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Word of the dayPrevious Week Next WeekSunday, January 27, 2019
sashay
verb [sa-shey]Informal. to glide, move, or proceed easily or nonchalantly: She just sashayed in as if she owned the place.Look it upGet to know dictionary.com
What is the origin of sashay?
Nobody, but nobody, could sashay, “walk nonchalantly,” like Jack Benny across the front of a stage. Sashay is an Americanism, a metathetic variant (or mispronunciation if one prefers) of chassé, the French term for a gliding step performed in a quadrille or square dancing. (Chassé is the past participle of chasser “to chase.”) Sashay entered English in the 19th century.Previous DayHow is sashay used?
... the barman had been of the opinion that the whole karaoke evening was going to be an utter bust; but then the little old man had sashayed into the room ... Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys, 2005
She too had endured some hard times and she too could sashay in a housecoat. Alan Cumming, "Introduction," to Goodbye to Berlin, 2012
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Word of the daySunday, January 27, 2019
oillionaire
noun [oil-yuh-nair]Canadian Informal. a millionaire whose wealth is derived from the petroleum industry.Look it upWhat is the origin of oillionaire?
It is no surprise that oillionaire, “a millionaire whose wealth is derived from the petroleum industry,” was originally an Americanism, the U.S. having so much petroleum, the U.K. none. The formation of oillionaire is obvious, a blend of oil and millionaire. Oillionaire entered English in the 1920s.Previous DayHow is oillionaire used?
Robert Q. Lewis wonders if everyone has heard about the Texas oillionaire who put in well-to-well carpeting. Hal Boyle, "Mailman Rescues Writer Again," Spokane Daily Chronicle, March 5, 1957
The oil and gas men’s day at the fair this year was an immense success from every viewpoint. It drew everything from the “rough neck” to the “oillionaire,” and it has come as an annual attraction. “Oil and Gas Men Had Day at Louisiana Fair,” The Oil Weekly, November 13, 1920
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Word of the dayFriday, January 25, 2019
lipogram
noun [lip-uh-gram, lahy-puh-]a written work composed of words chosen so as to avoid the use of one or more specific alphabetic characters.Look it upWhat is the origin of lipogram?
Lipogram looks as if it means “weighing or measuring of fat in grams or kilograms,” i.e., a medical procedure performed after a liposuction. Wrong, wrong wrong! The lipo- in liposuction comes from the Greek noun lípos “(animal) fat, lard,” from the Proto-Indo-European root leip-, lip- “fat; to stick,” from which English derives liver (the organ). A lipogram really is a kind of literary composition (usually a poem) in which the author deliberately avoids using a sound, a letter, or a digraph, e.g., s, r, or th. Lipogram comes from the Greek adjective lipográmmatos “missing a letter,” from the Greek root leip-, loip-, lip- “to leave, leave behind.” Greek leip-, loip-, lip- is the regular development of the Proto-Indo-European root leikw-, loikw-, likw-, which appears with a nasal infix (-n-) in Latin linquere, relinquere “to leave, quit, depart.” The combining form -grámmatos is a derivative of gráphein “to write” from the Proto-Indo-European root gerbh- “to scratch,” the source of English carve. Lipogram entered English in the 18th century.Previous DayHow is lipogram used?
He was translating into English the brilliant novel by Georges Perec, “La Disparition” – a lipogram written entirely without the letter “e.” Andy Martin, "The Treachery of Translators," New York Times, January 28, 2013
We received some short autobiographies and there was an oddly large number of lipograms about pirates. "Contestant Lipograms: the Best of the Best," NPR, June 29, 2012
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Word of the dayThursday, January 24, 2019
What is the origin of buzzwig?
A buzzwig “bigwig, big shot” is someone who wears a large, bushy wig. The first syllable, buzz, may be a shortening of busby, the very large fur hat worn by hussars on parade. Buzzwig entered English in the 19th century.Previous DayHow is buzzwig used?
... all was suddenly upset by two witnesses ... whom the old Spanish buzwigs doated on as models of all that could be looked for in the best. Thomas De Quincey, "The Spanish Nun," Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers, Volume I, 1853
who, as Porson's brother-in-law, and a man of admirable sense and wit, had a no profound veneration for the buzzwig doctor. Mary Russell Mitford, "Letter to Miss Barrett, July 23, 1842," The Life of Mary Russell Mitford, 1870
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Word of the dayWednesday, January 23, 2019
adrenalize
verb [uh-dreen-l-ahyz]to stir to action; excite: The promise of victory adrenalized the team.Look it upWhat is the origin of adrenalize?
Adrenalize is an unimaginative compound of the noun adrenaline and -ize, a Greek verb suffix completely naturalized. Adrenalize was first used in the early 20th century in the now rare sense “to treat with adrenaline.” In the 1930s it acquired a metaphorical meaning, “to stir to action, excite; be stirred to action, be excited.”Previous DayHow is adrenalize used?
It all seemed some sort of overblown, middle-American hysteria, a desire to adrenalize an otherwise sleepy existence. Adam Buckley Cohen, "A Psychological Twister," New York Times, May 28, 2011
Stocco is being touted as a guy who can adrenalize a program that has gone a mediocre 13-19 in the Big Ten over the last five years. Clete Campbell, "Stocco a cool QB," Telegraph-Herald, August 21, 2004
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Word of the dayTuesday, January 22, 2019
What is the origin of shirty?
The adjective shirty derives from the phrase “to have one’s shirt out, get one’s shirt out, get someone’s shirt out, to be or become annoyed.” “Getting one’s shirt out” is one possible result of swinging one’s arms in an argument in a pub; a head-butt is another. Shirty entered English in the 19th century.Previous DayHow is shirty used?
... she was usually all right about most things, if you woke her before she was ready she could get a bit shirty. Beryl Kingston, London Pride, 1991
There's no need to get shirty, young man. My ticket is right there. André Alexis, "Maupassant," Beauty and Sadness, 2010
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Word of the dayMonday, January 21, 2019
What is the origin of creed?
Creed has existed in English since before the year 1000. Its Middle English form crede and its Old English form crēda ultimately derive from Latin crēdō meaning “I believe.”Previous DayHow is creed used?
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream," delivered August 28, 1963
Blight was most impressed by Douglass’s mental, physical and intellectual endurance, his “ability to still believe, and to demand a place in the country’s creed. "Big New Biographies of Two Big American Lives," New York Times, November 9, 2018
