A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Oct 2 00:01:02 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cocksure X-Bonus: When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 Oct 1869-1948) Once, when my daughter Ananya was in high school, I took her to the engineering fair here at the University of Washington in Seattle. Students were demo-ing their projects, which ranged from practical to whimsical. In one such project, by a sophomore student in computer science, a cellphone was hung from a string above a jar of water. The string went over a pulley to some mechanical contraption that was controlled by an electronic circuit. The point of the project escapes me now, but when you pressed some buttons in the circuit, the string lowered the phone in the water and the accompanying LED display flashed the letters FML. The student answered my questions about her project, but when I asked her what FML meant, she ignored it. I assumed she didn't hear me in all the noise around us, so I asked again, this time a little louder, and this time she explained something else. It was then my daughter elbowed me and whispered the secret. The abbreviation stood for "F*** My Life"*. What a sheltered life I lead! And what would I do without a teenager to help explain the world to me? This week we bring you FML, Five Mild Language-bits, words that look naughty, but aren't. * We'd spell out the word, but many schools and corporations would then block this email and you'd be left with having to look for a teenager to explain the abbreviation for you. cocksure (KOK-shoor, kok-SHOOR) adjective Arrogantly or presumptuously overconfident. [From cock (a euphemism for god) + sure, from Old French seur, from Latin securus (secure). Earliest documented use: 1520.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/cocksure https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cocksure_large.jpg Photo: Rasulovs/iStock "Here, then, is the new mood in Brussels: confident but not cocksure." Mr Juncker's Indian Summer; The Economist (London, UK); Sep 16, 2017. -------- Date: Tue Oct 3 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pudency X-Bonus: As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests. -Gore Vidal, writer (3 Oct 1925-2012) This week's theme: Words that sound taboo, but aren't pudency (PYOOD-n-see) noun Modesty, bashfulness. [From Latin pudentia, from pudere (to make or be ashamed), which also gave us pudendum, impudent https://wordsmith.org/words/impudent.html , pudibund (prudish) https://wordsmith.org/words/pudibund.html , and pudeur (a sense of shame) https://wordsmith.org/words/pudeur.html . Earliest documented use: before 1616.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pudency_large.jpg Photo: Meredith Leigh Collins https://www.flickr.com/photos/mlcollins/2177199866/ "Levi and Charles were also ashamed, filled 'with a painful sense of pudency'." Joan Acocella; A Hard Case; The New Yorker; Jun 17, 2002. -------- Date: Wed Oct 4 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--menstruum X-Bonus: He serves his party best who serves the country best. -Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th US president (4 Oct 1822-1893) This week's theme: Words that sound taboo, but aren't menstruum (MEN-stroo-uhm) noun A solvent. [From Latin menstruum (menses). Earliest documented use: 1398.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/menstruum "But Ikey was timid, and his hopes remained insoluble in the menstruum of his backwardness and fears." O. Henry; The Best Short Stories of O. Henry; Modern Library; 1994. -------- Date: Thu Oct 5 00:01:02 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--titter X-Bonus: Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not. -Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and author (b. 5 Oct 1958) This week's theme: Words that sound taboo, but aren't titter (TIT-uhr) verb intr.: To laugh in a nervous, restrained manner. noun: A nervous, restrained laugh. [Of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1625.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/titter https://wordsmith.org/words/images/titter_large.jpg Photo: Sebastien Ravinet https://www.flickr.com/photos/sr_ard/6249742349/ "Working from home as a self-employed proofreader was incredibly solitary -- zero banter with colleagues, no office politics to chunter* about, and, on the rare occasion she found something to titter about in her reading matter -- like an extra 't' added to the word 'far', there was nobody to titter with." Alice Ross; The Cotswolds Cookery Club: A Taste of Italy; HarperCollins; 2017. https://wordsmith.org/words/chunter.html -------- Date: Fri Oct 6 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--cunctative X-Bonus: It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. -George H. Lorimer, editor (6 Oct 1867-1937) This week's theme: Words that sound taboo, but aren't cunctative (KUNGK-tuh-tiv) adjective Delaying; slow. [From Latin cunctari (to hesitate, delay). Earliest documented use: 1617.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/cunctative_large.jpg Photo: Tom Woodward https://www.flickr.com/photos/bionicteaching/5948497535/ "The cunctative method would be employed to divert any kind of hearing." Bruce Zortman; Murder Cum Laude; Eloquent Books; 2010. -------- Date: Mon Oct 9 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--acarophobia X-Bonus: Imagine there's no countries, / It isn't hard to do. / Nothing to kill or die for, / And no religion, too. / Imagine all the people / Living life in peace. -John Lennon, musician (9 Oct 1940-1980) Where there's an itch, there's a scratch. Where there's a will, there's a way. Where there's a word-gap, there's a word coiner. Sure, you can use a phrase or a sentence to describe something, but why? Instead, why not come up with a single word for it! That's how a language grows. Also, if you need this word, chances are someone else does too. So coin away, pollinate the world with your words, and see them bloom. What words have you coined? Share them on the website https://wordsmith.org/words/acarophobia.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Don't forget to google first to make sure someone else hasn't thought of it earlier. Meanwhile enjoy this week's words that might make you say: I didn't know there was a word for it. acarophobia (ak-uh-ruh-FOE-bee-uh) noun 1. An extreme fear of small insects. 2. A delusion that one's skin is infested with bugs. 3. A fear of itching. [From Greek acarus (mite) + -phobia (fear). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sker- (to cut), which is also the source of words such as skirt, sharp, scrape, screw, shard, shears, carnage, curt, carnivorous, excoriate https://wordsmith.org/words/excoriate.html , scrobiculate https://wordsmith.org/words/scrobiculate.html , hardscrabble https://wordsmith.org/words/hardscrabble.html and incarnadine https://wordsmith.org/words/incarnadine.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/acarophobia Squash Fear, Not Spiders! https://wordsmith.org/words/images/acarophobia_large.jpg Image: Tone Killick https://www.flickr.com/photos/77794733@N05/29187789511 "She was proud of her illustration of thirty phobias; from acarophobia, fear of itchy, crawly insects, to selachophobia, fear of sharks." Rosalind Noonan; And Then She Was Gone; Kensington Books; 2014. -------- Date: Tue Oct 10 00:01:04 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--exclosure X-Bonus: A profound unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life. -R.K. Narayan, novelist (10 Oct 1906-2001) This week's theme: There's a word for it exclosure (ik-SKLO-zuhr) noun A fenced area, especially in a wide open area, to keep unwanted animals out. [An enclosure keeps wanted animals in, an exclosure keeps unwanted animals out. The word is modeled after the word enclosure, from ex- (out) + closure (barrier), from Latin claudere (to close). Earliest documented use: 1920.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/exclosure_large.jpg Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/9620278583/ "Kinney chose to organize and direct the construction of a deer exclosure at Maywood Environmental Park. Deer are restricted from the area as a way to study their impact on the vegetation and tree growth at Maywood." Kinney Earns Eagle Scout; Sheboygan Press (Wisconsin); Aug 30, 2016. -------- Date: Wed Oct 11 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--untrack X-Bonus: True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth, universal brotherhood and good will, and a constant and earnest striving toward the principles and ideals on which this country was founded. -Eleanor Roosevelt, diplomat, author, and lecturer (11 Oct 1884-1962) This week's theme: There's a word for it untrack (uhn-TRAK) verb tr. To remove from a track; change course. [From Middle English un- (a reversal) + Middle French trac (track). Earliest documented use: 1889.] "Perhaps political opponents had her shot to untrack him." Steve Erickson; Tours of the Black Clock; Poseidon Press; 1989. -------- Date: Thu Oct 12 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mise en abyme X-Bonus: Someone is Hindu, someone is Muslim, someone is Christian / Everyone is hell-bent on not becoming a human being. -Nida Fazli, poet (12 Oct 1938-2016) This week's theme: There's a word for it mise en abyme (mee-zan-nah-BEEM) noun [the second syllable is nasal] Self-reflection in a literary work, a work of art, etc. [From French mise en abyme/abîme (placed into abyss). Originally, the term applied to heraldic shields in which a smaller shield was put into the center of the shield. Earliest documented use: 1968.] NOTES: Some examples are play within a play (Hamlet), story within a story, film within a film, dream within a dream, the placement of a small copy of a work within itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummagumma), infinite reflection between two facing mirrors, etc. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/mise_en_abyme_large.jpg Image: Jacinta Lluch Valero https://www.flickr.com/photos/70626035@N00/10345943746/ "The critics haven't paid attention enough to its self-conscious narrator. It takes you from mise en abyme to mise en abyme." Arturo Fontaine Talavera (translator Megan McDowell); La Vida Doble; Yale University Press; 2013. "There's a shot that pops up again and again in attempts to document the Church of Scientology: two people holding cameras, filming each other, caught in a reconnaissance stalemate. It's a cinematographic mise en abyme. The surveillance and counter-surveillance recurs in an infinite loop, feeding a sinister sense of paranoia." John Semley; In L. Ron We Trust; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); May 2, 2016. -------- Date: Fri Oct 13 00:01:02 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--zetetic X-Bonus: Life is a four-letter word. -Lenny Bruce, comedian and social critic (13 Oct 1925-1966) This week's theme: There's a word for it zetetic (zuh-TET-ik) adjective: Proceeding by inquiry, search, or investigation. noun: A skeptic or inquirer. [From Greek zetein (to seek or inquire). Earliest documented use: 1645.] NOTES: Samuel Rowbotham (1816-1884), a flat Earther, wrote a book called "Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe" in 1881. Yesterday's flat Earthers are today's climate change denialists. "It's an old argument, and one that has been around for centuries, and it has pretty much been put to rest in these contemporary times. But just in case you come across any zetetic types or perhaps a member of the International Flat Earth Society, here is a little link you can throw into your argument, which gives the 'Top 10 Reasons Why We Know the Earth is ROUND'." Emory Schley; Trying to Find the Elusive Tailwind Cafe; Ocala Star-Banner (Florida); Jan 9, 2013. -------- Date: Mon Oct 16 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kleptomania X-Bonus: A lexicographer's business is solely to collect, arrange, and define the words that usage presents to his hands. He has no right to proscribe words; he is to present them as they are. -Noah Webster, lexicographer (16 Oct 1758-1843) If it's wire/wiry, why isn't it fire/firy? Or at least firey? Where does fiery come from? Readers often ask questions like this and the answer to such questions often is: Because English is a human language, not a computer language. A human language takes shape organically and comes with its own poetry, warts, and idioms. Like any human language spoken on this earth, English has its own gaps, quirks, and illogic. Because its words are not coined in a precision laboratory, we do not have someone making sure things are consistent. Back when language was primarily a spoken thing, the word "fire" was spelled in dozens of different ways, including "fier". Eventually, the noun form took one spelling while the adjectival form took another. On the other hand, there are instances when language does work a little like Lego blocks. You can pick up a few blocks, known as combining forms, and make a word. This week we'll see five such words, coined from the combining forms: klepto- (theft), steno- (narrow), panto- (all), hagio- (holy), endo- (inside) with -logy (study), -genous (producing), -phagous (feeding on), -mania (madness), and -phobia (fear), though not necessarily in that order. kleptomania (klep-tuh-MAY-nee-uh) noun An obsessive urge to steal, driven by emotional disturbance rather than material need. [From Greek klepto- (theft) + -mania (madness). Earliest documented use: 1830.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/kleptomania https://wordsmith.org/words/images/kleptomania_large.jpgo Cartoon: Teddy Tietz https://www.teddytietz.com/2012/44/ "College student Lydia Marie Cormaney almost made it out of a Gillette, Wyoming, Walmart with more than $2,000 worth of merchandise without paying for it. When police arrived, she was ready with a reason: She was doing research about kleptomania, which also explained the stockpile of stolen items in her dorm room. But, as she was enrolled in only a biology class at Gillette College, it was unclear what she planned to do with the results of her study." News of the Weird; Hartford Courant (Connecticut); Jul 13, 2017. -------- Date: Tue Oct 17 00:01:04 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--stenophagous X-Bonus: Don't be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value. -Arthur Miller, playwright and essayist (17 Oct 1915-2005) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms stenophagous (stuh-NOF-uh-guhs) adjective Feeding on a limited variety of food. [From Greek steno- (narrow, small) + -phagous (feeding on). Earliest documented use: 1926.] "I Eat Pizza for Breakfast Lunch Snacks & Dinner" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/stenophagous_large.jpg Image: Crazy Dog/Amazon https://amazon.com/dp/B01II6GEE8/ws00-20 "I would hope you're not as big a glutton as you sound, but from the stench alone, you could hardly be stenophagous." Neil Baker; Occultus Liber; AuthorHouse; 2014. -------- Date: Wed Oct 18 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pantophobia X-Bonus: You know full well as I do the value of sisters' affections: There is nothing like it in this world. -Charlotte Bronte, novelist and poet (1816-1855) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms pantophobia (pan-tuh-FO-bee-uh) noun A fear of everything. [From Greek panto- (all) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1807.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/pantophobia_large.jpg Image: Universal Pictures "Mr. Woodhouse's pantophobia is reimagined as being the result of Cold War fear-mongering and an overly protective mother." Julianne Dudley; Austen in Haste; The Weekly Standard (Washington, DC); Aug 17, 2015. -------- Date: Thu Oct 19 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hagiology X-Bonus: Life is mostly froth and bubble, / Two things stand like stone, / Kindness in another's trouble, / Courage in your own. -Adam Lindsay Gordon, poet (19 Oct 1833-1870) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms hagiology (hag-ee-OL-uh-jee, hay-jee-) noun Literature dealing with the lives of saints or other venerated figures. [From Greek hagio- (holy) + -logy (study). Earliest documented use: 1807.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/hagiology https://wordsmith.org/words/images/hagiology.jpg Image: Capri Films "The artist, apparently more skilled in glass than in hagiology, had placed a halo over the father's head and canonised him by mistake." George Bellairs; The Crime at Halfpenny Bridge; Open Road; 2014. -------- Date: Fri Oct 20 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--endogenous X-Bonus: A society which is mobile, which is full of channels for the distribution of a change occurring anywhere, must see to it that its members are educated to personal initiative and adaptability. Otherwise, they will be overwhelmed by the changes in which they are caught and whose significance or connections they do not perceive. -John Dewey, philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer (20 Oct 1859-1952) This week's theme: Words made with combining forms endogenous (en-DOJ-uh-nuhs) adjective Originating from within. [From Greek endo- (inside, within) + -genous (producing). Earliest documented use: 1830. The opposite is exogenous https://wordsmith.org/words/exogenous.html .] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/endogenous "Sudden change can result from endogenous factors, internal to the society." Michael Flynn; In the Country of the Blind; Tor Books; 2001. -------- Date: Mon Oct 23 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mimsy X-Bonus: Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand. -Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (23 Oct 1899-1989) Every word was used by someone for the first time, but in most cases, the name of that person is lost in the mists of time. Language is primarily a spoken thing and back then, hundreds or thousands of years ago, people didn't have the good sense to carry cell phones with HD cameras to record for posterity the birth of a new word. With writing came more possibilities, though most writing -- letters, notes, bills, etc. -- are ephemeral and not scanned and saved in the Library of Congress for the benefit of future etymologists and lexicographers. That said, there are a few instances in which we know for sure the name of the person who gave birth to a word. This week we'll feature five such words whose coiner is known. mimsy (MIM-zee) adjective Prim; feeble; affected. [Coined by Lewis Carroll in 1855 in a poem he published in his periodical "Mischmasch". An extended version of this poem appeared as Jabberwocky in his novel "Through the Looking-Glass" in 1871. A blend of miserable + flimsy.] "I judge people on how they smell, in a wildly snobbish way ... anything too quiet is mimsy and annoying." India Knight; 'Perfume: Century of Scents', by Lizzie Ostrom - Review; The Spectator (London, UK); Dec 12, 2015. -------- Date: Tue Oct 24 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scare quote X-Bonus: Inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness. -Brenda Ueland, journalist, editor, and writer (24 Oct 1891-1985) This week's theme: Coined words scare quote (SKAIR kwoht) noun The quotation marks used to indicate that the quoted word or phrase is incorrect, nonstandard, or ironic. [Coined by the philosopher G.E.M. Anscombe in 1956. The equivalent term in spoken communication is "air quotes".] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/scare%20quote NOTES: Scare quotes are used to indicate the writer's disagreement or disapproval of the use of the term. Example: Some people consider Trump to be the "greatest" president ever. http://triblive.com/opinion/letters/12357284-74/trump-is-greatest-president-ever Christopher Columbus, "Discoverer of America" https://wordsmith.org/words/images/scare_quote_large.jpg Photo: featherynscale https://www.flickr.com/photos/10461369@N02/7298382826/ "Caspar always thought of his 'time machine' thus, with scare quotes around it, since it was not really a machine, and Caspar did not believe in time." Gardner Dozois; The Year's Best Science Fiction; St. Martin's Press; 1990. -------- Date: Wed Oct 25 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--proxemics X-Bonus: The doctrine which, from the very first origin of religious dissensions, has been held by bigots of all sects, when condensed into a few words and stripped of rhetorical disguise, is simply this: I am in the right, and you are in the wrong. When you are the stronger, you ought to tolerate me, for it is your duty to tolerate truth; but when I am the stronger, I shall persecute you, for it is my duty to persecute error. -Thomas Babington Macaulay, poet, historian, and politician (25 Oct 1800-1859) This week's theme: Coined