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March 9, 2008

Nonplus (verb)

Pronunciation: [nahn-'plês]

Definition 1: To place someone at a loss as to what to say, do, or think.

Usage: The state of being at a complete loss for a response is also called "nonplus," so one can be at a nonplus or be brought to one by the actions of someone else. We also often say that we are "nonplussed" by something. (This is another orphan negative, which means you cannot "plus" anyone by raising their consciousness.)

Suggested Usage: This is a state the events of the day bring us to all the more often, so we should prepare ourselves to use it properly. Do you know what to say on occasions such as this: "Frieda nonplussed the whole family when she parachuted into the backyard during Dad's birthday party." My friend Shirley came to a complete nonplus at Roland's response to her question whether he liked cheap wine. "I didn't know sheep gave wine," he said.

Etymology: The etymology is very simple though its semantic improbability leaves many etymologists, well, nonplussed. It is from Latin non "not" + plus "more" via the 17th century French phrase mettre a nonplus "to put at nonplus." "Plus" comes from the same root (*pel-/*pol-) as plenus "full" from which we borrowed "plenty." This root came to English as "full" and German as "voll." In Russian the same root emerges as polny "full.

March 10, 2008

Rhabdomancy (noun)

Pronunciation: ['ræb-dê-mæn-see]

Definition: Divination of the location of water, oil, etc. by means of a divining rod or stick; dowsing, witch-wiggling.

Usage: A diviner, dowser, or witch-wiggler is a rhabdomancer, though it is doubtful that any such would recognize the word. "Witch-wiggler" comes from the fact that contemporary rhabdomancers prefer a Y-shaped branch of a witch hazel tree, the branches of which are held in each hand while the dowser walks about until the branch begins "wiggling" on its own, indicating the location of the desired object or substance.

Suggested Usage: Rhabdomancy is a technique for finding what is difficult to discover or uncover, "When there's work to be done, we need rhabdomancy to find Buzzy." However, it is most closely associated with the discovery of liquid: "I've tried everything short of rhabdomancy to find something to drink in this house! Are we totally dry?"

Etymology: From Greek rhabdomanteia based on rhabdos "rod" + manteia "divination." The Proto-Indo-European root is *werb- or *werbh- "to turn, bend" that also developed into "warp" and "wrap." Other variants of this stem underlie "rhapsody" from Greek rhapsôidia based on rhapsis "stitching together" (from rhaptein "to sew") + oide "song, ode" + ia, a noun suffix. The suffix -mancy comes from Late Latin -mantia inherited from Greek manteia "divination." This relates today's word with an earlier Word of the Day, gastromancy "divination by means of stomach rumblings." They can cause a bit of wiggling, too.

March 11, 2008

Breeches (noun)

Pronunciation: ['bri-chiz (formerly 'bree-chez)]

Definition: A bifurcated garment worn by men, covering the body from the waist to the knees, so-called because they cover the breech (= rump, buttocks, rear end). Hence, the breech of a gun or cannon is the hindmost part of a gun barrel, especially if it opens (breaks). The breech presentation of a foetus, too, is hindmost first.

Usage: Having recently discussed women's wear, specifically pinafores, it is only fair to turn our attention now to men's wear. The bottom part of men's clothing is called, variously, "breeches," "trousers," "pants." Like all English words that refer to single objects with two mirror-image parts ("scissors," "pliers," "tongs"), today's word is a 'pluralis tantum' noun, used only in the plural, e.g. "His breeches ARE too small for him."

Suggested Usage: Strictly speaking, breeches are pants (or trousers) that reach only to the knees, as hunting breeches worn on fox hunts: "Sandler mounted his horse too quickly at the chase and had to go home with a breach in his breeches." However, in some dialects, especially in the Southeastern US, the length of the legs is of no significance, though the term bears a slight pejorative tint not detectable in the synonyms. Elsewhere, the word is limited to a few idioms like, "He is too big for his breeches" (referring to a swollen ego) and "She wears the britches in the house" (referring to control).

Etymology: A breach is a break or crack, so it should come as no surprise that today's word (a variant spelling) comes from an old form of "to break" or "to breach." The original form was probably a "breech cloth," later reduced to the first member of the phrase. "Break" is "brechen" in German, " breken" in Dutch, and "bryta" in Swedish, so it clearly is a Germanic word. It is related, however, to Latin frango, fregi, fractum "break" by virtue of the fact that any initial [bh] of a Proto-Indo-European word changed regularly to [f] in Latin. Thus, English was able to borrow "fracture" back from Latin with a slightly different meaning. In fact, "suffrage" comes from Latin suffragium "the right to vote," originally "support with a vote," based on the same root, probably because the first voting was done with broken shards of pottery.

March 12, 2008

Boogie (verb)

Pronunciation: ['bu-gee]

Definition: (Humorous slang) To dance in a fast and unrestrained fashion; to move quickly, hurry; to leave or get moving.

