A.W.A.D. - Words with Double Connections

What do you call a town full of twins? DupliCity! And what do you ask twin witches? "Which witch is which?" Well, there'll be no witches in an Ohio town named Twinsburg next week, but if you happen to be there, you'll think you're suffering from an acute case of diplopia.

Every August, thousands of twins -- from infants to octogenarians -- converge there to celebrate Twins Days Festival http://www.twinsdays.org/. To mark the occasion, this week we'll feature words with double connections.

diplopia
(di-PLO-pee-uh) noun
Double vision.

[From Greek diplo- (double) + -opia (vision).]

didymous
(DID-uh-muhs) adjective
Occurring in pairs; twin.

[From Greek didymos (twin). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dwo- (two) that also gave us dual, double, dubious, doubt, diploma, twin, and between.]

mackle
(MAK-uhl) noun
A blur, as from a double impression in printing.

verb tr., intr.
To blur.

[From Latin macula (spot or stain).]

double entendre
(DUB-uhl ahn-TAHN-druh) noun
A word or phrase used in a manner that it can be interpreted in two ways, especially when one of the meanings is risque.

[From obsolete French, literally double meaning.]

Words covering the week of 30 July - 3 August

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