Time Picture of the Day 2009/050 评论Maze: An employee inspects skids(货盘) of Coca-Cola ready for dispatch from a bottling plant in Sydney, Australia. Buzy: A young Pakistani potter works on a vase at a Karachi workshop. Rage: On the day before World Labour Day, Palestinian workers protest the lack of job opportunities in Gaza City. Storm: A Palestinian protests the construction of the controversial Israeli separation barrier as Israeli security forces respond with tear gas and rubber bullets. Off-target: A small helicopter crashed into a parked tour bus while landing at the former Kai Tak airport in Kowloon, leaving 3 injured. Wild load: Despite a rescue attempt, this wild Indian elephant died from wounds sustained from being hit by a train. Go piggy: Tourists wear masks made with scarves(丝巾) as they watch a pig race at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Thailand. Far from home: This young Pakistani girl waits at a camp for people displaced by fighting between the Taliban and the government. Preparation: Members of the Philippine Coast Guard train to respond in case of a deadly supertyphoon in the Philippines. Go dog, go: A dog injured in the Sichuan earthquake walks with its "wheelchair" at the Home of Love Little Animal Protection Center in Chengdu, China. Psalms from the Big Chair: Israeli carpenter Waheed Abu Alkhir pushes a chair he is constructing for Pope Benedict XVI to use when the Holy Father celebrates mass in Nazareth next week. Just in case: A commuter wears a face mask as a precaution against swine flu while riding the metro(subway) in Mexico City. Feast Day: A Kosovo Albanian woman looks out a window in the village of Babaj Bokes after sheep were slaughtered in celebration of Saint George's Day. Peek: One of 300 tourists and staff quarantined(检疫，隔离) at a Hong Kong hotel due to swine flu takes a look at the outside world. Inside angle: A journalist passes in front of plastinated slices of a female body created by anatomist Gunther von Hagens for his new 'Body Worlds' exhibition. Rally: Labor union workers of South Korea's Ssangyong Motor take part in a candlelight rally to protest the company's layoff plan at its main plant. Rescue: A member of the Montgomery, Alabama Fire Department Heavy Rescue Squad climbs to a car to check for signs of life after it was swept into a drainage ditch by flash floods. Democracy: A woman leaves after casting her vote at a polling center during India's general elections in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. Tasty: A zookeeper feeds a newborn white-eared night heron at a zoo in Nanning, China. The species is one of the world's most endangered species(濒于灭绝的物种). Lit Way: Thai Buddhists with candles circle Buddha Monthon as monks pray at its base during religious merit making to celebrate Visakha Bucha or Buddha Day in Nakon Pathom. Why did the rhino(犀牛, informal)cross the road: A one-horned rhinoceros(犀牛, formal) is seen during the rhino census in the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, 34 miles east of Gauhati, India. Rock and a hard place: The Russian production ship 'Petrozavodsk' find itself in a precarious(不稳定的) situation after running aground(搁浅) close to Bjoernoeya (Bear Island) in the Norwegian Sea. Guest of honor: Pope Benedict XVI meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres during a eight-day trip to the Middle East. Moment's notice: A US soldier is wearing 'I Love NY(New York)' boxer shorts after rushing from his sleeping quarters(军营) to join his fellow platoon(排) members after they received fire from Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley. Desert snow: Saudis enjoy a rare snowfall in Al Baha, a city south-west of Riyadh. Word of the Day-castigate0 评论
castigate \KAS-tuh-gayt\, transitive verb:
To punish severely; also, to chastise verbally; to rebuke; to criticize severely. It was not good enough to castigate him for his sins.-- Frank Deford, "Knight is too easy a target", Sports Illustrated, May 25, 2000 Out in the world they marvelled that they were found acceptable to others, after years of being castigated as unsatisfactory, disappointing.-- Anita Brookner, Falling Slowly Though castigated by the Catholic Church, illegitimacy was scarcely an unusual feature of Austrian country life.-- Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris For my lack of missionary zeal, I have been castigated by a few militant atheists, who are irritated by my disinclination to try persuading people to abandon their faith that God exists (while some religious people regard me as a militant atheist intent on promoting worship of unspecified "secular idols").-- Wendy Kaminer, Sleeping With Extra-Terrestrials Word of the Day-captious0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: [ 'kæp-shês] Definition: (1) Not merely deceptive but designed to (mis)lead you to the wrong conclusion, e.g. a sign, argument, or advertisement; sophistical. (2) Having an ill-natured inclination to find faults and raise objections; caviling, carping. Usage: "Have you stopped beating your husband?" is a captious question in the first sense of the word. That sense also brings to mind advertisements like, "Super Eldopé Extra with BMX-43 helps stop tough headache pain according to studies by a respected east coast research institution." This ad is designed to make you think Eldopé is a wonder drug for stopping headaches. But "BMX-43" could be evaporated water and the studies could have been conducted in the company's own laboratories (not Harvard). People who are captious in the second sense could even find fault with the Word of the Day. We hope none of these ever cross your (or our) path. Suggested Usage: Captious is a well-behaved adjective that belongs to a small family: "captiously" is the adverb and "captiousness" is the noun. Etymology: From Old French captieux, from Latin captisus, the adjective from captio "seizure, sophism," the noun of capere "to seize." Related words from Latin include "capture" and "captain." The English word "catch" comes from Old North French cachier "to chase" from the same Latin word. The original root, *kap, came down to English as "have" (from Old English "habban"; cf. German "haben") and "heavy" (from Old English "hefig"). In German it became Haft "arrest" but also the suffix –haft "like, having," as in lebhaft "lively, spirited" from leb-en "live" + -haft. captious \KAP-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Marked by a disposition to find fault or raise objections. 2. Calculated to entrap or confuse, as in an argument. The most common among those are captious individuals who can find nothing wrong with their own actions but everything wrong with the actions of everybody else.-- "In-Closet Hypocrites", Atlanta Inquirer, August 15, 1998 Mr Bowman had, I think, been keeping Christmas Eve, and was a little inclined to be captious: at least, he was not on foot very early, and to judge from what I could hear, neither men nor maids could do anything to please him.-- M. R. James, The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Stories Most authors would prefer readers such as Roiphe over captious academic critics.-- Steven Moore, "Old Flames", Washington Post, November 26, 2000 With the imperturbablest bland clearness, he, for five hours long, keeps answering the incessant volley of fiery captious questions.-- Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution Word of the Day-capricious0 评论
