Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Gin’glymoid, a. like a hinge. Word in the Wild: No wonder you can’t get that oyster open—you’re prying at its ginglymoid side! This anatomical term is used to describe joints like those in the elbow, knee, fingers, and toes, and it’s usually paired with the word joint—ginglymoid joint. So far as I know […]
I’m reading A Short History of the Printed Word, and it’s reminded me of what an amazing technology books are. You might hear a little more about the book when I’ve finished reading it, but in the meantime I thought I’d post a couple of fun entertainments about the wonder of the printed page: And […]
Formatting, Ink Words and Phrases Used as Words: Most of the time we use words to refer to the things and ideas we’ve agreed they represent, but surprisingly often we use words to refer to themselves. It’s important to visually distinguish between these two types of uses to make the reader’s job easier. Consider the […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Fiz’gig, n. a flirt, a squib, a fish-spear. Word in the Wild: The flamboyantly attired fizgig hefted her fizgig, gauged its balance and weight, eyed the trout, took aim, and—bam! A fizgig (lit by some young hooligan, no doubt) went off in the forest behind her, causing her to miss her quarry and […]
Proofreaders’ Marks Periods are the smallest dab of ink on the page, but they’re some of the most important marks. Without periods paragraphs become very difficult to read, discouraging readers who have to sleuth around for the beginnings and ends of sentences. And abbreviations—a.m.—start to look like words—am. Being such tiny things, periods do occasionally […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Eclair’cize, v. to explain or clear up. Word in the Wild: We won’t be able to get this labour dispute resolved until we eclaircize the myths surrounding hiring and layoff policies. Though it sounds a little like what a patisserie might be able to do to your breakfast (mmm), this rarely used word […]
Lexical Vexations Compose v. 1. to make up, to constitute. Comprise v. 1. to include 2. to compose or constitute. The second definition of comprise is considered by many to be incorrect, though it has been used in this way since the 18th century. This controversial use is also very common in colloquial speech. Controversial […]
Recommended Read Lansky, Aaron. Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2004. [ISBN-13: 978-1565124295] It stands to reason that the books reviewed on the Word Blog should be about words. And so they will be. Yet, however my knowledge of languages may restrict the […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Diuturn’ity, n. long duration of time. Word in the Wild: Why, Blanche, it’s been a diuturnity since we last had tea together! Diuturnity is of Latinate origin and is considered rare or obsolete by the dictionaries it appears in. The only recorded use of the term after 1829 that I could find appears […]
A Word for Mother’s Day Matrisate v. to imitate a mother. Word in the Wild: Look at the little ones matrisating with their dolls. Aren’t they sweet? Here’s a nice obsolete word for you on Mother’s Day. If, like me, you have a brilliant, funny, thoughtful, and kind mother, you’ll be delighted if someone accuses […]