Word of the day strikes back

Discussion about miscellaneous topics not covered by other forums
blythburgh
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by blythburgh » Wed Feb 17 2021 9:00am

Sarah wrote:
Tue Feb 16 2021 4:55pm
Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the Day is ‘ultracrepidarian’ (19th century): a presumptuous critic; one who loves to give opinions on matters they know very little about.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 98882?s=20
That is what DH's sister would call us if we dared to question her belief that vaccines contain poison, Covid testing is only because they want to get the numbers up and "they" are trying to control us.

Happy to be thought of ultracrepidarian by such an idiot. But then it is the daughter who starts this hare running and like a good Mum she believes everything she is told.
Keep smiling because the light at the end of someone's tunnel may be you, Ron Cheneler

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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Sat Feb 20 2021 9:58pm

Word of the morning from Susie Dent today:
Word of the morning is ‘pandiculate’ (17th century): to have a long stretch and yawn upon waking or as a sign of weariness.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 62691?s=20
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Mon Mar 01 2021 3:17pm

Etymological musing from Susie Dent today:
Etymological musing of the day: ‘Goodbye’ is a shortening of ‘God be with ye’; ‘Wotcher’ came from ‘what cheer?’ (how are you?); taxi cab is the cut-down version of ‘taximeter cabriolet’, a ‘perk’ is from ‘perquisite’, and ‘mutt’ is the shortened form of ‘muttonhead’ (a fool).
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 82913?s=20
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Wed Mar 03 2021 6:01pm

Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the day is 'charientism' (18th century): the dressing up of an insult so that it sounds like a compliment.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 62272?s=20
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Fri Mar 05 2021 12:51pm

Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the day is 'snoutband' (19th century): someone who consistently interrupts a conversation in order to contradict or correct the speaker.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 78274?s=20
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Wed Mar 10 2021 11:08am

Now that we seem for the time being to have no trolls on the site, I am happy to resume posting the word of the day. Of course I like many others value the posts that Sarah makes re Susie Dent and am happy to continue to see them.

Today's Word of the Day - https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

Word of the Day : March 10, 2021

felicitate

verb fih-LISS-uh-tayt

Definition
1 archaic : to make happy

2 a : to consider happy or fortunate

b : to offer congratulations to

Did You Know?
Felix, a Latin adjective meaning "happy" or "fruitful," is the root of the English words felicity and felicitate. The former, which is by far the more common of the pair, refers to the state of being happy or to something that makes people happy; like felix itself, it's also used as a name. Felicitate has always played second fiddle to its cousin, but enjoyed more use in centuries past than it does today. At one time it functioned as an adjective meaning "made happy" (William Shakespeare used it this way in King Lear), but the adjective fell out of favour and is no longer in use. Felicitate today is most commonly used as a verb especially in the English of South Asia where its "to offer congratulations" meaning is often extended beyond simple congratulations to the honouring of someone with an award or prize.

Examples
"Recently, the United Nations recognised Sasmita’s [Sasmita Lenka, a divisional forest officer] efforts and felicitated her with the Asia Environment Enforcement Awards 2020 under the 'gender leadership' and 'impact' category." — Himanshu Nitnaware, The Better India (Bangalore, India), 3 Feb. 2021

"Jenny had, by her learning, increased her own pride … and now, instead of respect and adoration, she gained nothing but hatred and abuse by her finery. The whole parish declared she could not come honestly by such things; and parents, instead of wishing their daughters the same, felicitated themselves that their children had them not." — Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, 1749
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Sarah » Wed Mar 10 2021 1:11pm

Word of the day from Susie Dent today:
Word of the day (again) is ‘boondoggle’: a highly wasteful and ultimately ineffective project.
https://twitter.com/susie_dent/status/1 ... 58464?s=20
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Thu Mar 11 2021 9:07am

Today's Word of the Day - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

Word of the Day : March 11, 2021

waesucks
[ wey-suhks ]
interjection

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF WAESUCKS?
Waesucks or waesuck, “alas, woe (is me),” is a Scots word composed of wae, the Scots form of woe, and suck or sucks, Scots variants of the noun sake, now used only in the expression “for the sake of X, for X’s sake.” But Robert Burns uses waesucks in The Holy Fair (1786), which makes waesucks a keeper.

HOW IS WAESUCKS USED?
Waesucks! For him that gets nae lass, / Or lasses that hae naething!

ROBERT BURNS, "THE HOLY FAIR," POEMS, CHIEFLY IN THE SCOTTISH DIALECT, 1786
But waesucks! night cam’ on at last, / And fiercely raged the furious blast; / And, what made waur his piteous case, / The storm blew keenly in his face …

ALEXANDER RODGER, PETER CORNCLIPS: A TALE OF REAL LIFE; WITH OTHER POEMS & SONGS, 1827
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Fri Mar 12 2021 9:02am

Today's Word of the Day - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

Word of the Day : March 12, 2021

williwaw

noun WILL-ih-waw

Definition
1 a : a sudden violent gust of cold land air common along mountainous coasts of high latitudes

b : a sudden violent wind

2 : a violent commotion

Did You Know?
In 1900, Captain Joshua Slocum described williwaws as "compressed gales of wind … that Boreas handed down over the hills in chunks." To unsuspecting sailors or pilots, such winds might seem to come out of nowhere—just like word williwaw did centuries ago. All anyone knows about the origin of the word is that it was first used by 19th-century writers to name fierce winds in the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America. The writers were British, and indications are that they may have learned the word from British sailors and seal hunters. Where these sailors and hunters got the word, we cannot say.

Examples
"Following a short morning landing at a place called Cape San Isidro—where, due to gusts and williwaws, we were restricted to one of those unremarkable cruise excursions that involve several dozen people walking aimlessly around a beach—we sailed west." — Chris Moss, The Daily Telegraph (London), 1 Dec. 2020

"The area is famous for williwaws. In severe weather these katabatic winds have been recorded to locally exceed 130 knots." — Michael van Bregt, Yachting World, July 2020
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Re: Word of the day strikes back

Post by Richard Frost » Sat Mar 13 2021 9:19am

SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021 - https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/

foible
[ foi-buhl ]
noun

a minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF FOIBLE?
Foible, “a minor weakness of character, a slight flaw or defect,” comes from the noun use of the obsolete French adjective foible “the weak point of the blade of a sword” (the strong point of a sword blade is the forte). Foible is first recorded in Old French about 1175; it derives from Vulgar Latin febilis, from Latin flēbilis “lamentable, worthy of tears, causing tears,” a derivative of the verb flēre “to weep, cry, lament.” In French, foible was replaced by faible, another derivative of febilis, and the source of English feeble. Foible, in the sense “the weak point of the blade of a sword,” entered English in the first half of the 17th century; the sense “defect in character” arose in the second half of the 17th century.

HOW IS FOIBLE USED?
Though it has its darker moments, no Bergman venture has ever been so warm, so understanding, so forgiving of human foibles.

KENNETH TURAN, "CRITICS CHOICE: RARE SCREENING OF FIVE-HOUR 'FANNY AND ALEXANDER' AT THE WILDER," LOS ANGELES TIMES, JUNE 20, 2018

I thought of it as just evidence of a very familiar human foible. Most of us can’t later account for why our egos sometimes get the best of us.

KEN AULETTA, "BRIAN WILLIAM'S MISTAKE," THE NEW YORKER, FEBRUARY 6, 2015
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