Word of the Day
paso doble
noun
a two-step, especially one done to Latin American rhythms.
More about paso doble
Paso doble “a two-step” is a loanword from Spanish, in which the term means “double step.” Spanish doble and English double are clear cognates—both derive from Latin duplus (literally “two more”) or duplex (literally “twofold”)—while paso is a cognate of English pace and pass, and all three derive from the Latin noun passus “step.” Passus also serves as the past participle of the verb pandere “to spread,” which is the source of English words such as expand. While Spanish simply uses no to mean “no” or “not,” its sister language French uses the phrase ne…pas, which literally means “not a step” and descends from Latin nec passum. Paso doble was first recorded in English in the late 1920s.
how is paso doble used?
At another juncture of the concert, an energetic tune suddenly unfolds into a pasodoble, which since the 1960s has become a standard during Venezuelan celebrations—aptly titled “Música de fiesta” (Party music) …. The tune is particularly appealing to the audience, now on its feet and in motion.
I left the radio on by his bed, I even called to request a song to entertain him, a paso doble which is what he liked to dance at the firemen’s balls when he was single, until I finally went lame like this from a stomping he gave me in the dance contest the first Sunday of Lent, when he yelled Olé and came down with his heel right on my bunion…
saber
noun
a heavy, one-edged sword, usually slightly curved, used especially by cavalry.
More about saber
Saber “a heavy, one-edged sword” is a borrowing of French sabre, earlier sable, from German Sabel (modern Säbel). Prior to German, the term either passed through a Slavic intermediary such as Polish szabla or came directly from Hungarian szablya. Note that the sz consonant pair is pronounced as “sh” in Polish but simply as “s” in Hungarian, and the Hungarian letter pair ly is pronounced as simply “y” as in “yes.” Though the ultimate source of szablya is uncertain, the prevailing theory is an origin in a Tungusic language; compare sele “iron” and seleme “dagger” in Manchu, an endangered language in Manchuria. The languages of the Tungusic family are predominantly spoken in Siberia, with a few members spoken in northern China. Although efforts have been made to connect the Tungusic languages to the Mongolic and Turkic families (as we learned from the recent Word of the Day yurt), and even to Japanese and Korean, any relationship among these families is inconclusive. Saber was first recorded in English in the 1670s.
how is saber used?
Knocking off the top of a Champagne bottle with a saber—known as sabrage—is an old rite in Europe, and a novel addition to American celebrations. But there’s an art to doing it right …. “Apparently, this started in the time of Napoleon when there were wars all through the Champagne region. And the soldiers would come and grab a bottle of Champagne while they were on horseback; they would just take their saber and knock the top and drink it down,” [Becky Sue Epstein, author of Champagne: A Global History] says.
The other boys showed off their lead toy soldiers, their bicycles. We showed my father’s saber, which we took down secretly in the dark sitting room among the furniture covered in dust sheets. Compared to his saber, the security guard’s machete was a mere penknife. This (my unfeeling hand slides over the surface, divested of weight and consistency) was our town’s most precious emblem.
communiqué
noun
an official bulletin or communication, usually to the press or public.
More about communiqué
Communiqué “an official bulletin or communication” is a borrowing from French, in which it means “communicated” and is the past participle of the verb communiquer “to communicate.” Communiquer comes from Latin commūnicāre “to impart, make common,” based on the adjective commūnis “common,” which itself is likely related to mūnus (stem mūner-) “gift, duty” and immūnis “exempt from taxes” (compare English remunerate and immunity). The French suffixes -é and -i are used to mark past participles and derive from Latin -ātus and -ītus, which are preserved in English as -ate and -ite, in Portuguese and Spanish as -ado and -ido, and in Italian as -ato and -ito or -uto. Communiqué was first recorded in English in the early 1850s.
how is communiqué used?
Nearly all the messages that humans have broadcast into space so far start by establishing common ground with a basic lesson in science and mathematics …. A far messier question is how to encode these concepts into the communiqué. Human languages are out of the question for obvious reasons, but so are our numeral systems. Though the concept of numbers is nearly universal, the way we depict them as numerals is entirely arbitrary.
The United States and China have given a bit of a lift to the United Nations COP26 gathering in Glasgow. The world’s two largest polluters issued a surprise joint statement on Wednesday …. On the face of it, the U.S.-China communiqué does almost nothing to change the trajectory .… Politically, however, their statement is more powerful. For starters, simply having the two countries unite on a message is a victory of sorts.