Word of the Day Archive

  Word of the Day Index

May 7, 2008

Glitch (noun)

Pronunciation: ['glich]

Definition: An unexpected change; a minor technical problem or failure resulting in a short delay.

Usage: The plural of today's word is "glitches." So far only one derivative from it has appeared, the adjective "glitchy." The difference between today's word and "bug" (a common clipping of bugaboo or bugbear "hobgoblin") is that "bug" refers to a fundamental defect in a hardware or software product requiring substantive repair work while a glitch is just a minor problem resulting in a short delay. A "hitch," as in "without a hitch," refers to a sudden halt or a snag that completely stops a process.

Suggested Usage: The most common use of "glitch" is in the phrase "without a glitch" as in, "The wedding would have come off without a glitch, had Monique not said, 'I don't' instead of 'I do.'" This, of course, is a joke since such a mistake would hardly qualify as a minor technical problem. A more serious usage would be, "Actually, the only glitch in the wedding was the groom's arriving late."

Etymology: From Yiddish glitsh "a slip, lapse" from glitshn "to slip" from Middle High German glitschen, alteration of gliten "to glide." In Modern German glitschen means "to slither" but gleiten retains its original meaning "glide, float, slip." Other related words include Old English glida "kite (the hovering bird)," glib, probably related to Lower German glibberisch "slippery." (This word could work in English for "glib gibberish," couldn't it?) Since what is slippery is also usually smooth and reflective, "glare," "glimmer," "glow"—even "gold"—might also be related. If so, the Polish monetary unit, the zloty, derived from their word for gold, "zloto," also shares the same ultimate source. "Glitch" itself first appeared in 1962 in the writing of the US astronaut John Glenn, who claims that the word originally referred to an unexpected change in an electrical current at NASA. However, it soon spread to other types of anomalies and thence to any, usually minor, technical malfunction.

May 6, 2008

Diffident (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['di-fi-dênt]

Definition: Shy, bashful, or hesitant as a result of a lack of self-confidence.

Usage: Although OED accepts "distrustful" as an alternate meaning of "diffident," this meaning is surely archaic in the States and probably elsewhere. The antonym of today's word is "confident," whose meaning has changed in the same direction as "diffident" (compare Etymology below). The noun is "diffidence."

Suggested Usage: This word's uses in limning matters of the heart are legion: "Reginald's diffident touch when their hands brushed was the quality that made Dorothea love him." Certainly, we all know someone who seems to be inhibited until more layers of her personality are revealed: "Don't be fooled by Althea's diffident manner when you first meet her — she will soon enough have you doubled over in laughter." On the other hand, "Carlos works at being a wonderful audience for friends because his diffidence prevents his taking center stage alone."

Etymology: Middle English from the Latin present participle of diffidere, "to mistrust:" dis-, dis- + fidere, "to trust." The Indo-European root of "fidere" is bheidh-, "to confide, persuade, trust" and it gives us words that have to do with emotional warmth and closeness: abide, fiancé, confide and confidant, faith and fidelity. Put a negative prefix on the derivations from "bheidh-" and you get infidel, defiance and perfidy -- fightin' words about betrayal.

May 5, 2008

Forgo (verb)

Pronunciation: [fo(r)-'go]

Definition: To go without, to refrain from.

Usage: "Forgo" should be the correct spelling of this word but "forego" is now also accepted. Since the prefix on "forego" is more closely associated with the sense "before," this verb's meaning should be restricted to "go before, precede," a meaning it does bear. The prefix "for-," on the other hand, was used in Old English to create verbs with a sense of exclusion or loss, such as "forbid," "forget," "forsake," and "forfeit." Thus it fits the meaning of today's word better. "Forgo" conjugates in the same way as its parent "go," so we have "forgoes," "forgoing," "forgone" and "forwent" in the past tense. Someone who forgoes something is a "forgoer."

Suggested Usage: Any act of self-denial, from the self-serving to the selfless, can occasion the use of today's word: "I think I'll forgo a starter; I've just glimpsed the dessert trolley." It does, however, seem to arise frequently when food is at stake, "As ever, the piper forewent the haggis during its traditional arrival in the dining room. But he could not forgo a taste of it afterwards."

