Monday, April 20, 2009
Aa or a'a
After the various versions of "a" and a couple prefixes and abbreviations comes the first multi letter word in the dictionary: aa or a'a. According to the AHD this word means "Lava having a rough surface, and it comes from the Hawai'ian "'a'a" to burn. I'm not sure why we needed a word for this, but it's useful in Scrabble, if nowhere else.
lampoon
A lampoon, according to the AHD, is "A written attack ridiculing a person, group, or institution.", or "light, good humored satire." It fills a special niche of being a form of parody which attempts to be less abrasive or pugilistic than other forms.
According again to the AHD, it comes from the French word lampons, which means "let us drink." A common refrain in drinking songs, it was the imperative form of lamper, a word of Germanic origin meaning "to gulp down".
Following the story of this one requires a very minor leap of logic: after all, drunk people are not only more prone to insulting eachother, as alcohol dissolves inhibitions, but on the whole it is likely to be taken in good sport if the butt of the joke can keep his temper. Its easy how it could make the jump from barroom bad-mouthing to an established word for good hearted ridicule.
Vociferate
"To utter (something) or cry out loudly and vehemently, especially in protest"
Its etymology is short and sweet coming from the Latin word vociferari, from vox, voice, and ferre, carry or bear. (OED)
At the next possible opportunity, please use either this word or vociferous. They are both unique and lovely words that I would like to here more often.
kosher
Alchemy
hoi polloi
I was surprised that hoi polloi comes so directly from Greek (also that its actually two words). I never flagged it as sounding particularly Greek, and the rhyming aspect of it suggested to me that it might be a nonsense word coined by alliteration to another English word. I also thought that it might be related to hoity-toity, meaning either pretentious or boisterous, but both the AHD and OED only suggest a connection of hoity-toity to a word from Middle Dutch, hoyden. Hoyden refers to a high-spirited girl or a romp.
Well, that was two surprises for me about hoi polloi and hoity-toity, both of which are excellent words and playful additions to my vocabulary.
Picture credits: http://blogs.pioneerlocal.com/religion/2009/02/
dinosaur
Götterdammerung
It can be written both capitalized or in lower-case, and it is a noun.
The AHD defines it as:
A turbulent ending of a regime or institution.
The word comes from Götterdämmerung, an opera by Richard Wagner. It is of German origin and the word itself means "twilight of the gods" (quite impressive). Broken down, the root is the German götter-, the plural of Gott (god). The word passed through MHGer. as got from OHGerman.
I just really enjoy saying the word and think it should be used more often!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mellifluous
1) "Flowing with, exuding, or containing honey or a honey-like substance; of the nature of or resembling honey; sweetened with or as with honey. Now rare. "
2) "Of a speaker, writer, etc.: sweet-sounding; fluent; (later also) smoothly eloquent, charmingly persuasive. "
I chose this word because I love the fact that it is applied to speech and writing. As we all know, the stem flu- comes from Latin and means "flow" while the -ous suffix means full of. The part we do not know, the mell- comes from Latin and means "honey." Some when someone's speech or writing is mellifluous, it is flowing with honey. I'd like to strive toward possessing that attribute in my speech.
nickelodeon
If you’re expecting me to wax nostalgic about 1990’s television, I’m sorry to disappoint you.
But it sure is a cool-sounding word, isn’t it?
I realized today that almost all I knew about nickelodeons in the original sense (besides the preceding song lyrics) was that in the obscure independent sleeper hit Titanic, Jack kisses Rose’s hand and says:
I was confused about how this related to the words of "Music! Music! Music!" --a song I could only have remembered from my sister's childood dance recitals (and whose title I found through a lucky Google search). The words reminded me of the player pianos they have in kitschy gift shops in Branson, Missouri.
I personally think those pianos are pretty neat-o, but they don't play movies.
