00:01:06 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lingua franca X-Bonus: People of small caliber like to sit on high horses. -Magdalena Samozwaniec, writer (1894-1972) This week's theme: Words about words and language. lingua franca (LING-gwuh FRANGK-uh) noun A language that is widely used by speakers of different languages to communicate with one another. [From Italian lingua franca (language of the Franks). The original lingua franca was Italian mixed with Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish, spoken on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle Ages. The name refers to the Arabic custom of calling all Western Europeans "Franks". Today English serves as the lingua franca of the world.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "At one point, they were called to the front to sing Sierra Leone's national anthem in Krio, the country's lingua franca." George Packer; The Children of Freetown; The New Yorker; Jan 13, 2003. "The tango became a culture with its own language, Lunfardo, an intermingling of Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese that asserted itself as the lingua franca of the immigrant generation." Lisa Traiger; The Original Forbidden Dance; The Washington Post; Feb 7, 2003. -------- Date: Fri Jul 25 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--orthoepy X-Bonus: It is also a victory to know when to retreat. -Erno Paasilinna, essayist and journalist (1935-2000) This week's theme: Words about words and language. orthoepy (or-THO-uh-pee, OR-tho-ep-ee) noun 1. Study of the pronunciation of words. 2. Customary pronunciation of a language. [Via Latin from Greek ortho- (correct) + epos (word), ultimately from the Indo-European root wekw- (to speak) that also gave us voice, vowel, vouch, vocation, evoke, revoke, advocate, and epic.] Our resident orthoepist is Stuti Garg whose voice you hear in the pronunciation of the daily words. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "'Splash a little guzzelean,' the crowd muttered. 'Gas-o-lean,' shouted an angry Nikitia Ivanich from above. 'Is it really all that difficult to assimilate orthoepy?'" Tatyana Tolstaya (translated by Jamey Gambrell); The Slynx; Houghton Mifflin; 2003. -------- Date: Mon Jul 28 00:10:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--popinjay X-Bonus: For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. -Doug Larson "If you could be any animal, what would you be?" This question often pops up at parties, in board games, and in general chitchat. Typical answers involve animals we consider magnificent: I'd be a lion; I'd be a peacock; I'd be a penguin... we believe their supposed traits -- pride, beauty, exoticness -- reflect our personality. Just as when we buy a dress like one worn by a celebrity, we think some of their glitter rubs off on us. When asked this question, I answer: human. Humans are animals too. After protests have died down, I finally respond with an animal animal: a pig. Eyes widen in disbelief. Why would someone choose to be a pig, after all? Pigs have a major public relations problem -- they're unfairly associated with everything negative: filth, gluttony, obesity, and more. And that's the reason I'm with pigs (they are, in fact, intelligent and very neat). They are made as they are, in the big scheme of things, for their own purpose, and they do the best in whatever they are supposed to be. Who is to say our minds at any moment are any cleaner than a pig's pen? I recently read this new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals". http://amazon.com/o/asin/0061351857/ws00-20 It's a colorful book in all senses of the word and I highly recommend it. It just might make you look at animals in a different light. This week we'll feature five words with animal ingredients. Animals are in the origins of all the words, though no animals were harmed in making of this week's AWAD. popinjay (POP-in-jay) noun Somone who indulges in vain and empty chatter. [Via French and Spanish from Arabic babbaga (parrot). The last syllable changed to jay because some thought the word referred to that bird instead of a parrot.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "We Brits didn't really like the way in which Jose Mourinho introduced himself as the 'Special One' when he joined Chelsea as manager. Being a braggart is so un-British, don't you know -- even if you are gifted with a bit of flair. The 'Special One' ought to have been told we don't go in for flamboyance here. If we act the popinjay we can expect others to despise us behind their smiles." No Space for 'Special Ones'; Western Morning News (Plymouth, UK); Sep 21, 2007. -------- Date: Tue Jul 29 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--croupier X-Bonus: All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others. -Michael Carr This week's theme: Words with hidden connections to animals. croupier (KROO-pee-uhr, -pee-ay) noun An attendant at a gaming table at a casino who collects and pays bets, deals the cards, spins the roulette, etc. [From French, literally one who sits behind another on horseback, from croupe (rump). The term arose because originally such a person stood behind a gambler to offer advice.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "With a hotel and casino building boom under way since Macao ended a four-decade gambling monopoly six years ago, the city zoomed past Las Vegas in terms of gambling revenue in 2006. Some analysts estimate Macao will need 50,000 croupiers in the next couple of years, a tenth of the population." Dominic Whiting; Penny Drops For Slot Makers; Reuters; Jun 5, 2008. -------- Date: Wed Jul 30 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--boustrophedon X-Bonus: War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrenal glands. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) This week's theme: Words with hidden connections to animals. boustrophedon (boo-struh-FEED-n, -FEE-don) noun A method of writing in which lines are written alternately in opposite direction, from left to right, and right to left. [From boustrophedon, literally ox-turning, referring to the movement of an ox while plowing a field, from Greek bous (ox) and strophe (turning). It's the same strophe that shows up in catastrophe (literally, an overturning) and apostrophe (literally, turning away, referring to the omission of a letter).] In such writing, each letter on the alternate lines was written as in a mirror image or rotated 180 degrees. We still do many things boustrophedonically, such as mowing the lawn, vacuuming the floor, etc. In many computer printers, such as dot-matrix and inkjet, the print head usually moves in the boustrophedon mode (though thankfully doesn't print letters mirrored or rotated). AWAD in boustrophedon: https://wordsmith.org/words/images/boustrophedon-awad.png An ancient boustrophedon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gortyn_code Make your own boustrophedons: http://www.jellyhedge.com/boustrophedonic.html -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Tell me, am I wrong to mock vertigo from summit to abyss, to reveal the world as I see it? To scribe my destiny boustrophedon, from left to right then right to left." Philippe Petit; To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers; North Point Press; 2002. -------- Date: Thu Jul 31 00:01:05 EDT 2008 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sommelier X-Bonus: God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through. -Paul Valery, poet and philosopher (1871-1945) This week's theme: Words with hidden connections to animals. sommelier (sum-uhl-YAY) noun A wine steward in a restaurant. [From French sommelier, from somm(er)ier (one charged with transporting supplies), from sommier (beast of burden), from somme (burden). From driving a pack animal to drafting wine lists, a sommelier has come a long way. A sommelier is to wine as a cicerone is to beer, though the latter has been introduced recently and is not widespread.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "First class passengers, who will pay about $20,000 a ticket to Europe, will have their own onboard sommelier to guide them through an array of wines to accompany their five-star meals." 'Superbird' Flights Offer Five-star Luxury; Gold Coast News (Queensland, Australia); Jun 17, 2008 .