A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Sun Dec 1 00:57:12 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--steerage X-Bonus: Gleemites: Petrified deposits of toothpaste found in sinks. steer.age \'sti(*)r-ij\ n [fr. its orig. being located near the rudder] 1: the act or practice of steering; broadly : DIRECTION 2: a section in a passenger ship for passengers paying the lowest fares and given inferior accommodations Carlyle, Thomas, (The) French Revolution: A History: Book Seventh: Vendemiaire - The Whiff Of Grape-Shot.., History of the World, 01-01-1992. 1866. "The Convention, driven such a course by wild wind, wild tide, and steerage and non-steerage, these three years, has become weary of its own existence, sees all men weary of it; and wishes heartily to finish." Ellis Henican, Yo Jersey, Keep Your Mitts Off Ellis Island., Newsday, 07-17-1996, pp A04. "They'd have bought a steerage ticket - I don't know - to Rio or Johannesburg." -------- Date: Mon Dec 2 00:57:11 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--philippic X-Bonus: If you are having trouble keeping your head above water, you probably aren't on your toes. -Liguorian phi.lip.pic \f*-'lip-ik\ n [MF philippique, fr. L & Gk; L philippica, orationes philippicae], speeches of Cicero against Mark Anthony, trans. of Gk philippikoi logoi, speeches of Demosthenes against Philip II of Macedon, lit., speeches relating to Philip : a discourse or declamation full of acrimonious invective : TIRADE Taruskin, Richard, Pathetic symphonist, Vol. 212, New Republic, 02-06-1995, pp 26. "This happened in the aftermath of the marriage attempt, as part of a `dirty, base, vile, slander-filled philippic' (as Chaikovsky called it) that appeared in the newspaper Novoye vremya (New Times) on August 26, 1878. -- Here is another eponym week where each word comes with a story behind it. These words are coined after real people who by virtue of their deeds -- good or bad -- have become immortalized in the language. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Dec 3 00:57:30 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--draconian X-Bonus: If you want anything done well, do it yourself. This is why most people laugh at their own jokes. -Bob Edwards dra.co.ni.an \dra--'ko--ne--*n, dr*-\ aj [L Dracon-, Draco fl621 BCE Athenian lawgiver, fr. Gk Dra] often cap ko-n 1: of, relating to, or characteristic of Draco or the severe code of laws held to have been framed by him 2: extremely harsh or cruel : RIGOROUS 1877 D. M. WALLACE, Russia xiii. 206 "Refraining from all Draconian legislation." -------- Date: Wed Dec 4 00:56:56 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tartar X-Bonus: Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed. -Whitney M. Young 1. tar.tar \'ta:rt-*r\ n [ME, fr. ML tartarum] 1: a substance consisting essentially of cream of tartar found in the juice of grapes and deposited in wine casks together with yeast and other suspended matters as a pale or dark reddish crust or sediment; esp : a recrystallized product yielding cream of tartar on further purification 2: an incrustation on the teeth consisting of salivary secretion, food residue, and various salts (as calcium carbonate or phosphate) 2. tartar \ta:r-'tar-e--*n, -'ter-\ n [ME Tartre, fr. MF Tartare, prob. fr. ML Tartarus, modif. of]Per Ta-ta-r - more at TATAR cap 1: native or inhabitant of Tatary cap 2: TATAR often cap 3: a person of irritable or violent temper 4: an unexpectedly formidable person - tartar aj -------- Date: Thu Dec 5 00:57:22 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mccarthyism X-Bonus: Some people would not recognize subtlety if it hit them on the head. Mc.Cart.hyi.sm \m*-'ka:r-the--.iz-*m also -'ka:rt-e--\ \-.i-t\ n [Joseph R. McCarthy -1957 U.S. senator] : a mid-twentieth-century political attitude characterized chiefly by opposition to elements held to be subversive and by the use of tactics involving personal attacks on individuals by means of widely publicized indiscriminate allegations esp. on the basis of unsubstantiated charges - Mc.Cart.hyi.te n -------- Date: Fri Dec 6 00:57:48 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--grog