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 » Wed Oct 27 2021 9:15am

Wednesday 27th October 2021

prothalamion

noun

pro·​tha·​la·​mi·​on | \ ˌprō-thə-ˈlā-mē-ən , -ˌän \
variants: or prothalamium \ ˌprō-​thə-​ˈlā-​mē-​əm \
plural prothalamia\ ˌprō-​thə-​ˈlā-​mē-​ə \

Definition of prothalamion
: a song in celebration of a marriage

Did you know?
In 1595, the newly-wed Edmund Spenser wrote a poem to his young bride. He gave this poem the title Epithalamion, borrowing a Greek word for a song or poem in honour of a bride and bridegroom. "Epithalamion," which eventually became established as an English word, can be traced to Greek words that mean "upon the bridal chamber." A year later, Spencer was inspired to write another nuptial poem - this time in celebration of the marriages of the Earl of Worcester's two daughters. But since the ceremonies had not yet taken place, he did not want to call it an epithalamion. After some reflection, Spencer decided to separate "epi-" from "thalamion" and wed the latter with "pro-" ("before"), inventing a word that would become established in the language with the meaning "a song in celebration of a marriage."

First Known Use of prothalamion
1597, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for prothalamion
New Latin, from Greek pro- + -thalamion (as in epithalamion)

Richard Frost
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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Fri Oct 29 2021 9:12am

Word of the Day : October 29, 2021

procrastinate

verb pruh-KRASS-tuh-nayt

What It Means
Procrastinate means "to intentionally put off doing something that should be done."

// The student was procrastinating writing the report; however, the tutor provided the needed guidance and motivation.

Examples
"I will start with a confession: I procrastinated about writing this article for months. Postponing it put me in good company. The statistics are simple: 100 percent of people are guilty of procrastination." — Daniel Revach, Haaretz, 12 Sept. 2021

Did You Know?
We won't put off telling you about out the origins of procrastinate: it comes from the Latin prefix pro-, meaning "forward," and crastinus, "of tomorrow." The word means moving or acting slowly so as to fall behind, and it implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

Richard Frost
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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sat Oct 30 2021 9:19am

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021
sepulchral


[ suh-puhl-kruhl ]
adjective

proper to or suggestive of a tomb; funereal or dismal.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF SEPULCHRAL?
Sepulchral “proper to or suggestive of a tomb,” the adjectival counterpart of the noun sepulcher, spelled sepulchre in British English, derives from Latin sepulcrālis “relating to a tomb,” from sepulcrum “tomb.” There is no clear reason for the addition of the h to these two Latin terms as they passed via Old French into English, though it is possible that influence from the similar-sounding adjective pulcher “beautiful” may have been the culprit. Alternatively, because spelling rules became lax in Medieval Latin (which was roughly contemporaneous with Old French) and the letter h had become silent, h started cropping up in words where it had no reason to appear, and the change of Middle English sepulcre to sepulchre in the 1200s could have followed this trend. A similar phenomenon occurred with cāritās “dearness, charity,” which was often misspelled in Medieval Latin as charitas by conflation with Ancient Greek kháris “grace, charm.” Sepulchral first appeared in English in the early 1600s.

HOW IS SEPULCHRAL USED?
Hermione came down to dinner strange and sepulchral, her eyes heavy and full of sepulchral darkness, strength. She had put on a dress of stiff old greenish brocade, that fitted tight and made her look tall and rather terrible, ghastly. In the gay light of the drawing-room she was uncanny and oppressive. But seated in the half-light of the dining-room, sitting stiffly before the shaded candles on the table, she seemed a power, a presence. D. H. LAWRENCE, WOMEN IN LOVE, 1920

[Oscar Wilde] began to speak in a voice that might have come from the tomb. It grew monotonous, and was fast becoming painful, when, to the evident surprise of everybody, he smiled as he uttered something in reference to the various definitions of aestheticism. The audience was at once relieved from the sepulchral atmosphere and broke into a hearty laugh which did everybody good. "OSCAR WILDE'S LECTURE", NEW YORK TIMES, JANUARY 10, 1882

macliam
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by macliam » Sat Oct 30 2021 12:29pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021
inefficacious

