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Thursday, May 31, 2007

wetware: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 31 is:

wetware \WET-wair\ noun
: the human brain or a human being considered especially with respect to human logical and computational capabilities

Example sentence:
With the right wetware at the helm, the company should be able to turn a sizeable profit.

Did you know?
When the computer terms "software" and "hardware" sprang to life in the mid-20th century, a surge of visions and inventions using the new technology immediately followed... along with a revival of the combining form "ware." An early coinage was "wetware," which began circuiting techie circles in the 1970s as a name for the software installed by Mother Nature (a.k.a. the brain). Other "ware" names for people and their noggins have made a blip in our language -- for example, "meatware" and "liveware" -- but none have become firmly established in the general lexicon like "wetware."


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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

gibe: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 30 is:

gibe \JYBE\ verb
: to utter taunting words

Example sentence:
The crowd began to gibe at the basketball player who kept missing free throws.

Did you know?
Confused about "jibe" and "gibe"? The distinction actually isn't as clear-cut as some commentators would like it to be. "Jibe" is used both for the verb meaning "to be in accord, agree" ("jibe with") and for the nautical verb and noun ("jibe the mainsail," "a risky jibe in heavy seas"). "Gibe" is used for the verb "to deride or tease" and the noun "a taunting remark." But "jibe" is a recognized variant of "gibe," so it also has taunting or teasing uses. "Gibe" has been used occasionally as a variant of "jibe," but this use is very rare, and many people consider it to be an error.

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

hemidemisemiquaver: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 29 is:

hemidemisemiquaver \hem-ih-dem-ih-SEM-ih-kway-ver\ noun
: a musical note with the time value of 1/64 of a whole note : sixty-fourth note

Example sentence:
The pianist's fingers became a blur flying over the keys as she played the difficult hemidemisemiquavers of the allegro movement.

Did you know?
Hemidemisemiquavers are the fastest musical notes that are commonly played, and performing them well can stretch human technique to its limit. The term is mainly used in Britain, where eighth notes are called "quavers," sixteenth notes are called "semiquavers," and thirty-second notes are called "demisemiquavers." In the United States, "hemidemisemiquaver" is likely to be used humorously, occurring especially as a clever substitute for "moment" or "bit," as in "the concert ended not a hemidemisemiquaver too soon."

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Monday, May 28, 2007

impertinent: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 28 is:

impertinent \im-PER-tuh-nunt\ adjective
1 : not pertinent : irrelevant
2 *a : not restrained within due or proper bounds especially of propriety or good taste b : given to or characterized by insolent rudeness

Example sentence:
Clearly offended, Susan refused to answer an impertinent question about her marriage.

Did you know?
English speakers adopted both "impertinent" and "pertinent" from Anglo-French in the 14th century. Both words derive from the present participle of the Latin verb "pertinere," meaning "to pertain." Initially, "impertinent" was used for things that are simply not relevant. Over time, it came to be used of things that are not only irrelevant but rudely or inappropriately so, and later for people who are just straight-out rude.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Sunday, May 27, 2007

flimflam: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 27 is:

flimflam \FLIM-flam\ verb
: to subject to a deception or fraud

Example sentence:
Mrs. Grayson was one of several people in the neighborhood who were flimflammed into donating money to the phony charity.

Did you know?
English is full of words concerned with trickery and deception, ranging from the colorful "flimflam," "bamboozle," and "hornswoggle" to the more mundane "deceive," "mislead," and "delude." "Flimflam" first entered English as a noun meaning "deceptive nonsense" in the second half of the 16th century. A sense meaning "deception" or "fraud" developed. The verb use didn't show up until well into the next century. In addition to general deceiving or tricking, the verb "flimflam" is often used specifically to refer to swindling someone out of money. The ultimate origin of "flimflam" is uncertain, but the word is probably of Scandinavian origin and may be related to the Old Norse "flim," meaning "mockery."

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Saturday, May 26, 2007

wallah: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 26 is:

wallah \WAH-luh\ noun
: a person who is associated with a particular work or who performs a specific duty or service -- usually used in combination

Example sentence:
"Location, location and location. That's what it's all about, trumpet the real-estate wallahs." (Tony Baker, _The Advertiser_, August 3, 2005)

Did you know?
"Wallah" comes from the Hindi suffix "-vala," meaning "one in charge." Like its Hindi counterpart, "wallah" is commonly used in combination with other nouns. The first use of "wallah" appeared as "lootywallah" in a narrative penned by Officer Innes Munro describing his time deployed on the Coromandel Coast of India in the 1780s. "Looty," or "lootie," was a noun sometimes applied to a member of a band of marauders or robbers. In the narrative, Munro used the term to describe looting cavalrymen. In current writing, "wallah" is typically accompanied by words like "office" or "marketing."

