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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2004 8:37:57 GMT -5
And appropriate WotD for VT.
The Word of the Day for June 11 is:
polyonymous \pah-lee-ON-uh-muss\ adjective : having or known by various names
Example sentence: The police finally captured the polyonymous criminal when he tried to fly under the name "Elvis Presley."
Did you know? "Polyonymous" comes to us from Greek. The "poly-" part means "many," and the "-onymous" part derives from the Greek word "onoma" or "onyma," meaning "name" -- so a reasonable translation of "polyonymous" is, in fact, "having many names." There are a number of other descendants of "onoma" or "onyma" in English, including "anonymous" ("having no name"), "pseudonym" ("false name"), "eponym" (someone who lends their name to something, or a word that comes from someone's name), and "patronymic" (a name taken from one's father). Even "name" itself is derived from the same ancient word that gave rise to the Greek "onyma," making it a distant cousin of all these name- related words.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2004 8:51:14 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 17 is:
mansuetude \MAN-swih-tood\ noun : the quality or state of being gentle : meekness, tameness
Example sentence: Stella's kitten may give off an air of mansuetude, but don't be fooled -- it will scratch you if you get too close.
Did you know? "Mansuetude" was first used in English in the 14th century, and it derives from the Latin verb "mansuescere," which means "to tame." "Mansuescere" itself comes from the noun "manus" (meaning "hand") and the verb "suescere" ("to accustom" or "to become accustomed"). Unlike "manus," which has many English descendants (including "manner," "emancipate," and "manicure"), "suescere" has only a few English progeny. One of them is "desuetude" (meaning "disuse"), which comes to us by way of Latin "desuescere" ("to become unaccustomed"). Another is "custom," which derives via Anglo-French from Latin "consuescere" ("to accustom").
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2004 9:07:39 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 18 is: doof \doof\ noun 1: 2: 3: Example sentence: Even after he was presented with the facts, the doof continued to insist there was an Iraq-al Qaeda connection. Did you know? "Doof" has been a noun since at least 1656; it was adapted from the French "doufer," which has the same meaning as "doof." More recently, it has been brought into vogue by a VolleyTalk poster named UltraSparC as a synonym for IdahoBoy.* *(R)uffda! goes on record stating he does not believe IdahoBoy is a doof. Gorf, yes. IdahoBoy, no.
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Post by vierra on Jun 18, 2004 19:31:54 GMT -5
Can "doof" be used as a verb?
Just asking.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2004 21:38:09 GMT -5
To doof is human. To undoof devine.
Sure it can!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2004 9:11:20 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 19 is:
caitiff \KAY-tif\ adjective : cowardly, despicable
Example sentence: "The caitiff villain yet seemed... to have some sense of his being the object of public detestation, which made him impatient of being in public." (Sir Walter Scott, _The Heart of Midlothian_)
Bonus sentence: "The caitiff Vice President, twisted into his version of the fetal position, lay whimpering in his bunker."
Did you know? The adjective's more common, but "caitiff" also occurs as a noun meaning "a base, cowardly, or despicable person" (as in Shakespeare's _Measure for Measure_: "O thou caitiff! O thou varlet! O thou wicked Hannibal!"). Both the adjective and the noun came into English in the 14th century, and both evolved from the Anglo-French adjective "caitif," meaning "wretched, despicable." The French word in turn derived from the Latin "captivus," meaning "captive" -- the shift from "captive" to "wretched" perhaps prompted by the perception of captives as wretched and worthy of scorn.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2004 9:22:16 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 22 is:
peremptory \puh-REMP-tuh-ree\ adjective 1 : putting an end to or precluding a right of action, debate, or delay *2 : expressive of urgency or command 3 : marked by arrogant self-assurance : haughty
Example sentence: It's a good idea to obey a police officer's peremptory "Don't stand there!" -- in my case I might have been run over by a bulldozer.
Did you know? "Peremptory" is ultimately from Latin "perimere," which means "to take entirely" and comes from "per-" ("thoroughly") and "emere" ("to take"). "Peremptory" implies the removal of one's option to disagree or contest something. It sometimes suggests an abrupt dictatorial manner combined with an unwillingness to tolerate disobedience or dissent (as in "he was given a peremptory dismissal"). A related term is the adjective "preemptive," which comes from Latin "praeemere" -- "prae-" ("before") plus "emere." "Preemptive" means "marked by the seizing of the initiative" (as in "a preemptive attack").
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2004 9:19:39 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 24 is:
kvell \KVELL\ verb : to be extraordinarily proud : rejoice
Example sentence: "[Critics] will kvell over El Greco's uncanny anticipation of latter-day artistic trends, his proto-cubism, his precocious expressionism...." (Ariella Budick, _Newsday_, October 2003)
Did you know? The history of "kvell" is far from a megillah, so don't kvetch. Etymology-meisters have determined that the word is derived from Yiddish "kveln," meaning "to be delighted," which, in turn, comes from the Middle High German word "quellen," meaning "to well, gush, or swell." The Merriam-Webster mavens whose shtick is dating words have not pinpointed an exact date for the appearance of "kvell" in the English language. They have found an entry for the word in a 1952 handbook of Jewish words and expressions, but actual usage evidence before that date remains unseen. (The words "megillah," "kvetch," "meister," "maven," and "shtick" are also of Yiddish origin.)
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Post by IdahoBoy on Jun 24, 2004 19:12:28 GMT -5
Ahem...
