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Post by David on Oct 31, 2020 3:09:42 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof (White House).
-John Adams, 2nd US President, and the first one to live in the White House (30 Oct 1735-1826)
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Post by David on Nov 3, 2020 2:40:17 GMT
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
James Nicoll, a book reviewer, once said:
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore.
We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
Or as Mary Trump would say: Too Much and Never Enough.
" Referring to 'The Donald@
Given its colorful history, it’s no wonder the English language boasts one of the largest vocabulary of any language.*
Who knows, perhaps Forbes magazine is working on an annual list of Richest Languages in the World.
English has acquired its vocabulary from far and wide. One might say that some words were forced into English’s pockets
when England was ruled by the Vikings and Normans and it acquired others when it itself went plundering around the world.
This week we’ll take a tour of its golden mansion and see artifacts acquired (or “borrowed”, in linguistics) from languages around the world.
*Counting number of words in a language is not an exact science. For starters, what counts as a word?
The question is not as simple as it sounds. Run (verb) and run (noun) : two separate words or one? Singular and plural forms? Runs, ran, running? And so on.
cushy
PRONUNCIATION:
(KOO-shee)
MEANING:
adjective:
1. Easy; not burdensome.
2. Soft; comfortable.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Hindi/Urdu khushi (pleasure, happiness), from Persian khushi. The second sense probably influenced by the word cushion. Earliest documented use: 1887.
USAGE:
“Few relish the thought of losing a cushy job in a recession.”
Google Grows Up; The Economist (London, UK); Aug 1, 2020.
See more usage examples of cushy in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Nov 3, 2020 2:41:13 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We have probed the earth, excavated it, burned it, ripped things from it, buried things in it,
chopped down its forests, levelled its hills, muddied its waters, and dirtied its air.
That does not fit my definition of a good tenant. If we were here on a month-to-month basis,
we would have been evicted long ago.
-Rose Bird, Chief Justice of California Supreme Court (2 Nov 1936-1999)
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Post by David on Nov 3, 2020 5:53:53 GMT
pogonip
PRONUNCIATION:
(POG-uh-nip)
MEANING:
noun: A dense winter fog having ice particles.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Shoshone paγinappih (cloud). Earliest documented use: 1860.
USAGE:
“The valley floor is covered with a blanket of snow, the trees glisten with the shimmering ice crystals of pogonip and the holiday season is almost over.”
Wendy Hanson Mazet; Live Christmas Tree After-Care; Reno Gazette-Journal (Nevada); Dec 28, 2013.
See more usage examples of pogonip in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Nov 3, 2020 5:54:27 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting,
or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some diehard's vote.
-David Foster Wallace, novelist, essayist, and short story writer (21 Feb 1962-2008)
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Post by David on Nov 4, 2020 16:12:13 GMT
pishogue
PRONUNCIATION:
(pi-SHOHG)
MEANING:
noun: Sorcery; witchcraft; spell.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Irish piseog (witchcraft). Earliest documented use: 1829.
USAGE:
“You have totally glamoured me with your pishogue.”
N.E. Tovell; Tides of the Undead; iUniverse; 2011.
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Post by David on Nov 4, 2020 16:12:54 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Too many people spend money they haven't earned,
to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like.
-Will Rogers, humorist (4 Nov 1879-1935)
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Post by David on Nov 5, 2020 23:07:52 GMT
zarf
PRONUNCIATION:
(zarf)
MEANING:
noun: A sleeve or holder designed to hold a hot cup.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Arabic zarf (container, sheath). Earliest documented use: 1836.
USAGE:
“He brought steaming conical cups in plastic zarfs, two by two, to the craving, sobering hands all around him.”
Jonathan Franzen; The Twenty-Seventh City; Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 1988.
See more usage examples of zarf in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
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Post by David on Nov 5, 2020 23:08:31 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet (5 Nov 1850-1919)
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Post by David on Nov 7, 2020 1:06:56 GMT
picaro
PRONUNCIATION:
(PEE-kuh-roh)
MEANING:
noun: A rogue; an adventurer.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Spanish picaro (rogue). Earliest documented use: 1622. Also see picaresque and picaroon.
USAGE:
“Too often his bedeviling qualities get passed over as the colorful traits of a picaro.”
Lee Siegel; The Tower of Babel; The Nation (New York); Nov 17, 2005.
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Post by David on Nov 7, 2020 1:07:39 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I don't think that combat has ever been written about truthfully; it has always been described in terms of bravery and cowardice.
I won't even accept these words as terms of human reference any more. And anyway, hell, they don't even apply to what, in actual fact, modern warfare has become.
-James Jones, novelist (6 Nov 1921-1977)
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Post by David on Nov 9, 2020 17:22:12 GMT
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
All present; everyone in order. We are not talking about some school assembly or a military drill.
It’s about vowels, a, e, i, o, u, all of them present and in order. This week we’ve picked five such words.
To many of these words you can add the suffix -ly to introduce the sometime-vowel y and still keep them all in order.
What everyday phrases can you think of that have all the five vowels in order
Share them below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Here are two to get you started: “trade-discount” and “have it out”.
anemious
PRONUNCIATION:
(uh-NEE-mi-uhs)
MEANING:
adjective: Growing in windy conditions.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek anemos (wind). Earliest documented use: 1879.
USAGE:
“By late afternoon the light that washed over the garden turned it into a lake of gold, with islands of shadow;
the blown lilies, the long tendrils of roses and the anemious grasses streamed like plants that grow in water.”
Edith Pope; River in the Wind; Scribner; 1954.
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Post by David on Nov 9, 2020 17:23:09 GMT
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.
Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that,
in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.
Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on
the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings,
how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (9 Nov 1934-1996)
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Post by David on Nov 10, 2020 3:50:58 GMT
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Post by David on Nov 10, 2020 17:08:53 GMT
acedious
PRONUNCIATION:
(uh-SEE-dee-uhs)
MEANING:
adjective: Characterized by apathy, boredom, or sloth.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin acedia, from Greek akedia, from a- (not) + kedos (care). Earliest documented use: 1609. Also see acedia.
USAGE:
“His life of shameless self-indulgence, love of hunting, and scornful disregard of the rule in matters of labor, study,
and claustration [confinement] show him to be an acedious monk.”
Robert M. Correale & Mary Hamel; Sources and Analogues of the Canterbury Tales, Volume 2; D.S. Brewer; 2002.
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