A.W.A.D. - Shortest Words

with Anu Garg



The tinier the point of the needle, the more easily it goes through. The thinner the blade of the sword, the more swiftly it cuts through. Often the same goes for words. A short, potent word helps convey an idea in just a few letters. This week we'll feature a few single-syllable words, and in the spirit of the week's theme, we'll keep this paragraph short.

And we begin with a word that's even shorter than short: ort.

ort
PRONUNCIATION: (ort)
MEANING: noun: A scrap of food left after a meal


ETYMOLOGY: Of Germanic origin, ultimately from the Indo-European roots ud- (out) and ed- (to eat)

USAGE: "On the table in front of him was a plate, a few orts of supper nosed round by a pair of cats." Bill Mesce Jr; Officer of the Court; Bantam Books; 2002



fug
PRONUNCIATION: (fug)
MEANING: noun: Stale, humid, and stuffy atmosphere, as in a crowded, poorly ventilated room


ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps from fogo (stench).


USAGE: "[The butterfly stroke] may have a fug of raw, sweating masculinity about it, but it's also the most irritating of all strokes." Barney Ronay; Vladimir Putin's Tough-guy Swimming Technique; The Guardian (London, UK); Aug 6, 2009


birl
PRONUNCIATION: (burl)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.:
1. To rotate (a floating log) by running on it in place
2. To spin or rotate


ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps a blend of birr and whirl


USAGE: "Area lumberjacks compete in events ranging from axe throwing to birling." Robert J. Hughes; Driving Off the Beaten Path; The Wall Street Journal; May 10, 2002.


"The ball broke to him on the right of the box and he birled round in one motion to score with a fierce low shot into the opposite corner of Poom's goal." Martin Hannan; Dobbie Arrives in Fine Style at Hibs; Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh, Scotland); Jul 27, 2003


bap
PRONUNCIATION: (bap)
MEANING: noun: A soft, round bread roll

ETYMOLOGY: Of unknown origin


USAGE: "Ken Johnson still has his grandfather's recipes and enjoys baking at home, more so in the winter when he loves to throw together a batch of baps." Graham Hawkes; Batch of Baps; The Press (Christchurch, New Zealand); Jul 16, 2009

cwm
PRONUNCIATION: (koom)
MEANING: noun: A steep bowl-shaped mountain basin, carved by glaciers. Also known as cirque

ETYMOLOGY: From Welsh cwm (valley)

NOTES: The letter w works as a vowel in the Welsh language and it has given another such word (without a standard vowel aeiou, or y) to English: crwth (krooth) meaning crowd.

USAGE: "By a process of elimination, which is a ticklish phrase to use about Soviet selection methods, the hordes of trainees will be reduced to about 150 fit to carry Stalin's name over countless crevasses, through the cwms, and along the cols -- to the very ultimate peak of the ultimate mountain." Cold War For Mount Everest?; The Sydney Morning Herald; Apr 21, 1952.

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