Etymology: Old English "for-" can be traced to a Germanic root "*fer-, *far-" of similar meaning, which gave us both "veer" and "frump." Beyond that, we can detect the fertile Proto-Indo-European root "*per", which as usual changed its initial "p" to an "f" on entering the Germanic languages, where it also gave rise to "far," "forth," "further," "fro," "first" and our old friend "fore," among others. In passing through other languages, "*per" has provided us with the prefixes "proto-," "para-," and "peri-" and words as varied as "paradise," "perestroika," "prince" and "prow." "Go" comes from PIE "*ghe-", also responsible for "gait," "gate" and the "gang" of "gangway."

May 4, 2008

Mickle (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['mi-kêl]

Definition: Great, large; a great number, many, much.

Usage: Today's word is used much more in Scotland than anywhere else but that does not prohibit its use elsewhere. It has no need for relatives since, though basically an adjective, it may just as properly be used as a noun, pronoun, or adverb. As a noun, this word is sometimes written "muckle." In fact, a very famous Scottish proverb is "Mony's the mickle that mak's the muckle," which means that many little things go into the making of a big one.

Suggested Usage: Here is how today's word works as an adverbial quantifier, "When Addie agreed to marry him, Thornton leapt with so mickle joy that he left his shoes behind." Since the word is an adjective, too, "such mickle joy" would work here just as well. The sound of this word is so English, it yearns to lean against other English words, "Addie worried that she spoke too quickly and now might be in a mickle pickle." Of course, now you might be mixing dialects.

Etymology: Today's word, a cousin of "much," was yet another salvaged from oblivion by our Scottish cousins. In Old English it was "micel" akin to Old Norse "mikill." The original root was Proto-Indo-European *meg- "large," found in Latin magnus "great," which underlies "magnitude," "magnum," "magnificent" and "magnify." It appears in the name of the last letter in the Greek alphabet, "omega," from o-mega "large o," to distinguish it from the short o-micron "small o." In Hindi it emerges in a series of words based on Sanskrit mah-, mahat- "great," such as maharajah "great king," maharishi "great seer," and, of course, the Hindu with the great life, Mahatma Gandhi.

May 3, 2008

Obscurant (adjective)

Pronunciation: [êb-'skyu-rênt]

Definition: That which obscures (adjective); one who obscures, prevents inquiry or enlightenment (noun).

Usage: Today's word may be an adjective or a noun. As an adjective its meaning is rather plain: "obscuring." However, as a noun it may refer to someone who impedes scientific inquiry or enlightenment. The activity of such a person is "obscurantism" and his or her behavior is "obscurantist."

Suggested Usage: Applied to nature, the adjective bears no negative connotation, "Obscurant clouds impeded our view of the mountains." The noun, however, is decidedly pejorative: "Our cardinal problem is that the halls of government are inhabited by too many obscurants threatened by the free flow of information." The adjective may be, too, "Mandy's obscurant replies to our questions left us completely mystified as to what was happening."

Etymology: From "obscure," borrowed from Latin obscurus "dark, shady," comprising ob- "toward" + sku-r from PIE *(s)keu- "cover, conceal." With the [s], which comes and goes among Indo-European languages, this root turns up in English "skin," "skim," "scum," and Old Norse sky "cloud", borrowed to distinguish the sky from heaven (Old English heofan "sky, heaven"). The root turns up in Greek skutos "hide" and Sanskrit sku "hide, conceal." Without the initial [s], it became "hide" and "hose" in English. For another serving of PIE, read "How is a Hippo like a Feather?" in yourDictionary's library.

May 1, 2008

Epitome (noun)

Pronunciation: [ê-'pi-tê-mee]

Definition: An abstract, outline, or abbreviated version of a larger work; hence, a. representative in condensed or concentrated form.

Usage: The verb, "epitomize" (British-Australian "epitomise"), means to shorten or diminish. It has begun to be used recently in the US in the sense of representing or exemplifying perfectly. "Percival epitomizes the modern shylock," should mean only that he possesses all the principal points though not necessarily the details of a modern shylock. An epitomizer (epitomiser) is someone who abridges or summarizes books, articles, and the like.

Suggested Usage: Despite its usage in the US, the basic sense of today's word remains that of a brief summary or outline, "Could we get just an epitome of your solution to the Middle East conflict, Mortimer; I must get back to the crypt before sunrise." Here is how to use the word around the house: "Dad, since I know driving the car through the back wall of the garage was a stupid thing to do, could you epitomize your sermon so I can get to bed?" Otherwise, it refers to a condensed or summary version. As President Ford so aptly put it, "The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?"