capricious \kuh-PRISH-us; -PREE-shus\, adjective:
Apt to change suddenly; whimsical; changeable. Molly was a capricious woman. Her moods were unpredictable, her anger petty and vicious.-- Rand Roberts and James Olson, John Wayne: American The Countess was a capricious minx, by turns seductive and aloof.-- Saul David, Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency Mathematics is logical; people are erratic, capricious, and barely comprehensible.-- Bruce Schneier, Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World Word of the Day-carapace0 评论
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: ['kæ-rê-peys] Definition: (1) A hard outer covering or exoskeleton, such as the shell of a turtle or lobster; (2) any protective covering like a turtle shell, literal or figurative. Usage: The word "shell" is so broad in its meaning that it can lead to confusion. In referring to an animal encased in a shell, use today's word with its more focused meaning: "The only evidence of the clambake the night before was a beach strewn with corncobs and empty lobster carapaces." Since this word is associated with turtles, however, it lends itself comfortably to an image of figurative withdrawal, "When life becomes too complicated for Ethylene, she pulls her head into her carapace and shuts out the world." Suggested Usage: "Carapace" comes with a rarely used adjective "carapacial," which automatically entails an adverb, "carapacially." Remember that the accent falls on the first syllable and you will have no trouble with today's word. Etymology: English slipped a copy of today's word out of French, who had it on loan from Spanish, where it was carapacho "tortoise shell." It may be a victim of metathesis (switching places), a reduction of "?carapazon" by metathesis from caparazon "caparison, body-armor or parade trappings of a horse." This word is the augmentative of Medieval Latin capara "a hood coming over the shoulders." This word is an extension of Medieval Latin capa "cape." Unfortunately, we have no evidence of the metathesis. carapace \KAIR-uh-pace\, noun: 1. The thick shell that covers the back of the turtle, the crab, and other animals. 2. Something likened to a shell that serves to protect or isolate from external influence. . . .a gauge for measuring the length of a lobster's carapace from the thorax to the eye socket.-- Richard Adams Carey, Against the Tide Hannah Jelkes, . . . who wears an air of cool reserve like a carapace.-- Howard Taubman, "Theatre: 'Night of the Iguana' Opens", New York Times, December 29, 1961 Desperate to win his father's attention and respect, Kennedy became a hard man for a long while, covering over his sensitivity and capacity for empathy with a carapace of arrogance.-- Evan Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life Eisenman, who is Meier's second cousin, was so neurotically insecure about his abilities that he sought to hide them within the dense carapace of arcane theory.-- Martin Filler, "The Spirit of '76", New Republic, July 9, 2001 Almost all the vivid, eyewitness accounts we have . . . date from a quarter of a century later, when Degas, celebrated and successful, had developed a crusty, cantankerous carapace, from which he emerged occasionally to deliver his famously caustic and enigmatic mots.-- Christopher E. G. Benfey, Degas in New Orleans Word of the Day-capitulate0 评论
capitulate \kuh-PICH-uh-layt\, intransitive verb:
To surrender under agreed conditions. Just before peace talks on Kosovo are due to resume, the United States and its allies are sending contradictory signals to Belgrade, making it less likely that President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia will capitulate on American terms.-- Steven Erlanger, "West's Bosnia Move May Hurt Kosovo Bid", New York Times, March 7, 1999 Word of the Day-capacious0 评论
capacious \kuh-PAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Able to contain much; roomy; spacious. Litter was picked up non stop during the week (mostly by that nice governor with the capacious pockets).-- Faysal Mikdadi, "'Why shouldn't it be like this all the time?'", The Guardian, September 2, 2002 Out of those capacious receptacles he brought forth a small bottle of Scotch whiskey, a lemon, and some lump sugar.-- Ellen M. Calder, "Personal Recollections of Walt Whitman", The Atlantic, June 1907 Is it worth pointing out that the boot seems remarkably capacious for a little car?-- Giles Smith, "Er what's the sixth gear for?", The Guardian, January 8, 2002 Capacious is derived from Latin capax, capac-, "able to hold or contain." Word of the Day-cant0 评论
cant \KANT\, noun:
1. The idioms and peculiarities of speech in any sect, class, or occupation. 2. The use of religious phraseology without understanding or sincerity. 3. Empty, solemn speech, implying what is not felt; insincere talk; hypocrisy. 4. A whining manner of speaking, especially of beggars. Don Juan delighted London gossipmongers with plentiful allusions to the scandal surrounding the poet's divorce from his young wife of one year and his subsequent flight from English "hypocrisy and cant."-- Banite Eisler, Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame Underneath all the grime there was as much sentimental piety and conformist cant.-- Andrew Sarris, "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet" ...the English major from a working-class family who now and then asks a forthright question that cuts through the literary cant.-- Theodore Solotaroff, "Memoirs for Memorial Day", New York Times, May 29, 1977 Cant ultimately derives from Latin cantus, singing, chanting. Word of the Day-craven0 评论
craven adjective : lacking the least bit of courage : contemptibly fainthearted
Exampled Sentence Lavinia thought it was craven of Alex to cave into pressure and retract his allegations instead of defending his position. Did you know? "Craven" and its synonyms "dastardly" and "pusillanimous" are all basically fancy words for "cowardly." Don't be afraid to use them — here's a little information to help you recognize the subtle distinctions in their connotations. "Craven" suggests extreme defeatism and complete lack of resistance. One might speak of "craven yes-men." "Dastardly" often implies behavior that is both cowardly and treacherous or skulking or outrageous, as in this example: "a dastardly attack on unarmed civilians." "Pusillanimous" suggests a contemptible lack of courage (e.g., "After the attack, one editorialist characterized the witnesses as 'the pusillanimous bystanders'"). *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. Word of the Day-chaff0 评论
chaff \chaf\, noun, verb:
1. the stiff strawlike part of grains such as wheat, oats, rye 2. to make good-natured fun of someone 3. worthless material; detritus Chaff is separated from the grain by threshing. It's hard to separate the chaff from the wheat sometimes. The kids chaffed the exchange student for her mistakes in grammar. Word of the Day-bulwark0 评论
Definition: (noun) A protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away.
Synonyms: breakwater, groyne, jetty, seawall, mole Usage: We ran to the end of the bulwark to watch the waves break against the unyielding structure. 1. to defend or protect, serve as a bulwark; shelter 2. a person, thing, or concept that is a defense or protection 3. an embankment of earth or other material used as a defense against a threat; rampart（堡垒） 4. the sides of a ship extending like a fence above the deck level（舷墙） The French eventually prevailed, and Asher and his ally Alex were kicked up north to the town of Siem Reap, where they helped reconstruct the earthquake-damaged Elephant Wall, an infuriatingly complicated Khmer bulwark that had fallen into several hundred pieces some centuries ago. -- Robert Bingham, Lightning on the Sun Originally a set of largely structural guarantees applying only against the federal government, the Bill has become a bulwark of rights against all government conduct. -- Akhil Reed Amar, The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction The country has overwhelming importance to America as a strategic ally in a highly volatile Islamic region; indeed, Washington is counting on it to be a bulwark against the spread of Islamic fundamentalism into Europe. -- Jeffrey E. Garten, The Big Ten: The Big Emerging Markets and How They Will Change Our Lives For Laura's mother the church, in addition to what spiritual significance it possessed, stood out as a bulwark of civilization in the midst of a still forming, rough frontier culture. -- John E. Miller, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend Today we bulwark an older, liberal-Christian Europe against newer atheistic totalitarian forces. -- Daniel J. Boorstin, We, the People, in Quest of Ourselves, New York Times, 20207 Word of the Day-canny0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['kæn-ni] Definition: Knowing, judicious, prudent; frugal; (Scottish) steady, restrained, and gentle. Usage: Today's word works whenever you wish to characterize something as judicious and steady, "Father Gerhard's canny management of his parish spared it and him the embarrassment suffered in other parishes." Although this is the basic meaning of the word, it has a long association with the judicious control of financial matters, "Luella has a canny sense of exactly how much money her husband can expend over the weekend and arrive at work on time Monday morning—and she dispenses it accordingly." Suggested Usage: Today's word has an odd orphan negative even though it survives with its original meaning unchanged. The negative, "uncanny," has come to mean "weird, of supernatural nature; eerie" and is no longer related semantically to today's word. The comparative forms are "cannier" and "canniest" while the adverb is "cannily" and the noun, "canniness." Etymology: From Old English cunnan "to know how, be able to," also the origin of "cunning" and "couth," now found only in "uncouth," from Old English cuth "well-known, excellent." Another relative is the "kith" of "kith and kin" from Old English cyth "acquaintance, friendship, kinfolk." Old English "cnawan," today's "know," comes from the same ultimate root, *gno-. A descendent of this root is found in Latin cognscere "to come to know, get acquainted with" and ignorare "to not know, to disregard," underlying English "ignore" and "ignorant." With a different suffix, *(g)no-dhli- we get Latin nobilis "knowable, known, famous" and our word "noble." The Greek variants, e.g. gignskein "to know, think," lie behind English "gnome," "(a)gnostic," and "diagnosis." (Our thanks to the uncannily canny Steve Hart or Larchmont, New York for suggesting today's word.) Word of the Day-canine0 评论
canine \KEY-nahyn\
adjective: 1. of or like a dog or member of the dog family 2. pertaining to a canine tooth noun: 1. any animal belonging to a group of meat-eaters including dogs, foxes, and wolves 2. one of the four teeth next to the incisors; cuspid Several police departments with canine squads similar in size to the Prince George's unit reported few -- if any -- cases of dogs biting officers. -- David S. Fallis and Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post, 2001-12-30 First came Netflix and Zipcar. Now comes a company that plans to rent dogs to Bostonians willing to pay steep fees for a canine friend without worry of commitment. -- Sarah Schweitzer, Boston Globe, 2007-12-17 Word of the Day-candor0 评论
candor \KAN-der\, noun:
1. honesty in giving one's view or opinion; frankness and sincerity 2. fairness; impartiality What remains to be seen is whether the candor he offered in his early memoir will be greeted with a new-style acceptance by voters. -- Lois Romano, The Washington Post, 2007-01-03 But we know that real leadership is about candor and judgment and the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life(各行各业的人) around a common purpose, a higher purpose. -- The Guardian, 2008-01-27 Word of the Day-candid0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['kæn-did] Definition: White, pure, honest, unbiased, frank or open. Usage: "Candid" still implies a purity, almost a naiveté, that "frank" does not convey, "Candice, I wish you wouldn't be so candid when discussing our age!" For 50 years Allen Funt entertained people with his "candid microphone" on radio followed by “candid camera（用来偷拍的袖珍照相机）" on TV, recording people doing things they would not want recorded on tape or film for others to laugh at. Suggested Usage: The definition above maps the semantic history of today's word: whiteness to purity to honesty, then frankness. The noun is "candor" (British-Australian "candour") and the adverb "candidly," not always the best way to talk. Today’s word is unrelated to "candy," which comes from Arabic qandah "candy," borrowed from Persian qand "sugar." Etymology: The leap from "candid" to "candidate" might seem to require a rocket-powered pogo stick today but Latin candidat-us "clothed in white," the origin of our word "candidate," comes from candidus "white" just as does "candid." The reason? Roman candidates for political office wore a white toga during their campaigns. The verb root (candere) is also found in incendere "to kindle, set afire," the origin of English "incendiary," "incense," and "frankincense." An early source of artificial light, "candle," is also a descendant, and a candle-maker is a chandler (candle+er), of which there must have been many, judging from the number of people still bearing that name today. (Our thanks for Professor Dennis Baumwoll of Bucknell University for today's lexical enlightenment.) Word of the Day-camp0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['kæmp] Definition: Effeminate, homosexual hence ostentatious, theatrical and hence outlandish or vulgar to the point of being amusing. Usage: The term is not flattering, so apply it gingerly, "Oh, do invite Lois; without one of her camp outfits to snip at it won't be a party!" It applies to either sex in its more recent metaphorical sense: "How camp can you get? I saw him driving a pink Cadillac with silver cow horns mounted on the hood." Suggested Usage: The adjective is derived from the noun "camp" which originally referred to exaggerated effeminate behavior of homosexuals or to such homosexuals themselves. Currently the word is used more frequently in reference to anything outlandishly and tastelessly artificial, out of fashion, or otherwise inappropriate. Some speakers add the adjective suffix -y to form, "He may be straight but he sure has a campy walk." In some regions you will encounter a verb: "What are you camping it up for? Don't your clothes attract enough attention?" Etymology: The origin of today's word has been consumed by collective forgetfulness so all we can do is thank Silvia Simon for reminding us of this mysterious lexical oddity. Word of the Day-calumniate0 评论
Calumniate (Verb)
Pronunciation: [kê-'lêm-nee-eyt] Definition: To make malicious statements known to be false in an effort to harm someone's reputation or character. Usage: Our language can damage others in several ways: we may defame (to focus an attack on the victim's reputation), malign (to attack someone's character by speaking badly of him or her), or vilify (to grossly criticize someone to undermine their character and reputation). "Calumniate" implies an attack on character or reputation that is knowingly incorrect. Benjamin Disraeli, a 19th-century British Prime Minister, said that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Calumniating falls under Disraeli's second category. The noun is "calumny." Suggested Usage: Unfortunately, we find this behavior on all levels: "After a period of scandal, politicians sometimes become more careful about calumniating their opponents." "Humans are basically sadistic; watch how toddlers calumniate their siblings, just to watch the spectacle of the punishment." calumny, noun: 1. False accusation of a crime or offense, intended to injure another's reputation. 2. Malicious misrepresentation; slander. They would see to it that every suspicious whisper and outright calumny would be repeated in print, breathing fire into the growing spirit of faction.-- William Safire, Scandalmonger They protest to him against the universal order, and then reward his kind words by calumny and accusations of . . . inhumanity and cruelty.-- Paola Capriolo, Floria Tosca Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.-- Shakespeare, Hamlet Word of the Day-cajole0 评论
cajole \kuh-JOHL\, transitive verb:To persuade with flattery, repeated appeals, or soothing words; to coax.
