Word of the day strikes back

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Richard Frost
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Sat Jul 03 2021 10:28am

Word of the Day : July 3, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

inimical
adjective ih-NIM-ih-kul

Definition
1 : being adverse often by reason of hostility or malevolence

2 a : having the disposition of an enemy : hostile

b : reflecting or indicating hostility : unfriendly

Did You Know?
In inimical, one finds both a friend and an enemy. The word descends from Latin inimicus, which combines amicus, meaning "friend," with the negative prefix in-, meaning "not." In current English, inimical rarely describes a person, however. Instead, it is generally used to describe forces, concepts, or situations that are in some way harmful or hostile. For example, high inflation may be called "inimical" to economic growth. Inimicus is also an ancestor of enemy, whereas amicus gave English the much more congenial amicable (meaning "friendly" or "peaceful") and amiable (meaning "agreeable" or "friendly").

Examples
"We've walked around the beautiful island as the often inimical sea sprayed the granite rocks and we've enjoyed an ice cream or a Devonshire tea and walked back, windswept and happy." — Peter Goers, The Advertiser (Australia), 15 May 2021

"For the first time in months, the outside wasn't inimical and I didn't have to don protective clothing to be in it; I could walk straight out, as I was, and feel comfortable and relaxed." — Melissa Harrison, The New Statesman, 3 Mar. 2021
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Sun Jul 04 2021 9:30am

Word of the Day : July 4, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

patriot
noun PAY-tree-ut

Definition
: one who loves and supports his or her country

Did You Know?
To be called a patriot—the word ultimately derives from Greek patrios, meaning "of one's father,"—is today considered an honour, but it wasn't always this way. For much of the 17th century, to be deemed a "good patriot" was to be a lover of one's country who agreed on political and/or religious matters with whoever was doing the deeming. British loyalists applied the word like a badge to supporters of the ruling monarchy, but then the word took on negative connotations as it was applied first to hypocritical patriots—those who espoused loyalty to the Crown but whose actions belied that espousal, and then to outright anti-royalists. But in the 18th century, American writers, including Benjamin Franklin, embraced patriot to define the colonists who took action against British control. After the American Revolutionary War, patriot settled back into more neutral use, but to this day writers on both sides of the aisle grapple over the word.

Examples
"He had never been a very conscious patriot, but it vexed him to see [the United States] treated as little better than a vulgar smell in his friend's nostrils, and he finally broke out and swore that they were the greatest country in the world, that they could put all Europe into their breeches' pockets, and that an American who spoke ill of them ought to be carried home in irons and compelled to live in Boston." — Henry James, The American, 1877

"'The brave and spirited 'Ghost Army' veterans [members of top-secret U.S. Army units] made critical contributions to American victories and successes during World War II,' said Senator [Edward] Markey…. 'This bill seeks to lift their contributions out of the darkness and honour these patriots for their courage, skill, and bravery, which successfully guided America towards the Allied victory in World War II.'" — Congressional Documents and Publications, 28 May 2021
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Jul 05 2021 9:46am

Word of the Day : July 5, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

quondam
adjective KWAHN-dum

Definition
: former, sometime

Did You Know?
Looking for an unusual and creative way to say "former"? Quondam (which came to English in the 16th century from Latin quondam, meaning "at one time" or "formerly") certainly fits the bill. Or maybe you'd prefer one of its synonyms: whilom, ci-devant, or preterit. Or you could really go crazy with umquhile, a word that is extremely rare even in its more natural Scots English setting. Quondam itself isn't exactly ubiquitous, but it's used more than any of the other words above. If you're looking for something a bit more pedestrian, you might try yet another synonym: erstwhile. Despite its wonderfully archaic flavor, erstwhile is a highly favoured alternative.

Examples
Many people were surprised to learn that the quondam poet and professor had since become an accountant.