words proxemics (prok-SEE-miks) noun The study of physical proximity between people, for example, typical space between two friends. [Coined by the anthropologist Edward T. Hall (1914-2009). From proximity (nearness), from French proximité from Latin proximitas, from proximus (nearest), superlative of prope (near). Ultimately from the Indo-European root per- (forward, through), which also gave us paramount, prime, proton, prow https://wordsmith.org/words/prow.html , probity https://wordsmith.org/words/probity.html , German Frau (woman), and Hindi purana (old). Earliest documented use: 1963.] See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/proxemics "Oh, I'm not a guru -- I'm just big on personal space." https://wordsmith.org/words/images/proxemics_large.jpg Cartoon: Baloo/Jantoo "A guy across the aisle on the S-Bahn started staring at me, so I took my proxemics into my own hands and stared back with a feigned harsh, angry vengeful countenance." T. Santorius; An American Dad in Hamburg - Germania II; Lulu; 2014. "'I can't wait to get on the boat!' your mother says to them, pressing forward, defying American proxemics customs." Julia Elliott; The Wilds; Tin House Books; 2014. -------- Date: Thu Oct 26 00:01:02 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--muppet X-Bonus: The worst thing that can happen in a democracy -- as well as in an individual's life -- is to become cynical about the future and lose hope: that is the end, and we cannot let that happen. -Hillary Clinton, secretary of state and senator (b. 26 Oct 1947) This week's theme: Coined words muppet (MUHP-it) noun A stupid person; a fool. [Coined by Jim Henson (1936-1990) in 1955 to describe puppets he created for children's television shows.] https://wordsmith.org/words/images/muppet_large.jpg Image: Chris Jones https://www.flickr.com/photos/stopherjones/6520319963/ "Had she made a complete muppet of herself?" Heidi Rice; The Virgin's Shock Baby; Harlequin; 2017. -------- Date: Fri Oct 27 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bafflegab X-Bonus: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again. -Sylvia Plath, poet (27 Oct 1932-1963) This week's theme: Coined words bafflegab (BA-fuhl-gab) noun Obscure, pompous, or incomprehensible language, such as bureaucratic jargon. [Coined by Milton A. Smith, assistant general counsel for the US Chamber of Commerce, in 1952. From baffle, perhaps from Scots bauchle (to denounce) + gab, perhaps of imitative origin.] "You might fool Jack with that kind of bafflegab, but it won't work on me." David Tallach; Upperkirkgate; Lulu; 2015. "Conversations that would once have been conducted behind closed doors or cloaked in diplomatic bafflegab are now out in the open for all to see." Peter Shawn Taylor; America's First Millennial President; Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); Jan 16, 2017. -------- Date: Mon Oct 30 00:01:04 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--wegotism 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 (30 Oct 1885-1972) Attorney Ross Pringle (rpringle w-g.com) wrote: "A client of mine, upset, angry, and on edge during a contentious deposition lasting several hours, confessed to being extremely "flustrated" by the process. So was I. This was the same fellow who, having answered formal written questions called interrogatories early in the lawsuit, suggested the lawyer look at our answers to the 'inderogatories'. They were." Thanks for sharing the story of your client. He's only human. As we all are. If your client keeps it up, he may some day be honored to have a word coined after him as some others have https://wordsmith.org/words/spoonerism.html What your client is doing is forming portmanteaus https://wordsmith.org/words/portmanteau.html or blend words. It's a common method of coining product names (Wikipedia: wiki + encyclopedia). In this week's A.Word.A.Day we'll see five portmanteaus. wegotism (WEE-guh-tiz-uhm) noun The habit of using "we" when referring to oneself. [A blend of we + egotism. Earliest documented use: 1797. Also see nosism https://wordsmith.org/words/nosism.html, royal we https://wordsmith.org/words/royal_we.html, and illeist https://wordsmith.org/words/illeist.html.] "Dennis's wegotism became ridiculous when he said, after someone stepped on his toes, 'We don't like people stepping on our toes.'" Rod L. Evans; Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits; Perigee; 2011. -------- Date: Tue Oct 31 00:01:03 EDT 2017 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--freemium X-Bonus: Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed. -Natalie Clifford Barney, poet, playwright, and novelist (31 Oct 1876-1972) This week's theme: Blend words freemium (FREE-mi-uhm) noun: A pricing model in which the basic product or service is free, but extra features must be paid for. adjective: Relating to such a model. [A blend of free + premium. Earliest documented use: 1994.] NOTES: A.Word.A.Day uses a freemium model. The free version includes sponsors' messages; premium version doesn't https://wordsmith.org/awad/premium.html "Some content will be gratis in a freemium model that charges for extras." Jonathan Takiff; Innovations Just Getting Started; Philadelphia Inquirer; May 5, 2017.