... mittere.
38 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
I never vote for anyone; I always vote against.
—
W. C. F IELDS, comedian (1880–19 46)
cmp01.qxd 7/21/05 12:12 PM Page 38
W
hat do a magazine and an albatross have in ... lasche (slack), ultimately from
Latin laxare (to loosen).
When you admire the “lush” decor of an apartment, sign a
“lease,” simply “relax,” or use a “laxative,” you are employing...
... to blame.
—
ERICA JONG, author (1942–)
Leaping to Assumptions
A leap year has 366 days. One might imagine that bissextile
is so named because 366 has two sixes, but that would be a
false assumption. ... Romans wrote 366 as CCCLXVI.
You Look So Young, Grandma!
Sometimes being a bissextile baby can have special advan-
tages. In Australia, one’s twenty-first birthday is still a really
big...
... is a family whose financial affairs are sufficiently cocka-
mamie and complex that Rube Goldberg could have been
their accountant.”
—To r onto Star
142 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
There lives more faith ... through.”
—Maclean’s
scalawag also scallywag and scallawag (SKAL-uh-wag)
noun 1. A rascal. 2. In U.S. history, a white Southerner who acted
in support of the Reconstruction after the Ci...
... foreign languages. For example, many of you may have
received a message beginning:
From: Mariam Abacha <mariamabacha@hotmail.com>
Subject: Envie d’associé avec vous
Translation: Nigerian loot ... plane onto the firma
terra and we resumed our flight for Erave station in Samberigi.”
—The National (Boroko, Papua New Guinea)
198 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
He who establishes his argument by...
... Another
Word A Day
ffirs.qxd 7/21/05 12:07 PM Page i
Another
Word A Day
An All-New Romp
through Some of the Most
Unusual and Intriguing
Words in English
Anu Garg
John Wiley & Sons, ...
Everyday Words I 18
passible
●
monestrous
●
cloture
●
nutriment
●
assoil
5 Archaic Words 21
clepe
●
sennight
●
anon
●
gainsay
●
hearken
6 Toponyms 24
Chautauqua
●
Pax Romana
●
Gibralta...
... mad about his flat,he really loves his apart-
ment. An American,in exactly the same words, is angry about hav-
ing a flat tire. Well, maybe British and American are two different
languages.
This book ... obsolete).
2 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
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43 Miscellaneous Words II 178
telic
●
saltant
●
conurbation
●
trade-last
●
tardigrade
44 Words That Aren’t What They...
... 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 ... 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,...
... Economist
22 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
—
CARL SAGAN, astronomer and author (1934–19 96)
Hasta Mañana
These three possibilities for the word anon pretty ... 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 cas...
... Economist
32 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
Never attribute to malice that which can be
adequately explained by stupidity.
—
HANLON’S RAZOR
Bard Bettered
Several years ago, I heard a delightful story about Isaac Bashe-
vis ... 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...
... this [AAA] card as a talisman against auto-
motive calamity should know that, in doing so, they lend sup-
port to an agenda in favor of road building, against pollution
control and even auto-safety ... young woman.
From French, from Persian huri,from Arabic huri, plural of haura
(dark-eyed woman).
46 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
It is easier to be a lover than a husband for the simple r...