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Another Word A Dayffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page i Also by Anu GargA Word A Day: A Romp through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in Englishffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page ii Another Word A DayAn All-New Romp through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in EnglishAnu GargJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.ffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page iii Copyright © 2005 by Anu Garg. All rights reservedPublished by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New JerseyPublished simultaneously in CanadaComposition by Navta Associates, Inc.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise,except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, withouteither the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of theappropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive,Danvers, MA01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests tothe Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley &Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or onlineat http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty:While the publisher and the author have used their bestefforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to theaccuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied war-ranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created orextended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies containedherein may not be suitable for your situation.You should consult with a professional where appro-priate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other com-mercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.For general information about our other products and services, please contact our CustomerCare Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317)572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears inprint may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visitour web site at www.wiley.com.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:Garg, Anu.Another word a day : an all-new romp through some of the most unusual and intriguingwords in English / Anu Garg.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 13 978-0-471-71845-1 (pbk.)ISBN 10 0-471-71845-9 (pbk.)ISBN 13 978-0-471-77878-3 (cloth)ISBN 10 0-471-77878-8 (cloth)1. Vocabulary. 2. English language—Glossaries, vocabularies, etc. I. Title.PE1449.G3345 2006428.1—dc22 2005004284Printed in the United States of America10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1ffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page iv All words are pegs to hang ideas on.—HENRYWARDBEECHERffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page v ffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page vi Acknowledgments xiiiIntroduction 11Wo r ds to Describe People I 5opsimath●agelast●losel●nebbish●cruciverbalist2Earls Who Became Words (or Places That Became Words) 9orrery●cadogan●Oxfordian●derby●Yarborough3Wo r ds Having Origins in Chess 14zugzwang●checkmate●gambit●stalemate●endgame4Wo r ds That Appear to Be Misspellings of Everyday Words I 18passible●monestrous●cloture●nutriment●assoil5Archaic Words 21clepe●sennight●anon●gainsay●hearken6Toponyms 24Chautauqua●Pax Romana●Gibraltar●seltzer●Kilkenny catsviiContentsftoc.qxd 7/21/05 12:03 PM Page vii 7Wo r ds about Books and Writing 28roman à clef●orihon●amphigory●conspectus●magnum opus8Wo r ds Borrowed from Yiddish 31chutzpah●mensch●zaftig●kvetch●schlep9Te r ms from the World of Law 36estoppel●laches●solatium●sui juris●mittimus10Wo r ds That Appear to Be Misspellings of Everyday Wo r ds II 40eagre●imprest●endue●biennial●quacksalver11Wo r ds Borrowed from Arabic 44alembic●nadir●jihad●houri●talisman12Wo r ds Formed Erroneously 48niddering●obsidian●helpmeet●zenith●derring-do13What’s in a Name? 52randy●tony●ted●bobby●brad14Wo r ds from Poetry 56cataract●dreary●nosegay●collyrium●tarry15Fishy Words 61minnow●gudgeon●remora●inconnu●tope16Discover the Theme I 66ubiety●irade●ambit●estival●lanate17Te r ms Employing Various Nationalities 71French leave●Chinese wall●Roman holiday●Irish bull●Dutch auction18Wo r ds with Double Connections 75diplopia●double entendre●ambsace●satchel●doppelgängerviiiCONTENTSftoc.qxd 7/21/05 12:03 PM Page viii 19Wo r ds Related to the Calendar 79ides●bissextile●Greek calends●menology●fin de siècle20False Friends 83sacrilegious●scission●oust●impregnable●mellifluous21Red-Herring Words 87undulate●fartlek●conversant●assize●valorize22Wo r ds Related to the Human Body 90nares●oxter●pollex●nevus●glossal23Wo r ds Related to Buying and Selling 93emptor●nummary●duopoly●monopsony●chandler24Miscellaneous Words 98astrobleme●pudency●aporia●remontant●loricate25Wo r ds That Have Changed Meaning with Time 101demagogue●decimate●feisty●egregious●officious26Wo r ds about Words 107hapax legomenon●metaphor●vulgat●hyperbole●metaplasm27Anglo-Saxon Words 111meed●fen●lief●fain●wight28Wo r ds Borrowed from Other Languages 115cumshaw●smorgasbord●baksheesh●taboo●honcho29Wo r ds from Medicine 118sequela●nosology●idiopathy●placebo●nyctalopia30Numeric Terms 123sixty-four-dollar question●eighty-six●twenty-twenty●deep-six●catch-22CONTENTSixftoc.qxd 7/21/05 12:03 PM Page ix [...]