If Robert had been an ordinary ten-year-old he would have cajoled and whined, asked and asked and asked until I snapped at him to keep quiet.-- Anna Quindlen, Black and Blue One of Virgil's great accomplishments was his ability to charm, cajole, weasel people out of their bad moods, especially when their bads moods inconvenienced him.-- Anthony Tommasini, Virgil Thomson: Composer on the Aisle Whiz kept to himself and spent long hours every day studying financials and technical charts and reading impenetrable economic publications. Even the warden had tried to cajole him into sharing market tips.-- Belfry Holdings, The Brethren Cajole derives from Early Modern French cajoler, originally, "to chatter like a bird in a cage, to sing; hence, to amuse with idle talk, to flatter," from Old French gaiole, jaiole, "a cage," from Medieval Latin caveola, "a small cage," from Latin cavea, "an enclosure, a den for animals, a bird cage," from cavus, "hollow." It is related to cave, cage and jail (British gaol). Word of the Day-callow0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['kæ-lo] Definition: Immature, inexperienced, having not reached adulthood, as a callow youth. Usage: Edith Wharton pretty much summed up her reasons for relocating to Paris in a letter to a friend after her car broke down in Massachusetts and she was forced to overnight in a hotel less fashionable than she was accustomed to: "Such dreariness, such whining callow women, such utter absence of the amenities, such crass food, crass manners, crass landscape!" So, what happened to the Age of Innocence? Callowness, however, can also be associated with things other than birds and people: "I fear this vintage is wasted on such a callow palate as Freddy's." Suggested Usage: Today's word is used mostly in reference to young birds and people. However, callow foxes might learn a valuable lesson practicing their attack tactics on a porcupine or skunk. The adverb for this word is "callowly" and the noun, "callowness." Etymology: From Middle English calwe "bald" from Old English calu "bald," related to German kahl "bald" and Latin calvus "bald." On the surface, today's word seems self-contradictory. Baldness usually comes with age and experience yet this word has come to roost on young people with hair at its thickest. How come? As the word "bald" pushed "callow" aside, "callow" reoriented itself to the featherless state of unfledged baby birds—a meaning that it retains, by the way. From here the implication of immaturity migrated back to people, leaving an interesting semantic trail if you have a map. (A gracious bow to Lynn Laboriel, who loves lexical mysteries like that hidden in today's word.) callow \KAL-oh\, adjective:Immature; lacking adult perception, experience, or judgment. Those who in later years did me harm I describe as I knew them then, and I beg any reader to remember that, although I was hardly callow, I was not yet wise in the ways of the world.-- Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost George Black Jr was grateful that during his protracted courtship of Betty, his future father-in-law 'bore my callow unsophistication with benign indulgence'.-- Richard Siklos, Shades of Black They watched in awe as Revere, at first a callow and unambitious youth, began to develop into a serious young man dedicated to books and devoted to his father.-- Sherwin B. Nuland, "The Saint", New Republic, December 13, 1999 Word of the Day-cadge0 评论
cadge \KAJ\
transitive verb:1. To beg or obtain by begging; to sponge. intransitive verb:1. To beg; to sponge. Another . . . complains of the hard work involved in cadging an invitation to a fancy dinner.-- James N. Davidson, Courtesans & Fishcakes Imagine the Tom his fellow students saw at the University of Iowa -- a slovenly, self-absorbed young man with a high, braying laugh, a tendency to cadge money and a habit of blushing -- and you can see why one remembered him as "a rather unpleasant little person" and another later said that he would have bet on "anyone but Tom" to become a successful playwright.-- Benedict Nightingale, "The Bard of Failure", New York Times, November 19, 1995 John D. Rockefeller came to him regularly now to beg for dimes and to cadge free rides.-- William H. Pritchard, "Yossarian Redux", New York Times, September 25, 1994 Word of the Day-callous0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['kæ-lês] Definition: (1) Having calluses hence hardened and thickened. (2) Feeling no emotion or having no sympathy for others. Usage: You might subtly go back to the original source by saying, "I don't mean to be thin skinned, but your constant harping leaves me callous." Then, you might follow it up by saying, "On second thought, I guess I'm being thick skinned because my ears developed a callus from your constant harping." Suggested Usage: Take care not to confuse the adjective callous with the noun, callus "a hard, thickened area on skin or bark." Although not common, both forms can also function as verbs: callous "to make or become callous," and callus "to develop hardened tissue." Etymology: Not surprisingly, both "callous" and "callus" descend from the same source, Middle French calleux, from Latin callosus, in turn, from callus "hard skin." The difference in spelling is attributable to the fact that -ous is typically an adjectival ending. Word of the Day-cadence0 评论
cadence \KAYD-'n(t)s\, noun:
1. the measure or beat of music, dancing, or a regularly repeated movement 2. a rising and falling sound; modulation; also, the falling inflection of the voice, as at the end of a sentence 3. a series of chords bringing part of a piece of music to an end I notice that when Hillary is experiencing turbulence she lapses into a rhetorical style similar to that of John McCain's: a sing-song rhythm in which every sentence is delivered with the exact same cadence and ends on the same predictable beat.-- Jacques Berlinerblau, The God Vote, Washington Post, May 5, 2004 "Every pitcher has a body cadence and rhythm," says Brock. "Once you've learned to read it, you can tell whether he is about to make a pick-off throw, and you can know exactly when you can start toward second."-- The Premier Pilferer, Time, July 14, 1970 Harmonic richness and variety entered victoriously where stereotyped cadences, barren and threadbare progressions, had reigned ad nauseam（令人作呕的）.-- Carl Engel, Jazz: A Musical Discussion, The Atlantic, August 1, 1992 Word of the Day-cacophony0 评论
cacophony \kuh-KAH-fuh-nee\, noun:1. Harsh or discordant sound; dissonance.2. The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition.
New York was then a cacophony of sounds -- a dozen accents ricocheting off surrounding buildings as immigrant mothers called their children home for supper, noon whistles blowing, vendors hawking their wares on the streets, children shouting, horses whinnying, and people yelling.-- Herbert G. Goldman, Banjo Eyes The mammoth central station towered over the platforms, and with the cacophony from whooshing steam, shrill whistles, shouts and the heaving of hand and horse carts, not only was it the biggest, noisiest, most confusing experience any of them had ever encountered, but the city was almost unimaginable.-- Christopher Ogden, Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg Word of the Day-cached0 评论
cached \kasht\, adjective:
1. stored; hidden 2. in computing, stored in a part of memory used as a cache（缓存） MacMillan wrote to his sponsors at the National Geographic Society, "I am more convinced than ever that far northern Arctic work will never be done by heavier than air machines simply because landing places are uncertain and caches of food and gas cannot be depended upon. -- Raimund E. Goerler, To the Pole - The Diary and Notebook of Richard E. Byrd, 1925-1927, 1925 I switch on the Garmin to find my first way point, where I've cached a 2-gallon bag of water. The device's little floating arrow guides me to within 3 feet of the rock under which I hid it. -- Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times, 5/4/2008 The chief had two particularly fine horses, which so excited his cupidity that one night he drove them off and "cached"-that is, hid-them in a safe place. The chief looked for them high and low, but without success. -- Theodore Roosevelt, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail Word of the Day-cabal0 评论
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: [kê-'bæl or kê-'bahl] Definition: A secret group involved in plots and intrigues, usually aimed at the overthrow of a power structure. Usage: Here is another unjustly rare word with many commonplace applications: "Hmm, your sister asked the same thing; you two don't have a cabal going, do you?" Or: "The older deacons formed a cabal to replace the young minister" (where "older" and "young" are interchangeable). Suggested Usage: The noun may be used as a regular verb in the sense of forming a cabal or conspiring: "Caballing officers caused the overthrow of many South American governments." There are no synonyms. "Conspiracy" refers to the activity, not the group carrying it out. Etymology: From Medieval Latin cabala, borrowed from Hebrew qabbala "received doctrine" (<> cabal \kuh-BAHL; kuh-BAL\ noun: 1. A secret, conspiratorial association of plotters or intriguers whose purpose is usually to bring about an overturn especially in public affairs. 2. The schemes or plots of such an association. intransitive verb: 1. To form a cabal; to conspire; to intrigue; to plot. If you constantly disagreed with Winters, he wrote you out of his cabal, his conspiracy against the poetry establishment.-- Richard Elman, Namedropping: Mostly Literary Memoirs My father always had been a collector. There were the stamps, National Geographics, scrapbooks filled with his favorite political cartoons, and booklets justifying his belief that the world was under the control of a global cabal of elites unified by such organizations as the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Freemasons.-- Frederick Kempe, Father/Land But the new world of toys is by no means simply the product of a profit-mad cabal of toy pushers discovering new ways of exploiting the child market.-- Gary Cross, Kids' Stuff The Anti-Federalists were not simply concerned that Congress was too small relatively--too small to be truly representative of the great diversity of the nation. Congress was also too small absolutely--too small to be immune from cabal and intrigue.-- Akhil Reed Amar, The Bill of Rights Word of the Day-byzantine0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['bi-zên-teen] (US) or (British) [bi-'zæn-tayn ] Definition: Pertaining to Byzantium; highly complicated and intricate; characterized by a manner that relies on intrigue, scheming and labyrinthine machinations. Usage: The common adjective "byzantine" has two levels of meaning. The first one is for something that's merely complicated: "Let's forget these byzantine travel arrangements and sign up for a group tour." The other connotes underhanded business: "Rudolf resorted to byzantine machinations behind the scenes to wreck the reputations of his enemies." Suggested Usage: "Byzantine" with a capital "B" can be used to refer to a citizen of ancient Byzantium or its art or architecture but "byzantine" is the form we use for the metaphoric sense of the word. The latter, but not the former, may be compared. The adverb of the latter would be "byzantinely" and the noun, but they are rarely encountered. Etymology: From "Byzantium," later known as Constantinople, today's Istanbul. The origin of "Byzantium" is unclear but as the capital of the Byzantine Empire, it was known for the complex political intrigues of its leaders. In "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (1776), Edward Gibbon claims that Byzantium contained so many labyrinthine connections that it was impossible to separate or simplify any element of the bureaucracy. (Our gratitude to Cliff Shin for today's word is anything but byzantine; just a simple, but heartfelt "Thanks!") Word of the Day-burgeon0 评论
Part of Speech: verb
Pronunciation: [‘bêr-jên] Definition: To bud, sprout, to begin to grow or blossom; to grow and flourish. Usage: Of course everything in your garden burgeons in the spring. But other things burgeon in other gardens, too, "He was as yet unaware of the tenderness for her already burgeoning in him after their first encounter." Today’s word may also be used by analogy with items that resemble buds, "A painful corn now burgeoned on her foot from constantly wearing her daughter’s shoes." Suggested Usage: The media are fraying today’s word a bit about the edges; it may be time to cast our attention its way. Expressions like "the burgeoning Enron scandal" is something of an understatement. Even if we say that Enron was a garden where unrequited felony burgeoned with abandon, we ignore the fact that much of it came to full bloom. A burgeon is a bud, well, maybe a pimple, but even this pejorative noun flagrantly understates the explosion of the Enron scandal. Etymology: Middle English "burgeonen" from Old French "borjoner," the verb from the noun burjon "a bud." This noun descended from the Vulgar Latin *burrio, burrion which came from Late Latin burra "a shaggy garment." Today’s word is unrelated to "burro," a Spanish back-formation from borrico "donkey," a descendant of Late Latin burricus "small horse." (We can only hope that a sense of gratitude is burgeoning in all our breasts for Terry Light, author of 'Shades of Meaning' at http://www.shadesofmeaning.com and the source of today’s word.) Word of the Day-burnish0 评论
burnish \BUR-nish\, verb, noun:
1. to make shiny by polishing 2. a polish or shine A burnish on the copper pots made them very attractive. The craftsman burnished and refurbished metalworks. Word of the Day-bumptious0 评论
bumptious \BUMP-shuhs\, adjective: Crudely, presumptuously, or loudly self-assertive.
The clown in the girl is bumptious as can be: bouncing about in the peaked cap and oversized coat of a boy she hasn't learned to love yet, pacing in lockstep behind a fellow-lodger for the sheer love of badgering him, blowing out her cheeks like a fussed walrus when crossed.-- Walter Kerr, Anne Frank Shouldn't Be Anne's Play, New York Times, January 7, 1979 Still a tremendous singer and a man so confident of his own sex appeal that he could make the most outrageously bumptious behaviour seem not only engaging but also entirely natural.-- David Sinclair, "Larger than life and twice as rocky", Times (London), March 13, 2000 Wells did not meet his father until he was an adult, by which time he had developed his own blunt, sometimes bumptious personality.-- George Vecsey, "An Outsider Who Became an Insider", New York Times, October 7, 1998 Meaning : presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive : obtrusive Example Sentence “I wish the DJs on this station weren’t so bumptious,” said Andrea. “I’d prefer to just listen to the music.” Did you know? Etymologists believe that “bumptious” was probably coined, perhaps playfully, from the noun “bump” plus “-tious.” When “bumptious” was first used around 1800, it meant “self-conceited.” Charles Dickens used it that way in David Copperfield: “His hair was very smooth and wavy; but I was informed . . . that it was a wig . . . and that he needn’t be so ‘bounceable’ — somebody else said ‘bumptious’ — about it, because his own red hair was very plainly to be seen behind.” Word of the Day-bucolic0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: [byu-'ka-lik] Definition: Characteristic of flocks or herds; rustic, rural, pastoral. Usage: A bucolic landscape has the same effect as a pillow and a warm fire in winter: "Thornton dreamed of himself and his lovely friend, Wanda, on a bucolic picnic under an ancient oak spreading halfway across a meadow intersected by a giggling brook." The thought of this word itself reduces tension and relaxes the thinker, "Holcombe filled his apartment with bucolic pictures of the Virginia countryside to absorb the stress he brought with him from the office." Suggested Usage: Today's word reeks of romance, of bright, tranquil summer days in the countryside, away from the rush and rumble of the city. The noun is "bucolicism" but is rarely used. Etymology: Latin bucolicus "pastoral," borrowed from Greek boukolikos, the adjective of the compound noun boukolos "cowherd," based on bous "cow" + kolos "herdsman." "Kolos" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *kwel- "round, circle, rotate, dwell," which also gave us "colony" and "cultivate." Reduplicated (*kwe-kwlo) it became "circle" from Greek kyklos "circle." Old English "hweogol," which descended to us as "wheel, is a direct descendant." Sanskrit chakram "wheel" comes from the same source and came through Hindi into English as chukker "period of play in polo" and "chakra," one of the seven centers of spiritual energy according to the teachings of yoga. Kolo, kolesa "wheel" in several Slavic languages (e.g. Russian) shares the same origin. bucolic \byoo-KOL-ik\ adjective:1. Relating to or typical of the countryside or its people; rustic.2. Of or pertaining to the life and occupation of a shepherd; pastoral. noun:1. A pastoral poem, depicting rural affairs, and the life, manners, and occupation of shepherds.2. A country person. What Ms. Morris appreciates most now is the mix of bucolic and urban: She can descend into the subway and roam the city, then spend hours in the botanic garden and "walk quietly home to check my tomato plants."-- Janny Scott, "The Brownstone Storytellers", New York Times, May 15, 1995 In 1901 the Pittsburgh Leader focused on the more bucolic qualities of Springdale, noting "considerable acreage of woods and farm land, picturesque streets . . . and pretty little frame dwellings set amidst overhanging apple trees and maples."-- Linda Lear, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature St. Paul's was a private Episcopal boys' school outside of Concord, New Hampshire, sixty miles from Windsor, in the middle of a wooded, secluded, bucolic nowhere.-- Ken Gormley, Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation bucolic \byoo-KAH-lik\ adjective 1 : of or relating to shepherds or herdsmen : pastoral *2 : relating to or typical of rural life Example sentence: While sitting in rush hour traffic, Cecilia often daydreamed about living in a little house in a quiet, bucolic setting. Did you know? We get "bucolic" from the Latin word "bucolicus," which is ultimately from the Greek word "boukolos," meaning "cowherd." When "bucolic" was first used in English in the early 17th century, it meant "pastoral" in a narrow sense — that is, it referred to things related to shepherds or herdsmen and in particular to pastoral poetry. Later in the 19th century, it was applied more broadly to things rural or rustic. "Bucolic" has also been occasionally used as a noun meaning "a pastoral poem" or "a bucolic person." *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. Word of the Day-brusque0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: [brêsk] Definition: Rudely curt, offensively blunt, gruff, or short with someone. Usage: Unlike "bluff," which implies a good-hearted straightforwardness, today's word implies a dismissive and insulting gesture, "Creighton brusquely dismissed my suggestion that he address his colleagues more courteously." A sense of superiority often lies behind brusqueness, "Mandy's world crashed around her when she finally met her movie idol and asked for his autograph only to be told brusquely to get lost." Suggested Usage: Remember, today's word is NOT spelled "brusk" despite what the weak-kneed, willy-nilly dictionaries tell you. Let's not adapt our speech to speech errors no matter how commonly they occur. The adverb is "brusquely" and the noun, "brusqueness." Etymology: Today's is more undisguised loot from the French language, related to Italian brusco "coarse, rough," and Portuguese and Spanish brusco "rude, peevish"—all from Late Latin bruscus "butcher's broom." The Latin word may—and we emphasize 'may'—be a blend of Late Latin brucus "heather" + ruscus "butcher's broom." If so, it is related to French bruyère "heath," which comes from Late Latin *brucaria, a noun from the same word, brucus "heather." English borrowed this French word, too, though this one we at least disguised a bit as "briar." 1 : markedly short and abrupt *2 : blunt in manner or speech often to the point of ungracious harshness Example sentence: Her brusque manner, often mistaken by others as unfriendliness, is actually caused by extreme shyness. Did you know? We borrowed "brusque" from French in the 1600s. The French, in turn, had borrowed it from Italian, where it was spelled "brusco" and meant "tart." And the Italian term came from "bruscus," the Medieval Latin name for butcher’s-broom, a shrub whose bristly leaf-like twigs have long been used for making brooms. English speakers initially used “brusque” to refer to a tartness in wine, but the word soon came to denote a harsh and stiff manner — which is just what you might expect of a word bristling with associations to stiff, scratchy brooms. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. Word of the Day-brook0 评论
Part of Speech: verb
Pronunciation: [brUk] Definition: To put up with or stand for; to tolerate. Usage: There are not many ways to use this word, but because it's unusual, it could carry some weight. "I'll brook no more prevarication; tell me where you were all night or pack your bags." On the contrary, "Che will brook any amount of nonsense as long as his girlfriend keeps his number on speed-dial." Suggested Usage: Although its etymological roots mean "to use, enjoy," the current meaning of "brook" suggests that one has stomached just about enough. Etymology: Today's word is a homonym of brook "creek or stream," but the two come to us by different etymological paths. The "creek" version derives from Middle English and Old English "broc." "Broc" is related to the Old High German bruoh "marshy ground." The "tolerate" version is from Middle English "brouken," from Old English brucan "to use, to enjoy." This word is akin to German brauchen "to need," and Latin fruor, fructus "to enjoy." They share an ancestor in PIE *bhrug-. Grimm's Law, a guiding principle in linguistics, tells us that PIE initial *bh converts regularly to "f" in Latin, e.g. English "bear" : Latin "fero" [I carry, bear], "brother" : "frater", etc. (Thanks to Dalyn Cook, who will brook no threat to the survival of this word in English. We stand with her.) Word of the Day-bromide0 评论
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: ['bro-mId] Definition: (1) A compound with bromine plus another element; (2) a commonplace remark or notion, a platitude, cliché; (3) a tiresome person, a bore. Usage: Although we no long resort to bromides (1), bromides (3) still have the same dulling, sleep-inducing effect, "Farnsworth is such an old bromide, I fall asleep just looking at him." The most common use of today's word, however, is in the second sense: "If Kratzer uses that bromide, 'no pain, no gain,'（一分耕耘，一分收获） one more time, I'm going to give him a significant gain on the nose." Suggested Usage: Bromides were such common sedatives in the 19th and early 20th centuries that a syndrome, bromism, was introduced to describe the effects of overdosing on them. Bromism resulted in depression, loss of memory, and slow mental processing. The adjective is "bromidic," as a bromidic phrase (= a cliché). Etymology: Today's word is a stinky one, based on Greek brômos "a stink" + the scientific suffix –ide, a suffix widely used in chemistry to denote a compound based on the element referred to by the root. So "bromide" refers to a compound based on bromine, a dark red poisonous liquid with a strong, repulsive smell (whence its name). A very commonplace bromide in the 19th and early 20th century was potassium bromide, widely taken as a mild sedative before going to bed to induce sleep. From this usage, it is but a short skip to the sense of a commonplace remark that makes you yawn and from there to a person who puts you to sleep. (Today's word is brought to you by Dr. Richard R. Everson, Phyllis Stabler, and Eric Thornton of Exton, Pennsylvania, who have justifiably lobbied for its inclusion in our series for some months, now.) bromide \BROH-myd\, noun:1. A compound of bromine and another element or a positive organic radical.2. A dose of potassium bromide taken as a sedative.3. A dull person with conventional thoughts.4. A commonplace or conventional saying. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. The words are in fact already a bromide when the pompous Malvolio finds and reads them.-- Marjorie Garber, Symptoms of Culture He cannot resist the occasional bromide: "Ninety percent of diplomacy is a question of who blinks first."-- Gary J. Bass, "The Negotiator", New York Times, July 11, 1999 The next president could live up to that old political bromide "Let's run the government like a business" by staffing his cabinet with some leading figures from the new world of business.-- Daniel H. Pink, "Fast.Gov", Fast Company, October-2000 Word of the Day-brandish0 评论
Part of Speech: verb
Pronunciation: ['bræn-dish] Definition: To wave or otherwise display ostentatiously, flashily; to wield or flourish defiantly. Usage: Today's word is about body language and implies someone is carrying an object with emphasis, so that it cannot be ignored, "Delores stumbled into the room brandishing a brandy glass that obviously had been filled several times." Generally, you can brandish only what is held in the hand, "Cord entered the room brandishing a pen as though he were going to sign the contract but we ended up just making more revisions." Suggested Usage: Today's word does not come from "brand," though it is related in a round-about way to the original meaning of that word (as in branding livestock). It comes from a French word meaning "sword," hence refers to movements like those associated with wielding a sword. One who brandishes is a brandisher. Etymology: Today's word originates in Old French brandir, brandiss-, from brand "sword." The French word "brand," however, was borrowed from a Germanic language, possibly Dutch branden "to burn, distill" (or temper steel) which gave us "brandy." The root clearly goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gwher-/gwhor- "heat, burn" which became thermos "warm, hot" in Greek, found in English "thermometer," "hypothermy" and "Lobster Thermidor. The initial [gwh] of this stem became [f] in Latin, hence the Latin word fornax "oven" which underlies our word "furnace." Finally, in the Germanic languages the initial consonant became [b], as in "burn" (German "brennen") and "brand." Word of the Day-boycott0 评论