X-Bonus: Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress. -Thomas A. Edison grog \'gra:g\ \-(*-)re-\ \'gra:g-.sha:p\ n [Old Grog, nickname of Edward Vernon -1757 E admiral responsible for di]luting the sailors' rum : spirituous liquor; specif : liquor (as rum) cut with water - grog.gery n -------- Date: Sat Dec 7 00:57:54 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--spartan X-Bonus: The impossible is often the untried. -Jim Goodwin 1. Spar.tan \'spa:rt-*n\ \-.iz-*m\ n 1: a native or inhabitant of ancient Sparta 2: a person of great courage and fortitude - Spar.tan.ism n 2. Spartan aj 1: of or relating to Sparta in ancient Greece 2a: marked by strict self-discipline and avoidance of comfort and luxury 2b: LACONIC 2c: undaunted by pain or danger Maslin, Janet, Film Review, Sense and Sensibility 12-13-1995. "And this film can't match the brilliant incisiveness of the more spartan "Persuasion," still the most thoughtful new Austen adaptation." -------- Date: Sun Dec 8 00:57:47 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mesmerism X-Bonus: Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity. -R. I. Fitzhenry mes.mer.ism \'mez-m*-.riz-*m, 'mes-\ \-r*st\ n [F. A. Mesmer -1815 Austrian physician] 1: hypnotic induction held to involve animal magnetism; broadly : HYPNOTISM 2: hypnotic appeal - mes.mer.ist n -------- Date: Mon Dec 9 00:57:22 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dryasdust X-Bonus: Continue to be yourself because in the end that's what people will remember about you. dry.as.dust \'dri--*z-.d*st\ aj : BORING, PROSAIC - dryasdust n Firchow, Peter, Book reviews.., Vol. 6, ANQ, 04-01-1993, pp 145. "This, then, is the real justification for a new Orwell biography: to provide a middle way between biography as sociology and biography as psychoanalysis, to fuse the outer and the inner Orwell into something approximating the actual human being. Leaving aside for the moment the fact that Shelden has made Crick out to be much more of a dryasdust than he actually is, one must admit that this is a worthwhile and even laudable objective." -- While last week's words were eponyms created after real people, this week I have made selections from fiction. Let's start with Dr. Jonas Dryasdust, a fictitious character to whom Sir Walter Scott dedicated many of his novels. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Dec 10 00:57:29 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dundrearies X-Bonus: Failure is often that early morning hour of darkness that precedes the dawning of the day of success. dun.drea.ries \.d*n-'dri(*)r-e-z\ n [Lord Dundreary, character in the play Our American Cousin (1858),] pl, often cap by Tom Taylor : long flowing side-whiskers -------- Date: Wed Dec 11 00:57:05 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--sphinx X-Bonus: Klein bottle for rent; enquire within. sphinx \'sfin(k)s\ \'sfin-.je-z\ n or sphinx.es or sphin.ges [L, fr. Gk; akin to Gk sphinkte-r sphincter] pl 1a: an enigmatic monster in ancient Greek mythology having typically a lion's body, wings, and the head and bust of a woman 1b: a person enigmatic like the sphinx of ancient Greece 2: an ancient Egyptian image in the form of a recumbent lion having a man's head, a ram's head, or a hawk's head 3: HAWKMOTH 1884 Bath Herald 25 Oct. 3/2 "Mr. Dodson has for many years been a political sphinx." -- Here is an interesting bit of trivia from Neville Hodder (solid-state-logic.com) who wrote from Oxford, England: Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--dundrearies "I believe I am correct in thinking that the forgettable Victorian English play `Our American Cousin' is also remembered for something quite unrelated. Was it not the play being performed at Fords Theater the night President Lincoln was assassinated ? Yes, that was the play being performed on that fateful night of April 14, 1865. Thanks for the tidbit. -Anu -------- Date: Thu Dec 12 00:57:23 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ragamuffin X-Bonus: Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation. rag.a.muf.fin \'rag-*-.m*f-*n\ n [Ragamoffyn, a demon in Piers Plowman (1393), attributed to William] Langland : a ragged often disreputable person; esp : a