Word of the day strikes back

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Richard Frost
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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Fri Oct 08 2021 10:45am

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 08, 2021
vespertine


[ ves-per-tin, -tahyn ]
adjective

of, relating to, or occurring in the evening.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF VESPERTINE?
Vespertine “of, relating to, or occurring in the evening” derives from Latin vesper “evening,” which comes from a Proto-Indo-European root with the same sense. Through this root, vesper is a cognate of the English term west, with a shift in definition because of the direction of the sunset. As we learned with the recent Word of the Day aureate, which may be related to east and Latin aurōra “dawn,” there is often an overlap between the cardinal directions and the location of the sun. Another distant relative of vesper is Ancient Greek hésperos “evening,” and its derivative Hesperus “evening star” is a nickname for the planet Venus. Vespertine was first recorded in English at the turn of the 16th century.

HOW IS VESPERTINE USED?
A bluish evening moved in, almost as if the quietened sun wanted to aid the approaching transaction, which Schumann felt in his bones might offer an answer or at least redefine the question. An un-fog-like mist came in from the Thames and mated with the vespertine light. The millions of bricks that defined, that contained the institution tried to absorb it, and some part of them did. BRIAN CATLING, THE ERSTWHILE, 2016

Up Broadway Chandler moved with the vespertine dress parade. For this evening he was an exhibit as well as a gazer. … [H]e was a true son of the great city of razzle-dazzle, and to him one evening in the limelight made up for many dark ones. O. HENRY, "LOST ON DRESS PARADE," THE FOUR MILLION, 1906

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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sat Oct 09 2021 9:19am

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2021
armscye


[ ahrm-sahy, -zahy ]
noun

the armhole opening in a garment through which the hand, and then the arm, passes, and to which a sleeve may be attached.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF ARMSCYE?
Armscye “the armhole opening in a garment” is a compound of arm and the Scots term scye “armhole.” Because scye is a borrowing from another dialect and of unknown origin, a common misinterpretation is that armscye derives from a phrase such as “arm’s eye.” This mistake is known as an eggcorn, which is a type of folk etymology that refers to the alteration of a word or phrase that has been misheard or misinterpreted. The word eggcorn itself comes from a mistaken belief that acorn, which is of Old English origin, is a recent compound of Modern English egg and corn. Other eggcorns that may ring a bell include free reign instead of the correct free rein and for all intensive purposes instead of the correct for all intents and purposes. Armscye was first recorded in English in the 1920s.

HOW IS ARMSCYE USED?
Whatever his errands were in the city, they’d involved having his beard trimmed and changing into a suit of new clothes, a sad grey-blue that well suited his olive complexion. Lightning-like lines of gold lace picked out the seams …. t was only at close quarters that you could see the coarseness of the weave and the straining lines across the back under the armscye that told of poor tailoring. SUZANNAH ROWNTREE, THE CITY BEYOND THE GLASS, 2018

And then I saw the muscles bunched in his shoulders that had strained the threads of the armscye apart, the heft of his chest, the improbable narrowness of his hips. Hero, with wing, grounded. GUY DAVENPORT, "A FIELD OF SNOW ON THE SLOPE OF THE ROSENBERG," DAVINCI'S BICYCLE, 1979


https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sun Oct 10 2021 8:56am

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2021
toujours perdrix


[ too-zhoor per-dree ]

too much of a good thing.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF TOUJOURS PERDRIX?
Toujours perdrix “too much of a good thing” is a direct borrowing of two French words: toujours “always” and perdrix “partridge.” Toujours derives from an Old French phrase meaning “all days” and is equivalent to Modern French tous jours. Tous (masculine singular tout) comes from Latin tōtus “whole, entire,” which is also the source of total and the Italian flavor tutti frutti “all fruits,” while jours (singular jour) comes from Latin diurnus “daily, of the day,” derivatives of which include diurnal and journal. The phrase toujours perdrix is allegedly connected to King Henri IV of France, whose spiritual adviser loved to eat partridge but, upon being served partridge for every meal, grew tired, frustrated, and spiteful of the dish. Toujours perdrix was first recorded in English in the early 1800s.

HOW IS TOUJOURS PERDRIX USED?
His new landlady’s ideas on the subject of cooking were of the most limited character. She gave him weak tea and bacon for breakfast without any apparent consciousness of the fact that such luxuries pall upon the taste by constant repetition, and that a diet of toujours perdrix wearies the meekest soul.
MARGARET OLIPHANT WILSON, THE THREE BROTHERS, 1870

Quitting Auxerre, we passed a large stone cistern, with a cross on the top; several loaded donkeys were drinking here, and some women washing clothes; it was altogether a picturesque group, and singular to an English eye. Vineyards, vineyards, vineyards! toujours perdrix! I was quite tired of them at last.
MARIANNE BAILLIE, FIRST IMPRESSIONS ON A TOUR UPON THE CONTINENT IN THE SUMMER OF 1818, 1819

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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Oct 11 2021 9:35am

Monday 11th October 2021

miasma


[mɪˈazmə, mʌɪˈazmə]
NOUN

literary
an unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapour.
"a miasma of stale alcohol hung around him"

synonyms:
stink · reek · stench · smell · odour · malodour

an oppressive or unpleasant atmosphere which surrounds or emanates from something.

"there was a miasma of despair over this place"

https://www.bing.com/search?q=define+miasma

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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Mon Oct 11 2021 2:29pm

Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the day is 'pessundate' (17th century): to cast down or ruin (e.g. 'this country feels pretty pessundated right now').
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 44235?s=20
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Wed Oct 13 2021 9:31am

Word of the Day : October 13, 2021

odious

adjective OH-dee-us

What It Means
Odious means "causing strong hatred or dislike."

