Blog Profile / Wordmall
| URL : | http://verbmall.blogspot.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Academics / Linguistics | |
| Posts on Regator: | 582 | |
| Posts / Week: | 2.1 | |
| Archived Since: | February 24, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Plastic
A listener left a message expressing his surprise that the word plastic shows up in the writings of James Fenimore Cooper. ”Just how old is the word?” he asked. I did a quick search of Cooper’s works and found the word used in the following passages. Show More Summary
Emigrate & Immigrate
Judy from Cedar wrote, “Could you explain the difference between the words immigrate, emigrate, and migrate – and when it is proper to use each one? The difference between emigrate and immigrate is a matter of direction. To emigrate is to move OUT OF a country; let the initial letter –e- stand for exit. Show More Summary
Ripely Rife
Stephanie wrote, “I’m having trouble distinguishing between two similar words. Should I write, the economy is ripe with problems, or the economy is rife with problems ”? While the two words are very close in appearance, they have different meanings. Show More Summary
Remonstrate
Donald has been reading a book on Confucianism. He came across a word in the following passage that he wants more information on: “When applying the principles of filiality in the text to the relationship between leader and subject, there is no praise for blind obedience. Show More Summary
Silent but Deadly
Crystal asked about poppycock, which is defined as nonsense, rubbish, and humbug. The Oxford English Dictionary hedges a bit, but it passes along the opinion that it may have come from a Dutch word meaning excrement from a doll. That, indeed, would be nonsense. Show More Summary
Somnambulist
Roger from Sault Ste Marie asked about the word somnambulistic. It’s the adjective form of the noun somnambulist, which breaks down into the Latin somn -, sleep, and ambul -, to walk. Somn - also shows up in words such as insomnia and...Show More Summary
Exterminate! Eradicate! Extirpate!
These three words form an interesting cluster of destruction. To extirpate is to pull something out by the roots, literally or figuratively. The Latin stirp represented the stem or stock of a tree. So originally, extirpate meant to clear an area of tree stumps. Show More Summary
Behemoth
Beth saw a headline on AOL this morning: Behemoth Storm Pummels Northeast. She asked what a behemoth is. It’s a large, powerful animal, but there is disagreement over precisely which one. A water buffalo would qualify, but so would a hippopotamus. Show More Summary
Adamant
Charlene wrote to say that she had encountered the word adamant in a historical novel that she is currently reading. “I thought that it referred to a person secure in her belief,” she wrote, “but in the book it seems to mean a precious stone of some kind. Show More Summary
Groundhog Day
Today is Groundhog Day. Also known as a woodchuck, the animal is basically a squirrel on steroids. It is a rodent, which means that it gnaws incessantly. The word rodent comes from the Latin verb rodere, to gnaw, eat away, or erode. It started off meaning corrosive, then erosive, then became a classification for gnawing mammals. Show More Summary
The Brass Monkey Shivers
Once again, in honor of the weather that we're experiencing in these northern climes, let's look at a small sampling of COLD words today. aggelation: the act of freezing to or congealing about [L. gelare, to freeze] algefacient: having the power to make cold [L. Show More Summary
Aftermath
Jeannie wrote, “Every time there’s a mass shooting, the talking heads are certain to use the words in the aftermath. I’m confused about the math part. Could they be referring to the number of people killed?" Interesting question. This is a case where modern spelling hides the real origin. Show More Summary
Spelling Bee
I'm occupied today with preparing for this event.
The Glamor of Prestige
Two words that have surprising hidden meanings are glamor and prestige. In our time, glamor means charm, attractiveness, and physical beauty. Prestige means a person's standing in the estimation of others. It is usually based on reputation and industrial-strength achievement, making it a deeper and more desirable quality than mere skin-deep glamor. Show More Summary
Dope
Pete from Traverse City called in to comment on a word that has many meanings: dope. It came into English from the Dutch word doop, meaning a sauce made for dipping. Most of us will think of an illegal drug like heroin or a really stupid person when we hear the word dope, but there are many other meanings. Show More Summary
Oh, Spiss!
The letter sequence –spiss – is rarely used, but it is consistent in its meaning when it appears. It comes from a Latin word that means thick. Inspissation is used in medicine to designate the formation of plugs in ducts—plugs formed by a thickened viscid material. Show More Summary
Bite My Byte
George Boole On yesterday’s radio program, the idea of small quantities and the words that express them came up. They included words such as tad [1940] a small amount. Possibly from tadpole, the early stage of a frog or toad. skosh [1951] a small amount. Show More Summary
Adult Spelling Bee
BIG BRAIN ADULT SPELLING BEE at Right Brain Brewery Traverse City, Michigan to support Big Brothers Big Sisters Saturday January 26, 2013 7:00 pm Teams of 1 to 3 people $20 to register and receive cool T-shirt freaky fast food from Jimmy...Show More Summary
Deprecate
Max from Cadillac asked whether deprecate and depreciate are simply variant spellings of the same word. The answer is no. Originally, to deprecate was to pray against evil, whether to avert it altogether or to remove it. It comes from a Latin word that meant to request. Show More Summary
Affect the Effect
A posting on a web sitemade it to Facebook today. “Rule 8: Affect is a verb and effect is a noun.” Actually, that is not correct. Both words can be verbs and both words can be nouns. AFFECT: Noun : feeling or emotion (used primarily in the field of psychology). Show More Summary