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Post by David on Aug 17, 2022 2:41:14 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
O, what a tangled web we weave, / When first we practice to deceive!
-Walter Scott, novelist and poet (15 Aug 1771-1832)
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Post by David on Aug 17, 2022 2:42:03 GMT
miniate PRONUNCIATION: (MIN-ee-ayt)
MEANING: verb tr.: 1. To decorate a manuscript, book, etc., with colors, gold, silver, etc. 2. To paint in red, titles, headings, or important parts of a book or manuscript.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin miniatus (illuminated), past participle of miniare (to color red with cinnabar), from minium (cinnabar, a red mineral of mercury). Earliest documented use: 1610.
NOTES: What’s the defining characteristic of a miniature painting? You might say that it’s very small and you’d be right, but if you believe the meanings of words shouldn’t be allowed to change, your miniature art can be in red only. It’s an etymological fallacy to insist that a word should mean what it originally meant. The word miniature is not related with the words such as minimize, minimum, and minor, which are from Latin minimus (least). Rather, the word miniature is from Latin minium (cinnabar, a red mineral). A miniature painting originally was one that was illuminated with minium, and because such paintings were small, the word miniature came to be associated with small things. A similar story goes with the word rubric. Today, a rubric doesn’t have to be in red even though originally it was, from Latin ruber (red).
USAGE: “There, after the fall of the Soviet empire, the goods from distant Asian lands -- Siberian caviar, miniated manuscripts, Uzbek fabrics, ... were now back in full display.” Arianna Dagnino; Transcultural Writers and Novels in the Age of Global Mobility; Purdue University Press; 2015.
See more usage examples of miniate in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Aug 17, 2022 2:42:52 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.
-Jean de la Bruyere, essayist and moralist (16 Aug 1645-1696) |
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Post by David on Aug 25, 2022 3:32:54 GMT
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
Recently, I came across a sign in big bold letters that said: “Total Attrition”. Must be the latest Hollywood movie, I figured. "Total Attrition"
Looking closer, I realized it was a store that promoted weight loss. Now the name made sense, but isn’t total attrition a bit extreme?
Well, I took a picture of the sign and kept walking. Soon I learned that reality is more prosaic. It was a store named “Total Nutrition”. Leave it to a tree to get in the way of total nutrition.
I still think the “Total Attrition” idea has merit. Until that film comes out, we’ll look at five terms inspired by actual movie titles that are now a part of the English language.
What movie titles do you use as metaphors? What movie titles would you like to see become a part of the language? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state).
groundhog day PRONUNCIATION: (GRAUND-hog day)
MEANING: noun: A situation in which events are repeated as if in a loop, especially when such events are of a tedious or monotonous nature.
ETYMOLOGY: After the 1993 film Groundhog Day in which the lead character, a television weatherman, relives a day in a time loop. Earliest documented use: 1994.
NOTES: Groundhog Day is observed every year on Feb 2 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The day is named after a superstitious belief that if a groundhog sees his shadow, that is, if that day is sunny, there will be six more weeks of winter. If that particular day is cloudy instead, it would mean an early spring. In reality, the success rate would be higher if they just tossed a coin instead of abusing the animal in a vapid ceremony. The film Groundhog Day shows a TV weatherman on an assignment to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney where he discovers that he is caught in a time loop, where every day he wakes up is a Groundhog Day.
USAGE: “Giaan Rooney: There are no two days that are the same ... and that’s what I needed after the groundhog day experience of a swimming career.” Lisa Mayoh; Pandemic Pause; The Daily Telegraph (Surry Hills, Australia); Jul 23, 2022.
See more usage examples of Groundhog Day in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Aug 25, 2022 3:33:49 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
"Do you ever read any of the books you burn?" "
That's against the law!" "Oh. Of course."
-Ray Bradbury, science-fiction writer (22 Aug 1920-2012)
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Post by David on Aug 25, 2022 3:34:48 GMT
rashomon PRONUNCIATION: (RASH-uh-mahn)
MEANING: adjective: Relating to differing accounts or subjective interpretations of an event.
ETYMOLOGY: After the 1950 Japanese film Rashomon (based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s 1922 short story “In a Grove”) which showed a crime described by different people in different ways. Earliest documented use: 1961.
NOTES: In the film Rashomon, four people (a bandit, a samurai, his wife, and a woodcutter) narrate the details of a crime differently. Their stories are plausible, yet contradictory. The film touches upon the unreliability of eyewitnesses and the subjective nature of truth, reality, and memory. This phenomenon is also known as the Rashomon effect. The traditional story of the elephant and six blind men is another instance of this. It’s good to remember this the next time we feel too confident in our beliefs, perceptions, and experiences. Ultimately, we all can be unreliable narrators.
USAGE: “The rashomon stories recounting the death of Jhondie Maglinte Helis are typical of the Philippines’ war on drugs under President Rodrigo Duterte. ... The officers say they shot and killed the pair after both of them drew guns in an attempt to resist arrest. Civilian witnesses tell a different, if depressingly familiar, story: that the officers captured and summarily executed [them].” Silenced Witness; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 26, 2021.
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Post by David on Aug 25, 2022 3:35:38 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If an animal does something, we call it instinct; if we do the same thing for the same reason, we call it intelligence.
-Will Cuppy, journalist (23 Aug 1884-1949) |
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:17:36 GMT
King Kong PRONUNCIATION: (king KONG)
MEANING: noun: Something or someone of great size, strength, etc. adjective: Huge.
ETYMOLOGY: After the title character of the 1933 film King Kong that depicts a huge ape-like monster. Earliest documented use: 1933.
USAGE: “I am getting a King Kong headache, and if it holds true to form, we have about ten minutes to finish our business here, while I can still think.” Christine Michels; A Season Of Miracles; Silhouette; 1998.
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:18:39 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night
without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses
idle details, just as our memory does.
-Jorge Luis Borges, writer (24 Aug 1899-1986) |
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:19:31 GMT
Mad Max PRONUNCIATION: (mad MAKS)
MEANING: adjective: Dystopian, post-apocalyptic, anarchic.
ETYMOLOGY: After the 1979 film Mad Max and its sequels that portray a world marked by anarchy and extreme violence. Earliest documented use: 1986.
USAGE: “For the humans who survived, it’s turned into a Mad Max, dog-eat-dog nightmare, while shifters and wizards have forged communities in the forest away from the violence.” Nikki Jefford, et al; Once Upon A Quest; Fiddlehead Press; 2018.
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:20:09 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We have met the enemy and he is us.
-Walt Kelly, cartoonist (25 Aug 1913-1973) |
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:21:19 GMT
Godzilla PRONUNCIATION: (GOD/guhd-zil-uh)
MEANING: noun: 1. Someone or something of enormous size. 2. Someone or something fierce, frightening, monstrous, etc.
ETYMOLOGY: After the 1954 Japanese film Gojira released in the US in 1956 as Godzilla. The film features an enormous dinosaur-like monster. Earliest documented use: 1965.
USAGE: “She’d had too much to drink. ... She’d known she would wake up with a Godzilla of a hangover.”
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:23:17 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
In the new version of the law of supply and demand,
jobs are so cheap -- as measured by the pay --
that a worker is encouraged to take on as many of them as he/she possibly can.
-Barbara Ehrenreich, journalist and author (b. 26 Aug 1941)
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:23:54 GMT
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Post by David on Aug 26, 2022 4:24:25 GMT
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