This week's theme
Words coined in science fiction

This week's words
grok
waldo
tardis
triffid
frankenstein

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(TRIF-id, TRY-fid)

MEANING:

noun: An out-of-control plant that overruns everything around it. Also, anything that behaves in this manner.

ETYMOLOGY:

After triffids, a species of plants in the science-fiction novel, The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham. From Latin tri- (three) + findere (to split). Earliest documented use: 1951.

NOTES:

In the novel, The Day of the Triffids, triffids are a species of large plants with three leg-like structures that enable them to move. Triffids have poisonous stings and attack people around the world.

USAGE:

"Ecologists reckon that triffid weeds, Monterey pines, and dozens of other invasive plants already extend over one-twelfth of South Africa."
Andrew Balmfor; Wild Hope; The University of Chicago Press; 2012.

"In a triffid's world, the only thing that matters is making money and the ability to make more money."
Rusty Markland; The World Hates A Salesman; Xlibris; 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: