عبد الحفيظ جباري
05/04/2008, 01:25 PM
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته،
يسرني أن أوافي الواتاويين بكلمات هذا اليوم.
والسلام عليكم.
Litigious (adjective)
Pronunciation: [li-'ti-jês]
Definition: (1) Related to litigation, law suits; (2) given to filing law suits, inclined to sue with little provocation.
Usage: Today's word comes with an adverb, "litigiously," and its own noun, "litigiousness." It is, of course, related to "litigation" and the verb which spawned it, litigate "to sue, file a law suit, undertake legal proceedings." Someone engaged in legal proceedings is a litigant while the lawyers that represent them are litigators.
Suggested Usage: One million lawyers—70% of the lawyers in the world—practice in the US, a nation with only 5% of the earth's population, at a cost of about $300 billion a year. "When Tad washed his pet poodle and put him in his microwave oven to dry, the poor puppy exploded. Now they think Tad is litigious for suing the oven manufacturer for not warning him not to dry pets in the oven." (This is an urban myth that actually circulated in the US for years. It is credible only in a highly litigious nation.)
Etymology: Today's word is undisguised Latin litigiosus "disputatious," the adjective of litigium "dispute," the noun from litigare "to quarrel." "Litigare" is a compound of lit- "lawsuit" + ager "to act, force, drive." This root of this verb is found in English "agent" and "act," where the [g] has become [k] because of the following [t]. Of course, "squat" comes from the same source via Old French esquatir "to crush, squeeze out," combining es- "out" (Latin ex-) + quatir "to flatten." "Quatir" comes from "coactus," the past participle of Latin coager "to compress" which, in its turn, comes from co "together" + ager "to act, force, drive."
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
**********************************************
Wrought (adjective)
Pronunciation: [rat]
Definition: Worked, crafted, done.
Usage: Today's word is an archaic form for "worked" but it is still used fairly widely, e.g. overwrought "overworked, worked up," wrought up "worked up," and "wrought iron." The archaic noun has been crystallized in several words such as "wheelwright," "shipwright," and "playwright," which is unrelated to "write" but rather a Greek loan translation based on dramaturge from drama + ergon "work."
Suggested Usage: Since today's is an archaic word, save it for an archaic mood; they come over you with increasing frequency as you mature. "The antiqued knotty pine shelf was wrought by my husband back when 'wrought' was the only participle for 'work.'" The reference of "wrought" is usually artifactual, "All my jewelry is hand-wrought right here in town." For this reason, using the word creatively is difficult: "a machine-wrought boat" sounds a bit facetious.
Etymology: Middle English wroght, Old English geworht, the past participle of wyrcan "to work" and the origin of "work," as well. The same root *werg developed into Greek ergon "work" found in "ergonomics" and "surgery," from Latin "chirurgia" from Greek kheirourgia "hand-work" based on kheir "hand" + erg- "work" + ia, noun suffix. The o-grade, *org-, turns up in Greek organ "tool" and orgia "sacred rite," the origin of "orgy."
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
**********************************************
Debacle (noun)
Pronunciation: [di-'bah-kl]
Definition: A sudden rush of water and debris such as results from dam failure or the breaking up of river ice in the spring; any sudden, total collapse or rout.
Usage: The problem with today's word is that no one knows how to pronounce it. Most dictionaries now concede three acceptable pronunciations: [di-'bah-kl], [di-'bæ-kl] and ['de-bê-kl]. The first is not only closer to the original French but seems to be the preference of most speakers today. It is the one we recommend.
Suggested Usage: We seem to be moving away from the original meaning of this word, "The spring debacle of the Susquehanna caused considerable damage to several bridges." We should keep it alive since it serves a useful function. We can also speak of the debacle of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 or the debacle of the Soviet empire in the 1990s.