So I looked it up.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a nickelodeon is:
At the turn of the century, a nickelodeon was a theatre where one could watch a series of short silent films for five cents.21. A theatre or cinema with an admission fee of one nickel. [1888]
2. A jukebox. [1938]1
These existed throughout Europe at the time, but it is useful to note that the name “nickelodeon” was originally specific to US theatres, the nickel referring to the American currency (The Oxford English Dictionary even goes so far to specify a single theatre opened in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania by Harry Davis and John Harris in 1905).1
The -odeon in Nickelodeon is derivative of French odéum, from Latin odium, from Greek ὦδείου, meaning a small music hall (itself from Greek ὦδε, meaning "song").5
In the nicer nickelodeons, the short flicks would be accompanied by music an organist in the theatre played to suit the plot, hence the musical connotation.2
By the 1930’s, after modern cinema had completely replaced the antiquated short nickel-flick format, the word had been appropriated to apply to early jukeboxes and player pianos. A nickel wouldn’t buy you a movie, anymore, but at least it could still buy you a song.1
I guess Viacom was like me and just enjoyed the sound of the word when they renamed Pinwheel to "Nickelodeon, the first channel just for kids" in 19816, eventually airing shows like, oh...
...how about Nick Arcade?
--that's some high-quality nostaligia.
1"nickelodeon." Oxford English Dictionary. 2007. Oxford University Press. 20 April 2009. http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00324270.
2"nickelodeon (movie theater)." Wikipedia. 2009. 20 April 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelodeon_(movie_theater).
3”nickel”. Online Etymology Dictionary. 20 April 2009. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nickel
4"Copper Demon" Venetskill, S & Popoya, L. Metallurgist. Springer New York. 20 April 2009. http://www.springerlink.com/content/k01143v31v385274/.
5"odeon." Stormonth, James. Etymological and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language. 1879. p 398. 20 April 2009. http://books.google.com/books?id=J2kCAAAAQAAJ
6"Nickelodeon (TV network)." Wikipedia. 2009. Oxford University Press. 12 April 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelodeon_(TV_channel).
southpaw
hostile
Hostile comes from the Latin hostīlis, from hostis meaning enemy.
Hostile can be a noun or an adjective. As a noun a hostile refers to "an antagonistic person or thing" or "an enemy in warfare." As an adjective it means "of, relating to, or characteristic of an enemy" and "unfavorable to health or well-being; inhospitable or adverse."
--AHD
scent
"a hound scents out a hare"--i.e. tracks it by smell.
Etymologically, scent comes from the Middle English "sent" which came from the French sentir--which, interestingly, means to feel or to perceive, and comes from the Latin word sentire of the same definition*.
I find this particularly interesting because "our olfactory receptors are directly connected to the limbic system, the most ancient and primitive part of the brain, which is thought to be the seat of emotion." The etymology of the word scent actually matches its scientfic components! **
* the OED has the Latin word as "sent" and then what looks like an i with a dash on top of it and then "re." It copy and pasted as "sentre" which was clearly not correct.
**science-y information comes from: http://www.sirc.org/publik/smell_emotion.html
Affirmation
I chose this word because it is the name of one of my favorite songs and I have listened to it for years but had never really thought about it's title, and so I was curious... Just in case you were wondering, its title isn't mentioned at all in the song, but makes complete sense because of what the song is about.
Babble
1. To make imperfect attempts at speech, like a child; to utter inarticulate or indistinct sounds2. To talk childishly, to prattle; to talk incoherently or foolishly; to utter meaningless words.
3. To talk excessively or inopportunely; to chatter, prate.
4. transf. of streams, brooks, etc.; also of young birds, and spec. of hounds that give tongue too loudly or without reason.
5. ? To waver, oscillate, quiver. Obs. [Perhaps a distinct word.]
6. To repeat or utter with meaningless iteration; to speak foolishly or incoherently; to prate.
7. To reveal by talking or chattering. Cf. blab.
It comes from the Middle English word babalen, and can't be traced back very far no matter which similar word in other languages you look at. When I looked this word up, I expected to find some connection to the tower of Babel from the Bible, but I found that no direct connection could be traced to connect the two. Instead, the dictionary hypothesized about its origins being in the nonsensical sounds that a baby makes.
harum-scarum
Anywho, this being the last word blog entry, I will go ahead and say that I throroughly enjoyed this assignment. I really have enjoyed looking at other people's entries, mostly because I feel that mine doesn't stand quite as close (on the level of awesomeness). And now I leave...