I thought it was Jewel that started with the "Doof" thing... who then was renamed to UltraSparC, who then merged personalities and is referred to as the creature from the poppy lagoon.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2004 9:49:53 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for June 25 is:
redolent \RED-uh-lunt\ adjective 1 : exuding fragrance : aromatic 2 *a : full of a specified fragrance : scented b : evocative, suggestive
Example sentence: The forest grove beside the lake was redolent of pine and spread with a soft carpet of moss and pine needles -- the ideal spot for a picnic.
Did you know? "Redolent" traces back to the Latin verb "olere" ("to smell") and is a relative of "olfactory" ("of, relating to, or connected with the sense of smell"). In its earliest English uses in the 15th century, "redolent" simply meant "having an aroma." Today, it usually applies to a place or thing impregnated with odors, as in "the kitchen was redolent of garlic and tomatoes." It can also be used of something that reminds us of something else or evokes a certain emotional response, as in "a city redolent of antiquity."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2004 9:10:18 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for July 1 is:
aphelion \af-EEL-yun\ noun : the point in the path of a celestial body (as a planet) that is farthest from the sun
Example sentence: If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you might expect the earth to be closest to the sun in July, but in fact it is at aphelion then.
Did you know? "Aphelion" and "perihelion" are troublesome terms. Which one means a planet is nearest the sun and which means it is farthest away? An etymology lesson may help you keep those words straight. Just remember that the "ap" of "aphelion" derives from a New Latin prefix that means "away from" (the mnemonic "'A' for 'away'" can help too); "peri-," on the other hand, means "near." And how are "aphelion" and "perihelion" related to the similar-looking astronomical pair, "apogee" and "perigee"? Etymology explains again. "Aphelion" and "perihelion" are based on the Greek word "helios," meaning "sun," while "apogee" and "perigee" are based on "gaia," meaning "earth." The first pair describes distance in relation to the sun, the second in relation to the earth.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2004 11:47:24 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for July 6 is:
fructify \FRUK-tuh-fye\ verb *1: to bear fruit 2: to make fruitful or productive
Example sentences: Fred is in a comfortable financial position these days, thanks to some investments that have recently begun to fructify.
Gorf wondered why his tree was not fructifying until it was pointed out to him that it was an elm.
Did you know? "Fructify" derives from the Middle English "fructifien" and ultimately from the Latin noun "fructus," meaning "fruit." When the word was first used in English in the 14th century, it literally referred to the actions of plants that bore fruit; later it was used transitively to refer to the action of making something fruitful, such as soil. The word also expanded to encompass a figurative sense of "fruit," and it is now more frequently used to refer to the giving forth of something in profit from something else (such as dividends from an investment). "Fructus" also gave us the name of the sugar "fructose," as well as "usufruct," which refers to the legal right to enjoy the fruits or profits of something that belongs to someone else.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2004 8:42:11 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for July 7 is:
incommensurable \in-kuh-MEN-suh-ruh-bul\ adjective : not commensurable; broadly : lacking a basis of comparison in respect to a quality normally subject to comparison
Example sentence: "Our anxieties for you and Margaret and my anxieties for the success of my book ... are two so incommensurable things that they ought not of right to be brought together in one letter." (Robert Frost, _Letters_)
Did Gorf know? "Commensurable" means "having a common measure" or "corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree." Its antonym "incommensurable" generally refers to things that are unlike and incompatible, sharing no common ground (as in "incommensurable theories"), or to things that are very disproportionate, often to the point of defying comparison ("incommensurable crimes"). Both words entered English in the 1500s and were originally used (as they still can be) for numbers that have or don't have a common divisor. They came to English by way of Middle French and Late Latin, ultimately deriving from Latin "mensura," meaning "measure." "Mensura" is also an ancestor of "commensurate" (meaning "coextensive" or "proportionate") and "incommensurate" ("disproportionate" or "insufficient"), which overlap in meaning with "commensurable" and "incommensurable" but are not exact synonyms.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2004 9:08:40 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for July 8 is:
lackadaisical \lak-uh-DAY-zih-kul\ adjective : lacking life, spirit, or zest : languid
Example sentence: Disgusted by his team's performance during their losing streak, the coach gave a lecture scolding them for their lackadaisical play.
Did you know? Alas, alack, there are times when life seems to be one unfortunate occurrence after another. We've all had days when nothing seemed to go right. When folks had one of those days back in the 17th century, they'd cry "Lackaday" to express their sorrow and disappointment. "Lackaday" was a shortened form of the expression "alack the day." In the mid- 1700s, "lackadaisical" was coined through addition of the suffix "-ical." The word "lackadaisy" also saw usage around that time as an interjection similar to "lackaday," and this word, though never as prevalent as "lackaday," might have influenced the coinage of "lackadaisical."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2004 9:31:10 GMT -5
The Word of the Day for July 9 is:
haywire \HAY-wyre\ adverb or adjective *1 : being out of order or having gone wrong 2 : emotionally or mentally upset or out of control
Example sentence: The TV goes haywire every time we use the blender.
Did you know? The wire used in bailing hay -- haywire -- is often used in makeshift repairs. This hurried and temporary use of haywire gave rise to the adjective "haywire." When the adjective was first used in the early 20th century, it was primarily in the phrase "haywire outfit," which denoted originally a poorly equipped group of loggers and then anything that was flimsy or patched together. This led to a "hastily patched-up" sense, which, in turn, gave us the more commonly used meaning, "being out of order or having gone wrong." The "crazy" sense of "haywire" may have been suggested by the difficulty of handling the springy wire, its tendency to get tangled around legs, or the disorderly appearance of the temporary repair jobs for which it was used.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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