A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Thu Nov 1 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--macaronic X-Bonus: Perfect order is the forerunner of perfect horror. -Carlos Fuentes (b. 1928) This week's theme: words related to food. macaronic (mak-ah-RON-ik) adjective Involving a mixture of languages. [From Latin macaronicus, from Italian dialect maccarone (macaroni), probably alluding to the jumble of macaroni and sauce on a plate.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Speaking not in the gleefully macaronic English that has made for such good, clownish copy in the past, but in his native Italian, he sounded serious and reflective as he answered questions about his age, his health, and his dwindling plans for the future." Justin Davidson; Pavarotti Winds Down; Newsday (New York); Mar 11, 1998. -------- Date: Fri Nov 2 00:01:08 EDT 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--xerophagy X-Bonus: To suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) This week's theme: words related to food. xerophagy (zi-ROF-uh-jee) noun The eating of dry food, especially food that's cooked without oil. [From Latin xero- (dry), from Greek xeros + Latin -phagy (eating), from Greek phagia. In the early Christian Church, xerophagy meant eating food cooked in water and salt during Lent. Xerophagy has also been practiced in prison and in the military as a form of punishment.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Your Uncle Charles had his blood cholesterol tested late last week. Though the verdict rendered was no worse than a rather unperspicuous 'Normal to Upper-normal', the penultimate modifier has caused, as you might anticipate, much pacing and high-decibel whingeing, as well as vows of eternal xerophagy from here on out." David Foster Wallace; Infinite Jest: A Novel; Little, Brown and Company; 1996. -------- Date: Mon Nov 5 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--riant X-Bonus: There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money, either. -Robert Graves, poet and novelist (1895-1985) William Strunk and E.B. White, in their highly-regarded book, The Elements of Style, say: "Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place." They have a point. Nouns and verbs work better especially when you're trying to paint a picture with words. Nouns and verbs are to adjectives and adverbs as painting is to stenciling. But adjectives have their place. There are times when a well-chosen adjective (literally, one that lies [next to a noun]) can do the job of many words, such as when the purpose is to convey an idea quickly and succinctly. So don't be afraid to use them, with restraint, particularly if you can find a fresh adjective. This week we'll feature five of these much-maligned words, words that drove Mark Twain to verbicide* ("When you catch an adjective, kill it"). *verbicide: destroying words riant (RI-uhnt) adjective Smiling, cheerful. [From French riant, present participle of rire (to laugh), from Latin ridere (to laugh).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The Audley girls became the idols, the stars, the queens of our corps. Sunshine, the eldest, with her riant smile, her radiant eyes ..." Ouida; Randolph Gordon and Other Stories; Lippincott; 1867. -------- Date: Tue Nov 6 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--aliterate X-Bonus: Endless money forms the sinews of war. -Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE) This week's theme: adjectives. aliterate (ay-LIT-uhr-it) noun, adjective One who is capable of reading but not interested in it. [From Latin a- (not or without) + litteratus (learned), from littera (letter).] Aliterates stand somewhere between literates and illiterates. They can read but don't want to. Whether they can alliterate, we're not sure. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The avowed aliterate has relinquished an activity that is uniquely human. (Apes can watch TV)." Linton Weeks; Essay; The Washington Post; Jul 14, 1996. -------- Date: Wed Nov 7 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--contumelious X-Bonus: The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. -John Milton (1608-1674) [Paradise Lost] This week's theme: adjectives. contumelious (kon-too-MEE-lee-uhs, -tyoo-) adjective Rudely contemptuous. [From Latin contumelia, perhaps from contumax (insolent).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "No one person knows everything -- even the conceited and contumelious, neither any group nor individual is greater than the country." Oba Pius; The National Political Reform Conference; The Post (Cameroon); March 31, 2005. -------- Date: Thu Nov 8 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--perfervid X-Bonus: A belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness. -Joseph Conrad, novelist (1857-1924) This week's theme: adjectives. perfervid (puhr-FUHR-vid) adjective Extremely or excessively passionate. [From Latin perfervidus, from Latin per- (thoroughly) + fervidus (boiling). Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhreu- (to boil or to bubble), that is also the source of brew, bread, broth, braise, brood, breed, and barmy.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "It's a grand conclusion to a perfervid opera that can boil in the right hands and mouths. " Donald Rosenberg; Traditional Puccini, Boiling-hot Passion; The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio); Oct 22 2007. -------- Date: Fri Nov 9 00:01:09 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--habile X-Bonus: As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. -Leonardo da Vinci, painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (1452-1519) This week's theme: adjectives. habile (HAB-il) adjective Having general ability; skillful. [From Latin habilis (able), from habere (to have or to hold). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghabh- (to give or to receive) that is also the source of give, gift, able, habit, prohibit, due, and duty.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Such rude and prolonged treatment would almost certainly result in the unwelcome appearance of an unappetizing assortment of molds that present a formidable challenge to even the most habile of our local winemakers." Jeff Popick; Mini-heat Wave Aids Near-complete Winegrape Harvest; St. Helena Star (California); Oct 25, 2007. -------- Date: Mon Nov 12 01:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mystagogue X-Bonus: Genius is eternal patience. -Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (1475-1564) Sometimes when I'm waiting in a line at a supermarket or at the post office, I wonder about the people around me. The one in motorcycle gear with chains jangling from his pocket, I wonder if he is really a scaredy-cat at home. The stooping man at the head of the line... what he might be doing after he's done here -- going back to work or returning home to tend to his pet caterpillars? How about the woman who seems to be in a hurry: would she be picking up her kids from school after this or going around netting initiates for her multi-level-marketing cult? Who knows. But it's fun to guess, and to think words that would fit the best if you had to choose a word for them. This week we'll feature five words to describe people. mystagogue (MIS-tuh-gog) noun One who teaches mystical doctrines or one who inititates others into a mystery cult. [From Latin mystagogus, from Greek mystagogos, from mystes (an initiate) + agogos (leader).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Part mystagogue, part monster, Gauguin bragged about his savageries, his insults and his lusts. Yet he saw himself as holy." Paul Richard; Gauguin's Fantasy Island; Washington Post; Nov 29, 1996. -------- Date: Tue Nov 13 01:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--patrician X-Bonus: He had the rare quality of not only loving but respecting childhood -- its innocence, its keen sense of justice, its passionate and yet sensitive affections. -Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, novelist and poet (1826-1887) This week's theme: words to describe people. patrician (puh-TRISH-uhn) noun A person of high social rank, good background, etc.; an aristocrat. [From Latin patricius (having a noble father), from pater (father).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The exciting new tie width even spawned a musical genre (probably invented by some dull, pipe-smoking patrician at Rolling Stone Magazine)." Simon Mills; The Day Ties Went Size Zero; The Guardian (London, UK); Oct 26, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Nov 14 01:01:07 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--recalcitrant X-Bonus: Friendship, like credit, is highest where it is not used. -Elbert Hubbard, author, editor, printer (1856-1915) This week's theme: words to describe people. recalcitrant (ri-KAL-si-truhnt) adjective Stubbornly resistant to authority. [From Latin recalcitrare (to kick back, to be disobedient), from re- (again) + calcitrare (to kick), from calx (heel). If you have a dog that has dug his heels in while you're trying to pull him forward, you have a case of an animal that's being recalcitrant, literally.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Mount Kelut has been on high alert for more than two weeks but activity escalated dramatically on Friday, triggering fresh rounds of evacuations carried out by troops and local officials. On Saturday, some recalcitrant residents were dragged from their homes." Indonesia's Mount Kelut Erupts; Agence France-Presse; Nov 3, 2007. -------- Date: Thu Nov 15 00:26:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--platitudinarian X-Bonus: The most civilized people are as near to barbarism as the most polished steel is to rust. Nations, like metals, have only a superficial brilliancy. -Antoine de Rivarol, epigrammatist (1753-1801) This week's theme: words to describe people. platitudinarian (plat-i-tood-n-AR-ee-uhn, -tyood-) noun One who utters platitudes or trite remarks. [From French plat (flat). Ultimately from the Indo-European root plat- (to spread) that is also the root of flat, to flatter, plan, plant, plantain, plateau, plaza, platinum, supplant, and transplant.] "Her successor, Livingston Biddle, was a platitudinarian, who to this day likes to expatiate on his slogan that 'the arts mean excellence'; one need only listen to him for two minutes to cease believing in art and excellence both." Joseph Epstein; What to Do About the Arts; Commentary; Apr 1995. -------- Date: Fri Nov 16 00:01:09 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--macroscian X-Bonus: I had a lover's quarrel with the world. -Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963 This week's theme: words to describe people. macroscian (muh-KROSH-i-uhn) noun 1. One casting a long shadow. 2. One who inhabits polar regions. [From Greek macros (long) + skia (shadow).