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This week’s theme
There is a word for it

This week’s words
arboricide
barbatulous
pseudonymuncle
whoness

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(HOO-nis)

MEANING:

noun: The essence of a person.

ETYMOLOGY:

From who, from Old English hwa + -ness (quality). Earliest documented use: 1922.

NOTES:

It’s that ineffable quality that makes you you and me me. Not your résumé, not your driver’s license photo, but the sparkle (or snarkle) that can’t be faked. It’s the part of you that survives a bad hair day. The metaphysical equivalent of caller ID. See also, whatness.

USAGE:

“Don’t confuse your whoness with your whatness, [Monique Greenwood] warns. ‘You can’t let what you do define who you are. In other words, your job and material things should not be the definition of who you are.’”
Lateefah Fleming; Hosting From a Haven in the Hood; Black Issues Book Review (Fairfax, Virginia); Nov/Dec 2001.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: