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busticate

[ buhs-ti-keyt ]

verb

Northern U.S. to break into pieces.

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More about busticate

Busticate is a facetious Northern US formation from bust “to burst” and -icate, on the model of the regularly formed rusticate “to go to the country.”

how is busticate used?

I’ll have a sipe more of coffee, but if I eat another bite, I’ll busticate.

Ivan Doig, This House of Sky, 1978

“Elephants really busticate trees,” said Brendan Washington-Jones.

Lawrence Anthony, The Last Rhinos, 2012
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Word of the day

paseo

[ pah-sey-oh; Spanish pah-se-aw ]

noun

a slow, idle, or leisurely walk or stroll.

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More about paseo

The Spanish noun paseo “a stroll” is a derivative of the verb pasear “take a walk,” itself a derivative of pasar “to come past, go past.” Pasar comes from an assumed Vulgar Latin verb passāre “to pass, go on, extend,” which is formed from Latin passus, the past participle of pandere “to unfold, extend, spread out.” The Latin noun passus “a step, pace,” also derived from pandere, is the ultimate source of pace, i.e., “a step,” and the verb pass. Paseo entered English in the 19th century.

how is paseo used?

… the theme of every evening’s conversation at the different houses, and in our afternoon’s paseo upon the beach, was the ship …

Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, 1840

For the last two days in Ibarra, the foreigner has enjoyed easygoing Latina hospitality: a tour of the market where Celia’s mother has a stall; a paseo to a small village hosting a bullfight, even the funeral of a family friend.

Kelley Aitken, "Eating Cuy," Love in a Warm Climate, 1998
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Word of the day

behindhand

[ bih-hahynd-hand ]

adverb, adjective

late; tardy.

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More about behindhand

The adverb behindhand is formed on the analogy of the much earlier beforehand, which dates from the 13th century. Behindhand is especially but not exclusively concerned with monetary transactions, but from early in its history had the sense “out of date, behind the times.” Behindhand entered English in the 16th century.

how is behindhand used?

“Hum!” cried the old gentleman, consulting a watch he carried. “I think we are twenty minutes behindhand.”

Horatio Alger, Randy of the River, 1906

I was going to pop in to see if Miss Harner was O.K., but I was a bit behindhand after collecting some flowerpots and a bucket and that what had been blown into our hedge.

Miss Read, Gossip from Thrush Green, 1981
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