... PM Page xii an advantage. 3. A remark used to open or redirect a conversation. From Spanish gambito,from Italian gambetto (the act of tripping someone), from gamba (leg). ● “North Korea will no doubt try to gain maximum advantage by playing South Korea, America and Japan off against each other. If it fails to get the result and the cash—it wants from its new diplomatic gambit, it may simply abandon... Statesman 21 CHAPTER 5 Archaic Words cmp01.qxd 7/21/05 12:12 PM Page 21 Yarborough (YAHR-bur-o) noun In a card game, a hand in which no card is above a nine. After Charles Anderson Worsley, 2nd Earl of Yarborough (1809–1897), who is said to have bet 1,000 to 1 against the occur- rence of such a hand. ● “Many players know the odds against holding a Yarborough— a hand with no card above a nine—are 1827 to... humans. Here are a few words that defeat the spell-checker. You could use them to your advantage: to defeat your opponents in a game of Scrabble. These words appear to be misspellings of common words but they are fully accredited, licensed, certificated words from a standard dictionary—as official as any word can be in the English language. passible (PAS-uh-buhl) adjective Capable of feeling, especially... shahmat. ● “An army of the British East India Company, still in charge of imperial India, moved into Kabul in 1839 to checkmate the Russian advances—real and imagined—in Central Asia, the Himalayas and Tibet.” —New York Times gambit (GAM-bit) noun 1. An opening in which a pawn or another piece is sacri- ficed to obtain a strategic advantage. 2. A maneuver used to secure W ORDS HAVING ORIGINS IN CHESS 15 With... English. When a train stops, in all languages in India, it stops at a station. In trade, travel, communication, exploration, technology, inva- sion, and many other areas of life, people come together and osmo- sis takes place. If you speak English, you know parts of at least a hundred different languages. Just as children take after their parents, often English builds up a distinctly local flavor and becomes... any other language, and that some words were in fact untranslatable. As an example Singer picked the word chutzpah,saying that its being an untranslat- able word he was unfortunately not in a position to explain what it meant, but he could offer a story as an illustration. Singer went on to say that during his childhood, his parents would often take him on house visits, a frequent destination being... text in a jiffy and provide quick fixes with their handy find -and- replace feature. I heard there was a story in a news- paper that talked about the dramatic turnaround of a business. It had been deeply in debt earlier but now it was “running in the African American.” While these electronic beasts are useful to keep our wayward fingers in check and take care of sundry typos that creep in, they are no substitute... Shakespeare. The Shakespeare Oxford Society’s Web site is http://shakespeare- oxford.com. ● “Gould, being a daughter of a movie mogul, knows high con- cept when she sees it. And she’s an Oxfordian, a believer in Edward de Vere as the real Shakespeare.” —Montreal Gazette EARLS WHO BECAME WORDS (OR PLACES THAT BECAME WORDS) 11 Whodunit The battle rages, and there are at least six major candidates. One wag settled... though today’s deal arose in Reno at the ACBL’s Spring Champi- onships, I doubt anyone could have quoted the odds against it: South and East both had Yarboroughs!” —Buffalo (N.Y.) News EARLS WHO BECAME WORDS (OR PLACES THAT BECAME WORDS) 13 The best writing is rewriting. — E. B. W HITE , author (1899–1985) Armed Only with a Cigar (and a Cardigan) Lord Cardigan is known also for his role as leader of... boundaries till little more than their 26 ANOTHER WORD A DAY A calamity that affects everyone is only half a calamity. — I TALIAN PROVERB cmp01.qxd 7/21/05 12:12 PM Page 26 Also by Anu Garg A Word A Day: A Romp through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in English ffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page ii ● “In this Chautauqua I would like not to cut any new channels of consciousness but simply . Another Word A Dayffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page i Also by Anu GargA Word A Day: A Romp through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words. www .wiley. com.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:Garg, Anu .Another word a day : an all-new romp through some of the most unusual and intriguingwords