imutual.co.uk

macliam wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 27 2020 1:34pm

Spendthrift seems a better option - people used to say "gadzooks", but we don't today....

If like me you've never heard of the word "gadzooks".

gadzooks
/ɡadˈzuːks/

exclamation ARCHAIC

an exclamation of surprise or annoyance.

TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

verecund

[ ver-i-kuhnd ]
adjective

Archaic.
bashful; modest.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF VERECUND?
The uncommon adjective verecund, “bashful, modest,” comes straight from Latin verēcundus “restrained by or sensitive to scruples or feelings of modesty, shame, or self-respect.” Verēcundus is a compound of the verb verērī “to fear, show reverence for, be in awe of” and the adjective suffix –cundus, which indicates inclination or capacity. Verērī is the root in the very common verb revere (and its derivatives reverent, reverend, and reverence). Verecund entered English in the second half of the 16th century.

HOW IS VERECUND USED?
Our politics is speckled with men who are so diffident and verecund they never say a word about themselves or their achievements. - "WHO'S WHO—AND WHY," SATURDAY EVENING POST , FEBRUARY 10, 1912

If there is any perceptible shift between early and later Dickens, then that transition seems to be one where the verecund persona gives way to a performance imbued with Pancksian relish in the double face of wonder and monstrosity. - JULIAN WOLFREYS, WRITING LONDON: THE TRACE OF THE URBAN TEXT FROM BLAKE TO DICKENS, 1998

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

whinge

[ hwinj, winj ]
verb (used without object)

British and Australian Informal.

to complain; whine.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF WHINGE?
The verb whinge, “to complain, whine,” occurs in just about every national variety of English—British, Irish (James Joyce, Samuel Beckett), Scottish (Robert Burns), Australian, New Zealand—but remains lesser known in US English. Indeed, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry’s address at the Dursleys (4 Privet Drive / Little Whinging / Surrey), Whinging had to be glossed for American readers. Whinge comes from Scots and northern England dialect quhynge (these varieties of Middle English often use qu- for standard English wh-, as in quat for what, quere for where); hence quhynge is pronounced whinge. Quhynge comes from Old English hwinsian “to complain” and is related to whine, whisper, and whistle, all of which come from a Germanic root hwei– “to whistle, whisper.” Whinge entered English in the mid-12th century.

HOW IS WHINGE USED?
When an Ohio second grader joins in to whinge about achy pen-holding fingers, handwriting … becomes as hot a topic as in Erasmus’s day. - JESSICA KERWIN JENKINS, "THE STORY OF HOW HANDWRITING EVOLVED, AND MAY SOON DIE OFF," NEW YORK TIMES, AUGUST 25, 2016

I wrote in my diary: ‘Here I am in Paris with dreams fulfilled and I whinge because my back hurts! But it bloody does.’ - PATTI MILLER, RANSACKING PARIS, 2015

There's a lot of it about! People complain that whinge and whine are the same thing, but whine comes from O.E. "hwinan," - to make a humming or whirring sound - only gaining it's meaning of complaining in the C16th, probably by confusing it with it's almost homophone, whinge, which originally comes from a different word, "hwinsian" in OE, but which always meant to wail or moan discontentedly.

THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

evanescent

[ ev-uh-nes-uhnt ]
adjective

vanishing; fading away; fleeting.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF EVANESCENT?
The adjective evanescent, “vanishing, fading,” comes via the French adjective évanescent, from Latin ēvānēscēns (inflectional stem ēvānēscent-), the present participle of the verb ēvānēscere “to disappear, vanish, fade away,” whose root word is the adjective vānus “empty, hollow, illusory,” source of English vain (via Old French). Ēvānēscere is a compound of the preposition and prefix ex-, ē- “out, out of, utterly, completely” and the verb vānēscere “to melt into nothing, vanish.” Ēvānēscere becomes esvanir, evanir in Old French, with a present stem esvaniss-, evaniss-, the source of Middle English vanis(s)hen, “to disappear, disappear suddenly,” English vanish. Evanescent entered English in the early 18th century.

