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February 17, 2008

Rue (verb)

Pronunciation: [ru]

Definition: The French word for "street" means something quite different in English: "to regret or feel remorse or sorrow for."

Usage: The noun corresponding to the verb is now "rue" also. However, I'm not so sure we should surrender "ruth."

Suggested Usage: This short syllable substitutes for "I'm sorry" or "I regret": "I rue the day when I met him." Its size belies its power for it works very nicely in threats, too: "You'll rue anything you say against me." I think there is still room in the language for "ruth": "After insulting me, she glanced back with ruthful eyes." No?

Etymology:  Old English hreowan "to sorrow for" and hreowian "to repent." Middle English ruen. The original noun from ruen was ruth "remorse" available today only in ruthless "cold-bloodedly, without remorse," one of those negatives without a positive.

February 18, 2008

Unflappable (adjective)

Pronunciation: [ên-'flæp-ê-bl]

Definition: Impervious to anxiety, not subject to rash or exaggerated reaction; imperturbable.

Usage: English is full of orphan negatives, adjectives used in the negative only: “inept," "inane," etc. We do not speak of "flappable" people who are easily excited or say that they "flap" when they get excited. Our lives were "flapped" around the turn of the century by the "flappers" (see Etymology), people easily excited to flapping their arms and legs by music like "The Charleston" and "The Varsity Drag." The amazing aspect of "flapper" and "unflappable" is that they remain in the language even though their ostensible derivational parent, flap "to react excitedly," apparently never existed.

Suggested Usage: Unflappable movie characters like those played by John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Gary Cooper, who remain 'cool' under even the tensest circumstances, are becoming more and more difficult to find in modern movies. Certainly, James Bond, 007, is as unflappable a character as you will find.

Etymology: The verb, "flap," itself seems to be a semi-onomatopoeic blend of "flip" + "clap." The noun "flap" itself a blended element in "flab," based on "flap" + "slab." Similar words appear in Middle Dutch (flappen "to strike, clap") and Middle German (flappen "to clap") but we can only trace the root back to Middle English flappe "slap." The sense of "unflappable" is probably related to 19th century British slang where "flapper" referred to a young bird or a young, untrained girl, who flapped her arms and lips more than necessary.

February 19, 2008

Ingenue (noun)

Pronunciation: [ahn-zhê-‘nu]

Definition: A guileless, naive, innocent girl or young woman, often used in referring to such a character on stage and screen.

Usage: There is an adjective sharing the origin of today's word, ingenuous "frank, open; naïve." This word should not to be confused with ingenious "characterized by great intelligence or genius," even though they do share the same Latin origin.

Suggested Usage: Remember, that this word is widely used in reference to acting: “Polly Graf has an ingénue routine that can conceal an intelligence that would challenge the mental resources of the rest of us combined.” Because naiveté wears off with age, ingénues are always young, "When she first arrived in 1984 Polly was a genuine ingénue whom many colleagues, now long departed, took advantage of."

Etymology: From French ingénue "guileless," a descendant of Latin ingenuus "in-born, native, free-born." The meaning of this word migrated from "in-born" (qualities) to the noble qualities of honesty, and thence to the meaning of our word ingenuous, "frankness, openness," qualities that in the modern world are taken to be naïve if not simple-minded. That was quite a journey but a telling one that reveals much about our real attitudes toward the openness and honesty we try to instill in our children.

February 20, 2008

Fanatic (noun)

Pronunciation: [fê-'næ-tik]

Definition: Someone overly enthusiastic about or irrationally devoted to a cause.

Usage: The noun derived from today's word is "fanaticism" and the adjective is "fanatical." The verb, "fanaticize," may mean to make someone fanatical or to behave fanatically. As you can see, the adverb is created by adding "–ly" to the adjective. Nothing to it. In the world of sports, the word is clipped to one syllable: "fan," as in "football fan(atic)," "Indian cricket fan," "Atlanta Braves fan," or "Tottenham Hotspur fan."

Suggested Usage: Household uses of today's word abound: "Murray, I know you are not a lawn-care fanatic, but you aren't a farmer, either, and the yard looks like a wheat field." The younger generation uses it all the time, "Hyacinth is such a fanatic about homework that she gets all three of her boyfriends to check hers before she hands it in."