"It was in that spirit that Vladimir Putin, the quondam KGB man who rules Russia, addressed his nation and the world Tuesday on the annexation of Crimea." — Charles Lane, The Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2014
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Tue Jul 06 2021 9:34am

Word of the Day : July 6th 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of ... 2021-04-01

wigged-out[/b]

adjective WIGD-OUT

Definition
: mentally or emotionally discomposed : upset, crazy

Did You Know?
The wig in wigged-out is the one you don to change or enhance your appearance. Wig has been in use since the late 17th century, when it was adopted as a clipped form of periwig, itself denoting a manufactured covering of natural or synthetic hair for the head. The source of periwig is Middle French perruque (source also of the synonym peruque). In the American slang of the mid-20th century, the word wig was moving into new territory: wig became a word for the mind, and to "wig out" was to lose one's composure or reason. The idiom "flip one's wig" also came into use (sharing the "to become crazy or very angry" meaning of the very similar "flip one's lid"), and the adjective wigged-out found a home in the language too, describing anyone who was mentally or emotionally discomposed.

Examples
"The idea that you might take a television drama very seriously is accepted now.… The difference with Buffy was that the delivery mechanism was teenage-girl-focused horror, just as David Lynch's Twin Peaks was supposedly just a wigged-out soap and Hill Street Blues was technically a police procedural." — Patrick Freyne, The Irish Times, 5 Jan. 2021

"Pete Davidson's slow, stoned persona, mixing confessional revelation and wigged-out understatement, is one of the most original and charming in current comedy." — Noah Berlatsky, NBCNews.com, 12 June 2020
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Tue Jul 06 2021 10:33am

Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the day is 'pish-monger', 17th century: one who treats others with scornful contempt (as if constantly uttering a dismissive 'pish!').
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 57379?s=20

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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Wed Jul 07 2021 9:38am

WEDNESDAY, JULY 07, 2021 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

fantast

[ fan-tast ]
noun

a visionary or dreamer.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF FANTAST?
Fantast, “a visionary or dreamer,” comes via German Fantast, Phantast (with the same meaning), via Medieval Latin phantasta, from Greek phantastḗs “an ostentatious person, boaster” (that is, someone who talks about their exaggerated fantasies). Phantastḗs ultimately derives from the verb phantázein “to make visible, present to the eye or mind” and phantázesthai “to become visible, appear.” Fantast entered English in the second half of the 16th century.

HOW IS FANTAST USED?
It would be difficult to describe Browne adequately; exuberant in conception and conceit, dignified, hyper-latinistic, a quiet and sublime enthusiast; yet a fantast, a humourist, a brain with a twist ….
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, "STYLE," FROM "FRAGMENTS AND NOTES, MAINLY FROM THE LECTURES OF 1818," IN MISCELLANIES, AESTHETIC AND LITERARY, 1885

The fantast cannot be taken seriously; he does not even take himself seriously. He kicks his good through all the conventions of all the schools, and invokes “a plague on both your houses” whether of idealism or realism."CHEMICOSCAPES: THE FANTAST," THE CHEMIST AND THE DRUGGIST, DECEMBER 22, 1894
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Thu Jul 08 2021 9:35am

THURSDAY, JULY 08, 2021 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

omnium-gatherum

[ om-nee-uhm-gath-er-uhm ]
noun

a miscellaneous collection.

Omnium-gatherum, “a miscellaneous collection,” has a pretty long history, considering its awkward etymology. A similar word, omnegadrium, occurs about 1430 in Middle English with the meaning “a miscellaneous collection of items in a manuscript.” Omnegadrium is a compound of the familiar Latin combining form omni– “all,” the Middle English verb gaderen “to assemble” (English gather), and the familiar Latin noun suffix –ium. Omnegadrium was re-formed to modern omnium-gatherum, which is a compound of Latin omnium “of all” (the genitive plural of omnis) and the pseudo-Latin word gatherum “a gathering,” formed from gather and the Latin noun suffix –um. Omnium-gatherum entered English in the first half of the 16th century.

