From oldest to most recent (Monday through Friday every week):
from Anu Garg
28 September 2009:
A writer usually doesn't have a boss. On the other hand, a writer's boss is his readers. You could say I have 800,000 bosses. But this relationship is not so clearcut. Let me explain.
From time to time a reader is displeased with something I have written, and emails: "Keep your opinions to yourself or you will lose readers." Appreciative as I am of my readers -- they are whom I write for -- I do not always write to try to please them. I express my opinion.
Some opinions resonate and some leave them fuming, but they all can see -- I hope -- that it comes from my heart. I don't expect everyone to agree with me or my beliefs.
Well, at least this week, I'm at your service hand and foot, etymologically speaking. All words to be featured have either hand or foot as their origin, even though it may not always be obvious.
prestidigitation
PRONUNCIATION:(pres-ti-dij-i-TAY-shuhn)
MEANING: noun:
1. A sleight of hand
2. Deceitfulness, trickery
ETYMOLOGY: From French prestidigitation (conjuring), from preste (nimble) + Latin digitus (finger).
USAGE: "It is, of course, a nonsense number, a statistical prestidigitation." Polly Toynbee; Is There Pensions Apartheid?; Guardian (London, UK); Jul 4, 2009
antipodal
PRONUNCIATION: (an-TIP-uh-duhl)
MEANING: adjective
1. Situated on the opposite side of the earth (or another body)
2. Diametrically opposite or completely opposite
ETYMOLOGY: Via Latin from Greek antipodes (literally, those having the feet opposite), plural of antipous, from anti- (opposite) + pous (foot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ped- (foot) which gave us peccadillo (alluding to a stumble or fall), pedal, impeccable, podium, octopus, and impeach.
USAGE: "Paris was the starting point and the antipodal points I had to pass through were Madrid and Wellington." Brian McIver; Ukraine to USA: the World is Just Too Vast to Grasp at 13mph; Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland); May 16, 2009.
"The antipodal views between Stephan and Yanik regarding how to fight against their common enemy makes for the crux of the play. Stephan is headstrong and vocal while Yanik is soft-person, loving, and peaceful, although both fight against the oppression." Justice in the Barrel; The Kathmandu Post (Nepal); Feb 2, 2009.
legerdemain
PRONUNCIATION: (lej-uhr-duh-MAYN)
MEANING: noun:
1. Sleight of hand
2. A display of skill
ETYMOLOGY: From French leger de main (light of hand), from leger (light) + de (of) + main (hand). Ultimately the from Indo-European root man- (hand) that's also the source of manage, maintain, maneuver, manufacture, manuscript, and command.
USAGE: "It's a fantastic spot. But what happens to viewers' trust of Barclays when they realize all commercials are fake, shot on soundstages, and built on camera tricks and fancy editing and legerdemain?" Simon Houpt; Spotting the Fake; Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Aug 14, 2009.
"Christoph Waltz has mastered Quentin Tarantino's linguistic legerdemain in four languages." David Germain; Waltz Crafts Linguistic Magic for 'Basterds'; Associated Press; Aug 17, 2009.
expediency
PRONUNCIATION: (ek-SPEE-dee-uhn-see)
MEANING: noun:
1. Consideration of what is advantageous or easy or immediate over what is right
2. The quality of being suited for a purpose
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin expedire (to make ready, to set the feet free), from ex- (out of) + ped- (foot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ped- (foot) which gave us peccadillo (alluding to a stumble or fall), pedal, impeccable, podium, octopus, and impeach.
USAGE: "Political expediency means that a lot of planning is still short term." Elizabeth Sidiropoulos & Lyal White; How Brazil Beats Poverty Trap; Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg, South Africa); Aug 25, 2009.
mortmain
PRONUNCIATION: (MOHRT-mayn)
MEANING: noun:
1. The perpetual ownership of property by institutions such as churches
2. The often stifling influence of the past on the present and the living
ETYMOLOGY: From Anglo-Norman mortmayn, feminine of morte (dead) + main (hand), from Latin mortua manus (dead hand). Ultimately from the Indo-European root man- (hand) that's also the source of manage, maintain, maneuver, manufacture, manuscript, and command.
