Home »

• Word of the Day Index

May 25, 2008

Grouse (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['graws]

Definition: (Noun) A bird of the family Tetraonidae, such as the red grouse or ruffed grouse. (Verb) To grumble a complaint. (Adjective—colloquial in Australian and New Zealand) Excellent, great, bonzer.

Usage: Our interest today is in the surprising Australian and Kiwi (New Zealander) adjective, although the simple fact that a distinct adjective, noun and verb share the same pronunciation is itself something of a curiosity. "Grouse" in the sense of "great, excellent" is used mostly in and around Melbourne but it remains in Macquarie's Australian dictionary, so it (like the noun) is fair game here. "Very" is avoided as an intensifier of today's adjective in favor of "extra," as in "an extra grouse beer."

Suggested Usage: Today's word serves to remind us all just how rich the English language is, both in words and dialects that produce words. Older Australians around Melbourne might still be heard saying, "Harry married a grouse sheila (woman) with bonzer blue eyes." An irritated Aussie shooter could even say to a rival: "Listen mate, I hate to grouse about that grouse grouse you've got there but I think I actually shot it." (Of course, they would have to be hunting in Europe or North America, where grouse are found.)

Etymology: The origins of the noun and adjective are a complete mystery, though the adjective may have immigrated from Britain. The verb comes from British army slang of the late 19th century but the motivation of it has been lost.

May 26, 2008

Flagrant (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['fley-grênt]

Definition: Blazing, flaming; blatant, conspicuous, usually with a negative connotation.

Usage: Today's word is the adjective of an obsolete verb, flagrate "to burst into flames," not a bad word itself—saves you the long phrase. Moreover, it could have spared us the "inflammable" versus "flammable" controversy, since "flagrable" unambiguously means "capable of bursting into flames." The noun "flagrance" and the adverb "flagrantly," however, both remain in fashion. To decorate your speech a bit more you could say that someone was caught "flagrante delicto" [flê'grahntey dê'likto] rather than "in the act" or "red-handed." It is the legal term literally meaning "while the crime is blazing;" that's better than a smoking gun.

Suggested Usage: Today's is a word that can be used just about anywhere, "The mismanagement of this office is so flagrant, even the cleaning ladies talk about it." And here is a woman who could be an officemate, a neighbor—anyone: "Emma Tatum is such a flagrant copy-cat, I'm not sure her name is her own."

Etymology: Latin flagrans, flagrant- "burning", present participle of flagarare "to burn" akin to Greek phlegein "burn" which yields phlox [flog-s] "flame." In Sanskrit, where [l] became [r], the original root *bhel(g)-, emerged as bhraj "shine brightly." In the Germanic languages this root underwent some interesting metamorphoses. In German it became Blitz "flash" found in "Blitzkrieg." French borrowed the nasalized Old Germanic blendaz "clouded" and converted it to "blond," whereupon the Germanic languages borrowed it back with its new meaning. In English the same Germanic stem ended up as "blind." Even more interesting, the Old Germanic *blakaz "burned" devolved into English "black," about as far from "flaming" as a word could get.

May 27, 2008

Ambisinistrous (adjective)

Pronunciation: [æm-bi-'sin-is-três]

Definition: Equally clumsy with either hand.

Usage: This word is the opposite of "ambidextrous," and it reflects the right-handed majority's bias that all things right-handed are good and dextrous, while the left hand is seen as bad and clumsy (see Etymology). It is analoguous to the construction "having two left feet," and it has a rarely attested synonym in "ambilævous" [æm-bi-'lee-vês]. By analogy with "ambidextrous" we may form an adverb "ambisinistrously" and a noun "ambisinistrousness."

Suggested Usage: The word implies a distinguished, all-round level of clumsiness: "To have dented both sides of the car during a single outing is a notably ambisinistrous achievement, Lancelot." A metaphorical deployment is also possible: "Dexter's ambisinistrous interpersonal skills have brought the Sales Department two lawsuits so far this year."

Etymology: From the Latin sinister, meaning "left," with the prefix ambi-, implying "around" or "on both sides." The left side was associated with bad luck and evil omens by the Romans, and their word "sinister" has arrived in English with those associations intact. The prefix ambi- has the sense of "on both sides" in "ambiguous" and "ambivalent," while implying "around" in "ambit," "ambulate" and "amble." It comes from the Proto-Indo-European prefix *ambhi- "both (sides)," of which the Greek equivalent is amphi-, which we see in "amphibian" and "amphitheater." In the Germanic languages, *ambhi- dropped its second syllable and became (among other things) the Old Norse um-, a prefix which contributed to a previous Word of the Day, the Swedish "ombudsman." And, taking another route through the same language family, it also lost its first syllable and acquired the sense "beside," eventually giving rise to the English word "by."

May 28, 2008

Scenester (noun)

Pronunciation: ['seen-stê(r)]

Definition: (Youthspeak) Someone intent on "making the scene," a really cool groupie always at the right band concerts, hanging with the right nest of other cool groupies. Scenesters are identified by their drab clothes, smoking, drug use (or talk of drug use), use of cool words from in(tellectual) magazines, which they don't know the meaning of, and lack of attention to the music at the concerts they attend. An offensive hair-do is a must, if not with spikes and bizarre colors, at least with highlights. The antonym is "geek."

Usage: This word refers to groupies or "band aids," young people who follow bands from concert to concert and who become disdainful in their knowledge of the lore of contemporary rock bands. Geeks are young people who spend their youth studying at the expense of their social life. Scenesters often end up working for geeks in later life. Ouch!

Suggested Usage: Today's word is the latest in US youthspeak (youth slang), so you probably would rather avoid it if you are over 16 years of age. Those under that limit might occasionally say things like, "That weird little scenester was dropping the names of band members she knew as though she were some kind of scene goddess," in informal situations. However, it does make the adult lexical scene in situations like this: "I must get out of this house tonight! It has been like a scenester party here all day long." It allows you to give "mad house" a breather.

Etymology: From "scene" + suffix -ster. In the 60s, "scene" took on the meaning of a situation or set of circumstances, as a bad scene (trouble) or make the scene (attend or participate in a hip event). "The scene," as in "the Poughkeepsie scene," refers to the range of things to do in a particular place. The music scene is the range of live music in a particular location. Scenester derives from this sense of "scene." Of course, it may be used as a verb, too: "Philly is a good place to scenester if you can't make it to Poughkeepsie."

May 29, 2008

Autochthonous (adjective)

Pronunciation: [a-'tahk-thê-nês or aw-]

Definition: Indigenous; originating in the place where found.

Usage: Autochthonic [a-têk-'thah-nik] and autochthonal [a-'tahk-thê-nêl] may be used interchangeably with "autochthonous." The noun "autochthon" [a-'tahk-thên] refers to an original nation, animal, or vegetation of a locality. In biology it essentially refers to objects that have not moved since their formation, as an autochthonous bloodclot.

Suggested Usage: An autochthonous forest is an original-growth forest. The autochthonous homeowner is the one who built the original home. The autochthonous folklore of a land is that of the people originating on the land. We would not say that Strom Thurmond is an autochthonous senator because the senate existed before Senator Thurmond. However, the American Indians are the autochthonous inhabitants of the Americas.

Etymology: Greek autokhthonos "from the land itself" from auto- "self" + khthon "earth, land" hence related to a previous Word of the Day, chthonic "in the earth." The PIE root *dhghem- also lies behind the Greek origins of "chameleon" (from chamai "ground" + leon "lion") and "chamomile" (= camomile from chamai + mel "ground apple"). The root also turns up with the "m" in Russian zemlya "land, earth" and Persian zamin with the same meaning. Not much seems to be known about "auto.";

May 30, 2008

Eponym (noun)

Pronunciation: ['ep-ê-nim]

Definition: The original personal name from which another name, title, or term is created.

Usage: German neurologist Alois Alzheimer is the eponym of Alzheimer's disease, for example. Pelops is the eponym of the Greek Peloponnesus and George Washington is the eponym of the U. S. capital. Can you guess who is the eponym of Lincoln, Nebraska? How about Rome? Who is the eponym of your hometown or university? The adjective is "eponymous" [i-'pah-nê-mês].

Suggested Usage: This is a term easily extended to metaphoric usage since it refers to a person of considerable stature associated with the object of the eponym: "Frank is the eponym of tidy workspaces" suggests "tidy workspaces" is his middle name. Think of your existence as a work of art, for each of us is the eponymous hero of our own lives.

Etymology: French éponyme from Greek eponumos "named after" from epi "on, by, for" + onoma (onuma) "name". The PIE root, *no-men, from which "onoma" derives also gave Latin nomen "name, reputation" underlying "nominal," "nomenclature," "nominate," Old Irish ainm "name," Russian imya, imeni "name," and English "name."

May 31, 2008

Gibbous  (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['gi-bês]

Definition: Convex, protuberant, protruding; more than half but less than fully illuminated, as the moon; humpbacked.

Usage: The original Latin word for hump, "gibber" ['gi-bê(r)], was used in medicine in reference to hunched backs in the 19th century. It gave rise to "gibberous" with the same meaning as today's word. Just remember to distinguish "gibber" from the word for an incomprehensible language, "gibber," from which we get "gibberish." These words are pronounced with a soft 'g' ['ji-bê(r)]. The adverb for today's word is "gibbously" and you have your choice of nouns: "gibbousness" or "gibbosity."

Suggested Usage: In his conversation with today's contributor, Tim Ward asked, "Surely we've all suffered from the effects of engorging ourselves at family gatherings, when our already less-than-healthy statures assume a much more gibbous appearance?" My daughter's stomach is currently unusually gibbous with my first granddaughter, a much happier gibbosity.

Etymology: Today's word is a reduction of Latin gibbĕrôsus "hump-backed, hunch-back" from gibber "hump, hunch," which in Late Latin became gibbus "hump, bow." Today's word comes from Katy Brezger's backyard: "Now the gibbous moon in its grandeur presides over the manicured backyard and stops just short of The Woods. Strange dancing shadows sway in the summer windstorm. The large umbrella squatting on the picnic table even succumbs to the heavy breezes, turning this way and that as the wind gasps and blows. The Woods forebode even as they beckon, the wind tearing back the overcarriage just enough to cast illuminations on the old tractors. Oh, there be monsters, and madness looms."