Writing 2 Spring Words of the Day

Week 1

Today's words were for those little bits and pieces that we might simply call "thingamajigs" or "whatchamacallits."

meme -- fr. Greek mimeme; to imitate -- a digital image combined with text to express a cultural comment.

pintle -- the pin or bolt that is used in hinge.

ferrule -- the metal cap on the end of an umbrella

aglet -- the cover of the end of a shoe lace

Week 2
coup-- fr. Greek kolaphos, "a blow, buffet, slap, punch," -- a sudden, decisive actlicit-- fr. Latin licitus, "permitted, lawful" -- Something that is allowed by the law; usually used more often in its opposite, "illicit"lasagna -- fr. Latin lasanum, "chamber pot" -- a baked Italian dish consisting of wide strips of pasta cooked and layered with meat or vegetables, cheese, and tomato sauce.


Week 3

zenana-- fr. Hindi, zan, "wife"   -- a part of a house in which women and girls are secluded; harem

caddy -- fr.French, cadet, "chief, captain"; fr. Latin capitellum, "small head" -- a rack, container, or device for storing small items; i.e. a tea caddy; also a person who carries a golf players equipment

triskaidekaphobia -- fr. Greek, triskaideka, "thirteen"-- a fear of the number 13.

Week 4

acronym -- fr. Greek, akron, "or tip" -- an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. NASA, SCUBA)

aptronym -- fr. Latin, aptus, "fitting" -- a person's name that is regarded as amusingly appropriate to their occupation (e.g. a florist named Katie Gardener)

capitonym -- fr. Latin caput, "head" -- a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized.  (e.g. Concord/ concord; Polish/polish)

homonym -- fr. Greek homos, "same" -- a word spelled and pronounced like another but has a different origin and meaning  (e.g. the small flying bat and the baseball bat.)  Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings, e.g. sea and see.

pseudonym -- fr. Greek pseudos, "false" -- having or using a false name, a pen name, or an alias.  For example, Mark Twain was a pseudonym for Samuel Clemens.



Week 5

coup de main -- French, coup de main, "stroke of hand" -- a sudden surprise attack

xertz-- Urban Dictionary -- to eat or drink extremely quickly, heartily, enthusiastically

eponym -- Greek, epi, "called after," nym, "named"   -- a person after whom a discovery, invention, place, etc., is named or thought to be named.  Examples:  Kleenex, chapstick, sandwich, cardigan.

plagiarism -- Latin, plagiarius, "kidnapper" -- a group of pirates known to kidnap children -- to take someone else's writing as their own


Week 6

nekhedonia -- fr. Greek, Nike, the godess of victory, and  hedone, "pleasure"  -- the excitement and exultation of an anticipated victory

mambo-- fr. Haitian Creole, "to talk" -- a Latin American dance, similar to a rumba or cha cha.

kitsch-- fr. German "gaudy, trash" -- something that has popular or sentimental value but not of great artistic quality

Week 7Our Words of the Day dealt with fears.  I've been using a book by Richard Lederer, Crazy English, for some of our words. The Greek root phobia means "fear"
acrophobia -- fr. Greek, akron, tip, heights -- a fear of high places  (by the way, the word "acrobat" has the same root, akron)
nyctophobia -- fr. Greek nux, "night" -- a fear of darkness or night
ombrophobia -- fr. Greek ombros, "storm or rain" -- fear of rain or storms (by the way, the word "umbrella" also has the same root.)
phengophobia -- origin unknown  -- fear of daylight
basophobia -- fr. Latin bas, base -- a fear of falling; a fear of standing
arachibutyrophobia -- a fear of getting peanut butter stuck on the room of your mouth
And one more
hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia -- the fear of long words