NOTES: Imagine a B-movie scene of a dead hand stretching out of a grave and you have the picture of the word mortmain. The idea behind mortmain is of a dead hand reaching beyond to hold a property in perpetuity. By extension, the word describes the past dictating the present in an oppressive manner.
Unlike the passing of an asset to a child on the death of a parent, institutions such as churches hold property forever. Over time, through donations, etc., they can acquire a large amount of real estate which cannot be distributed or revert to the crown. Also, in such cases there is a loss of revenue from inheritance tax. The English King Edward I passed the Statutes of Mortmain in 1279 and again in 1290 to limit such holding of property in perpetuity without royal authorization.
USAGE: "On what grounds do we allow the dead to bind the living? Courts used to adhere to a 'rule against perpetuities' and were suspicious of mortmain, of the 'dead hand' of documents drawn up long ago." Christopher Caldwell; Philanthropy Goes to the Dogs; Financial Times (London, UK); Jul 5, 2008.
"Martins felt that somehow this knowledge would pay the mortmain that memory levies on human beings." Graham Greene; The Third Man; 1949.
5 October 2009
Autumn is here. Last week marked the arrival of fall, the festival of colors. As you relish the golden yellows, bright oranges, and cheery reds of falling leaves as a feast for the eyes, use this week's words in A.Word.A.Day to celebrate the variety of hues.
ecru
PRONUNCIATION: (EK-roo, AY-kroo)
MEANING: adjective: Of a pale brown color, like raw silk or unbleached linen; beige
ETYMOLOGY: From French écru (raw, unbleached), from Latin crudus (raw). Some cousins of this word are cruel, pancreas, and crude.
USAGE: "Like those of us doomed to repeat history, women seem to buy the same item over and over again. The Buffer's small point of information 'You've already got a top just like that' is rebuffed with: 'No, the old one (relative term, here) is taupe The new one is ecru.'" Tom Shields; Men's Place is Secondary in Any Battle of the Wardrobe; Sunday Herald (Glasgow, UK); Sep 4, 2005.
vis major
PRONUNCIATION: (VIS MAY-juhr)
MEANING: noun: An unavoidable disruptive event (such as an earthquake) that none of the parties is responsible for, which may exempt them from the obligations of a contract. Natural instances of vis major are also called acts of God.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin vis major, literally, greater force. Also see force majeure.
USAGE: "In any case, the dealer neither placed any evidence nor any documents to indicate that any unforeseen circumstance of vis major had occurred to prevent the delivery." R.N. Sahai; The Dealer; Business Line (Chennai, India); Oct 20, 1999.
barratry
PRONUNCIATION: (BAR-uh-tree)
MEANING: noun:
1. The practice of stirring up of groundless lawsuits
2. An unlawful act by a ship's master or crew that harms the owner of the ship
3. The buying or selling of positions in church or state
ETYMOLOGY: From Anglo-French baraterie (deception), from barater (to cheat), from Vulgar Latin prattare, from Greek prattein (to do).
USAGE: "A man with the same legal name as the lead character in the 1960s TV law show Perry Mason is charged with barratry. He allegedly tried to solicit former jail inmates for legal services." Same Name, Different Fame for Perry Mason Accused of Soliciting Clients for Houston Lawyer; Associated Press; Apr 16, 2009.
novation
PRONUNCIATION: (noh-VAY-shuhn)
MEANING: noun: The replacing of an obligation, a contract, or a party to an agreement with a new one.
ETYMOLOGY: From novare (to make new), from novus (new). Ultimately from the Indo-European root newo- (new) that is also the source of new, neo-, novice, novel, novelty, innovate, renovate, misoneism (fear of change), and novercal (stepmotherly).
USAGE: "They are essentially contracts meant to be honoured subject only to agreed changes by novation." S. Rajaratnam; Direct Taxes Code; The Hindu (Chennai, India); Aug 31, 2009.
12 October 2009
While growing up in India, I watched many puppet performances, dramas, and movies. And my favorite: the magic shows!
In the magic shows, besides the standard fare -- sawing a girl in half, making rabbits disappear, and the like -- there was a serial performance called The Water of India. After every few acts, the magician would walk to a pitcher on the table in one corner of the stage, lift it up dramatically and announce, "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Water of India!"