HOW IS EVANESCENT USED?
Readers, after enjoying a book, are desperate not to let go of the characters, the evanescent feeling of being in the text. - DEIRDRE FOLEY MENDELSSOHN, "BOTTLING THE BOOK," THE NEW YORKER, JULY 15, 2010

The pantomime of head-butting and jabbing, with moments when his whole body crumples as if in grief, lasts mere seconds. Every gesture is sharp but evanescent, vanishing as quickly as it takes shape. - SARAH L. KAUFMAN, "IN PAIN AND RAGE, A PROTESTER APPROACHED POLICE. AND THEN HE DANCED," WASHINGTON POST, JUNE, 6, 2020

FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

obfuscate

[ ob-fuh-skeyt, ob-fuhs-keyt ]
verb (used with object)

to make obscure or unclear: to obfuscate a problem with extraneous information.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF OBFUSCATE?
The verb obfuscate comes from Late Latin (especially Christian Latin) offuscāt(us), also obfuscāt(us), the past participle of offuscāre (obfuscāre), literally “to darken, obscure.” Offuscāre is a compound of the preposition and prefix ob, of– “toward, against,” also used as an intensive prefix, as here, and the verb fuscāre “to make dark, become dark.” The Latin root word is the adjective fuscus “dark, somber, dim, drab.” Fuscus is possibly related to Old English dox, dosc “dark,” source of the English noun and adjective dusk. Obfuscate entered English in the first half of the 16th century.

HOW IS OBFUSCATE USED?
Of course all this talk of carbon emissions obfuscates the other significant dangers associated with the nuclear cycle. - MARK DOWIE, "NUCLEAR CARIBOU," ORION, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009

But it will take moral clarity, which will require both editors and reporters to stop doing things like reflexively hiding behind euphemisms that obfuscate the truth, simply because we’ve always done it that way. - WESLEY LOWERY, "A RECKONING OVER OBJECTIVITY, LED BY BLACK JOURNALISTS," NEW YORK TIMES, JUNE 23, 2020

SATURDAY, AUGUST 01, 2020 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

bonanza

[ buh-nan-zuh, boh- ]
noun

a source of great and sudden wealth or luck; a spectacular windfall: The play proved to be a bonanza for its lucky backers.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF BONANZA?
Bonanza is a Mexican Spanish noun that entered American English in the early 1840s. In Spanish bonanza means “fair, calm weather (for sailing); prosperity.” Bonanza is a nasalized variant of Vulgar and Medieval Latin bonacia, bonatzia “calm sea,” which is a blend of the Latin adjective bon(us) “good” and Medieval Latin (mal)acia “calm sea,” from Greek malakía “softness.” Bonanza, with a transferred sense “rich vein of ore,” was first applied to the gold mines of Placer County, California (1844), and the silver mines of the Comstock Lode, Nevada (1859).

HOW IS BONANZA USED?
After Stevie Wonder appeared in a segment, one of his greatest-hits albums jumped to the top of the U.K. iTunes charts, turning “Carpool Karaoke” into a promotional bonanza. - MICHAEL SCHULMAN, "JAMES CORDON'S DO-OVER," THE NEW YORKER, JANUARY 27, 2020

Over the next three weeks they picked up four new clients, a bonanza by Harvey’s standards. - JONATHAN DEE, A THOUSAND PARDONS, 2013

Some of us here the word Bonanza and think of a TV series.

Was a while after going to the Saturday Morning films and then getting a TV before I wondered how everyone managed to have a completely clean and freshly ironed outfit. Or why the streets were never rutted or it never rained.

blythburgh wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 01 2020 10:26am

Some of us here the word Bonanza and think of a TV series.

Was a while after going to the Saturday Morning films and then getting a TV before I wondered how everyone managed to have a completely clean and freshly ironed outfit. Or why the streets were never rutted or it never rained.

I wondered if anyone would mention it?

Here's me hoping for a bonanza @imutual.