Kayak and Canoe
-AHD
Faint
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Myrmidon
and bare Aeacus, delighting in horses. Now when he came to the
full measure of desired youth, he chafed at being alone. And the
father of men and gods made all the ants that were in the lovely
isle into men and wide-girdled women. These were the first who
fitted with thwarts ships with curved sides, and the first who
used sails, the wings of a sea-going ship.' -- Hesiod's The Catalogue of Women
Hesiod relates how Zeus turned the ants of Aegina into men and women to accompany
his son, Aeacus. As seen in an excerpt of Hesiod above, myrmidon is from the Greek word
for ant. Myrmidon is chiefly defined as "a member of a warlike people inhabiting
ancient Thessaly, whom Achilles led to the siege of Troy." Myrmidon has a couple of
extended definitions. The first is "A member of a bodyguard or retinue" and the last
is "an opportunistic or sycophantic supporter;a hanger-on." From the "myrm-" stem,
English also gets the study of ants, myrmecology, and myrmecophagous, "that eats ants;
characterized by feeding on ants."
Sources: definitions OED.com; Hesiod text: http://omacl.org/Hesiod/catalogs.html;
classical mythology synopsis: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/400667/Myrmidon
Image:http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/ants/army/army_ant.gif
Rat-fink
Nightingale
Nightingale, as defined by the OED, is "A small reddish-brown migratory thrush, Luscinia megarhynchos, of western Europe and northern Africa, noted for the melodious song of the male which can be heard at night as well as in the daytime." The OED also tells us that it was "originally a variant of nightgale with intrusive n before g". So, nightingale a compound of night and gale. Night means "the period of darkness after day" and is a native English word, with numerous cognates in other Germanic languages. Gale is where it gets interesting. Gale means "singing, a song" and comes from the Old English verb galan, 'to sing'. It is this galan which is related to the Old English word gellan, which we get our word yell from. Cool, huh!?
Photo courtesy of www.fwi.co.uk
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Chartreuse
Monday, April 13, 2009
virgule
In The Origins of European Thought, R. B. Onians connects Latin words containing vir- or ver-such as virga (rod), vir (man), virgo (maiden), vires (strength), viridis (green), and ver (spring). Underlying them all, Onians finds the idea of vital, fresh sap. The legacy of these words in English is seen not only with virgule, virile, and virgin, but also with the adjective viridescent (green) and the noun vireo (a kind of green-tinged bird).
Sources: AHD, The Origins of European Thought (by R. B. Onians), and The New College Latin and English Dictionary (by John Traupman)
Easter
According to the AHD, the word Easter comes from the middle English name for the holiday, "ester," which comes from the Old English "eastre." This is all the AHD says. However, the 8th Century English historian Bede tells that eastre comes from "Eostur-monath," the name for a month roughly corresponding to April. Bede claims that the month was named for Eostre, the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn. Thus, if Bede is to be believed (and there is no corroborating evidence), the English name for one of Christianity's most important days actually has a pagan origin.
Daisy
"1. a. The common name of Bellis perennis, family Compositæ, a familiar and favourite flower of the British Isles and Europe generally, having small flat flower-heads with yellow disk and white ray (often tinged with pink), which close in the evening; it grows abundantly on grassy hills, in meadows, by roadsides, etc., and blossoms nearly all the year round; many varieties are cultivated in gardens."
The daisy is my favorite, I think, for it's simplicity. It is not a complicated flower with many layers and colors. It is charming in its simplicity. The etymology of daisy is not long, going only as far back as OE in the words for day's and eye- dæges eage
Poppycock
The AHD defines poppycock as "senseless talk or nonsense".
It's etymological roots lie in the Dutch dialectical pappekak, with pap probably coming from the Latin pappa, meaning "food"; kak comes from M. Dutch verb kakken, meaning "to defecate", which is derived from the ME verb kacken and the Latin verb cacare.
Heebie-Jeebies
The AHD says that this slang noun means "uneasiness or nervousness; the jitters." I really like how this word has entered the English language: by pure accident! As Dr. R says, if a word just gets circulated enough, than it becomes one. I guess this is a pretty good example. : D
Many people say that he got his word from Native-American or Voodoo chants or incantations. All of these allegations have not been substantiated (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hee1.htm).
Hammer
"Hammer" actually comes from Old English, hamor, but was passed on through Middle English, changing to hamer, and can be both a noun and a verb. Meaning many things, I believe the most common thought for hammer is something used as a striking tool. Or, in some cases, a computer-fixer.
