A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Tue Aug 1 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--guttle X-Bonus: The unconscious mind is decidedly simple, unaffected, straight-forward and honest. It hasn't got all of this facade, this veneer of what we call adult culture. It's rather simple, rather childish. It is direct and free. -Milton H. Erickson, psychiatrist (1901-1980) This week's theme: verbs. guttle (GUT-l) verb tr., intr. To eat voraciously; to devour greedily. [From gut, on the pattern of guzzle, from Middle English gut, from plural guttes (entrails), from Old English guttas.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Wednesday was early closing day in Umtali, a relief for both of us, and Mr. Gordon was not obliged to linger at the tuckshop where he would read the notices posted on the board over the cash register or inspect the polish on his shoes or crack his lumpy knuckles while he waited for me to guttle my ice cream." George Makana Clark; A is For Ancestors; Transition (Durham, N. Carolina); 2000. -------- Date: Wed Aug 2 00:01:22 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chaffer X-Bonus: What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books. -Sigmund Freud, neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis (1856-1939) This week's theme: verbs. chaffer (CHAF-uhr) verb tr., intr. 1. To haggle; to bargain. 2. To bandy words; to chatter. noun Bargaining or haggling. [From Middle English chaffare, eventually from Old English ceap (trade, purchase), precursor of English cheap + faru (journey).] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "I chaffered with the king of those people, who was a wise and far-sighted woman, and brought her to understand that it would be much to her advantage to accept from me half the arms and ammunition I had brought with me." Delia Sherman; The Parwat Ruby; Fantasy & Science Fiction (Cornwall, Connecticut); Jun 1999. -------- Date: Thu Aug 3 00:01:18 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dehisce X-Bonus: I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. -Peter De Vries, editor, novelist (1910-1993) This week's theme: verbs. dehisce (di-HIS) verb intr. 1. To burst open, as the pod of a plant. 2. To gape. [When a peapod is ripe after a long wait and bursts open, it's yawning, etymologically speaking. The term dehisce comes from Latin dehiscere (to split open), from hiscere (to gape, yawn), from Latin hiare (to yawn). Another term that derives from the same root is hiatus.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Garrison Keillor: Rhubarb is a vegetable, no matter what the government says: a member of the buckwheat family of herbaceous plants including buckwheat, dock and smartweed, which are characterized by having swollen joints, simple leaves, small petalless flowers and small, dry, indehiscent fruit. Indehiscent means 'not dehiscent,' not opening at maturity to release the seed. So "indehiscent" means 'hard, dry, holding onto the seed,' which actually describes Norwegians quite well. Most Norwegians consider dehiscence to be indecent. They hold the seed in. But rhubarb pie comes along in the spring, when we're half crazed from five months of winter -- it's the first fresh vegetable we get, and it makes us dehisce." Carol Stocker; Rediscovering Rhubarb; Boston Globe; May 16, 1996. -------- Date: Fri Aug 4 00:01:37 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--debouch X-Bonus: All wholesome food is caught without a net or trap. -William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757-1827) This week's theme: verbs. debouch (di-BOUCH, di-BOOSH) verb intr. 1. To march out from a narrow or confined place into an open area. 2. To emerge or issue from a narrow area into the open. [From French deboucher, from de- (out of) + boucher, from bouche (mouth), from Latin bucca (mouth or cheek). The word buckle (as in a belt) derives from the same Latin root.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, wants Central Asian resources to be transported across its territory. Iran, also an oil producer, wants the energy pipelines to debouch at its ports, the shortest route." Eric S. Margolis; Russia Checkmated Its New Best Friend; The Los Angeles Times; Nov 28, 2001. -------- Date: Mon Aug 7 00:01:14 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--arithmancy X-Bonus: Testing can show the presence of errors, but not their absence. -Edsger Dijkstra, computer scientist (1930-2002) In 1959, Arthur Summerfield, Postmaster General of the United States, said, "Before man reaches the moon, mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to Britain, to India or Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail." These words of the chief mailman sound ludicrous now, but at the time they made perfect sense. And his words did come true though not in the sense he had imagined. Email does get delivered across oceans within hours (or seconds) and we do have Rocket Mail (as in rocketmail.com). On June 