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: ['boi-kaht] Definition: A concerted refusal to do business with a person or organization, usually to express disapproval of conditions or policies. Usage: The literal use of this word, as in, "So long as the Almighty Dollar（万能的金元） speaketh, the boycott will remain an effective way of getting a company's attention," is always available. But in the spirit of "think global, nag local," one could say, "Jacob is boycotting the company of his grandchildren until they stop listening to hip-hop" (he won't be seeing them for awhile). Suggested Usage: The noun and verb of today's word are the same: "boycott." A person who refuses to do business because of principles is a boycotter. Etymology: Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott, a land agent in County Mayo, Ireland in the 1880s, is the eponym of today's word. Boycott worked for an absentee English landlord and was ruthless in his treatment of tenants. He became the target of Charles Parnell, an Irish activist set on reforming the laws of land ownership. Parnell incited Boycott's native employees to refuse to cooperate, next stores refused to serve his family, then the post refused to deliver mail, until finally the entire community shunned the Boycott family in the manner now manifest in today's word. Today's word, by the way, appears in virtually every European and in many other languages around the world. boycott \BOY-kaht\ verb: to engage in a concerted refusal to have dealings with (as a person, store, or organization) usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of certain conditions Example sentence: The group boycotted the clothing company to protest its practice of employing sweatshop labor. Did you know? In the 1870s, Irish farmers faced an agricultural crisis that threatened to result in a repeat of the terrible famine and mass evictions of the 1840s. Anticipating financial ruin, they formed a Land League to campaign against the rent increases and evictions landlords were imposing as a result of the crisis. Retired British army captain Charles Boycott had the misfortune to be acting as an agent for an absentee landlord at the time, and when he tried to evict tenant farmers for refusing to pay their rent, he was ostracized by the League and community. His laborers and servants quit, and his crops began to rot. Boycott's fate was soon well known, and his name became a byword for that particular protest strategy. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. Word of the Day-boggle0 评论
Part of Speech: verb
Pronunciation: ['bahg-gêl] Definition: (1) To startle or be startled, to shy away from fearfully; (2) to bungle, botch, or fumble; (3) to overwhelm with amazement. Usage: The intransitive use is still available, "The horse boggled at a barbed wire fence and threw its rider to the ground." The sense of botching retains its usefulness, too, "He boggled (sense 2) through the match, then clinched his position in infamy with a shot into his own goal, which boggled (sense 3) everyone in the stadium." So, don't let this verb boggle your imagination—deploy it generously in the glory of all its meanings. Suggested Usage: Today's word has almost penned itself up in one word, "mind-boggling（令人难以置信的）." Historically, however, this verb has mostly been used intransitively with the preposition "at" or "about," as in, "He would never boggle at a bungee jump or two." An interesting noun from the second meaning of today's word is boggledy-botch "a complete mess, foul up," as in "You've made a complete boggledy-botch of the party with your lampshades and karaoke!" Etymology: Of the various names "bogle," "boggard," "bogy" attached to English-speaking goblins, "bogle" has been around the longest, since around 1500. Although these words seem obviously related, their relationship is unclear. They may derive from bogge or bog "hobgoblin, ghost" which, in turn, are probably variants of "bugge" or "bug," seen in current "bugaboo" and "bugbear." "Bug" in this sense may be borrowed from Welsh bwg (= bug) "ghost, hobgoblin." The forms "bogle" or "boggle" could be ancient diminutives of these words or they, too, might come directly from Welsh bwgwl (= bugul) "terror, terrifying.” Who knows? Word of the Day-boor0 评论
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: ['bur or 'bu-wêr] Definition: A lout, a grossly rude and tactless person. Usage: Remember, boors are seldom bores, "How that boor got his FOOT in the punch bowl I'll never know; he usually keeps it tucked safely in his mouth." Rather, boors tend to behave rather vulgarly: "The giggling boys watched Gordon boorishly pick his nose and made bets on how he would dispose of the by-product." Suggested Usage: Do not confuse today's word with "bore" [bor] (one of the few deverbal person nouns without the suffix –er: a writ-er writes and a read-er reads, but cooks, guides, and bores cook, write and bore). Boors are boorish and behave boorishly because of their boorishness. Most boors now live far from South Africa, where the boers are now gentleman farmers all, producing excellent wines, among other produce. Etymology: From Afrikaans boer "farmer" related to Dutch boer and German Bauer "peasant farmer" and to Old English buan "dwell, live" from which contemporary "bower" is derived. To English colonialists in South Africa, the boers were rude and uncivilized, so they adopted the word in that sense, but misspelling in their own "civilized" way. The original root of today's word underlies the word for "be" in all Indo-European languages, and hence has too enormous a lexical progeny to be covered here. We do thank Christo Lombaard, himself of South Africa, for pointing out most unboorishly how English speakers shot themselves in the foot misborrowing today's word. Word of the Day-blatant0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['bleyt-ênt] Definition: Annoyingly loud, coarse, or out of harmony with others; shockingly expressive of matters that should not be revealed. Usage: Remember, "blatant" basically refers to something offensively loud or outspoken, "Crystal Ball has been a blatant critic of all efforts to regulate palm-reading and fortune-telling in our fair city." A musical instrument may be too blatant if it doesn't blend in with the orchestra. The other meaning of today's word describes the expression of matters best left unsaid, "I was appalled at Mortimer's blatant discussion of our plan to blow up Bin Laden's TV studio" or "Marge blatantly told Ullie that she didn't love him any more at Noreen's cocktail party." Suggested Usage: Be careful to remember that today's word does not mean "serious," so it cannot be properly used in phrases like "a blatant breach of formality" or "a blatant lie." It also does not exactly mean "flagrant." This word means "glaring, stark, outrageously obvious," and tends to suggest visual rather than auditory offense. The adverb of today's word is "blatantly" and the noun, "blatancy." Etymology: Today's word is a participle of Latin blatire "to babble, blabber, gossip," akin to Swedish pladder "chatter, gossip" and probably German plappern "babble, rattle on." Russian boltat' "chatter, blabber" and Serbian blebetati "blab, jabber" are also related. Word of the Day-bogus0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: ['bo-gês] Definition: Fake, false, not genuine. Usage: Today's word is a common colloquial replacement for "fake" or "false": "Frederique, the Count of Mountebank, as he called himself, made a costly mistake when he set up a company that was as bogus as his name." Just take a look at television and you will see a plethora of bogus investment schemes, weight-loss and body-building programs. Caveat emptor! Suggested Usage: "Bogus" today is used almost exclusively as an adjective, even though it started out as a noun (see Etymology). At one time con artists passed bogus to unwary victims; now, they pass bogus coins and bills. Etymology: There are many explanations of the origin of today's word, most of them are, well, bogus. That it is a shortening of tantrabogus "an unusual object," a word used at one time in Vermont seems unlikely, since only one person has reported hearing the word. The most likely explanation is that it is a fanciful Latinization of "bogy" or "bogey" as in "bogy-man" or "booger-man," which originally referred to evil goblins or ghosts. What is sure is that by 1827 it referred to machines that produced counterfeit money, especially coins. Money produced by such machines was itself called "bogus" and the current meaning is but a very small metaphorical hop from the adjectival use. (There is nothing bogus about our gratitude to Tim J. Dobbins, III for suggesting today's word. It is genuine.) Word of the Day-blithe0 评论