Etymology: French débâcle, from débâcler "to unbar, release" from Old French desbacler : des- "un-" + bacler "to bar." The Old French word probably came from a Vulgar Latin verb *baculare, derived from Latin baculum "rod, staff, walking stick." "Bacillus" is the diminutive of "baculum" and hence means "a little "rod," the shape of many bacilli and bacteria. "Bacterium" goes back to Greek bakterion, the diminutive of baktron "rod."
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
********************************************
Mawkish (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['mak-ish or 'maw-kish]
Definition: Having a sickening taste (archaic); sickeningly or sentimentally insipid.
Usage: Not to be confused with mawky "full of maggots" (see Etymology) though this word would make a good substitute for "maggoty" in polite company, if only we could restore it from its current obscurity. The adverb is "mawkishly" and the noun "mawkishness."
Suggested Usage: You must know people who tempt you to say, "Reinhart, cut the mawkish sentimentality about my eyes and buy us another drink," or, "There is a mawkish sweetness in his manner that makes me slightly queasy when I speak with him."
Etymology: Here is another word cast off from its own origins. Its root is Middle English mawke "maggot." Little is known of the origins of either word. The suffix -ish, however, forms adjectives of common Germanic origin: Gothic -isks, Old Norse -iskr, Old English -isc, German and Dutch -isch. It is a cognate with the Greek noun suffix -ik-os and Latin -ic-us underlying such words as "linguistic(s)," "statistics," and Slavic suffixes -ik (bolshevik) and -itsa (tsaritsa).
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
*********************************************
Lackaday (adverb)
Pronunciation: ['læk-ê-dey]
Definition: An archiac interjection used to express disapproval or regret.
Usage: This word fell out of use, but its offshoot, "lackadaisical," is still with us. "Lackadaisical" is an irregular eighteenth-century formation from "lackaday" and means "lacking spirit." "Lackadaisical" doesn't quite mean "lazy," but rather, "disinterested."
Suggested Usage: Perhaps if "lackaday" is used alongside "lackadaisical," we can rejuvenate it through that context: "We got James's grades in the mail this afternoon. Lackaday, but that boy is lackadaisical about his studies."
Etymology: Shortened from "alack the day," where "alack" was used to express alarm or disapproval. "Alack" is a form of "alas," which comes from Middle English by way of Old French a las, helas, "ah (I am) miserable," from Latin lassus, "weary." "Lassus" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "le-," which also gives us lassitude, "a condition of weariness or listlessness." Thus, while "lackadaisical" is an irregular formation from its parent, it leads us back quite surely to its PIE ancestor.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
*********************************************
Moiety (noun)
Pronunciation: ['moy-ê-tee]
Definition 1: One of two equal parts; one's spouse ('better half').
Usage 1: Use today's word when discussing something that is or should be divided into equal halves. "I'd split this éclair and give you a moiety, but you're really sticking to that diet, aren't you?" The plural is "moieties" and there are no adjectives or verbs.
Definition 2: In cultural anthropology, one of the two subdivisions of a society with a dual organizational structure; more specifically, one of the two units that make up a tribe on the basis of unilateral descent.
Suggested Usage: This is a deflective term for talking about no-fault divorces and property reassignment in a clinical tone. "When Harold left Calliope, he took more than a moiety of their property and chattel," sounds less bitter than "That cad made off with much more than he deserved!" You might stretch definition two to talk about your in-laws (or outlaws, as the case might be), combining the first definition with the second, "My moiety's moiety is hosting a pig roast and truck pull this August," if it doesn't strike you as a bit repetitious.
Etymology: From Middle English "moite" from Old French moitie "middle," a reduction of Latin medius "middle" via Late Latin medietas. The PIE root was *medhyo- from which English gets the words "mid," "middle," and "mean," plus "medial," "median," "medium," "intermediate," and "mediocre" via Latin—all terms that cut right down the middle. Russian mezdu "between" derives from the same source. For more PIE, see "How Is A Hippo Like A Feather?" in YDC's library.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
*********************************************
يسرني أن أوافي الواتاويين بكلمات هذا اليوم.
