A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Wed Jul 1 00:04:19 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--logrolling X-Bonus: To believe that what has not occurred in history will not occur at all, is to argue disbelief in the dignity of man. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) logrolling (LOG-ro-ling) noun 1. The exchanging of political favors, especially the trading of influence or votes among legislators to achieve passage of projects that are of interest to one another. 2. The exchanging of favors or praise, as among artists, critics, or academics. 3. A game of skill, especially among lumberjacks, in which two competitors try to balance on a floating log while spinning it with their feet. [From the early American practice of neighbors gathering to help clear land by rolling off and burning felled timber.] "With friends like these, who needs loan officers? With a little greed and a lot of logrolling, D.C. powerbrokers like Brent Scowcroft and Thomas Boggs destroyed the National Bank of Washington. Lynda Edwards,, Washington Monthly, May 1991 v23 n5 p17(5) This week's theme: words with interesting origins. -------- Date: Thu Jul 2 00:04:46 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--southpaw X-Bonus: This sentance has threee errors. southpaw (SOWTH-paw) noun Slang. A left-handed person, especially a left-handed baseball pitcher. [From the practice in baseball of arranging the diamond with the batter facing east to avoid the afternoon sun. A left-handed pitcher facing west would therefore have his pitching arm toward the south of the diamond.] "Left-handed users have two mouse options. Symmetrical mice fit comfortably in both left and right hands. Other mice are designed specifically for southpaws." David W. Boles, How To Buy A Premiun Pointing Device, Windows, 1 Oct 1996. This week's theme: words with interesting origins. -------- Date: Fri Jul 3 00:04:14 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--credenza X-Bonus: An atheist is a person who has no invisible means of support. credenza (kri-DEN-zah) noun A buffet, sideboard, or bookcase, especially one without legs. [Italian, from Medieval Latin credentia, trust (possibly from the practice of placing food and drink on a sideboard to be tasted by a servant before being served to ensure that it contained no poison).] "Tomorrow morning, the United States House of Representatives will sell hundreds of desks, chairs, lamps and credenzas in what they're calling Congress' first ever yard sale." Congress has First Ever Yard Sale to Reduce Deficit, All Things Considered (NPR), 22 Sep 1995. This week's theme: words with interesting origins. -------- Date: Sat Jul 4 00:04:29 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--supercilious X-Bonus: Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit. -R.E. Shay supercilious (soo-puhr-SIL-i-uhs) adjective Feeling or showing haughty disdain. [Latin superciliosus, from supercilium, eyebrow, pride : super-, + cilium, lower eyelid.] "I know a great officer of the army, who will sit for some time with a supercilious and impatient silence, full of anger and contempt for those who are talking..." Swift, Jonathan, Hints Towards An Essay On Conversation. This week's theme: words with interesting origins. -------- Date: Sun Jul 5 00:03:56 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--red-letter X-Bonus: Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we make ourselves happy, but how we make ourselves worthy of happiness. -Immanuel Kant red-letter (RED-LET-uhr) adjective Memorably happy: a red-letter day. [From the practice of marking in red the holy days in church calendars.] "July 26, 1963 was a red-letter day for Rev. Bancikova. She was released and allowed to return home..." Hruby, Olga S, We Never Sought Martyrdom, Women Magazine, 1 Dec 1993. This week's theme: words with interesting origins. -------- Date: Mon Jul 6 00:05:36 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--marmoreal X-Bonus: A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts. -Herbert V. Prochnow marmoreal (mahr-MOHR-ee-uhl) also marmorean (-ee-uhn) adjective Resembling marble, as in smoothness, whiteness, or hardness. [From Latin marmoreus, from marmor, marble.] "...desperate to devise anything, any sadness or happiness, only to escape the clasped coffinworm truth of eternal art or marmoreal" From "Sadness and Happiness") Robert Pinsky, 39th U.S. Poet Laureate, is deeply in love with words -- be they technical terms of a trade, foreign borrowings, dusty antiques, or proper nouns. The interplay of sounds and images derived from his rich English vocabulary -- as well as foreign terms, slang, and invented words, is one of the charms of the poems in Pinsky's "The Figured Wheel", from which I picked these words. -Celia A. Hooper (hoopercATnih.gov) (This week's Guest Wordsmith, Celia, is an editor and writer at the National Institutes of Health. You can find more information about Pinsky on the Web at http://fyodor.cwa.nwu.edu/pinsky.html . -Anu) -------- Date: Tue Jul 7 00:04:55 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ichor X-Bonus: If today is the first day of the rest of your life, what was yesterday? ichor (EYE-kohr, EYE-kuhr) noun 1. Greek Mythology. The rarefied fluid said to run in the veins of the gods. 2. Pathology. A watery, acrid discharge from a wound or ulcer. [Middle English icor, from Late Latin ichor, from Greek ikhor.] "In the lightless carriages, a smell of snake And coarse fur, glands of lymphless breath And ichor, the avid stenches of Immortal bodies." (From "The Refinery") This week's theme: Words from "The Figured Wheel," a collection of poetry by Robert Pinsky. -------- Date: Wed Jul 8 00:04:33 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--brogan X-Bonus: People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. -Kierkegaard brogan (BROA-guhn) noun A heavy, ankle-high work shoe. [Irish Gaelic brogan, diminutive of brog, brogue.] "They left me Breathing in my bower between the Halloween Brogans and pumps on crystal pedestals." (From "Avenue") This week's theme: Words from "The Figured Wheel" a collection of poetry by Robert Pinsky. -------- Date: Thu Jul 9 00:05:07 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mullion X-Bonus: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead mullion (MUL-yohn) noun A vertical strip dividing the panes of a window. [Alteration of Middle English moniel, from Anglo-Norman moynel, perhaps from moienel, middle, from moien, from Latin medianus, from medius.] "At the window Where children are walking home from school it showers Around their heads: the burst of particles that spray Up from the anvil unnoticed over the children And onto the window--sash, lights, mullion and sill, Molecules that gild the panes and film the moist Pupil of the eye with ashy silver." (From "The Ghost Hammer") This week's theme: Words from "The Figured Wheel" a collection of poetry by Robert Pinsky. -------- Date: Fri Jul 10 00:04:32 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mattock X-Bonus: To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of the lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) mattock (MAT-uhk) noun A digging tool with a flat blade set at right angles to the handle. [Middle English, from Old English mattuc, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *matteuca, club akin to -mattea.] "Mattock that breaks the earth." (From "The Ghost Hammer") This week's theme: Words from "The Figured Wheel" a collection of poetry by Robert Pinsky. -------- Date: Sat Jul 11 00:04:30 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mortmain X-Bonus: You can always spot a well informed man - his views are the same as yours. -Ilka Chase mortmain (MOWRT-mayn) noun 1. Law. Perpetual ownership of real estate by institutions such as churches that cannot transfer or sell it. 2. The often oppressive influence of the past on the present. [Middle English mortemayne, from Old French mortemain : morte, feminine of mort, dead + main, hand (from Latin manus).] "The gods batten on the vats, and drink up Lovecries and memorized Chaucer, lines from movies And songs hoarded in mortmain: exiles charms, The basal or desperate distillates of breath Steeped, brewed and spent As though we were their aphids, or their bees, That monstered up sweetness for them while they dozed." (From "The Refinery") This week's theme: Words from "The Figured Wheel" a collection of poetry by Robert Pinsky. -------- Date: Sun Jul 12 00:04:09 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--souk X-Bonus: Few human beings are proof against the implied flattery of rapt attention. -Jack Woodford souk (sook, shook) noun An open-air market, or a part of such a market, in an Arab city. [Arabic suq.] "Pious gossips in the souk Said he was unclean..." (From "Visions of Daniel") This week's theme: Words from "The Figured Wheel" a collection of poetry by Robert Pinsky. -------- Date: Mon Jul 13 00:05:23 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--atrabilious X-Bonus: When you starve with a tiger, the tiger starves last. -Griffin's Thought atrabilious (at-ruh-bil-yuhs) also atrabiliar (-bil-ee-uhr) adjective 1. Inclined to melancholy. 2. Having a peevish disposition; surly. [From Latin atra bilis, black bile (translation of Greek melankholia.) : atra, black + bilis, bile.] "To bolster his researches, Mr Barber called on the opinions of a score of commentators, some well-disposed to the subject, some positively toxic. Among them is David Starkey, the atrabilious historian, who calls the Earl every name under the sun..." John Walsh, Over-tidy neighbours and backward-walking Lords, Independent, 14 May 1998. Oscar Wilde once said, "It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious." This week we offer seven other words you can safely use to describe your co-workers, associates and others. Try these elegantly veiled insults without fear of offending, just make sure they are not already AWAD subscribers. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Jul 14 00:04:26 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cockalorum X-Bonus: If I were punished for every pun I shed, there would not be left a puny shed of my punnish head. -Samuel Johnson cockalorum (KOK-uh-lor-uhm, -LOAR-) noun 1. A little man with an unduly high opinion of himself. 2. Boastful talk; braggadocio. [Perhaps alteration (influenced by Latin -orum, nominal ending), of obsolete Flemish kockeloeren, to crow, of imitative origin.] "It is rather charming to discover that Lachlan Young, a true cockalorum, has been reduced to a quivering wreck about the whole event." Edited by Simon Davies, Peterborough: What rhymes with quivering wreck, my love?, The Daily Telegraph, 1 May 1998. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Wed Jul 15 00:05:16 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rock-ribbed X-Bonus: Every great movement must experience three stages: ridicule, discussion, adoption. -John Stuart Mill rock-ribbed (rok-ribd) adjective 1. Having rocks or rock outcroppings; rocky. 2. Firm and unyielding, especially with regard to one's principles, loyalties, or beliefs. "Gloria's father, Al Thompson, was chief of the city parks police. Hers was a disciplined, rock-ribbed upbringing. As the Connorses were open and genial, so were the Thompsons tight and skeptical, even suspicious." Frank Deford, A man who has been the indisputable favorite of his mother keeps., Sports Illustrated, 08-22-1994, pp 56 This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Thu Jul 16 00:05:05 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--troglodyte X-Bonus: If you must cry over spilled milk then please try to condense it. troglodyte (TROG-loh-dite) noun 1. A member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people that lived in caves, dens, or holes. A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish. 2. An anthropoid ape, such as a gorilla or chimpanzee. An animal that lives underground, as an ant or a worm. [From Latin Troglodytae, a people said to be cave dwellers, from Greek Troglodutai, alteration (influenced by trogle, hole, -dutai, those who enter), of Trogodutai.] "A man is hardly blind if his eyes have no sight; Blind is he who does not want to see. To such an ignorant troglodyte, Life itself is a grave, if you ask me." Vahapzade, Bahtiyar (Azerbaijan poet), Two blind men. (poem), World Literature Today, 1 Jun 1996. Translated from the Turkish and the Azeri By Talat Sait Halman This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Fri Jul 17 00:04:32 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--duplicitous X-Bonus: The ability to piece together work that will both satisfy and support us is the secret to surviving, even thriving. -Wendy Reid Crisp duplicitous (doo-plisi-ts, dyoo-) adjective Given to or marked by deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech. [Middle English duplicite, from Old French, from Late Latin duplicitas, doubleness, from Latin duplex, duplic-, twofold.] Reacting to terrorism, The Economist, 3 Aug 1996. "And the implication of demands for international action, through trade sanctions, against `rogue nations' believed to sponsor terrorism (Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Libya) is more sinister: it reveals an instinct to find foreigners to blame, be they the rogue nations themselves, or the duplicitous Europeans or Asians who refuse to go along with sanctions." This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Sat Jul 18 00:05:46 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--caitiff X-Bonus: In truth you owe naught to any man. You owe all to all men. -Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Sand and Foam] caitiff (KAY-tif) noun A despicable coward; a wretch. caitiff adjective Despicable and cowardly. [Middle English caitif, from Norman French, from Latin captivus, prisoner.] "Whoever shoots at him, I set him there; Whoever charges on his forward breast, I am the caitiff that do hold him to't; And, though I kill him not, I am the cause..." Shakespeare, William, All's Well That Ends Well: Scene II. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Sun Jul 19 00:04:00 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ambidextrous X-Bonus: A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit. -D. Elton Trueblood ambidextrous (am-bi-DEK-strahs) adjective 1. Able to use both hands with equal facility. 2. Unusually skillful; adroit. 3. Deceptive or hypocritical. [From ambidexter, ambidextrous (archaic), from Middle English, double dealer, from Medieval Latin : Latin ambi-, on both sides + Latin dexter, right-handed.] "`Ferriabough is probably the most politically ambidextrous of the candidates,' said Peterson. `She can negotiate, but she can also play protest politics and be a flamethrower to a certain extent.'" Challengers eyeing Dist. 7 council seat, Bay State Banner, 1 May 1997. "Many physicists, however, refuse to believe that the universe was simply born left-handed. They assume that in the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang, the cosmos was ambidextrous, just as it was symmetrical in other ways..." Winters, Jeffrey, Looking for the right hand.