Word of the Day
Word of the day
stir-crazy
adjective
Slang.
restless or frantic because of confinement, routine, etc.: I was stir-crazy after just two months of keeping house.
What is the origin of stir-crazy?
Feeling a little stir-crazy? Unpleasant though it may be, the restlessness that this familiar term calls to mind today is a far cry from the state of literal imprisonment it named upon entering English. A 1908 dictionary of unsavory terms called Criminal Slang defined stir-crazy (noun) as “a man whose mind has become affected by serving long sentences.” By the mid-1900s, stir-crazy was being used as an adjective to mean “mentally ill because of long imprisonment.” The stir in stir-crazy does not suggest movement or agitation, as one might presume based the verb stir “to move around briskly” or “to be emotionally affected”; here, stir is a slang term for prison. The origin of stir is uncertain, but some sources suggest it as a shortening of the Romani noun sturiben “prison” or verb staripen “to imprison”; others connect it to the Start, a nickname for the Newgate prison in London, which later broadened to mean prison more generally.
how is stir-crazy used?
By now, let’s hope you’re safely ensconced at home—going a little stir-crazy, perhaps, but doing your part to “flatten the curve.”
You may be trying to work from home with your stir-crazy children, and all your previous rules about screen time may need to get tossed.
Word of the day
primaveral
adjective
of, in, or pertaining to the early springtime.
What is the origin of primaveral?
The adjective primaveral is a derivative of the noun primavera “spring (the season),” found in just about all the Romance languages: Italian (end of the 12th century), Catalan (13th century), Spanish (14th century), and Portuguese (16th century); even Romanian has primăvară. The Romance forms ultimately derive from the Latin neuter plural adjective and noun phrase prīma vēra, literally “first springs.” It is common for Latin neuter plural nouns to become feminine singulars in Romance, e.g., Latin gaudia “delights, joys,” becoming singular joie in French and gioia in Italian. Primaveral entered English in the 19th century.
how is primaveral used?
Crocuses planted in clusters or in thick rows, or scattered on banks, have a brilliant effect in the sunshine of a bright primaveral day.
It is the urge of Spring—the primaveral force that inspires the young and mocks the aged.
Word of the day
lunker
noun
something unusually large for its kind.
What is the origin of lunker?
The noun lunker has two meanings: something large and unruly, and a large game fish, especially a bass. It was originally an Americanism, and its etymology is obscure: lunk, lunkhead, and clunker have all been suggested. Lunker entered English in the second half of the 19th century.
how is lunker used?
Do black holes, such as the lunker in our own Milky Way Galaxy … drive the evolution of galaxies around them; or do galaxies naturally nurture the gravitational gobblers at their centers … ?
As sure as I’m standing here, ten pounds; what a little lunker for a first baby.
Word of the day
What is the origin of greenth?
Greenth, “green growth,” was coined by the English author and politician Horace Walpole, who also coined blueth and gloomth. Greenth, blueth, and gloomth all entered English simultaneously in the mid-18th century.
how is greenth used?
I found my garden brown and bare, but these rains have recovered the greenth.
Imagine a rambling, patchy house … the mellow darkness of its conical roof surmounted by a weather-cock making an agreeable object either amidst the gleams and greenth of summer or the low-hanging clouds and snowy branches of winter …
Word of the day
muzz
verb (used with object)
to confuse (someone); make (someone) muzzy.
What is the origin of muzz?
It is only fitting that the etymology of the verb muzz “to confuse,” is itself obscure. Most authorities connect muzz with the adjective muzzy “confused, lazy, mentally dull,” but muzzy itself has no reliable etymology. Other authorities connect muzz with the verb muse “to think or meditate in silence.” Muzz entered English in the 18th century.
how is muzz used?
I must have sufficiently muzzed you with my singular critique upon poor, injured, honest John.
With a very heavy cold on me, which muzzed my head, and a mass of work by day … I have been very far from comfortable.
Word of the day
scordatura
noun,
Music.
the tuning of a stringed instrument in other than the usual way to facilitate the playing of certain compositions.
What is the origin of scordatura?
The musical term scordatura comes, as many musical terms do, from Italian. In English and Italian, scordatura is the tuning of a stringed instrument in an unusual way to facilitate the playing of certain compositions. Italian scordatura is a derivative of scordato “out of tune,” past participle of the verb scordare “to be out of tune.” Scordare is a somewhat reduced form of Latin discordāre “to be at variance, quarrel, disagree,” formed from the prefix dis- “apart, asunder” and cord-, the stem of the noun cor “heart.” Scordatura entered English in the second half of the 19th century.
how is scordatura used?
The alternative tuning, known as scordatura, is not some minor technical detail. Each new configuration is a secret key to an invisible door, unlocking a different set of chordal possibilities on the instrument, opening up alternative worlds of resonance and vibration.
Scordatura in some violin concertos provides additional evidence for Vivaldi’s tendency to extend the advantages of playing on open strings to additional keys.
Word of the day
à la mode
adjective
(of pie or other dessert) served with a portion of ice cream, often as a topping: apple pie à la mode.
What is the origin of à la mode?
In French the phrase à la mode “in the current fashion” is a shortening of à la mode de “in the style of (X),” a meaning extant in U.S. English. But to most Americans à la mode means a dessert, typically a wedge of pie, topped with ice cream, a meaning that has been current in U.S. English since the early 1890s but not in British English. À la mode entered English in the 17th century.
how is à la mode used?
If your server mentions apple-and-caramel pie a la mode, don’t hesitate.
You can find a hotel, convenience store, and pay-per-use showers there; more important, though, you can find blueberry pie a la mode.