A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Nov 3 00:01:08 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Potemkin village X-Bonus: Heaven gives its glimpses only to those / Not in position to look too close. -Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963) Potemkin village (po-TEM-kin VIL-ij) noun An impressive showy facade designed to mask undesirable facts. [After Prince Potemkin, who erected cardboard villages for Catherine II's visit to Ukraine and Crimea in 1787.] "And that raises the key question: is SBC serious? ... Or is this all a Potemkin village, meant to impress regulators?" Seth Schiesel, SBC Is Going National With Its Local Service, The New York Times, Oct 9, 2000. Imagine a Hollywood set and you'd have a good idea of the original Potemkin village. In 1787, when Catherine the Great visited Ukraine and Crimea, Prince Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin (1739-1791), a Russian army officer, statesman, and her lover, decided to put up elaborate cardboard houses apparently full of splendor in the villages Catherine was shown. While this setup depicted an illusion of prosperity, the real condition of the village was hidden behind this facade. A Potemkin village is, in other words, whitewash taken to the Nth degree. While Potemkin is the subject of many a legend, Potemkin village is his claim to fame. Terms named after people, such as this one, are called eponyms. This week in AWAD we'll see some more not-so-common eponyms. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Nov 4 00:01:09 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--corybantic X-Bonus: It is often forgotten that (dictionaries) are artificial repositories, put together well after the languages they define. The roots of language are irrational and of a magical nature. -Jorge Luis Borges, writer (1899-1986) corybantic (kor-i-BAN-tik) adjective Wild; frenzied; uncontrolled. [After Corybant, an ancient priest of Phrygian goddess Cybele, who performed wild ecstatic dances in her worship.] "The radio is nothing but a conduit through which pre-fabricated din can flow into our homes. And this din goes far deeper, of course, than the eardrums. It penetrates the mind, filling it with a babble of distractions, blasts of corybantic or sentimental music, continually repeated doses of drama that bring no catharsis, but usually create a craving for daily or even hourly emotional enemas." Aldous Huxley; On Silence; 1946. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Wed Nov 5 00:01:09 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--colonel blimp X-Bonus: As regards intellectual work, it remains a fact, indeed, that great decisions in the realms of thought and momentous discoveries and solutions of problems are only possible to an individual working in solitude. -Sigmund Freud, neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis (1856-1939) Colonel Blimp (KUHR-nl blimp) noun, also Blimp A pompous reactionary with out-of-date views. [After Colonel Blimp, a cartoon character created by David Low (1891-1963).] "President Clinton and the bipartisan leadership of the House of Representatives are trying to grease the skids on which Puerto Rico can slide into statehood. After holding the Caribbean island as a colony for 100 years, it's about time. But it is dismaying to see the kind of opposition to statehood that is being aroused by the Colonel Blimps, the racists, the hate-the-poor crowd and the English-only zealots on the mainland." Carl Rowan, Let's Add Puerto Rico to Our Melting Pot, The Buffalo News, Mar 6, 1998. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Thu Nov 6 00:01:14 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Simple Simon X-Bonus: Youth is the first victim of war - the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him. -Boudewijn I, King of Belgium (1934-1993) Simple Simon (SIM-puhl SYM-uhn) noun A simpleton. [After Simple Simon, a character in a nursery rhyme.] "Johnny is no Simple Simon either. `You don't expect me to enlist without knowing what it's about, do you?' he asks his sweetheart, Minny Belle ...." Dan Sullivan, Make Toys, Not War, Sings `Johnny', The Los Angeles Times, Jul 13, 1986. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Fri Nov 7 00:01:09 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rover boy X-Bonus: The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress. -Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824) rover boy (RO-vuhr boi) noun A brave but naive person. [From Rover Boys, a series of children's books by Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930).] "Among the rover boys on horseback, the star parts go to Tad Butler, as All-American a boy as Jack Armstrong ever was, and Stacy Brown, also called Chunky, who is fat and gullible and is Patchin's bid for comedy." Larry Swindell, Three Cheers For Those Daring and Delightful Pony Rider Boys, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Aug 4, 1996. This week's theme: eponyms. -------- Date: Mon Nov 10 00:01:08 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--clepe X-Bonus: Everybody's talking about people breaking into houses but there are more people in the world who want to break out of houses. -Thornton Wilder, writer (1897-1975) clepe (kleep) verb tr., past participle cleped/clept or ycleped/yclept (i-KLEPT) To call or name. [From Middle English clepen, from Old English cleopican, from clipian (to speak or call). "Now, you could work that into conversation if you wanted to force the issue. `Sir, do not dare you clepe me in such a fashion or I shall be compelled to thrash you with a puncheon or clevis, whichever being the most geographically convenient!'" Mike Kelley, Writer: If You Don't Know What Clevis Means, The Austin American Statesman, Apr 22, 1991. "The movie is `The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.' The time: the 15th century. Jovovich is Joan, the self-yclept `Maiden of Lorraine,' a peasant girl who has heard God's call to save France from the English." Desson Howe, Shoot `The Messenger', The Washington Post, Nov 12, 1999. Archaisms are grizzled old words that have continued to do their job despite their age even though they don't go around as much as they used to. They are old-fashioned but serviceable and that's the reason they are still making the rounds, as you can see in this week's examples. They serve a purpose, to give an aura of an earlier period, and evoke a sense of historical setting, in novels, religious writing, poetry, ads, and so on. What's old for one is young for another, so there's no consensus on what words are archaic, but this week we'll feature some of them. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Nov 11 00:01:08 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sennight X-Bonus: Life is an adventure in forgiveness. -Norman Cousins, author and editor (1915-1990) sennight (SEN-yt) noun A week. [From Middle English, from Old English seofon nihta, from seofon (seven) + nihta, plural of niht (night).] Fortnight is a cousin of today's word. Twice as long as a sennight, it's a compressed form of "fourteen night". -Anu "CHORUS: For now sad Charles unto the throne is come. First his drunk grandam fell down in a fit and died, And then a sennight later his Mother Queen Bit by a rabid Corgi ran naked through the streets, Froth'd at the mouth and breath'd her last. So Charles was crown'd; but now the angry mob Demand that he be brought to Tyburn Tree - Such is the curse on all odd-numbered Charles'." Emily Sheffield, Jackdaw, The Guardian (London), May 29, 1996. This week's theme: archaic words. -------- Date: Wed Nov 12 00:01:13 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anon X-Bonus: My play was a complete success. The audience was a failure. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900) anon (uh-NON) adverb 1. At another time. 2. Soon. 3. At once; immediately (archaic). [From Middle English, from Old English on an, (in one).] "Anon, King Hamlet discovers his brother's perfidy. Threatened with banishment, poverty, and disgrace, Claudius poisons the king, promptly marries Gertrude, and assumes the Danish crown." Witty, Wise, Then Weary, The Economist (London), Feb 19, 2000. This week's theme: archaic words. -------- Date: Thu Nov 13 00:01:09 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gainsay X-Bonus: Brasington's Ninth Law: A carelessly planned project takes three times longer to complete than expected; a carefully planned one will take only twice as long. gainsay (GAYN-say) verb tr. To deny or contradict. [From Middle English gainsayen, from gain- (against), from Old English gegn- + sayen, from secgan (to say).] "With such a record, it's hard for anyone to gainsay the cynics. But as Inauguration Day approached, millions of Nigerians like Pambi again dared to hope for something better." Tom Masland, Fingers Crossed, Nigerians Are Inaugurating Their First Freely Elected President in 16 Years, Newsweek (New York), May 24, 1999. This week's theme: archaic words. -------- Date: Fri Nov 14 00:01:08 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hearken X-Bonus: Efficiency is intelligent laziness. -David Dunham hearken (HAHR-ken) verb intr., also harken or hark 1. To pay attention; listen. 