8, 1959, the US Post Office joined with the US Navy to conduct a test run of missile mail. The nuclear warhead of a Regulus cruise missile was replaced by post office containers carrying 3000 envelopes. The submarine USS Barbero carried the missile offshore and fired it towards its Florida destination. The test was successful, but cost and other factors pulled the plug on the idea of missile mail. Predicting the future is fraught with hazards, whether it's the trajectory of a hurricane, the trends in a business, or the medal tally in Olympics. But that doesn't stop us from trying. This week we'll see words about forecasting, prediction, and divination. arithmancy (AR-ith-man-see) noun Divination by numbers. [From Greek arithmos (number) + -mancy (divination).] Arithmancy is also known as arithmomancy and numerology. It is one of the subjects taught at Hogwarts School where Harry Potter studies the art of wizardry. You don't need to go to Hogwarts to know the numbers related to your name and to find out what they reveal. Try it at: http://sorcererscompanion.net/arithmancy.html -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Jim practices his techno-arithmancy and works his magic on Simon. Like a hungry fish, Simon takes the lure of obscene riches and drags others along with him." Graham Mitchell; What Bank?; Metro; Sep 10, 2001. -------- Date: Tue Aug 8 00:01:25 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bibliomancy X-Bonus: There is no coming to consciousness without pain. -Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961) This week's theme: words related to forecasting and divination. bibliomancy (BIB-lee-o-man-see) noun Divination by interpreting a passage picked at random from a book, especially from a religious book such as the Bible. [From Greek biblio- (book) + -mancy (divination).] If you are having a hard time deciding between turning groupie and following your favorite band around or to stay put in your accounting job, help is at hand. Try bibliomancy. Here's the step-by-step method: 1. Pick a book you trust a lot. 2. Put it on its spine, and let it fall open. 3. With your eyes closed, trace your finger to a passage. 4. Interpret the passage as your lifemap to the future. You could even add more randomness to the process. To do that at the macro level, visit a library and pick a book at random from the shelves. At the micro level, instead of interpreting a passage, pick a single word and let it point you to your path. Then you could try awadmancy -- divination based on words from AWAD. Focus on the question in your mind and then click here to get a random word from our archives: https://wordsmith.org/words/random.cgi -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "It was Margaret Drabble's new The Oxford Companion to English Literature, which I'd been sent, to review. I'd been picking through it idly, looking at this and that, seeing who was in and who was out, when, by a kind of obscure bibliomancy, the book fell open at page 471, and there I was, laid out drily between Robert Henryson, the 15th-century Scottish poet, and Philip Henslowe, the Elizabethan theatrical diarist." Philip Hensher; Brought to Book by the Literary Establishment; The Independent (London, UK); Sep 6, 2000. -------- Date: Wed Aug 9 00:01:17 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--necromancy X-Bonus: I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- ) This week's theme: words related to forecasting and divination. necromancy (NEK-ruh-man-see) noun 1. Divination by trying to communicate with the spirits of the dead. 2. Magic; sorcery; witchcraft. [From Greek nekros (corpse) + -mancy (divination). Ultimately from Indo-European root nek- (death) that's also the source of nuisance, obnoxious, pernicious, innocent, innocuous, nectar, and nectarine.] Before the word arrived in its current form, it was known as nigromantia in medieval Latin, from confusion of Greek nekro with Latin niger (black). Now you know why magic and sorcery are also known as the "black arts". -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "A few years later, [Branaghstein] goes to university to study medical science, with a minor in necromancy." Desson Howe; Creature Discomforts; The Washington Post; Nov 4, 1994. -------- Date: Thu Aug 10 00:01:17 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--clairvoyance X-Bonus: I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry, and unhappy like we do. -Cesar Chavez, farm worker and activist (1927-1993) This week's theme: words related to forecasting and divination. clairvoyance (klar-VOI-uhns) noun 1. The power of seeing things removed in time or space. 2. Intuitive insight into things. [From French clairvoyance, from clair (clear) + voyant (seeing), present participle of voir (to see).] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "South Africa's national lottery is claiming an unlikely victim: vultures. Local people -- convinced these birds' superb eyesight gives them the gift to see the future -- are eating vulture meat to acquire the power of clairvoyance." Robin McKie; Vulture Numbers Are Cut to the Bone; The Observer (London, UK); Jul 16, 2006. -------- Date: Fri Aug 11 00:01:17 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--haruspicy X-Bonus: The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself. -Archibald MacLeish, poet and librarian (1892-1982) This week's theme: words related to forecasting and divination. haruspicy (hur-RUS-puh-see) noun Divination by inspecting the entrails of sacrificed animals. [From Latin haruspicium, from haruspex, from hira (entrails) + specere (to look at).] A priest in ancient Rome who performed haruspicy was called a haruspex. The liver was the popular organ of choice in haruspicy. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Figuring out where the economy is headed often seems like a modern version of haruspicy." The Diviners Say: Let It Fall; The Los Angeles Times; Aug 20, 2001. -------- Date: Mon Aug 14 00:01:25 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--clinquant X-Bonus: How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in the truth. -Sophocles, (495-405 BCE) I love words. It's something I gave up my career in software for. Every morning I can't wait to wake up and start exploring words and write about them. I have been doing it for 12 years now and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. Having said that, there are times when I feel I have to be ready to feed this beast -- A.Word.A.Day -- week after week after week. It opens its hungry maw every Monday and I had better be ready with another serving of juicy, delicious words. I do as best as I can to come up with new recipes, new arrangements, new flavors. There are times, however, when I just have to reach into my grab-bag of loose words and offer them while I think of a new topic. It's one of those weeks. Enjoy this medley of words while I get back to the word lab putting finishing touches to next week's material. clinquant (KLING-kuhnt) adjective Glittering, especially with gold or tinsel. noun Tinsel; glitter. [From French, present participle of obsolete clinquer (to clink), from Dutch klinken (to clink).] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "And she looked like a queen as she stood at the altar in her glittering tiara, her ivory jacket clinquant with sequins." Gerald M. Carbone; To Honor And Cherish; Providence Journal (Rhode Island); Nov 20, 2005. -------- Date: Tue Aug 15 00:01:20 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--agnomen X-Bonus: One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. -Milton Friedman, economist, Nobel laureate (1912- ) This week's theme: a medley of words. agnomen (ag-NO-men) noun, plural agnomina A nickname. [From Latin ag- (a variant of ad- : additional) + nomen (name).] In ancient Rome, names of people typically had three parts: praenomen (given name), nomen (name of the clan), and cognomen (family name). Example: Gaius Julius Caesar. Sometimes, an additional fourth name, agnomen, was given to honor an achievement. These names were not substitutes for the real name, rather they were used in addition. Also, they were not inherited. Example: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, given to mark his victories in Africa. An example of a modern agnomen is "Teflon" Reagan. Lion is a popular agnomen. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "[Richard] is imprisoned on his return by the German emperor, and earns the agnomen 'Lion-Hearted' by tearing out the heart of a lion sent to devour him." Paul Beekman Taylor; Sir Orfeo and the Minstrel King; ANQ, American Notes & Queries (St. Louis, Missouri); Winter 2000. -------- Date: Wed Aug 16 00:01:29 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--quaggy X-Bonus: Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots. -Frank A. Clark, writer (1911- ) This week's theme: a medley of words. quaggy (KWAG-ee) adjective Marshy; flabby; spongy. [From quag (marsh), of unknown origin.] The River Quaggy is a small river in London (UK) flowing through the boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "The car's right rear tire rolled up over a boulder, slid, and sank into a quaggy hole." E. Annie Proulx; The Half-skinned Steer; The Atlantic Monthly (Boston); Nov 1997. -------- Date: Thu Aug 17 00:01:20 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--exiguous X-Bonus: Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. -James Baldwin, writer (1924-1987) This week's theme: a medley of words. exiguous (ig-ZIG-yoo-uhs) adjective Scanty; small; slender. [From Latin exiguus (scanty), from exigere (to measure or to demand). Ultimately from Indo-European root ag- (to drive, draw) that's also the fount of such words as act, agent, agitate, litigate, synagogue, and ambassador.