Etymology: Latin fanaticus "inspired by divinities" from fanum "temple" via French "fanatique." The Latin root fan- devolved from a suffixed form of PIE *dhes- which also underlies feria "holiday" from which English "fair" was derived (via French "feire"). English "feast" and "festive" derive from the Latin word for "festive," festus, as does French "fête." All go back to *dhes-, whence also Greek theos (thes-os) "god."

February 21, 2008

Ouija (noun)

Pronunciation: ['wee-jê (not 'wee-jee)]

Definition: A parlor game based on a board printed with the letters of the alphabet and other signs and a planchette that roams over the board. Seance members place their hands on the planchette and, solemnly promising not to apply any pressure to it, watch in amazement as the planchette moves across the board, pointing at letters that spell out insightful messages in their native tongue. The assumption is that the ouija board provides access to the spiritual world while avoiding the costs of a medium.

Usage: The popularity of seances (a gathering for the purpose of making contact with the spiritual world) has diminished in face of the technological revolution. Planchettes (French for "a small plank" with an indicator of some sort on it) have disappeared from store shelves. The media (singular medium) are now something quite different from people blessed with the ability to contact the spiritual world.

Suggested Usage: The term has become a metaphor for deriving information via weird, mystical sources. "So, who told you that you should be making $250,000 a year, your ouija board?" "If your ouija board told you I would go out with you, it contacted the wrong spirit."

Etymology:  A trademark from French "oui" and German "ja," both meaning "yes" (so it really should be pronounced ['wee-yah]). Patented in 1891 by the Kennard Novelty Company, Baltimore, Maryland.

February 22, 2008

Crux (noun)

Pronunciation: ['krêks]

Definition: A perplexing issue which forms the major obstacle to success; the critical element or feature.

Usage: The plural of today's word is "cruces" ['kru-siz], though "cruxes" is now considered acceptable. The adjective, of course, is "crucial" ['kru-shêl].

Suggested Usage: Here is the position you are aiming for: "Rodriquez is the crux of the whole process; without him, it won't fly." Rodriquez can name his price. Did you ever hear your child say anything like this: "The crux of the matter is mom's obduracy; if she will not relinquish the requisite admission fee, we shan't be able to attend the 'Loose Screw' concert." If so, give her the money.

Etymology: Latin crux (cruc-s) "a cross, a tree, or other wooden instrument of execution on which criminals were impaled or hanged," hence something that torments or destroys. Not much is known for sure about the origins of the Latin word. It seems related to "cross," though the lineage here, too, is unclear—via Old Norse "kross," Old Irish "cros," or some other language? French "croix" seems to be excluded as an immediate ancestor (for a change) because of spelling differences. The relation to "crucify" should be obvious.

February 23, 2008

Kilter (noun)

Pronunciation: ['kil-têr]

Definition: (Slang) Alignment, balance, good general condition.

Usage: Another slang word with a meaning similar to that of "kilter" is "whack." If something is out of kilter, it is somehow misaligned, out of balance. If it is out of whack it is not working correctly, possibly not working at all. You can bring something back into kilter but we cannot say that we have brought something back into whack or that it is in whack. "Out of whack" is an absolute idiom allowing no variation. Now, let me take a whack at distinguishing between "kilter" and "whack."

Suggested Usage: "Kilter" tends to be favored in reference to abstract objects: "The number of seats in Congress occupied by women is out of kilter with their proportion of the general population." You could say, "Your job is to keep the car engine in good kilter." In the U.S. "whack" is preferred with concrete objects, "I can't mow the lawn today; my back is out of whack."

Etymology: U.S. variant of "kelter," dialectal term found from Northumberland and Cumberland to Cornwall since the late 17th century (OED). The origin is unknown. Is it relevant that another meaning of "kelter" in the North Country is "money"? "Whack" is probably onomatopoetic (imitative) given its frequent expletive use: "Whack! The ball sailed deep into left field." The idiom "out of whack" is probably the origin of wacky "crazy" since both "out of whack" and "wacky" originate in the U.S.