2. To return to a previous subject (usually in the form of hearken back). [From Middle English herknen, from Old English he(o)rcnian.] "The reasons long given by the old guard for barring women -- that they will cause disorder and create competition among the men, that they play with a different character than men, that their pregnancies would disrupt scheduling -- seem laughably antiquated. Such notions conjure up images of women as temptresses and hearken to times when the sight of a cello between a woman's legs was considered unfeminine." Anthony Tommasini, The Vienna Philharmonic Returns, Virtually a Male Bastion, The New York Times, Mar 15, 1999. This week's theme: archaic words. -------- Date: Mon Nov 17 04:31:19 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--armamentarium X-Bonus: I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862) armamentarium (ahr-muh-men-TAR-ee-uhm) noun, plural armamentaria The collection of equipment and techniques available to one in a particular field, especially in medicine. [From Latin armamentarium (arsenal), eventually from Latin armare (to arm). Ironically, the word to describe the apparatus of war (armament) and the word for healing paraphernalia (armamentarium) derive from the same root.] "All developed countries share the components: growing populations of elderly people, health-care systems in varying degrees of financial crisis and an armamentarium of sophisticated medical technology - respirators and life-support systems - whose use in end-of-life care is increasingly being viewed with distrust." Sue Woodman; Death's Doormen; The Guardian (London, UK): Jul 2, 1997. "The heavens are just full of stuff (asteroids, meteors, comets and a miscellany of rubble) that has a good chance of whacking the Earth sooner or later. The inventory of that celestial armamentarium -- and the likelihood of an ultimately ruinous Big Splat -- are the subjects of this morbidly mesmerizing book (Fire on Earth: Doomsday, Dinosaurs, and Humankind) by two prolific science authors." Curt Suplee; Science; The Washington Post; Oct 20, 1996. I'm back in Seattle. Back from a three-country, five-city, seven-week, 10-speech tour of Asia. I spoke at a variety of settings, from a club of foreign correspondents to a bunch of fifth-grade kids bubbling with enthusiasm. I truly loved speaking, sharing stories, mingling, listening, and connecting with the people. I enjoyed and learned much during this trip (including the fact that turbulence at 30,000 feet is God's way of encouraging us to pray). I'm glad to be back to high-speed Internet though not to the tons of backlogged email. While I catch up with it, this week we'll look at some miscellaneous words. -Anu (garg AT wordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Nov 18 00:01:10 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--banausic X-Bonus: You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God is compassion. -Meister Eckhart, theologian (c. 1260-1327) banausic (buh-NAW-sik, -zik) adjective Mechanical, utilitarian or routine, as opposed to inspiring or imaginative. [From Greek banausikos, from banausos (mechanic).] "It will leave Beagle 2 to its banausic task of probing and burrowing into the surface of the Red Planet in its futile search for microbes and soda water." Peter Simple; Rogue Elements; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Jun 6, 2003. "Timothy McVeigh did quite a number on the Oklahoma City federal building, even though his banausic use of explosives probably disgusted a professional like Loizeaux." Bruce Schneier; Secrets and Lies : Digital Security in a Networked World; John Wiley & Sons, 2000. http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471253111/ws00-20/ This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Wed Nov 19 00:01:09 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--rapprochement X-Bonus: Peter Principle: In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. -Laurence J Peter, educator and author (1919-1990) rapprochement (ra-prawsh-MAWN) noun Establishing or reestablishing of cordial relation, especially between nations. [From French rapprochement, from rapprocher (to bring together), from re- + approcher (to approach), from Late Latin appropiare, from Latin ad- + propius (nearer), from prope (near).] "Japanese anger over the kidnappings and North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions have stalled the rapprochement process between Tokyo and Pyongyang." Japan Seeks Malaysia's Help to Resolve N Korea Issues; The Borneo Bulletin (Brunei); Nov 11, 2003. "There were signs of rapprochement between Kibaki and Karume during latter's wife's funeral in March this year." Nixon Nganga; Kiambu Leaders Plot How to Join Narc; East African Standard (Nairobi, Kenya); Oct 26, 2003. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Thu Nov 20 00:01:08 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--codswallop X-Bonus: The dew of compassion is a tear. -Lord Byron, poet (1788-1824) codswallop (KODZ-wol-uhp) noun Nonsense. [Of unknown origin. According to a popular story, a fellow named Hiram Codd came up with the design of a soft-drink bottle with a marble in its neck to keep the fizz. Wallop was slang for beer and those who preferred alcoholic drinks dismissively referred to the soft-drink as Codd's Wallop. This story is unproven.] "Raising taxes is impossible politically? Poppycock and codswallop, says the Conference Board." William Watson; The 0.2% Solution; National Post (Canada); Nov 11, 2003. "Mr Norris's mouth cuts a grim strip across his face as he drips scorn on the commission's reasons for the decision, dismissing it as codswallop, as showing a `lack of commercial reality'." Claire Trevett; Unsmiling Airline Chief Takes Defeat in His Stride; The New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand); Oct 24, 2003. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Fri Nov 21 00:01:08 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--extramundane X-Bonus: Intellectuals solve problems: geniuses prevent them. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955) extramundane (ek-struh-mun-DAYN) adjective Beyond the physical world. [From Late Latin extramundanus (beyond the world), from Latin extra- + mundanus, from mundus (world).] "It is both mundane and extramundane: found here on earth, though far from the dailiness of ordinary experience - in this world and hence of it and yet, by the very extremity of the journey required to apprehend it, not of this world." Tom Hansen; Clinton's North; The Explicator (Washington); Summer 2000. "Where rears his terminating pillar high Its extramundane head? and says, to gods, In characters illustrious as the sun." Edward Young (1683-1765); Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. -------- Date: Mon Nov 24 00:01:09 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--derring-do X-Bonus: I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. -Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (1475-1564) derring-do (DER-ing DOO) noun Daring acts, often tinged with recklessness. [From Middle English dorryng do (daring to do) misprinted as derrynge do and interpreted as a noun form.] "While a listless economy has blunted the derring-do of many an entrepreneur, Madam Ong has just sunk in US$1 million (S$1.75 million) to develop a line of cosmetics made from plant extracts." Gilt Complex; Straits Times (Singapore); Nov 8, 2003. "Mixing clowning and physical feats that stretch from demanding acrobatics to trapeze and high-wire derring-do to animal acts and juggling, this show has something for everyone." Lawrence Van Gelder; Theater in Review; The New York Times; Nov 18, 2003. What do the words acme and acne have in common, besides being next to each other in a dictionary? The word acne began its life as acme. As a result of a misreading, it took on a new spelling. There are many more such words in the English language. Buttonhole once was buttonhold. Shamefaced used to be shamefast in the sense of restrained by shame. Cherry was originally cherise, but as that seemed to be plural, people spoke of a cherry when referring to a single fruit. The same happened with pease which was wrongly assumed to be plural and became pea. The list goes on and on. Next time you see someone misspelling the word "definitely" as "definately" don't snicker. Chances are the new spelling will find a way into the dictionary just as "miniscule" did for the original word "minuscule" because people thought the word had its origin in prefix mini-. It's the usage that determines the flow of language. This week we'll see a few words that are in their current incarnation because someone misread, misprinted, misheard, or misunderstood the term. -Anu (garg AT wordsmith.org) -------- Date: Tue Nov 25 00:01:11 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--internecine X-Bonus: Why does no one confess his sins? Because he is yet in them. It is for a man who has awoke from sleep to tell his dreams. -Lucius Annaeus Seneca, writer and philosopher (BCE 3-65 CE) internecine (in-tuhr-NES-een) adjective 1. Of or relating to conflict within a group or nation. 2. Mutually destructive. 