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Friday, May 25, 2007

youthquake: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 25 is:

youthquake \YOOTH-kwayk\ noun
: a shift in cultural norms influenced by the values, tastes, and mores of young people

Example sentence:
The dot-com industry was the epicenter of the youthquake of the 1990s.

Did you know?
The 1960s were a time of seismic social upheaval brought about by young people bent on shaking up the establishment. From politics to fashion to music, the ways of youth produced far-reaching cultural changes. Linguistically, the sixties saw the addition to English of such words as "flower child," "peacenik," "hippie," "love beads," "trippy," "vibe," "freak-out," and "love-in." Not surprisingly, it also saw the emergence of "youthquake." The first known use of "youthquake" in print comes from a 1966 article in McCall's: "the youthquake, as some call it ... has swept both sides of the Atlantic."

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Thursday, May 24, 2007

apparatchik: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 24 is:

apparatchik \ah-puh-RAH-chik\ noun
1 : member of a Communist apparat
*2 : a blindly devoted official, follower, or member of an organization (as a corporation or political party)

Example sentence:
The boss seemed to prefer apparatchiks to anyone with a glimmer of independent thought.

Did you know?
In the context of the definition of "apparatchik" (a term English speakers borrowed from Russian), "apparat" essentially means "party machine." An "apparatchik," therefore, is a cog in the system of the Communist Party. The term is not an especially flattering one, and its negative connotations reflect the perception that some Communists were obedient drones in the great Party machine. In current use, however, a person doesn't have to be a member of the Communist Party to be called an "apparatchik"; he or she just has to be someone who mindlessly follows orders in an organization or bureaucracy.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.


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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

alfresco: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 23 is:

alfresco \al-FRESS-koh\ adjective or adverb
: taking place or located in the open air : outdoor, outdoors

Example sentence:
Our neighbors are looking forward to the summer, when they'll be able to dine alfresco on their new patio.

Did you know?
In addition to describing a type of dining,"alfresco" can also describe a kind of painting. The word "fresco," which comes from the Italian adjective "fresco," meaning "fresh," refers to a method of painting on fresh plaster. Although the "outdoors" sense of "alfresco" is by far the most common in current use, the term can also describe painting done in the fresco manner -- that is, on fresh plaster.


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Tuesday, May 22, 2007

foreshorten: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 22 is:

foreshorten \for-SHORT-un\ verb
1 : to shorten by proportionately contracting in the direction of depth so that an illusion of projection or extension in space is obtained
*2 : to make more compact : abridge, shorten

Example sentence:
We had a wonderful vacation, even if our time at the beach was foreshortened by two days of rain.

Did you know?
"Foreshorten" first appeared in a 1606 treatise on art by the British writer and artist Henry Peacham: "If I should paint ... an horse with his brest and head looking full in my face, I must of necessity foreshorten him behinde." Peacham's "foreshorten" probably comes from "fore-" (meaning "earlier" or "beforehand") plus "shorten." The addition of "fore-" to verbs was a routine practice in Peacham's day, creating such words as "fore-conclude," "fore-consider," "fore-instruct," and "fore-repent." "Foreshorten," along with words like "foresee" and "foretell," is one of the few "fore-" combinations to still survive.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Monday, May 21, 2007

prothalamion: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 21, 2007 is:

prothalamion \proh-thuh-LAY-mee-un\ noun
: a song in celebration of a marriage

Example sentence:
The king requested that the court poet commemorate the marriage of the princess with a prothalamion.

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 honor 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."

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Sunday, May 20, 2007

somnolent: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 20 is:

somnolent \SAHM-nuh-lunt\ adjective
1 : of a kind likely to induce sleep
*2 a : inclined to or heavy with sleep : drowsy b : sleepy

Example sentence:
"I am no whit somnolent; I always hear best with my eyes shut." (Sir Walter Scott, _The Legend of Montrose_)

Did you know?
"Somnolent" first appeared in late 15th century in the redundant phrase "somnolent sleep." It came into English by way of Anglo-French from the Latin word "somnolentus," which itself comes from "somnus," meaning "sleep." Another offspring of "somnus" is "somnambulism," a synonym of "sleepwalking." "Insomnia" is also a member of this sleepy word family, though it might be considered the black sheep, since it means, of course, "the inability to sleep."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Saturday, May 19, 2007

henotheism: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 19 is:

henotheism \HEN-uh-thee-iz-um\ noun
: the worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods

Example sentence:
During certain periods of Egyptian history, the pharaohs and their subjects practiced henotheism.