[ in-ef-fi-ca-cious (ĭn-ĕf′ĭ-kā′shəs)]
adjective

Descriptive of discussion with British Gas Homecare

:evil: :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :evil: :roll:
Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get me

Richard Frost
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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sun Oct 31 2021 9:30am

Word of the Day : October 31, 2021
doppelgänger


noun DAH-pul-gang-er

What It Means
A doppelgänger is a person who resembles someone else, or a ghostly counterpart of a living person.

// The plot of the story thickens when the main character's doppelgänger turns out to be a wanted criminal.

// In the movie, the child interacts with a ghostly doppelgänger.

Examples
"A paranormal investigation group … visited the historic opera house…. During the visit, the group claimed to have seen the spirit of Sorg sitting in the balcony, … captured audio of ghosts speaking and singing and photographed a doppelganger." — Lisa Powell, The Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, 14 Oct. 2021

Did You Know?
According to German folklore, all living creatures have a spirit double who is invisible but identical to the living individual. These second selves are perceived as being distinct from ghosts (which appear only after death), and sometimes they are described as the spiritual opposite or negative of their human counterparts. German writers coined the word Doppelgänger (from doppel-, meaning "double," and -gänger, meaning "goer") to refer to such specters.

Richard Frost
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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Mon Nov 01 2021 9:06am

Vax has been chosen as the word of the year by the team at the Oxford English Dictionary. Senior editor Fiona McPherson said vax was an obvious choice as it has made “the most striking impact” and although it “goes back at least to the 1980s” it was “rarely used until this year”. Words related to immunisation have spiked in frequency in 2021 due to Covid, with double-vaxxed, unvaxxed and anti-vaxxer all seeing a surge in use.

Word of the Day : November 1, 2021

inane

adjective ih-NAYN

What It Means
Inane means "lacking significance, meaning, or point." Synonyms are silly, empty, or insubstantial.

// The host of the show greeted the audience with inane, but laughingly memorable, remarks.

Examples
"And because the leader insists 'There are no bad ideas,' everyone pipes up with inane or irrelevant suggestions." — Morey Stettner, The Investor's Business Daily, 24 Sept. 2021

Did You Know?
Inane suggests emptiness in thought or meaning, and as a noun it has similar use, as in "thoughts making excursions into the incomprehensible inane" (the example is attributed to the 17th-century philosopher John Locke). The noun is not often used nowadays, but the adjective fills the void.

Richard Frost
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Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Tue Nov 02 2021 9:02am

Word of the Day : November 2, 2021

passel


noun PASS-ul

What It Means
A passel is a large number or amount of something.

// A passel of work emails awaited Jon on his return from vacation.

Examples
"'He's here!' the vehicle owners cheered as 100-year old driver of a 102-year-old Buick Irenee DuPont arrived again. DuPont then handily backed his car precisely into a parking place alongside a passel of other old vehicles." — Chris Barber, The Chester County Press (Oxford, Pennsylvania), 22 Sept. 2021

Did You Know?
Loss of the sound of "r" after a vowel and before a consonant in the middle of a word is common in spoken English. This linguistic idiosyncrasy has given the language a few new words, including cuss from curse, bust from burst, and passel from parcel.

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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by sanity clause » Tue Nov 02 2021 9:13am

Vax declared Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59089596

"Vax has been chosen as the word of the year by lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)."

Really?

The only Vax I've heard of, is the one I use to clean the carpet!

It must be my age...

Sarah
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Tue Nov 02 2021 9:22am

sanity clause wrote:
Tue Nov 02 2021 9:13am
Vax declared Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year.
Too late for DEC (Compaq) having discontinued theirs 20 years ago:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX

Sarah
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Tue Nov 02 2021 9:23am

Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the day is ‘bloviation’ (19th century): empty rhetoric and a good deal of blah.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 93378?s=20

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