The biography is an in-depth account of one of the most odious serial killers in American history.

Examples
"There are probably few things more emotion-laden and odious as taxes. But for a society to function for the common good, they are a necessary evil." — William P. Cawley, The Richmond (Virginia) Times Dispatch, 15 Sept. 2021

Did You Know?
Odious comes from Latin odiosus; that adjective is from the word for "hatred," odium. Odium is related to the English verb annoy, and it is used in English to mean "hatred" or "disgrace."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

"Some people find the current government odious" — Richard Frost, imutual, 13th October 2021

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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Thu Oct 14 2021 10:44am

Word of the Day : October 14, 2021

cabal

noun kuh-BAHL

What It Means
A cabal is a group secretly united in a plot.

// Military police arrested members of the cabal who were planning to overthrow the government.

Examples
"February 14? … That's an arbitrary date picked by a cabal of florists and greeting card manufacturers. Love can happen any time of the year…." — Bruce Gravel, Peterborough (Ontario) This Week, 4 Feb. 2021

Did You Know?
Cabal has been associated with a group of five ministers in the government of England's King Charles II. The initial letters of the names or titles of those men (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale) spelled cabal, and they have been collectively dubbed as the "Cabal Cabinet" or "Cabal Ministry." But these five names are not the source of the word cabal, which was in use decades before Charles II ascended the throne. The term traces back to cabbala, the Medieval Latin name for the Kabbalah, a traditional system of esoteric Jewish mysticism. Latin borrowed Cabbala from the Hebrew qabbālāh, meaning "received or traditional lore."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sat Oct 16 2021 10:18am

Word of the Day : October 16, 2021

gossamer
adjective GAH-suh-mer

What It Means
Gossamer means "extremely light, delicate, or tenuous."

// Except for a few gossamer clouds, the sky was clear and blue.

Examples
"The dragonfly is our state insect…. As a beautiful predator with gossamer wings…, this insect deserves far more appreciation." — Barbara Hunt, The Mat-Su Valley (Alaska) Frontiersman, 2 Aug. 2021

Did You Know?
In the days of Middle English, a period of mild weather in late autumn or early winter was sometimes called a gossomer, literally "goose summer." People may have chosen that name for a late-season warm spell because October and November were the months when people felt that geese were at their best for eating. Gossomer was also used in Middle English as a word for filmy cobwebs floating through the air in calm, clear weather, apparently because somebody thought the webs looked like the down of a goose. This sense eventually inspired the adjective gossamer, which means "light, delicate, or tenuous"—just like cobwebs or goose down.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sun Oct 17 2021 10:48am

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2021

colubrine


[ kol-uh-brahyn, -brin, -yuh- ]
adjective

of or resembling a snake; snakelike.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF COLUBRINE?
Colubrine “of or resembling a snake” derives from the Latin adjective colubrīnus, of the same meaning, from coluber “snake.” Despite the similar spelling, coluber is not the source of coil, the circular gathering movement that typifies snakes; coil derives instead from the Latin verb colligere “to gather together,” and coil’s resemblance to colubrine is a happy coincidence. Much as English has multiple names for wolverines, as we learned in yesterday’s Word of the Day podcast about quickhatch, the Romans had several words for snakes. In addition to coluber, two other Latin terms meaning “snake” that have descendants in English were dracō and serpēns, which you may also recognize as constellations. From dracō, originally a borrowing from Ancient Greek, we have dragon as well as draconian and the name of an antagonist in the Harry Potter book series. From serpēns, literally meaning “crawling,” English has serpent and serpentine. Colubrine was first recorded in English in the 1520s.

HOW IS COLUBRINE USED?
On that lonely island in Aasha’s picture Chellam wanders … Inside her head a dozen snakes lie coiled around one another in a heavy mass. Inside her belly stands a tiny matchstick figure, a smaller version of herself … This matchstick representation of Chellam is accurate in at least one respect: there is indeed a terrible colubrine knot of bad memories and black questions inside Chellam’s head that will die with her, unhatched. PREETA SAMARASAN, EVENING IS THE WHOLE DAY, 2008

Moore uses quotations most often to describe the male figure, and in reshaping the words of male writers, she undercuts both his character and language …. The snippet of [Philip] Littell’s words in the poem is “something feline, / something colubrine.” In different ways, the two adjectives reflect a certain denigration of male power. A description of a male figure as colubrine has phallic overtones, but also the negative connotations of a snake; feline is typically used in reference to a female… ELISABETH W. JOYCE, "THE COLLAGE OF 'MARRIAGE': MARIANNE MOORE'S FORMAL AND CULTURAL CRITIQUE," MOSAIC, VOL. 26, FALL 1993

https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Oct 18 2021 10:53am

Word of the Day : October 18, 2021

zaftig


adjective ZAHF-tig

What It Means
Zaftig means "having a full, rounded figure."

// Portraits of zaftig models are exhibited in the artist's collection.

Examples
"The photography exhibition revels in depictions of Coney Island, including Lisette Model's widely-reproduced 1939-40 portrait of a zaftig woman … laughing as waves lap at her feet…." — Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 29 Aug. 2021

Did You Know?
Zaftig is one of a number of Yiddish-derived words that entered the English language during the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. It comes from Yiddish zaftik, which means "juicy" or "succulent" and itself derives from zaft, meaning "juice" or "sap."

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