والسلام عليكم.
Litigious (adjective)
Pronunciation: [li-'ti-jês]
Definition: (1) Related to litigation, law suits; (2) given to filing law suits, inclined to sue with little provocation.
Usage: Today's word comes with an adverb, "litigiously," and its own noun, "litigiousness." It is, of course, related to "litigation" and the verb which spawned it, litigate "to sue, file a law suit, undertake legal proceedings." Someone engaged in legal proceedings is a litigant while the lawyers that represent them are litigators.
Suggested Usage: One million lawyers—70% of the lawyers in the world—practice in the US, a nation with only 5% of the earth's population, at a cost of about $300 billion a year. "When Tad washed his pet poodle and put him in his microwave oven to dry, the poor puppy exploded. Now they think Tad is litigious for suing the oven manufacturer for not warning him not to dry pets in the oven." (This is an urban myth that actually circulated in the US for years. It is credible only in a highly litigious nation.)
Etymology: Today's word is undisguised Latin litigiosus "disputatious," the adjective of litigium "dispute," the noun from litigare "to quarrel." "Litigare" is a compound of lit- "lawsuit" + ager "to act, force, drive." This root of this verb is found in English "agent" and "act," where the [g] has become [k] because of the following [t]. Of course, "squat" comes from the same source via Old French esquatir "to crush, squeeze out," combining es- "out" (Latin ex-) + quatir "to flatten." "Quatir" comes from "coactus," the past participle of Latin coager "to compress" which, in its turn, comes from co "together" + ager "to act, force, drive."
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
**********************************************
Wrought (adjective)
Pronunciation: [rat]
Definition: Worked, crafted, done.
Usage: Today's word is an archaic form for "worked" but it is still used fairly widely, e.g. overwrought "overworked, worked up," wrought up "worked up," and "wrought iron." The archaic noun has been crystallized in several words such as "wheelwright," "shipwright," and "playwright," which is unrelated to "write" but rather a Greek loan translation based on dramaturge from drama + ergon "work."
Suggested Usage: Since today's is an archaic word, save it for an archaic mood; they come over you with increasing frequency as you mature. "The antiqued knotty pine shelf was wrought by my husband back when 'wrought' was the only participle for 'work.'" The reference of "wrought" is usually artifactual, "All my jewelry is hand-wrought right here in town." For this reason, using the word creatively is difficult: "a machine-wrought boat" sounds a bit facetious.
Etymology: Middle English wroght, Old English geworht, the past participle of wyrcan "to work" and the origin of "work," as well. The same root *werg developed into Greek ergon "work" found in "ergonomics" and "surgery," from Latin "chirurgia" from Greek kheirourgia "hand-work" based on kheir "hand" + erg- "work" + ia, noun suffix. The o-grade, *org-, turns up in Greek organ "tool" and orgia "sacred rite," the origin of "orgy."
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
**********************************************
Debacle (noun)
Pronunciation: [di-'bah-kl]
Definition: A sudden rush of water and debris such as results from dam failure or the breaking up of river ice in the spring; any sudden, total collapse or rout.
Usage: The problem with today's word is that no one knows how to pronounce it. Most dictionaries now concede three acceptable pronunciations: [di-'bah-kl], [di-'bæ-kl] and ['de-bê-kl]. The first is not only closer to the original French but seems to be the preference of most speakers today. It is the one we recommend.
Suggested Usage: We seem to be moving away from the original meaning of this word, "The spring debacle of the Susquehanna caused considerable damage to several bridges." We should keep it alive since it serves a useful function. We can also speak of the debacle of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 or the debacle of the Soviet empire in the 1990s.