poorly clothed often dirty child Shorris, Earl, A nation of salesmen, Vol. 289, Harper's Magazine, 10-01-1994, pp 39. "On occasion the wisdom of ancient philosophers and the techniques of contemporary salesmen connect across the centuries, making the relation of the disciplines astonishingly clear. One such occasion occurred in San Francisco. There were ragamuffins filled with certainties on every streetcorner and philosophers in every coffeehouse, but it was still sometimes necessary to import salesmen, as in the case of the marketing and selling of a new toy, a dollhouse whose occupants responded to a magic wand. -------- Date: Fri Dec 13 00:52:24 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lotus-eater X-Bonus: Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven. -Yiddish proverb lo.tus-eat.er or lo.tos-eat.er \'lo-t-*-.se-t-*r\ n : one of a people described in the Odyssey of Homer as subsisting on the lotus and living in the dreamy indolence it induced Bickel, Richard, California dreaming, Vol. 178, Travel Holiday, 09-01-1995, pp 56. "Santa Barbara is like nowhere else in California or, for that matter, the world. It is a land of imperishable youth and endless spring, a lotus eater's garden (always organic) in perpetual bloom. -------- Date: Sat Dec 14 03:52:06 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--procrustean X-Bonus: A man who is 'of sound mind' is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key. -Paul Valery pro.crus.te.an \p(r)*-'kr*s-te--*n, pro--\ aj often cap 1: of, relating to, or typical of Procrustes 2: marked by arbitrary often ruthless disregard of individual differences or special circumstances Chris Goodrich, in Brief; Nonfiction; Home Edition., Los Angeles Times, 06-26-1994, pp 6. "Science, in other words, had tended to limit itself to investigating phenomena to which the scientific method lent itself . . . meaning that many of the complexities of the world were simply overlooked, if not mangled on a Procrustean bed." -- Procrustes was the mythical Greek character who cut his victims or stretched them to fit his bed. Regarding yesterday's word lotus-eater, here is another `example' from David Kilzer of ti.com: "In a more literal sense, one might label IBM with this name as they acquired Lotus Corp. in the last couple years. :^)" -Anu -------- Date: Sun Dec 15 00:52:08 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--goon X-Bonus: Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions. -Oliver Wendell Holmes goon \'gu:n\ n [partly short for E dial. gooney (simpleton), partly fr. Alice the Goo]n, subhuman comic-strip creature by E.C. Segar 1: a man hired to terrorize or eliminate opponents slang 2: DOPE, SAP -------- Date: Mon Dec 16 01:23:49 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--ruth X-Bonus: Money was invented so we could know exactly how much we owe. -Cullen Hightower Cross references: 1. pity ruth \'ru:th\ n [ME ruthe, fr. ruen to rue] 1: compassion for the misery of another 2: sorrow for one's own faults : REMORSE -- This week's theme: Forgotten Positive, a word with only negative form in common use. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Dec 17 00:52:09 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scrutable X-Bonus: The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. -Thomas Jefferson scru.ta.ble \'skru:t-*-b*l\ aj [LL scrutabilis searchable, fr. L scrutari to search, investigate,]examine - more at SCRUTINY : capable of being deciphered : COMPREHENSIBLE Dana, Kathleen, Finnish, Vol. 70, World Literature Today, 01-01-1996, pp 211. "Raisa Lardot has the unerring ability to speak with the voice of a child. Reading Russa, Russa! (Russky, Russky!), the reader is reminded of all the miraculous, incomprehensible events of childhood that become scrutable only through the examination of adult memory." -------- Date: Wed Dec 18 00:52:11 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gainly X-Bonus: You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car. -Harvey Diamond gain.ly \'ga-n-le-\ aj [gain (handy)] : GRACEFUL, SHAPELY DNA Discovers Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Finding., Morning Edition (NPR), 03-15-1993. "Watson and Crick made an unlikely pair in 1951 when they met. The tall gainly Watson with an unruly shock of hair was just 23 years old with a doctorate from Indiana University. Crick was 12 years older, but still a graduate student at Cambridge in England. " -------- Date: Thu Dec 19 00:52:03 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--maculate X-Bonus: Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian. -Dennis Wholey 1. mac.u.late \-.la-t\ vt [ME maculaten, fr. L maculatus, pp. of maculare, fr. macul]a archaic 1: SPOT, SPECKLE archaic 2: BESMIRCH, DEFILE 2. mac.u.late or mac.u.lat.ed \-l*t\ \-.la-t-*d\ aj 1: marked with spots : BLOTCHED 2: BESMIRCHED, IMPURE Shakespeare, William, Love's Labour's Lost: Act I, Scene II "Adriano de Armado: My love is most immaculate white and red. Moth: Most maculate thoughts, master, are masked under such colours." -------- Date: Fri Dec 20 00:52:08 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scrupulous X-Bonus: Be nice to people on your way up because you'll need them on your way down. -W. Migner Cross references: 1. careful 2. upright scru.pu.lous \'skru:-py*-l*s\ aj [L scrupulus] : full of or having scruples : inclined to scruple : STRICT, EXACT, PUNCTILIOUS - scru.pu.lous.ly av DON SHIRLEY, THEATER REVIEW; 'Menagerie' Sparkles Despite Some Flaws; Home Edition., Los Angeles Times, 10-17-1996, pp F-10. "A Noise Within usually treats the classics with scrupulous fidelity to original intent --a little too scrupulous, in the case of the company's otherwise powerful "The Glass Menagerie." -------- Date: Sat Dec 21 00:52:18 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--licit X-Bonus: Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while. -Kin Hubbard Cross references: 1. lawful lic.it \'lis-*t\ aj [MF licite, fr. L licitus, fr. pp. of lice-re] : LEGAL - lic.it.ly av Lejeune, Anthony, Business this week, Vol. 323, Economist, 06-20-1992, pp 61. "Werner Keicher, head of the secretive Maxwell Foundation in Liechtenstein, announced that its coffers were bare. The trust, he said, has no cash either licit or illicit." -------- Date: Sun Dec 22 00:52:07 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--clement X-Bonus: If I love you, what business is it of yours? -Goethe clem.ent \'klem-*nt\ aj [ME, fr. L clement-, clemens] 1: inclined to be merciful : LENIENT 2: MILD - clem.ent.ly av -------- Date: Mon Dec 23 03:07:05 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--corrigible X-Bonus: Journalism will kill you, but it will keep you alive while you are at it. cor.ri.gi.ble \'ko.r-*-j*-b*l, 'ka:r-\ \-ble-\ aj [ME, fr. MF, fr. ML corrigibilis, fr. L corrigere] : capable of being set right : REPARABLE {a ~ defect} - cor.ri.gi.bly av Shakespeare, William, Othello: Act I, Scene III, "Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs, or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills." -- Last week's theme, Forgotten Positive generated a tremendous response from the "gruntled" linguaphiles. Here is another week of them. Also, in the last few days, there have been many messages asking for the gift URL. It is: https://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html -Anu -------- Date: Tue Dec 24 00:52:31 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--evitable X-Bonus: It's not that I'm afraid to die; I just don't want to be there when it happens. -Woody Allen ev.i.ta.ble \'ev-*t-*-b*l\ aj : AVOIDABLE -------- Date: Wed Dec 25 00:52:12 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--towardly X-Bonus: Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. -Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University,1929 to.ward.ly \'to-(-*)rd-le-, 'to.(-*)rd-\ aj archaic 1: FAVORABLE, PROPITIOUS 2: developing favorably : PROMISING 3: PLEASANT, AFFABLE - towardly av Berkeley, D.S.-Kees, D., Bertram's blood-consciousness in All's Well That Ends Well.., Vol. 31, Studies in English Literature, 04-01-1991, pp 247. "Marriage with Helena, allowing for recessiveness, might villeinize Bertram's children in various ways. Long generations of her ancestors, being base peasants, would not have known or could not have afforded to observe the rules for the production of fine and towardly children." -------- Date: Thu Dec 26 00:52:00 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--wieldy X-Bonus: To remain caught up in ideas and words about Zen is, as the old masters say, to "stink of Zen." -Alan Watts wieldy \'we-(*)l-de-\ aj : capable of wielding or being wielded -------- Date: Fri Dec 27 00:52:22 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--mediate X-Bonus: Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair. -George Burns Cross references: 1. interpose 1. me.di.ate \'me-d-e--*t\ aj [ME, fr. .l ;mediatus intermediate, fr. pp. of mediare] 1: occupying a middle position 2a: acting through an intervening agency 2b: exhibiting indirect causation, connection, or relation - me.di.ate.ly av 2. me.di.ate \'me-d-e--.a-t\ vb [ML mediatus, pp. of mediare, fr. LL, to be in the middle, fr. L Xmedius middle - more at MID 1: to interpose between parties in order to reconcile them 2: to reconcile differences 1a: to effect by action as an intermediary 1b: to bring accord out of by action as an intermediary 2a: to act as intermediary agent in bringing, effecting, or communicating : CONVEY 2b: to transmit as intermediate mechanism or agency Contrast the adjective form with immediate. -Anu -------- Date: Sat Dec 28 00:52:18 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--peccable X-Bonus: Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar. -Bradley Miller pec.ca.ble \'pek-*-b*l\ aj [MF, fr. L peccare] : liable or prone to sin Howard, Ben, Forms and discoveries.., Vol. 167, Poetry, 03-01-1996, pp 343. "In the process, his hubris and blindness drop away, revealing a noble but peccable character." -------- Date: Sun Dec 29 00:52:00 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--couth X-Bonus: Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -Leo Tolstoy couth \'ku:th\ aj [back-formation fr. uncouth] : POLISHED, SOPHISTICATED LIZ BRODY, COMMITMENTS; The Human Condition; The Fame, Los Angeles Times, 04-10-1995, pp E-3. "Another no-no: Overdubbing--embellishing the familiarity factor by calling Robert De Niro "Bobby," for example--is about as couth as me asking you to help me put on my gloves, followed by, "Oh, you noticed my new diamond ring?" -- In Forgotten Positive, a word goes out of common use and only its negative form remains in currency. Back Formation is a quite opposite phenomenon. In contrast to this week's theme, "couth" shows a positive form that is coined because a real need for the word is felt. -Anu -------- Date: Mon Dec 30 00:51:56 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--johnny-on-the-spot X-Bonus: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. John.ny-on-the-spot \.ja:n-e--.o.n-th*-'spa:t, -e--.a:n-\ n : one who is on hand and ready to perform a service or respond to an emergency Dracula: Dead and Loving it., Magill's Survey of Cinema, 06-12-1996. "Ah, Dr. Seward murmurs in surprise, completely missing the humor apparent in Van Helsing's johnny-on-spot attendance on the women Dracula attacks." Chris Dufresne, Sports Weekend; The Times' Ranking; Top 25; The Key Games in College Football; Home Edition., Los Angeles Times, 11-01-1996, pp C-5. "Once again, quarterback Hessler is Johnny on the spot." English language is rife with figurative expressions that make any conversation or writing juicy and colorful. In a departure from usual "Word".A.Day, this last week of the year would be "Words".A.Day. Look for seven of those picturesque phrases during this week. -Anu -------- Date: Tue Dec 31 00:52:01 EST 1996 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--high-muck-a-muck X-Bonus: It's easy to tell when a politician is lying. Watch his lips. If they move, he's lying. -Charles Lyall high-muck-a-muck \.hi--.m*k-i-'m*k, .hi--.m*k-*t-e--'m*k\ n [by folk etymology fr. Chinook Jargon hiu muckamuck plenty to eat] : a person of importance; esp : one who is arrogant Dwyer, V., Relax, the boss loves the action, Vol. 104, Maclean's, 03-04-1991, pp 60. "We are dealing here with a columnist, one must realize, who views all editors and other high-muck-a-mucks with suspicion. One must be on constant guard against them--except for the ones who are so high up they sign the paycheque."