The AHD actually gives five noun definitions and eight verb definitions:
"Noun:
1. A hand tool that has a handle with a perpendicularly attached head of metal or other heavy rigid material, and is used for striking or pounding. 2. A tool or device similar in function or action to this striking tool, as: a. The part of a gunlock that hits the primer or firing pin or explodes the percussion cap and causes the gun to fire. b. Music One of the padded wooden pieces of a piano that strikes the strings. c. A part of an apparatus that strikes a gong or bell, as in a clock. 3. Anatomy See malleus. 4. Sports A metal ball weighing 16 pounds (7.2 kilograms) and having a long wire or wooden handle by which it is thrown for distance in track-and-field competition. 5. A small mallet used by auctioneers
Verb:
1. To hit, especially repeatedly, with or as if with a hammer; pound. See synonyms at beat. 2. To beat into a shape with or as if with a hammer: hammered out the dents in the fender; hammered out a contract acceptable to both sides. 3. To put together, fasten, or seal, particularly with nails, by hammering. 4. To force upon by constant repetition: hammered the information into the students' heads. 5a. To defeat soundly. b. To inflict a heavy loss or damage on. (Intransitive) 1. To deal repeated blows with or as if with a hammer; pummel: “Wind hammered at us violently in gusts” (Thor Heyerdahl). 2. To undergo beating in the manner of a hammer: My pulse hammered. 3. Informal To keep at something continuously: hammered away at the problem."
I'm slightly disappointed that the AHD doesn't have the slang terms that might get thrown around Hendrix on Wednesday nights; but I believe as far as definitions go, this one has enough.
Sacrosanct
The OED defines the word sacrosanct as, "Of persons and things, esp. obligation, laws, etc.: Secured by a religious sanction from violation, infringement, or encroachment; inviolable, sacred." This word started out being used within a religious environment, where it was meant to evoke piety. Now, it has taken on a more negative connotation and has been secularized so as to be used in a wider variety of circumstances. In its modern usage it often takes on a sarcastic and demeaning connotation. I think that the shift in this words usage is very interesting. I have been watching quite a bit of The West Wing today, so this word seemed relevant since it is mostly used today in more educated and professional conversations in business and especially in politics.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Quelea
Today I was watching a recording of my favorite television show Ed. In episode 52 "Trapped," Phil and Eli are playing Scrabble when Phil uses the word quelea and Eli questions if it is a real word. I took it upon myself to determine if this was in fact a real word. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, quelea is in fact a real word.
Quelea is "an African weaverbird of the genus Quelea, especially Q. quelea, a small red-billed bird that is destructive to grain crops." Quelea originally came from Vulgar Latin coacula, a word of imitative origin. From there, the genus name Quelea came from New Latin, an adaptation of the Medieval Latin word qualea meaning quail.
Source: American Heritage Dictionary 4th Edition, image from http://www.kenyabirds.org.uk/quelea.htm
googol
So, have you ever wondered where those fine people at Google got the name for their search engine? Well, it didn't just come out of thin air. It is derived from a delightfully absurd little word, googol.
According to the AHD, googol is 10 to the power of 100... or, in other words, 1 followed by 100 zeroes. Such an absurdly large number rarely sees any real use, and so it is instead used for exaggerations, typically. However, in spite of this, it is not slang, and has actually been accepted as a legitimate term.
Such a wonderfully silly word also has a delightfully silly etymology: the word googol is derived, according to the AHD, from nine-year-old Milton Sirotta. Milton just so happened to be the nephew of Edward Kasner, an American mathematician. In to Kasner's book, Mathematics and the Imagination, Kasner details how, in order to pique the interest of his nephews, he asked them for suggestions on what a number that represented "a 1 with a hundred zeroes after it" should be called; Milton suggested a "googol". He further postulated on a number that was even larger, a "googolplex", which would be a 1 with as many zeroes as you could write behind it before you got tired. Oddly, although such a nonstandard definition could not be accepted, both a googol and a googolplex were adopted as legitimate mathematical terms, with a googolplex being 10 to the power of googol(i.e., a 1 with a googol zeroes behind it).
This whimsical tale is a poignant reminder of how easily a word can be adopted into accepted English... why, even a 9 year old can do it.
Louse
1. pl lice Any of numerous small wingless insects of the orders Mallophaga or Anoplura, many of which are external parasites on various animals, including humans.It can also be used as a verb with the meaning:
2. Slang A mean or despicable person.
3. Slang To bungle
The word comes through Middle English from the Old English word lus. I liked how the use of the slang word on people can be connected to the insect, in the fact that a human louse is in a way like a parasite on humanity, just like lice are parasites on animals.
yogurt
embezzle
It's etymological history goes through Middle English, embesilen, from Anglo Norman enbesiler, which comes from Old French, en- an intensive prefix and the Old French besillier, to ravage.
