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A.Word.A.Day--pamphlet

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pamphlet (PAM-flit) noun

1. An unbound printed work, usually with a paper cover.

2. A short essay or treatise, usually on a current topic, published without a binding.

[Middle English pamflet, from Medieval Latin pamfletus, from Pamphiletus, diminutive of Pamphilus, a short amatory Latin poem of the 12th century, from Greek pamphilos, beloved by all : pan-, + philos, beloved.]

"Federal officials hoping to inform Haitian residents in the Creole language about subsidized housing have delivered a pamphlet written in an imitation Jamaican dialect. It's a tough read: `Yuh as a rezedent, ave di rights ahn di rispansabilities to elp mek yuh HUD-asisted owzing ah behta owme fi yuh ahn yuh fambily,' the pamphlet states." Mildrade Cherfils, HUD Pamphlet a Phonetic Fumble, AP Online, Nov 17, 1999.

This week's theme: words with unusual etymologies.

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Fill the seats of justice with good men, not so absolute in goodness as to forget what human frailty is. -Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854)

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