Word of the day

[Richard Frost]

8th July 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

kaput

[ kah-poot, -poot, kuh- ]
adjective

ruined; done for; demolished.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF KAPUT?
The adjective kaput “ruined, done for; out of order,” is used only in predicate position, not in attributive position; that is, you can only say “My car is kaput,” but not “I’ve got a kaput car.” Kaput comes from the German colloquial adjective kaputt “broken, done for, out of order, (of food) spoiled,” which was taken from the German idiom capot machen, a partial translation of the French idioms faire capot and être capot, “to win (or lose) all the tricks (in the card game piquet).” Faire capot literally means “to make a bonnet or hood,” and its usage in piquet may be from an image of throwing a hood over, or hoodwinking one’s opponent. Unsurprisingly, kaput became widely used in English early in World War I.

HOW IS KAPUT USED?
“Is it as bad as that?” He shook his head. “It’s worse. If we get caught, all this is kaput. Kaput, you hear? Gone. Lost. Forever.” - HARRY TURTLEDOVE, THE GLADIATOR, 2007

The business of a woman I know has gone kaput and 15 employees are facing the sack. - DAVID MARR, "ONE DAY WE WILL TELL STORIES OF THE VIRUS, A TIME WHEN WE HELD OUR BREATH PASSING PEOPLE IN THE STREET," THE GUARDIAN, MARCH 27, 2020

[BeautifulSunshine]

The world has gone kaput and Covid-19 is the root cause.

[Richard Frost]

9th July 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

discomfiture

[ dis-kuhm-fi-cher ]
noun

the state of being disconcerted; confusion; embarrassment.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF DISCOMFITURE?
Discomfiture comes from Middle English desconfiture, discomfitoure, discomfiture (and many other spelling variants) “the fact of being defeated in battle; the act of defeating in battle.” One of the first occurrences of the word is in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (after 1387). The Middle English word comes from Old French desconfiture “a defeat, a rout.” The English sense “frustration of hopes or plans,” weakened to “confusion” or “embarrassment,” occurs at the beginning of the 15th century.

HOW IS DISCOMFITURE USED?
She had her cry out, a good, long cry; and when much weeping had dulled the edge of her discomfiture she began to reflect that all was not yet lost. CHARLES WADDELL CHESNUTT, THE COLONEL'S DREAM, 1905

A former critical-care nurse as well as an academic philosopher, Froderberg has carefully contemplated body, soul and their fragile nexus. That pays off superbly as the air thins, and the surrealism of the terrain, the hallucinatory wanderings of oxygen-robbed brains and the discomfiture of sapped bodies converge cinematically. - ALEXANDER C. KAFKA, "ADVENTURE SEEKERS—AND A FEW GHOSTS—MAKE A DANGEROUS TRIP UP A MOUNTAIN IN 'MYSTERIUM,'" WASHINGTON POST, AUGUST 7, 2018

[Richard Frost]

10th July 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

slugabed

[ sluhg-uh-bed ]
noun

a person who lazily stays in bed long after the usual time for arising.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF SLUGABED?
Slugabed is a relatively uncommon noun meaning “a person who lazily stays in bed long after the usual time for arising.” The noun slug, “a snaillike animal; a lazy person, sluggard,” developed from Middle English slugge “a lazy person; slothfulness, the sin of sloth.” Slugge probably comes from Old Icelandic slōkr “clumsy person,” Swedish and Norwegian dialect slok “lazy person,” Danish slog “rascal, rogue.” The element –a– is simply a reduced form of the Old English preposition on “on, in, into”; bed comes from Old English bedd, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root bhedh-, bhodh– “to dig, bury,” from which Latin derives fodere “to dig” and fossa “a ditch, trench, groove”; the Celtic languages have Welsh bedd, Cornish bedh, and Breton béz, all three meaning “a grave.” Slugabed entered English in the late 16th century.


HOW IS SLUGABED USED?
“Auntie…” he said. “Don’t you Auntie me, you slugabed! There’s toads to be buried and stoops to be washed. Why are you never around when it’s time for chores?” - MICHAEL SWANWICK, "KING DRAGON," THE DRAGON QUINTET, 2003

‘I am not a slug-a-bed, Harriet.’ Asobel’s voice was high and clear across the garden, ‘I get up as soon as my eyes pop open.’ - BARBARA EWING, THE TRESPASS, 2002

[kevinchess1]

This is a V old word, hardly used nowadays.
The up to date word is 'DuvetDay.'

[Richard Frost]

This is a V old word, hardly used nowadays.
The up to date word is 'DuvetDay.'

Where have I posted that it is my intention to only post words from particular eras?

I would suggest that Duvet Day is two words and has (Currently) a completely different meaning

A duvet day is a formal allowance of time off given by some employers, most commonly in the United Kingdom and United States.[1][2] It differs from holiday allowance in that no prior notice is needed. Employees receive an allocation of days where if they do not want to go to work for any reason they can use a duvet day. The name is a reference to the item of bedding.

Duvet days were originally given to employees by UK company August One Communications in 1997,[2] and the idea has grown in popularity as some companies aim to address the changing work-life climate where people work longer hours. It can be stipulated formally in a contract of employment and is considered part of the remunerations package along with holiday allowance. The term has also since become used by people to reference taking a day off work for no normally accepted reason (such as mild sickness, grievance or holiday) even if they have no official duvet day entitlement with their employer.

In the Indian subcontinent, this is historically called a casual leave.[citation needed] Employees usually are sanctioned a fixed number of days off (usually 12 per year for government and 8-12 for private employees). These days can be taken with or without planning. Since these leave days could not be accumulated or carried over into the next year, they would expire at the year end. This created a tendency to utilize all the left over casual leave in November and December. The Indian casual leave has been around for more than 50 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duvet_day

duvet day
noun [ C ] UK informal
duː.veɪ ˌdeɪ/

a day off work, not because you are ill but because you need some time to rest:
The company is one of many who now offer two duvet days a year, for when employees just can't face getting out of bed.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... /duvet-day

[Richard Frost]

SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

ductile

[ duhk-tl, -til ]
adjective

capable of being molded or shaped; plastic.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF DUCTILE?
The adjective ductile, “capable of being molded or shaped; plastic,” comes from Middle English ductil, “beaten out or shaped with a hammer,” from Old French ductile or Latin ductilis, “capable of being led along a course; malleable, ductile.” Ductilis is a derivative of duct-, the past participle stem of the verb dūcere “to draw along with, conduct, lead,” one of the verb’s dozens of meanings being the relatively rare “to model or mold material; draw out (metal) into wire.” In modern technical usage, ductile is restricted to “capable of being drawn out into wire or threads,” a quality of the noble metals such as silver and gold; malleable in technical usage covers the sense “capable of being hammered or rolled out into thin sheets,” another quality of the noble metals. Ductile entered English in the 14th century.

HOW IS DUCTILE USED?
Ductile and sensuous, paint hugs the flat photographic forms of Leiter’s nudes in a tailor-made mantle. -MONA GAINER-SALIM, "SAUL LEITER'S PAINTED NUDES," THE NEW YORKER, MAY 19, 2015

she cheerfully proposed reading; complied with the first request that was made her to play upon the piano-forte and the harp; and even, to sing; though, not so promptly; for her voice and sensibility were less ductile than her manners. - FRANCES BURNEY, THE WANDERER; OR, FEMALE DIFFICULTIES, 1814

[Richard Frost]

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

rhathymia

[ ruh-thahy-mee-uh ]
noun

carefree behavior; light-heartedness.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF RHATHYMIA?
Rhathymia “carefree behavior, lightheartedness” comes straight from Greek rhāthȳmía (also rhāithȳmía, rhāḯthȳmía) “easiness of temper, taking things easy.” Rhāthȳmía is a derivative of the adjective rhā́ithȳmos “easygoing, good-tempered,” but also “frivolous; indifferent, slack.” The first part of rhāthȳmía is the adverb rhã, rhéa, rheīa “easily, lightly” (its further etymology is unknown). The second element of rhāthȳmía is a derivative of the noun thȳmós “soul, spirit, mind, life, breath.” The combining form of thȳmós, –thȳmía, is used in English in the formation of compound nouns denoting mental disorders, such as dysthymia, alexithymia, and cyclothymia. Rhathymia entered English in the first half of the 20th century.

HOW IS RHATHYMIA USED?
Rhathymia is the preferred mode of presentation of the self. - DONALD BARTHELME, "PARAGUAY," THE NEW YORKER, SEPTEMBER 6, 1969

From this sprang slackness, rhathymia, long delays in reaching decisions or paying out salaries, and downright callousness in ignoring positive distress. - E. G. TURNER, "PTOLEMAIC EGYPT," THE CAMBRIDGE ANCIENT HISTORY, VOL. 7, PART 1, 2ND ED., 1984

[macliam]

I forgot to check yesterday... "Ductile" is also the expression used by Kiwis to describe stories featuring Donald Duck and family.......

[Richard Frost]

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

bellicose

[ bel-i-kohs ]
adjective

inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; belligerent; pugnacious.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF BELLICOSE?
Bellicose comes directly from Latin bellicōsus “warlike, fond of war,” ultimately from the noun bellum “war, warfare” and the adjective suffix –ōsus “full of, abounding in,” the source, via Anglo French and Old French, of the English suffixes –ose and –ous. The usual classical form bellum comes from preclassical duellum (the further origin of the noun is unknown), which remained in classical Latin as a poetic and archaic variant of bellum. Duellum in Vulgar and Medieval Latin developed the sense “an arranged combat between two people, according to a code of procedure,” English duel, from a mistaken etymological connection with duo “two.” Bellicose entered English in the second half of the 15th century.

HOW IS BELLICOSE USED?
I was always inappropriately dressed, and inappropriately calibrated in tone: In one instance, I was too deferential; in another, too bellicose. - TA-NEHISI COATES, "MY PRESIDENT WAS BLACK," THE ATLANTIC, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

Although North Korea has often sounded incorrigibly bellicose, it has proved​ to be a shrewd ​strategist capable of judging when to throttle up the tensions and when to pull back on them. -CHOE SANG-HUN, "FOR NORTH KOREA, BLOWING HOT AND COLD IS PART OF THE STRATEGY," NEW YORK TIMES, JUNE 24, 2020