(searching for signs that the weak nuclear force was once symmetrical), Discover Magazine, 1 Nov 1995. This week's theme: words to describe people. -------- Date: Mon Jul 20 00:07:14 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--desideratum X-Bonus: Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. -James Dean desideratum (di-sid-uh-RAY-tuhm, -RAA-) noun Something considered necessary or highly desirable. [Latin desideratum, from neuter past participle of desiderare, to desire.] "Q. Do you consider it a healthy, equal relationship?" "A. Well, who knows? It's perfectly healthy. But I don't think equal is necessarily a desideratum." Walter Isaacson, From his Fifth Avenue penthouse, Woody defends his love, Time, 31 Aug 1992. It's an amazing thing what a needy bunch we human beings are: Each to his own choice of likes and dislikes. That which one could not live without wouldn't make the next top 100 list. The topic of what is necessary and what is not would seem to support the camp that says we truly are one-of-a-kind individuals. Equally as amazing are the myriad ways we express our needs and our excesses, or that which is not felt needed. We `have' to go to work, we `would like' to take a vacation, we really `should' go to sleep. We `prefer', we `would rather have', we `really want', and we `would just die for' that which we, for lack of the following list, need. And so, to need or not to need... -Doug Jockinsen (gamedoggieATaol.com) (This week's Guest Wordsmith, Doug, is a teacher in Los Angeles. He adds, "My specialty is Autism. I work with pupils every day whose greatest goal is to be able to tell us what they need, and to understand what we need from them. Thus the theme of `need' is a daily one for me." -Anu) -------- Date: Tue Jul 21 00:04:36 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bounden X-Bonus: Be humble, for the worst thing in the world is of the same stuff as you; be confident, for the stars are of the same stuff as you. -Nicholai Velimirovic bounden (BOWN-den) adjective 1. Obligatory. 2. Archaic. Being under obligation; obliged. [Middle English, past participle of binden, to bind, from Old English bindan.] "When first criticized for their reporting of Hart's private life, journalists cited bounden duty to probe the personal character of those who volunteer to be President, since just about anyone can run and so many do." Thomas Griffith, PRESS: Newswatch A Little Longer in the Limelight., TIME, 01-11-1988, pp 79. This week's theme: To need or not to need. -------- Date: Wed Jul 22 00:04:27 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--obviate X-Bonus: I care not for a man's religion whose dog or cat are not the better for it. -Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) obviate (OB-vee-ayt) tr.verb To anticipate and dispose of effectively; render unnecessary. [Latin obviare, obviat-, to hinder, from obvius, in the way.] "It feels familiar, which obviates any need to exercise the imagination." McCall, Bruce, The case against golf. (humor), Esquire, 1 Aug 1997. This week's theme: To need or not to need. -------- Date: Thu Jul 23 00:04:12 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--behoove X-Bonus: Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation. behoove (bi-HOOV) tr.verb To be necessary or proper for. behoove intr.verb To be necessary or proper. [Middle English behoven, from Old English behofian.] "Jupiter is not only hot but suprisingly dry, according to the suicide probe: it found water to be far more scarce in the Jovian atmosphere than would behoove a planet believed to have been assembled, at least in part, from water-rich comets." Guterl, Fred, Jupiter, not bust. (data from the Galileo space probe), Discover Magazine, 1 Jan 1997. This week's theme: To need or not to need. -------- Date: Fri Jul 24 00:04:23 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gratuitous X-Bonus: Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow. gratuitous (gra-TOO-i-tuhs, -tyoo-) adjective 1. Given or granted without return or recompense; unearned. 2. Given or received without cost or obligation; free. 3. Unnecessary or unwarranted; unjustified: gratuitous criticism. [From Latin gratuitus.] "The ad showing a goldfish in a blender invites us to imagine the next logical step. The poster heralded the release of a rock album called `Carne Crua' (Raw Meat). The less robust among us see this as gratuitous shock tactics, and are not amused." Dave Saunders, How to get ahead in advertising, Independent, 30 Nov 1996. This week's theme: To need or not to need. -------- Date: Sat Jul 25 00:04:14 EDT 1998 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--substantive X-Bonus: The man who claims to be the boss in his own home will lie about other things as well -Amish saying substantive (SUB-stahn-tiv) adjective 1. Substantial; considerable. 2. Independent in existence or function; not subordinate. 3. Not imaginary; actual; real. 4. Of or relating to the essence or substance; essential: substantive information. 5. Having a solid basis; firm. 6. Grammar. Expressing or designating existence; for example, the verb to be. 7. Grammar. Designating a noun or noun equivalent. substantive noun Grammar. A word or group of words functioning as a noun. [Middle English substantif, self-sufficient, independent, from Old French, substantive, from Late Latin substantivus, from Latin substantia, substance.] "When a manufacturer reneges on its warranty, or a merchant refuses to take back a defective or damaged product, or you suffer substantive damages because of a neighbor's recklessness, you can do more than just get mad -- you can take the offender to court." Ken and Daria Dolan, Idea of the Month: How to collect up to $10,000 without hiring a lawyer, Money, 1 Oct 1994. This week's theme: To need or not to need. (A few pertinacious gremlins managed to infest our server from July 26 to 31, making it wordless during this period. We appreciate your messages of concern even though we can't reply to all of them individually. -Anu)