Etymology: French débâcle, from débâcler "to unbar, release" from Old French desbacler : des- "un-" + bacler "to bar." The Old French word probably came from a Vulgar Latin verb *baculare, derived from Latin baculum "rod, staff, walking stick." "Bacillus" is the diminutive of "baculum" and hence means "a little "rod," the shape of many bacilli and bacteria. "Bacterium" goes back to Greek bakterion, the diminutive of baktron "rod."
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
********************************************
Mawkish (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['mak-ish or 'maw-kish]
Definition: Having a sickening taste (archaic); sickeningly or sentimentally insipid.
Usage: Not to be confused with mawky "full of maggots" (see Etymology) though this word would make a good substitute for "maggoty" in polite company, if only we could restore it from its current obscurity. The adverb is "mawkishly" and the noun "mawkishness."
Suggested Usage: You must know people who tempt you to say, "Reinhart, cut the mawkish sentimentality about my eyes and buy us another drink," or, "There is a mawkish sweetness in his manner that makes me slightly queasy when I speak with him."
Etymology: Here is another word cast off from its own origins. Its root is Middle English mawke "maggot." Little is known of the origins of either word. The suffix -ish, however, forms adjectives of common Germanic origin: Gothic -isks, Old Norse -iskr, Old English -isc, German and Dutch -isch. It is a cognate with the Greek noun suffix -ik-os and Latin -ic-us underlying such words as "linguistic(s)," "statistics," and Slavic suffixes -ik (bolshevik) and -itsa (tsaritsa).
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
*********************************************
Lackaday (adverb)
Pronunciation: ['læk-ê-dey]
Definition: An archiac interjection used to express disapproval or regret.
Usage: This word fell out of use, but its offshoot, "lackadaisical," is still with us. "Lackadaisical" is an irregular eighteenth-century formation from "lackaday" and means "lacking spirit." "Lackadaisical" doesn't quite mean "lazy," but rather, "disinterested."
Suggested Usage: Perhaps if "lackaday" is used alongside "lackadaisical," we can rejuvenate it through that context: "We got James's grades in the mail this afternoon. Lackaday, but that boy is lackadaisical about his studies."
Etymology: Shortened from "alack the day," where "alack" was used to express alarm or disapproval. "Alack" is a form of "alas," which comes from Middle English by way of Old French a las, helas, "ah (I am) miserable," from Latin lassus, "weary." "Lassus" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "le-," which also gives us lassitude, "a condition of weariness or listlessness." Thus, while "lackadaisical" is an irregular formation from its parent, it leads us back quite surely to its PIE ancestor.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
*********************************************
Moiety (noun)
Pronunciation: ['moy-ê-tee]
Definition 1: One of two equal parts; one's spouse ('better half').
Usage 1: Use today's word when discussing something that is or should be divided into equal halves. "I'd split this éclair and give you a moiety, but you're really sticking to that diet, aren't you?" The plural is "moieties" and there are no adjectives or verbs.
Definition 2: In cultural anthropology, one of the two subdivisions of a society with a dual organizational structure; more specifically, one of the two units that make up a tribe on the basis of unilateral descent.
Suggested Usage: This is a deflective term for talking about no-fault divorces and property reassignment in a clinical tone. "When Harold left Calliope, he took more than a moiety of their property and chattel," sounds less bitter than "That cad made off with much more than he deserved!" You might stretch definition two to talk about your in-laws (or outlaws, as the case might be), combining the first definition with the second, "My moiety's moiety is hosting a pig roast and truck pull this August," if it doesn't strike you as a bit repetitious.
Etymology: From Middle English "moite" from Old French moitie "middle," a reduction of Latin medius "middle" via Late Latin medietas. The PIE root was *medhyo- from which English gets the words "mid," "middle," and "mean," plus "medial," "median," "medium," "intermediate," and "mediocre" via Latin—all terms that cut right down the middle. Russian mezdu "between" derives from the same source. For more PIE, see "How Is A Hippo Like A Feather?" in YDC's library.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
*********************************************