He would turn the pitcher upside down to let water pour out. The vessel was supposedly empty then, but after 15 minutes he would repeat this action, and more water would pour from the jug. While he performed that trick and I marveled at the magic pitcher that replenished itself, his assistants would set up the next trick.
Well, consider this week's miscellaneous words theme the AWAD equivalent of The Water of India. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, enjoy these assorted words (while we put together next week's show of words, definitions, etymologies, usage, pronunciations, quotations, and more).
otiose
PRONUNCIATION: (O-shee-ohs, O-ti-)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Superfluous
2. Futile
3. Indolent
ETYMOLOGY: From otium (leisure)
USAGE: "I hung around that summer until my presence became otiose. Friends' parents started asking me how long I would be in town." Ian Frazier; Out of Ohio; The New Yorker; Jan 10, 2005.
"The measure is entirely otiose. There are already laws against harassment." Dominic Lawson; What Fearful Hypocrites Ministers Are; The Independent (London, UK); Feb 9, 2007.
mendicant
PRONUNCIATION: (MEN-di-kuhnt)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Living on alms
2. Like a beggar
noun:
1. A beggar
2. A member of any of various orders of friars forbidden to own property and living on alms
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin mendicare (to beg), from mendicus (beggar), from mendum (defect)
USAGE: "But Metro, a perennial mendicant with no dependable dedicated, long-term source of capital funding, could hardly afford to scrap or completely rebuild the older cars." Common Sense at Metro; Washington Post; Sep 30, 2009.
peremptory
PRONUNCIATION: (puh-REMP-tuh-ree)
MEANING: adjective:
1. Dictatorial
2. Expressing command or urgency
3. Not admitting any question or contradiction
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin peremptorius (decisive), from perimere (to take away), from per- (thoroughly) + emere (to take). Ultimately from the Indo-European root em- (to take or distribute) that is also the source of words such as example, sample, assume, consume, prompt, ransom, vintage, and redeem.
USAGE: "'Easily provoked by minor irritations,' wrote Dimbleby about this period,' [Charles] became uncharacteristically impatient and peremptory.' The smallest things would prompt verbal abuse or 'sudden outbursts of rage'." Catherine Bennett; In Princes We Trust ... to Do Absolutely Nothing Useful; The Observer (London, UK); Sep 27, 2009.
encomium
PRONUNCIATION: (en-KO-mee-uhm)
MEANING: noun: Glowing praise
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin encomium, from Greek enkomion, from komos (revel).
USAGE: "The speech cheered the faithful no end, as did Sarah Brown's smooth and skilful introduction of her husband. Yet though her encomium went down well with the party, it nauseated many television viewers." Ruth Dudley Edwards; Why Mrs Brown Should Have Skipped the Heroics; Irish Independent (Dublin); Oct 4, 2009.
gimcrack
PRONUNCIATION: (JIM-krak)
MEANING:
noun: Something cheap and showy, of little use.
adjective: Showy, but worthless.
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of Middle English gibecrake (small ornament), possibly from Old French giber (to shake).
USAGE: "Uncle Rabid Prophet TechEye has worshiped more gimcrack bits of junk and practiced more half-baked religions than all of Hollywood combined." Bow Down And Open Your Wallet; Warsaw Business Journal (Poland); Aug 21, 2006.
26 October 2009
"Proper names that have become improper and uncommonly common" is how the author Willard R. Espy described eponyms, and that is the theme for this week's words in AWAD: words coined after people's names.
We are going to meet a poet, a novelist, a prophet, a statesman, and a legislator. They wrote poems, novels, holy books, political treatises, and laws.
In our quest for eponyms, we are going to visit England, Persia, Italy, and Greece. All aboard!
Byronic
PRONUNCIATION: (by-RON-ik)
MEANING: adjective: One who is melancholic, passionate, and melodramatic, and disregards societal norms
ETYMOLOGY: After poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), who displayed such characteristics, as did his poetry, i.e. a flawed character marked by great passion who exhibits disrespect for social institutions and is self-destructive.
NOTES: A little-known fact: He was the father of Ada Lovelace, today known as the first computer programmer, who wrote programs for Charles Babbage's analytical engine.