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Like most two-door cars, there are really only two seats. Sure, there are a couple of exiguous rear chairs, fine for children and for those adults of a masochistic disposition." Gavin Green; The Ford Puma Coupe; International Herald Tribune (Paris, France); Sep 12, 1997. -------- Date: Fri Aug 18 00:01:28 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--strait X-Bonus: From my close observation of writers... they fall into two groups: those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992) This week's theme: a medley of words. strait (strayt) noun, usually used in plural 1. A narrow channel connecting two larger bodies of water. 2. A position of distress. adjective 1. Narrow. 2. Strict. [From Middle English streit (narrow), from Old French estreit, from Latin strictus, past particle of stringere (to bind, draw tight). Ultimately from Indo-European root streig- (to stroke or press) that's also the source of strike, streak, strict, stress, and strain.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Given its budget straits, the city is unlikely to afford residents any more than an opportunity to go on the air, producing shows at their own expense." Voice of the People Deserves Air Time; Indianapolis Star (Indiana); Jun 14, 2006. -------- Date: Mon Aug 21 00:02:23 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pollicitation X-Bonus: If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. -E.B. White, writer (1899-1985) A bunch of little strokes make a letter and those letters come together to make words. We assign meanings to the words. Often those are simple ideas: tree, wall, laugh, etc. Fun begins when we give a word a meaning that conveys a rather complex idea. If you've ever ever asked yourself, "Wouldn't it be nice if there were a word for this?" you'll find this week's words answering that question with a "yes". Some of the usage examples will be from works published long ago. Don't let that discourage you from using them. That's all the more reason to bring them back from their retirement. pollicitation (puh-lis-i-TAY-shuhn) noun A promise or an offer made but not yet accepted. [From Latin pollicitation, from polliceri (to promise).] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "With what broad gestures of invitation, and also with what subtle almost imperceptible hints and suggestions and pollicitations, she lays herself out to cajole us, to notify her eagerness." Christopher Morley; Inward Ho!; Doubleday; 1923. -------- Date: Tue Aug 22 00:01:32 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--nudiustertian X-Bonus: News is what people want to keep hidden; everything else is publicity. -Bill Moyers, journalist (1934- ) This week's theme: There is a word for it. nudiustertian (nu-di-uhs-TUR-shuhn) adjective Of or relating to the day before yesterday. [From Latin nudius tertius, literally, today is the third day.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "What dress the Queen is in this week: what the nudiustertian fashion of the court, I mean the very newest." Nathaniel Ward; Simple Cobler of Aggawam; 1647. -------- Date: Wed Aug 23 00:01:26 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dandle X-Bonus: A child, like your stomach, doesn't need all you can afford to give it. -Frank A. Clark, writer (1911- ) This week's theme: There is a word for it. dandle (DAN-dl) verb tr. 1. To bounce a child on the knees or in the arms. 2. To pamper or pet. [Of uncertain origin.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Out in the chilly Pacific air, people gossiped, drank Red Bull and vodka, dandled babies and sat around on canvas-covered poufs in a closed parking lot." Guy Trebay; Off the Wall and Off the Hook; The New York Times; Aug 11, 2006. -------- Date: Thu Aug 24 00:01:15 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--phatic X-Bonus: It seldom happens that any felicity comes so pure as not to be tempered and allayed by some mixture of sorrow. -Miguel de Cervantes, novelist (1547-1616) This week's theme: There is a word for it. phatic (FAT-ik) adjective Relating to a communication meant to generate an atmosphere of social relationship rather than to convey some information. [Coined by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942). From Greek phatos, from phanai (to speak), which also gave us prophet and aphasia (loss of ability to speak or understand language as a result of an injury).] When you bump into your neighbor on your way out and say, "How are ya?" you're engaging in phatic communion. The idea is not to inquire your neighbor's state of affairs but simply to create a feeling of shared goodwill. Later, at work, when you discuss weather with someone at the water cooler, it's the same idea. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "When I saw the transcript of that G8 conference conversation between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, my first thought was that it read not so much like a conversation between statesmen as the phatic gruntings of a pair of teenage Kevins." Jane Shilling; Plenty of Chatter Masks a Dearth of Conversation; The Times (London, UK); Jul 21, 2006. -------- Date: Fri Aug 25 00:01:15 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tarantism X-Bonus: We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don't. -Frank A. Clark, writer (1911- ) This week's theme: There is a word for it. tarantism (TAR-uhn-tiz-uhm) noun An uncontrollable urge to dance. [After Taranto, a town in southern Italy where this phenomenon was experienced during the 15-17th centuries. It's not clear whether tarantism was the symptom of a spider's bite or its cure, or it may have been just a pretext to dodge a prohibition against dancing. The names of the dance tarantella and the spider tarantula are both derived from the same place.] -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "The director is in a wild delirium, spinning in circles as though stricken with tarantism, his whirring camera held at arm's length, panning, tilting, arcing and oscillating and making other moves that have no name." Caelum Vatnsdal; Kino Delirium: The Films of Guy Maddin; Arbeiter Ring Publishing; 2000. -------- Date: Mon Aug 28 00:01:17 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epithalamion X-Bonus: A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and aviator (1900-1944) Poetry comes in various forms, shapes, and languages. A poem can range from a two-line rhyming couplet to an epic that spans thousands of pages. It can be a facetious limerick that titillates or a nature-inspired haiku that gives food for thought. Samuel Taylor Coleridge described poetry well when he wrote, "Prose: words in their best order; poetry: the best words in their best order." This week we review a few words for various poetic forms: words that describe the best words in their best order. epithalamion (ep-uh-thuh-LAY-mee-on), also epithalamium, noun A poem or song in honor of a bride and bridegroom. [From Greek epi- (upon) + thalamus (bridal chamber).] If you aren't yet married, don't lose heart. There's a word for you, prothalamion, for a poem or song to celebrate a future marriage. It was coined by the poet Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) on the pattern of epithalamion. -Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org) "Among the new poems are polemical epigrams, an onomatopoetic tour-de-force about motorcycles, a moving epithalamion, and a rather forced ode to libraries." Mark Rotella; Learning Human; Publishers Weekly (New York); Dec 6, 1999. -------- Date: Tue Aug 29 00:01:15 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--palinode X-Bonus: The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead. -Robert Brault, software developer, writer (1938- ) This week's theme: words about poetry. palinode (PAL-uh-noad) noun A poem in which the author retracts something said in an earlier poem. [From Greek palinoidia, from palin (again) + oide (song).] The illustrator and humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) once wrote a poem called The Purple Cow: I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one; But I can tell you, anyhow, I'd rather see than be one. The poem became so popular and he became so closely linked with this single quatrain he later wrote a palinode: Confession: and a Portrait, Too, Upon a Background that I Rue! Oh, yes, I wrote 'The Purple Cow,' I'm sorry now I wrote it! But I can tell you anyhow, I'll kill you if you quote it." It was the same Burgess who coined the word blurb. -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The more lighthearted palinodes were more successful, such as Geoff Horton's recantation of his youthful view that a martini should be shaken rather than stirred." Jaspitos; I Take It Back; The Spectator (London, UK); Jan 24, 2004. -------- Date: Wed Aug 30 00:01:14 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--epopee X-Bonus: The courage of the poet is to keep ajar the door that leads into madness. -Christopher Morley, writer (1890-1957) This week's theme: words about poetry. epopee (EP-uh-pee) noun Epic poetry or an epic poem. [From Greek epopoiia, from epos (song) + poiein (to make).] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The struggle between the sons of the moon and those of the sun, between the Kauravas and the Pandavas form the subject of the great Hindu epopee, the Mahabharata." Edouard Schure; Krishna & Orpheus; Kessinger Publishing; 1995. -------- Date: Thu Aug 31 00:01:24 EDT 2006 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--monody X-Bonus: The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809) This week's theme: words about poetry. monody (MON-uh-dee) noun 1. A poem in which the poet laments someone's death. 2. A piece of music in which a single melodic line predominates. [From Greek monoidos (singing alone), from mono- (one) + (oide) song.] -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "The suicide of the elder son inspired his longest poem 'Monody - to my son Paul: 1939-1982'." Ronald Sly; Obituary: Hubert Nicholson; The Independent (London, UK); Jan 22, 1996 .