HOW IS OMNIUM-GATHERUM USED?
This person wore a large cocked-hat, set rather jauntily on one side, and a black coat, which seemed an omnium-gatherum of all abominations that had come in its way for the last ten years, and which appeared to advance equal claims … to the several dignities of the art military and civil, the arma and the toga ….EDWARD BULWER LYTTON, PELHAM; OR, ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN, 1828

She is best known for collecting dictionaries that represent the very living and breathing edge of the English language: the ragged and ill-defined omnium-gatherum of informal, witty, clever, newborn, and usually impermanent words that constitute what for the past two centuries has been known as slang.
SIMON WINCHESTER, "THE MONGREL SPEECH OF THE STREETS," NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, MARCH 8, 2012
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Fri Jul 09 2021 9:08am

Word of the Day : July 9, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

aleatory

adjective AY-lee-uh-tor-ee
Definition

1 : depending on an uncertain event or contingency as to both profit and loss

2 : relating to luck and especially to bad luck

3 : characterized by chance or indeterminate elements : aleatoric

Did You Know?
If you're the gambling type, then chances are good you've come across aleatory in your travels. Deriving from the Latin noun alea, which refers to a kind of dice game, aleatory was first used in English in the late 17th century to describe things that are dependent on uncertain odds, much like a roll of the dice. The term now describes things that occur by sheer chance or accident, such as the unlucky bounce of a golf shot or the unusual shape of an ink blot. Going a bit further, the term "aleatory music" (also called "aleatoric music" or "chance music") describes a musical composition in which certain parts are left for the performer to concoct through improvisation.

Examples
"Steir paints using a carefully choreographed aleatory process ... informed by her interest in Zen meditation and Japanese and Chinese art-making traditions. Standing on a cherry picker to reach the top of her canvas…, Steir pours, flings or swabs a line of paint, then patiently waits for it to trickle down in rivulets." — Julia Felsenthal, The New York Times, 21 July 2020

"We got very, very lucky. Because the University might as well have rolled a die and hoped for the best…. I'm not trying to undermine the administration's tireless efforts to maintain safety, but I'm entirely willing to call the success of Go Forward what it is: aleatory." — Ketan Sengupta, The Chicago Maroon (The University of Chicago), 19 Jan. 2021
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Sat Jul 10 2021 8:58am

SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2021 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

droke

[ drohk ]
noun

a valley with steeply sloping sides.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF DROKE?
The rare noun droke has two meanings: “a valley with steeply sloping sides” and “a thicket of small trees or bushes.” Droke is restricted pretty much to Canada—the Atlantic Provinces (New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) and the Northwest Territories. Droke has no established etymology; but the dialects of the West Country, a loosely defined area of southwest England comprising Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset (at least), record the nouns drock “a wooden part of a plow” and droke “a furrow or ditch; an underground watercourse.” Droke entered English in the second half of the 18th century.

HOW IS DROKE USED?
We sometimes went berry picking in nearby areas, but we were cautioned not to wander too far because in certain drokes, small valleys, lived fairies who might spirit us away. "JOHNNY MILLER: A DANCE OR RING GAME FROM BRIGUS, 1971," MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION, MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND FOLKLORE AND LANGUAGE ARCHIVE

There’s more, but they’re not all worth a mention. Except for me and Mom over in Frogmarsh. And Jas Kelly, he’s up the droke a piece. MICHAEL WINTER, THE BIG W
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Word of the day

Post by Richard Frost » Sun Jul 11 2021 8:58am

Word of the Day : July 11, 2021 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

nonplus

verb nahn-PLUS

Definition
: to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do : perplex

Did You Know?
Does nonplus perplex you? You aren't alone. Some people believe the non in nonplus means "not," and assume that to be nonplussed is to be calm and poised, but in fact the opposite is true. If you are among the baffled, the word's history may clarify things. In Latin, non plus means "no more." When nonplus debuted in English in the 16th century, it was used as a noun synonymous with quandary. Someone brought to a nonplus had reached an impasse in an argument and could say no more. In short time, people began applying nonplus as a verb, and today it is often used in participial form with the meaning "perplexed" (as in "Joellen's strange remark left us utterly nonplussed").

Examples
The student's unexpected about-face during the class discussion nonplussed the teacher.

"Lattimer and Warnick are suitably nonplussed when the Coveys' nemesis arrives in the form of a rather robotic 19-year-old, dressed like an exorcist in his long overcoat and wide-brimmed hat, clearly unpracticed in social customs." — Melinda Miller, The Buffalo (New York) News, 16 Apr. 2021

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