USAGE: "Zenovich casts [movie director Roman] Polanski, whose face repeatedly fills the screen with a Byronic luminosity, as a tragic figure, a child survivor of the Holocaust haunted by the murder of his wife, the actress Sharon Tate, at the hands of the Manson family." Bill Wyman; Whitewashing Roman Polanski; Salon (New York); Feb 19, 2009.
"Laurie may have his pet theories as to why [Gregory] House-the-character has become a cult -- the damaged, Byronic genius/healer who can say the unsayable and (almost always) get away with it." Stuart Husband; Hugh Laurie Interview; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Jun 3, 2009.
Orwellian
PRONUNCIATION: (or-WEL-ee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Of or relating to a totalitarian state in which citizens' activities are tightly controlled
ETYMOLOGY: After George Orwell, pen name of Eric Blair (1903-1950), whose novel Nineteen Eighty-Four depicted a futuristic totalitarian state. Also see Big Brother.
USAGE: "Military satellites designed to guide nuclear missiles are being used to monitor prison parolees and probationers in a technological advance designed to reduce the nation's skyrocketing prison population. But critics say it also raises the specter of an Orwellian future." Gary Fields; Satellite 'Big Brother' Eyes Parolees; USA Today; Apr 8, 1999.
"The [remote deletion by Amazon of Orwell's books from customers' ebook devices] prompted widespread criticism from Amazon customers, rights advocates, and bloggers, on whom the Orwellian nature of Amazon's actions were not lost." Thomas Claburn; Amazon Settles Kindle Deletion Lawsuit For $150,000; InformationWeek (New York); Oct 2, 2009.
Manichean or Manichaean
PRONUNCIATION: (man-i-KEE-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Of or relating to a dualistic view of the world, dividing things into either good or evil, light or dark, black or white, involving no shades of gray
ETYMOLOGY: After Manes/Mani (216-276 CE), Persian founder of Manichaeism, an ancient religion espousing a doctrine of a struggle between good and evil
USAGE: "The most crucial feature of neoconservatism is its Manichean worldview, wherein the Earth is pitted in an urgent struggle between purely good and purely evil nations. As George W. Bush famously told then Sen. Joe Biden: 'I don't do nuance.'" Jacob Bronsther; What Do Neocons Have to Do With Obama?; The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts); Sep 29, 2009.
"Here the schema is too obvious, and its Manichaean contrasts of dark/light, good/evil don't resonate beyond the special effects that deliver them." Judith Mackrell; Wind Shadow; Guardian (London, UK); Oct 7, 2009.
Machiavellian
PRONUNCIATION: (mak-ee-uh-VEL-ee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Characterized by cunning, deception, and expediency
ETYMOLOGY: After Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), Florentine statesman and author of The Prince, a political treatise describing use of craft and deceit to achieve political power
USAGE: "Rumours of Machiavellian plots and conspiracy theories have permeated the period of mourning." Darryl Broadfoot; Mitchell: End the Revisionism; The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland); Nov 23, 2007.
draconian
PRONUNCIATION: (dray-KO-nee-uhn, druh-)
MEANING: adjective: Unusually harsh
ETYMOLOGY: After Draco (late 7th century BCE), Athenian legislator, noted for the harshness of his code of laws.
NOTES: Under Draco's laws even trivial offenses, such as idleness, brought capital punishment. When asked why he had instituted the death penalty for most offenses, he supposedly replied that the lesser crimes deserved it and he knew of no greater punishment for more important ones. Could it be an example of an aptronym (in Greek his name means dragon)? His laws were said to be written in blood instead of ink.
When it comes to lawmaking, the name of one of Draco's successors has entered the language in an opposite sense. The Athenian lawmaker Solon's reform to make Draco's laws humane earned him a place in the dictionary as an eponym meaning "a wise lawgiver". It was Solon who said: Laws are the spider's webs which, if anything small falls into them they ensnare it, but large things break through and escape.
USAGE: "The 'criminalization of any criticism' of General Musharraf, his regime, and other state functionaries was an unprecedented draconian measure against the freedom of speech." 17 Retired Judges Want Revival of Constitution; Daily Times (Lahore, Pakistan); Nov 28, 2007.