Part of Speech: adjective
Pronunciation: [bLIdh] Definition: Joyous, spiritedly if not giddily happy; happy to the point of ignoring reality. Usage: I'm for returning to the old Scottish greeting, "I'm blithe to meet you" though I will probably attract few to the cause. In the US we tend to overuse the adverb without its central meaning, as in "He blithely understated her qualifications," meaning he did so simply without thought rather than as a result of being carried away with happiness. Today's word retains its sense of joy, as Shelley used it to address his skylark: "Hail thee, blithe spirit! Bird thou never wert- That from heaven or near it Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art." (Then the poem gets even better.) Suggested Usage: The comparative is "blither," pronounced [bLIdh-êr] in contrast to the verb "blither" [blidhêr]. The superlative is "blithest" and "blithely" is the adverb. "Blithesome" is an odd variant with a superfluous adjective suffix tacked onto an adjective that simply retains the original meaning, "cheerful." When the Scots were blithe to meet a new born child, blithemeat "happy food" was served, a term from the time when "meat" meant simply "food," as it does in "mincemeat." Word of the Day-blithesome0 评论
blithesome \BLYTHE-sum\ adjective
Meaning: gay, merry Example Sentence In The Gilded Age: A Tale of To-Day, Mark Twain's Laura, who had been struck by love, wondered why she had never before noticed "how blithesome the world was." Did you know? "Blithesome" comes from "blithe," a word that has been a part of English since before the 12th century. "Blithe" can mean "casual" and "heedless" as well as "joyful" and "lighthearted," but "blithesome" obviously makes use of only the "joyful, lighthearted" sense. "Blithesome" didn't show up in print in English until 1724, and is now relatively uncommon, but you'll find it in the works of such authors as Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, Mark Twain, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Word of the Day-bravura0 评论
bravura \bruh-VYUR-uh; brah-; -VUR-\
noun:1. A florid, brilliant style of music that emphasizes the technical force and skill of a performer; virtuoso music. 2. A showy or brilliant display. But it was not just the bravura of his self-expression that gave him such a hold on his contemporaries.-- Peter Ackroyd, "Oscar Wilde: Comedy as Tragedy,", New York Times, November 1, 1987 The straightforward narrative account is set down with old-fashioned punctilio in prose of classic distinction, singularly free of bravura, and marked by the hard clarity of outline that is one of Waugh's several manners.-- Charles A. Brady, "Figure of Grace", New York Times, January 24, 1960 With his customary display of dramatic bravura, Sir Alan Ayckbourn is giving us twin comedies about a village fete and staging them simultaneously in each of the National's big, adjacent auditoriums.-- Benedict Nightingale, "Witches of Updike Flying to London", New York Times, March 12, 2000 Word of the Day-bravado0 评论
bravado \bruh-VAH-doh\, noun;
plural bravados or bravadoes \bruh-VAH-dohz\: A real or pretended show of courage or boldness. While the popular mood in Belgrade remains defiant, unease beneath the bravado is growing.-- "No end in sight", The Economist, April 15, 1999 His guerrilla operations, near Kabul, were known for their bravado and a level of organization unusual among the rather haphazard mujahedeen.-- Lisa Schiffren, "Remembering Abdul Haq: The Taliban executes an Afghan patriot", The Weekly Standard, November 12, 2001 The company's culture of swashbuckling bravado encouraged risk taking without accountability.-- Ram Charan and Jerry Useem, "Why Companies Fail", Fortune, May 27, 2002 His mom was a nurse, incredulous at his bravado. "Why would anybody want to go to war?" she asked.-- Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War The students often compared public schools to prisons, with fear in their voices mixing with bravado.-- Alissa Quart, "Classroom Consciousness", The Nation, June 10, 2002 Word of the Day-braggadocio0 评论
braggadocio \brag-uh-DOH-see-oh; -shee-oh; -shoh\
noun:1. A braggart.2. Empty boasting.3. A swaggering, cocky manner. . . .all charm and "aw shucks" humility one moment, full of braggadocio the next.-- David S. Broder, "An Opportunity Missed", Washington Post, January 26, 1995 David was charming, offsetting his usual braggadocio with vulnerability.-- Tom King, The Operator She came storming out of east Texas like a whirlwind, a raw-boned tomboy with more than enough braggadocio to go with her matchless athleticism, commanding Olympian headlines in 1932 and holding the spotlight as the world's greatest female golfer for 25 years.-- Shav Glick, "Babe in the Woods", Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1999 Word of the Day-bootless0 评论
bootless \BOOT-lis\, adjective:
Unavailing; useless; without advantage or benefit. I have seen a swan With bootless labour swim against the tide.-- Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III A noble intention, a decent attempt to bust bigger heads than their own with their best weapons, but bootless and, ultimately, senseless, too.-- Gordon Monson, "Ute Defense Headlines Bland Game", Salt Lake Tribune, September 1, 2002 A crew of divers was scheduled to start cleaning the seaweed off the net in preparation for winter, although now it seemed like a bootless task, given that Keiko might never come back.-- Susan Orlean, "Where's Willy?", The New Yorker, September 16, 2002 Late in the nineteenth century there had been a bootless competition between Munich and Berlin as to which was more modern, more civilized.-- Peter Gay, My German Question Word of the Day-bigot0 评论
Part of Speech: noun
Pronunciation: ['bi-gêt] Definition: (1) A hypocrite, especially a superstitious religious hypocrite; (2) an extremely prejudiced fanatic obstinately wedded to a particular opinion or attitude and passionately intolerant of those who disagree. Usage: We generally associate bigotry with socially incorrect behavior: "His divorces do not surprise me: Rollo is such a sexist bigot, I'm astonished that he found five women willing to marry him." Today's word does, however, fit correct types of prejudicial social behavior: "Charles is a bangers-and-mash bigot who won't let anything else be served for breakfast—though he might accept a toad in the hole on special occasion." ("Bangers" are what Australians call "snags" and Americans call "sausages." A "toad in the hole" is a banger baked in dough.) Suggested Usage: A bigot is bigoted (the adjective) and the nature of a bigot is his or her bigotry (the abstract noun). Etymology: The origin of today's word is obscured by thick veils of history. We know it first emerged in the romantic biography of Girart de Roussillon written in the 12th century. It has no apparent connection with Spanish bigote "moustache." There is a story that the first Duke of Normandy, Rollo (Hrolf) the Walker (so called because he was too large for a horse), was ceded Normandy by Charles III, The Simple, on the condition that Rollo's fellow Vikings be kept out. To seal the deal, Rollo supposedly kissed the boot of Charles, muttering, "Ne se, bi got," which was taken to mean "No, by God!" in a combination of French and broken English. This curious story is too silly to even be called apocryphal. More interesting is the claim that the term Visigoth "West Goth" survived in the South of France and emerged as "bigot." It is true that the Northern Franks did not like the Visigoths of Toulouse and used several racial slurs in referring to them. However, the phonetic changes required for this derivation are none of those we know took place in other words, disallowing any provable connection. (We are also not sure how Lyn Laboriel keeps coming up with such interesting words to suggest for our series but we are happy that she does.)
订阅：
评论 (Atom)
Labels
Blog Archive
Followers |