When you think about it embezzling is just that, ravaging, since it is taking money for "one's own use in violation of a trust."
--AHD Fourth Edition
candle
But what is especially neat I think is that my source specifies that having candles on a birthday cake was probably originally a German custom!
Also, "burning the candle at both ends" is recorded from 1730.
(http://www.etymonline.com/)
P.S. I chose this word because I have the song "Light My Candle" from Rent stuck in my head and have for several days now.
Grotesque
Posted by Dan G.R. at 10:03 PM
Coriander
-From AHD.
tub-thumper
When I saw this phrase, I knew I had to write a post about it. Maybe you guys remember the 1996 alt-pop anthem “Tubthumping” and its near-eponymous album, Tubthumper.
--I don't remember it; I consume it on a daily basis like a multivitamin.
“Pissing the night away! Pissing the night away!” --oh immortal poetry. There was a time in my life when I believed that such a visionary title as “Tubthumping” could only be the result of divine inspiration. God must have spoken to Chubawumba, and he said “tubthumping.”
Nope, I was wrong. The phrase “tub-thumper” has been around since the 17th century.
Anyway, back in the 1600's, English-speakers used “tub” as slang for pulpit.1
And few years hence, if anarchy goes on,
Jack Presbyter shall here erect his throne,
Knock out a tub with preaching once a day,
And every prayer be longer than a play.3
From this root, common folks devised the word tub-thumper to refer to incendiary preachers --the kind of fiery sermonists who would pound their pulpits for dramatic effect (or perhaps to wake up their audience).4
[The word thump has existed in English since the 16th century. It is ontomatopoetic, of imitative origin.5]
The Oxford English Dictionary, however, provides an alternate usage of "tub-thumper" from the 19th century: a cooper!6 (either a barrel-maker or a coffin-maker).
So the ultimate question, at least for me, is what usage meaning did Chubawumba intend, if any?
You may recall the opening monologue of “Tubthumper”:
Truth is, I thought it mattered.--sounds like an angry sermon to me.
I thought that music mattered.
But does it bollocks!
Not compared to how people matter.
2"tub." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 12 April 2009. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tub.
3Dryden, John. Introduction to Sophonisba. The Poetical Works of John Dryden Vol. II. 12 April 2009. http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Poetical-Works-of-John-Dryden-Volx10524.html.
4"tub-thumper." Carolyn's Corner. Scripps National Spelling Bee. 12 April 2009. http://www.spellingbee.com/glance/talking_words.shtml#tub.
5"thump." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 12 April 2009. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thump.
6"tub-thumper." Oxford English Dictionary. 2007. Oxford University Press. 12 April 2009. http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50259409.
Photograph of album art of Chubawumba's Tubthumper by Greg Deacy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregdeacy/2391913423/
Feral
Essence
1)The intrinsic or indispensable properties that characterize or identify something
2)The most important ingredient; the crucial element
3)The inherent unchanging nature of a thing or class of things
4)An extract that has the fundamental properties of a substance in concentrated form
5)A perfume/scent
6)One that has or shows an abundance of a quality as if highly concentrated
7)Something that exists, especially a spiritual or incorporeal entity
Phrases commonly used with this word include:
1)In essence, meaning "by nature" or "essentially"
2)Of the essence, meaning "of the greatest importance; crucial"
The etymology of the word goes back to Latin essentia,* a noun formed from esse, to be. This was created to translate the Greek ousia, formed from ousa, a form of einai, to be. The Latin essentia later went through French to become essence, which passed through Middle English as essencia.
I chose this word because it has so many different meanings, all stemming from a very basic idea, being. Also, my Herbal Essences shampoo with Rose essences inspired me to look it up. :)
*(Sorry about the previous errors, just to clarify, the presumed part of the etymology is the stem, essent. )
Floccinaucinihilipilification
sources: Eton Latin Grammar, OED.com, & worldwidewords.org
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Sandals and Socks
Flibbertigibbet & Co.
Ice
Not surprisingly, this word comes from the Old English word "is" (AHD). It seems like a word that any society would need, though I assume that those who originally used the term had no idea just how many definitions this word would adopt.