Etymology: Greek epitome "summary" from epitemnein "cut down, abridge" based on epi "on" + temnein "cut." The original root *tem-/tom- "cut" also turns up in "anatomy" from Greek anatome "dissection" and all surgical terms on -tomy "cutting" and -ectomy "excision, cutting out", e.g. lobotomy "severing of nerve cells to the frontal lobes" and appendectomy "removal of the appendix." A bit more surprising is Latin templum "temple," apparently originally referring to an opening cut out of the forest, and tondere "shear" from which English derives tonsorial "pertaining to a barber" (Latin "tonsor") and tonsure, the ritual shaving of a monk's head as a part of his induction into a brotherhood.

April 30, 2008

Bon Mot (noun)

Pronunciation: [bõ(n)-'mo]

Definition: A witticism, a clever or witty turn of phrase.

Usage: The plural of today's word is "bon mots," pronounced the same as the singular. A bon mot is a particularly well-turned phrase, distinguished more by wittiness than by profundity, such as Adlai Stevenson's famous line, "A politician is a man who approaches every question with an open mouth." An epithet is an adjectival characterization of someone, as Lyndon Johnson's characterization of a senatorial colleague as someone who could not chew gum and walk at the same time. Apothegms and maxims are more purposeful philosophical opinions, e.g. Lord Acton's famous apothegm, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely" or Charlemagne's profound maxim, "To know another language is to have a second soul."

Suggested Usage: People who craft bon mots are always a pleasure: "Sam Westgate fights the anfractuosities of the federal bureaucracy with a quiver of finely crafted bon mots," implies that Dr. Westgate loves the cleverly turned phrase. He might even use this one, again by the past master, Adlai Stevenson: "In America any boy may become president; I suppose that's the risk he takes."

Etymology: Today's word is a French expression meaning "good word" or "good saying," based on "bon" from Latin bonus—even in English something quite "good," plus mot "word, saying, motto" (or, as the Italians say, "motto"), from late Latin *mottum from muttire "to murmur, utter." Latin bonus "good" derives from an original root *d[e]w- with a variable [e] plus the suffix -en, also the source of bene "well," found in "benefit," "benediction," and "benign." Initial *dw did not convert to [b] in Greek and so appears with the same -en suffix in Greek dynasthai "to be able" found in English "dynamic," "dynasty," and "dynamite." This brings us to Dr. Sam Westgate, the dynamite guy who has been a real bonus to his colleagues in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for almost five years. Dr. Westgate's coworkers want him to know that he and his bon mots will be sorely missed when he moves over to the Bureau of European Affairs next week."

April 29, 2008

Funky (adjective)

Pronunciation: ['fung-kee]

Definition: (1) Cowardly (1837 Dickens), (2) depressed, or (3) smelling of old and moldy cheese. The November 1954 issue of Time Magazine referred to "Funky, authentic, swinging blues, down to earth, smelling of earth." Today its meaning is very diffuse but is, roughly: authentic, less than fresh, earthy, in the broadest senses of these terms.

Usage: Today's word is used frequently but the meaning is difficult to pin down; we have attempted a brief survey of the possibilities above. The adjective may be compared (funkier, funkiest) and the adverb is "funkily." The noun may be "funk" or "funkiness."

Suggested Usage: Today's word began as a description of a smell and was extended to virtually anything too old, cheesy, or outdated, "After lifting weights for an hour at the gym Brett came home smelling a bit funky with clothes to match." Today the word can as easily refer to style and fashion as cuisine: "Edna arrived in a hair-do with a funky bouffant straight out of the 50s."

Etymology: "Funky" has been around in various forms since at least 1623. It probably originated in a dialectal French word, "funkier" from Latin fumigare "to smoke," a verb based on fumus "smoke" (also the origin of our word "fumes"). This is suggested by the fact that it originally referred to the smell of musty tobacco smoke. Later it became associated with the smell of moldy cheese and then with anything smelling less than fresh. The use of the term "funky jazz" in the 1950s by African Americans to refer to the old, authentic jazz was an attempt to distinguish it from the newer more sophisticated forms being developed by white band leaders.