Did you know?
"Henotheism" comes to us from the German word "Henotheismus," which in turn is derived from Greek "hen-" ("one") and "theos" ("god"). Someone who engages in henotheism worships one god but does not deny that there are others. Max Muller, a respected 19th-century scholar, is credited with promoting the word "henotheism" as a counterpart to "polytheism" ("belief in or worship of more than one god") and "monotheism" ("the doctrine or belief that there is but one God"). Muller also used the related word "kathenotheism," from Greek "kath' hena" ("one at a time"), for the worship of several gods successively.

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Friday, May 18, 2007

jackanapes: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 18 is:

jackanapes \JAK-uh-nayps\ noun
1 : monkey, ape
2 a : an impudent or conceited fellow *b : a saucy or mischievous child

Example sentence:
Mr. Hughes had his neighbor's son pegged as a disrespectful jackanapes and was therefore reluctant to hire him to shovel the driveway.

Did you know?
William de la Pole, the Duke of Suffolk, was a well-regarded soldier and commander during the Hundred Years' War. It was during his dukedom (1448-1450), however, that England lost its possessions in northern France, and his popularity consequently suffered. The coat of arms for de la Pole's family sported an image of a collar and chain that, at the time, was commonly used for leashing pet monkeys, then known as "jackanapes" (a word whose precise origin is uncertain). By association, people gave the Duke the nickname "Jack Napis," and soon "jackanapes" took on a life of its own as a word for an impudent person and, later, a misbehaving child.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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Thursday, May 17, 2007

fulminate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 17 is:

fulminate \FULL-muh-nayt\ verb
: to send forth censures or invectives

Example sentence:
Jennie wrote an editorial for her town's local paper fulminating on the topic of dress codes in the public schools.

Did you know?
Lightning strikes more than once in the history of "fulminate." That word comes from the Latin "fulminare," meaning "to strike," a verb usually used to refer to lightning strikes -- not surprising since it sprang from "fulmen," Latin for "lightning." When "fulminate" was adopted into English in the 15th century, it lost much of its ancestral thunder and was used largely as a technical term for the issuing of formal denunciations by ecclesiastical authorities. But its original lightning spark remains in its suggestion of tirades so vigorous that, as one 18th-century bishop put it, they seem to be delivered "with the air of one who [has] divine Vengeance at his disposal."

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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

corybantic: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 16 is:

corybantic \kor-ee-BAN-tik\ adjective
: like or in the spirit of a Corybant; especially : wild, frenzied

Example sentence:
From the sound of the first guitar chord, the mosh pit looked like a swarm of bees in a corybantic dance.

Did you know?
The big name in goddesses in Phrygia (Asia Minor) in the fifth century B.C. was Cybele (also called Cybebe or Agdistis), the "Great Mother of the Gods." According to Oriental and Greco-Roman mythology, she was the mother of it all: gods, humans, animals ... even nature itself. The Corybants were Cybele's attendants and priests, and they worshipped her with an unrestrained frenzy of wildly emotional processions, rites, and dances. "Corybantic," the adjective based on the name of Cybele's attendants, can be used to describe anything characterized by a similarly unrestrained abandon.

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

rendition: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for May 15 is:

rendition \ren-DISH-un\ noun
1 : surrender
2 : translation
*3 : performance, interpretation

Example sentence:
Early in her career, the singer starred in a stunning rendition of Wagner's opera _Tristan und Isolde_.

Did you know?
"Rendition" entered English in the early 17th century and can be traced to the Middle French word "reddition? and ultimately to the Latin verb "reddere," meaning "to return." The English verb "render" is another descendant of "reddere," so perhaps it is no surprise that "rendition" fundamentally means "the act or result of rendering." English speakers also once adopted "reddition" itself (meaning either "restitution, surrender" or "elucidation"), but that word has mostly dropped out of use. Incidentally, if you've guessed that "surrender" is also from the same word family, you may be right; "surrender" derives in part from the Anglo-French "rendre," which likely influenced the alteration of "reddition" to "rendition."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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