Usage: The term is used humorously in North America as a term meaning "let's party" (also slang) or "let's get moving." Other than the expectable "boogying," it is an orphan that has not gained wide acceptability in the English-speaking world.

Suggested Usage: Like all slang words, the meaning of this one is so general that it may be applied to almost any motion in the sense of an intensifier, to move exceptionally in some way: "When he saw the new car his parents bought him for his birthday, Sanford's eyes boogied around in their sockets several times." It can add a bit of color in top of its inherent humor in casual conversation, "As the pungent Island aromas began boogying out of the kitchen, Tremayne's esteem for Shallala rocketed."

Etymology: From "boogie-woogie" a reduplication of "boogie," certainly from Black English, possibly from Black West African English bogi "to dance" akin to Hausa buga "to hit, beat (drums, etc.)" "Boogie-Woogie" entered the American idiom from a 1928 recording "Pinetop's Boogie-Woogie" by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith. It was originally a piano style that developed in the U.S. after rag-time based on recurrent chord progression C-F-C-F-C-G-F-C played with a strong recurrent bass rhythm. These chords were the immediate predecessor of the blues and made a come-back in early rock and roll. The dancing that accompanied boogie was fast and unbridled, hence the meaning of today's word.

March 13, 2008

Tuffet (noun)

Pronunciation: ['tê-fet]

Definition: (1) A tuft; (2) a small mound or bump; (3) a low footstool?!

Usage: We all know this popular nursery rhyme: "Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider, sat down beside her and frightened Miss Muffet away." As Miss Muffet left, however, she left a permanent mark on the English language, giving "tuffet" its third meaning. Apparently few people knew what a tuffet really was when the poem began appearing in the 19th century, so many presumed it to be a low seat of some sort (since Miss Muffet was little). Wrong, but now apparently it is right.

Suggested Usage: Here is an example of today's word incorporating a recent Word of the Day, "I tried cheap sheep faldage for fertilizing my lawn but it resulted in a multitude of dark green tuffets all over my yard." But today's word really refers to a mound: "I found Mable sitting, disheartened, on a tuffet of dirty clothes, trying to decide whether to wash them, yet again, or just leave town."

Etymology: "Tuffet" cannot stay out of trouble. Not only did it lose its meaning, it lost one of its vowels and, with the original meaning, also ended up as "tuft." "Tuft" was originally "tuff" from French touffe "clump, cluster." There may have been a second origin in an Old French diminutive variant "touffel" or "touffet." The Old French root was "tofe" from Late Latin tufa "helmet crest," a word the Romans probably borrowed from some of its Germanic neighbors.

March 14, 2008

Rumint (noun)

Pronunciation: ['ru-mint]

Definition: (Nonce word) Intelligence based on rumor or false information.

Usage: Today's word is part of the intellibabble emerging from the ever-expanding business of spying. "Human intelligence," spy information from human sources, is clipped to "humint," information from electronic surveillance is "elint," while wiretaps produce "sigint," signal intelligence. In gathering "int" about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, President Bush and the CIA apparently fell victims to rumint, human information from a highly unreliable sources close to informant Ahmad Chalabi.

Suggested Usage: The US intelligence agencies are often unwitting victims of émigrés who wish to please them by giving them the information they want, whether accurate or not: "The CIA reported an outbreak of anthrax in the Caucasus based on rumint from a disgruntled émigré." Clearly today's word is a nonce word concocted on the spur of the moment for a specific purpose and will probably soon vanish, but why not have fun with it while it is here: "Mom, where did you get your rumint that I was smoking behind the school today?"

Etymology: Today's word is a play on a recombined double clipping. A clipping is a shortening of the pronunciation of a word, such as reducing "doctor" to "doc," "representative" to "rep," and refrigerator to "fridge." (Americans are known for their haste: fast-food restaurants and drive-through windows are other indicators.) Recombining a double clipping gives us the reduction of "HUman INTelligence" to 'humint." Then, by analogy, "RUmor INTelligence" becomes "rumint."

March 15, 2008

Kowtow (verb)

Pronunciation: ['kaw-taw]

Definition: (1) To prostrate oneself or touch one's head to the ground in complete submission to someone else; (2) to servilely and obsequiously comply with the wishes and demands of someone or something.

Usage: Today's word behaves like a normal English verb even though it is borrowed from Mandarin: "kowtows, kowtowed, kowtowing." Someone who kowtows would be a kowtower (despite sounding like a tall slender building for imprisoning bad cows).

Suggested Usage: Hopefully, you will seldom need this word in its original meaning. It is a shame, in fact, that we even need the metaphorical sense, "Gerald's managerial skills end with his desire for everyone to kowtow to his every wish." Of course, we can make it positive by negating it: "Sybil certainly does not kowtow to whims of fashion the way Natalie does."

Etymology:  Today's word comes from Mandarin Chinese kòu tóu "a kowtow" from kòu "to strike" + tóu "head," meaning prostrate genuflection before a potentate or religious shrine. It demonstrated absolute surrender of one's will to that of someone highly respected.