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Fix me up with the longest of shadows, Lord. And without my having to go pole-wards. ... And show that we're all up- and-coming macroscians now, with nothing to fear from prerogative." M.F. Dail; Vague Shadows of a Former Self; Trafford Publishing; 2006. -------- Date: Mon Nov 19 00:01:09 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--pinchbeck X-Bonus: Love involves a peculiar, unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding. -Diane Arbus, photographer (1923-1971) Eponyms -- AWAD's perennial favorites -- make their appearance once again. If we featured nothing but eponyms every day it would be several years before we'd run out. There's a reason for their popularity: where else can you a find a whole story in just one word? And there's a reason for their abundance: it's often easiest to name something after its inventor. This week's selection features words named after people -- famous and infamous, real and fictional, well-known and obscure. pinchbeck (PINCH-bek) noun An alloy of zinc and copper, used as imitation gold in jewelry. adjective Counterfeit or spurious. [After watchmaker Christopher Pinchbeck (1670-1732), who invented it. It's ironic that today his name is a synonym for something counterfeit but in his time his fame was worldwide, not only as the inventor of this curious alloy but also as a maker of musical clocks and orreries*. The composition of this gold-like alloy was a closely-guarded secret but it didn't prevent others from passing off articles as if made from this alloy... faking fake gold!] *Orrery: https://wordsmith.org/words/orrery.html -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Blackpool is more than a tower of lights and a rhinestone mile of slots and seasonal variety acts. It is Lancashire's pinchbeck LA." Adam Edwards; Keeping Up And Away From the Neighbours; Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Jul 24, 2004. -------- Date: Tue Nov 20 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bunbury X-Bonus: Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right. -Laurens van der Post, explorer and writer (1906-1996) This week's theme: eponyms -- words coined after someone. bunbury (BUN-buh-ree) noun An imaginary person whose name is used as an excuse to some purpose, especially to visit a place. verb intr. To use the name of a fictitious person as an excuse. [From Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest where the character Algernon invents an imaginary person named Bunbury as an alibi to escape from relatives. He explains to his friend, "I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn't for Bunbury's extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn't be able to dine with you at Willis's to-night."] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "There are birds who bunbury. One of them is the blackbird." Jesko Partecke; The Birds Who Bunbury; Deutsche Welle (Germany); May 22, 2007. http://www.deutsche-welle.de/dw/article/0,1564,1365825,00.html -------- Date: Wed Nov 21 00:03:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ragamuffin X-Bonus: That some good can be derived from every event is a better proposition than that everything happens for the best, which it assuredly does not. -James Kern Feibleman, philosopher and psychiatrist (1904-1987) This week's theme: eponyms -- words coined after someone. ragamuffin (RAG-uh-muf-in) noun Someone, especially a child, in ragged, dirty clothes. [After Ragamoffyn, a demon in William Langland's 14th century poem Piers Plowman.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "There were ragamuffins filled with certainties on every streetcorner and philosophers in every coffeehouse." Earl Shorris; A Nation of Salesmen; Harper's (New York); Oct 1994. -------- Date: Thu Nov 22 00:03:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--titian X-Bonus: The ingenuities we practice in order to appear admirable to ourselves would suffice to invent the telephone twice over on a rainy summer morning. -Brendan Gill, writer and preservationist (1914-1997) This week's theme: eponyms -- words coined after someone. titian (TISH-uhn) noun A bright reddish or golden auburn color. [After 16th century Italian painter Titian, from the frequent use of the color (especially for the hair) in his paintings.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The titian-haired sleuth (Nancy Drew) has left her mark on American womanhood for generations now." Marjorie Kehe; The Titian-haired Sleuth All American Girls Love; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts); Oct 4, 2005. -------- Date: Fri Nov 23 00:03:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Darby and Joan X-Bonus: To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior "righteous indignation" -- this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats. -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963) This week's theme: eponyms -- words coined after someone. Darby and Joan (DAHR-bee and joan) noun A devoted old couple leading a quiet, uneventful life. [After a couple named in an 18th century poem in The Gentleman's Magazine (London).] In 1735 Henry Woodfall, a printer's apprentice, wrote a ballad titled "The joys of love never forgot: a song" about a happily married elderly couple. His inspiration for those characters was his own boss John Darby and his wife Joan: "Old Darby, with Joan by his side, You've often regarded with wonder: He's dropsical, she is sore-eyed, Yet they're never happy asunder ..." As you can imagine, he wrote this poem after Darby's death. This poem in turn became an inspiration for follow-up poems and eventually Darby and Joan became a metaphor. In the UK, clubs for old people are still called Darby and Joan clubs. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "On the shores of holy Lake Manosarovar there is a nameless hotel run by a very elderly couple, a sort of Tibetan Darby and Joan." Karen Swenson; At Tibetan Hotels, Don't Expect the Light To Be Left On; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Dec 4, 2001. -------- Date: Mon Nov 26 00:53:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lagniappe X-Bonus: Do something for somebody every day for which you do not get paid. -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965) What does the 'lute' of a musician have in common with the Norwegian sea monster 'kraken' and 'lariat' of a cowboy? All three words come with a built-in definite article. The word lute is from Arabic al 'ud (the wood), kraken has the suffixed Norwegian definite article (-en), and lariat is from Spanish la reata (the rope). Words reveal buried civilizations. Begin digging and you come across layers of history. Passage of time muddies the original form of words and when we borrow them from another language, we don't realize that they're already hitched to an article before we add a new one. Well, you don't have to hop across languages or travel through time to see this kind of redundancy in action. We have the ATM machine and the VAT tax and AC current in the English language. This week we feature five more words that come with a packaged definite article. lagniappe (lan-YAP, LAN-yap) noun An unexpected benefit, especially a small gift a customer receives with a purchase. [From Louisiana French, from American Spanish la ñapa (the gift), from Quechua yapa (something added).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Of little consequence, a tiny lagniappe and a green salad came compliments of the house." M.H. Reed; In Ossining, a Restaurant With a Past; The New York Times; Sep 23, 2001. -------- Date: Tue Nov 27 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--alcove X-Bonus: I prefer the sign NO ENTRANCE to the sign which says NO EXIT. -Stanislaw J. Lec, poet and aphorist (1909-1966) This week's theme: words with built-in definite articles. alcove (AL-kov) noun 1. A recess in a wall. 2. A small, secluded space connected to a room or in a garden. [From French alcôve, from Spanish alcoba, from Arabic al-qubba (the vault).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Fuller, Smith & Turner, one of London's last remaining brewers, said a wet summer and the introduction of a smoking ban had not dented profits, as drinkers stuck with ales and smokers huddled in outside alcoves. 'Pubs without smoking are much nicer places to be,' Chairman Michael Turner told a press conference." Alastair Sharp; Brewer Fuller Sees Through Haze of Smoking Ban; Reuters UK; Nov 23, 2007. -------- Date: Wed Nov 28 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--El Dorado X-Bonus: A painter is a man who paints what he sells; an artist, on the other hand, is a man who sells what he paints. -Pablo Picasso, artist and sculptor (1881-1973) This week's theme: words with built-in definite articles. El Dorado (el duh-RAH-doh) noun A place offering fabulous wealth or opportunity. [From Spanish, literally, the gilded one. After a legendary place in South America sought for its gold by 16th century explorers.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "Although I felt somewhat excluded the last few years, I did appreciate seeing people parade their wealth as if they were financial conquistadors in a stock market El Dorado." Harvey Lieberman; I Told You So? Well, Not Exactly; The New York Times, Apr 29, 2001. -------- Date: Thu Nov 29 00:01:08 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--azimuth X-Bonus: If one sins against the laws of proportion and gives something too big to something too small to carry it -- too big sails to too small a ship, too big meals to too small a body, too big powers to too small a soul -- the result is bound to be a complete upset. In an outburst of hubris the overfed body will rush into sickness, while the jack-in-office will rush into the unrighteousness that hubris always breeds. -Plato, philosopher (427-347 BCE) This week's theme: words with built-in definite articles. azimuth (AZ-uh-muhth) noun The horizontal angle to an object, measured clockwise from a fixed reference point, usually north or south. [From French azimut, from Latin azimut, from Arabic al-sumut, from al (the) + samt (way).] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The company's unique medium-gain antenna finds and tracks the satellite in azimuth, electronically." Dan Fales; Sky high; Motor Boating & Sailing; Feb 1997. -------- Date: Fri Nov 30 00:01:09 EST 2007 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--algorithm X-Bonus: A politician is a man who thinks of the next election; while the statesman thinks of the next generation. -James Freeman Clarke, preacher and author (1810-1888) This week's theme: words with built-in definite articles. algorithm (AL-guh-rith-uhm) noun A finite sequence of well-defined steps for solving a problem. [After al Khwarizmi (the [man] of Khwarizm), a nickname of the 9th century Persian astronomer and mathematician Abu Jafar Muhammand ibn Musa, who authored many texts on arithmetic and algebra. He worked in Baghdad and his nickname alludes to his place of origin Khwarizm (Khiva), in present-day Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "If you teach a computer to write a piece of music by feeding it an algorithm, have you composed the resulting piece or has the computer?" Alexander Gelfand; The Sounds of Science; The Walrus (Toronto, Canada); Jun 2007.