3. Characterized by bloodshed or slaughter. [From Latin internecinus (deadly), from internecare (to slaughter), from inter- + necare (to kill), from nex-, nec- (death). A few other words derived from the same root are pernicious, noxious, obnoxious, and necrosis. Some positive words originating from the same root are nectar, nectarine, innocent, and innocuous.] The original meaning of today's term was "deadly", from the prefix inter- (all the way to, completely) + necare (to kill), from nec- (death). While writing his 1755 dictionary, the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson erroneously believed the prefix inter- implied "between" (as in "international") and defined internecine as "endeavoring mutual destruction" that, thanks to his popular dictionary, became the primary sense of the word. "Jones also gives us a portrait of how Enlightenment-era French citizens clamored for self-rule, and an account of the grisly, internecine feuding that led to the rise of Napoleon in 1799." Washington Is Also Reading; The Washington Post; Mar 30, 2003. "During the late 1980s, the veteran Amal militia began an internecine war against a radical Shi'ite upstart group named Hizbullah." Matthew Gutman; Lawyer: Obeid, Dirani Not Linked to Arad; Jerusalem Post (Israel); Nov 9, 2003. This week's theme: words formed in error. -------- Date: Wed Nov 26 00:01:12 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--faineant X-Bonus: He who establishes his argument by noise and command, shows that his reason is weak. -Michel De Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592) faineant (FAY-nee-uhnt, French: fay-nay-AHN) adjective Idle. noun A do-nothing; idler. [From French fainéant, alteration of fait-néant (literally, does nothing), by folk etymology from faignant, present participle of faindre (to feign).] So a mistaken assumption about the derivation of the word turned the original French faignant (feigning) into faineant (does nothing), the present form. In French history, many kings have been called les rois fainéants as the real power was in the hands of mayors of the palace. -Anu "Moved in equal parts by ambition, restlessness, and an impulse to do good, he has filled any and all roles abdicated by the faineant previous rectors." Jim Mora; Away With All This Bavardage*; Sunday Star-Times (Auckland, New Zealand); Oct 11, 1998. * Bavardage = chatter "There will be a two-year hiatus while Mr O'Reilly does the building work and the notion of what to do while waiting has until recently been downright faineant." Edward Pearce; Market Garden PS; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 7, 1995. -------- Date: Thu Nov 27 00:01:07 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sand-blind X-Bonus: Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. -William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994) sand-blind (SAND-blind) adjective Partially blind. [From Middle English, from Old English samblind (half-blind), from sam- (semi-) + blind.] The original word was samblind, from Old English prefix sam- meaning half. In a process known as folk etymology, similar sounds of sam and sand resulted in an erroneous belief that the term referred to blindness caused by sand, and the word transformed into sand-blind. Samuel Johnson is perhaps equally to blame here for defining the term as "Having a defect in the eyes, by which small particles appear to fly before them." In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, on his father Gobbo's inability to recognize him, Launcelot says: "O heavens, this is my true-begotten father! who, being more than sand-blind, high-gravel blind, knows me not." The Old English prefix sam- is derived from the same root as the prefixes Latin semi-, Greek hemi-, and Latin sesqui- (one and a half), as in sesquicentennial (150th anniversary), but not French demi-. A coinage that enthusiastically employs many of these in a single word is hemidemisemiquaver, a rather long word to describe a quite short sixty-fourth of a musical note (one eighth of a quaver). -Anu "Or, worse yet, leave weak eyes to grow sand-blind, Content with darkness and vacuity." Robert Browning; Asolando: Development; 1889. -------- Date: Fri Nov 28 00:11:10 EST 2003 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aught X-Bonus: They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) aught also ought (awt) pronoun Anything whatever. adverb In any respect. [From Middle English, from Old English from á, ó (ever) + wiht (thing).] noun 1. Zero. 2. Nothing. [From a naught, misdivided as an aught.] Other words formed from the same process of respelling or false splitting are nickname (from "an ekename"), apron (a napperon), adder (a nadder), uncle (a nuncle), umpire (a noumpere), auger (a nauger), nonce (from the phrase "for the nones", by misdivision of "for then ones"). -Anu "No parent seemed to be aware of him, he made no effort to approach any of the traders. He patiently sat and waited for aught." Roger Harrison; Adam and Eid; Arab News (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia); Nov 20, 2003. "Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas's position, question his motives, or do aught that can be personally offensive to him." Abraham Lincoln; A House Divided Speech; June 16, 1858.