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Scarborough warning
Pronounced: SKAR-buh-ruh war-ning Notes: A phrase I didn’t know Yesterday’s word The word per contra means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments Our word comes from Italian, where it means “by the opposite side of the ledger”. A Franciscan friar and mathematician named Luca Pacioli (a friend of…
per contra
Pronounced: purr-KAHN-truh, adv Notes: I didn’t know this word, but you may be able to guess the meaning Yesterday’s word The word mensch means “a decent, upright, honorable person” First usage Our word came into English in the 1910s Background / Comments Our word is a Yiddish word; it comes from mentsh (man, human being),…
mensch
Pronounced: mench (alt: mensh), noun Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, but wasn’t sure of the meaning Yesterday’s word The word semelparous means “reproducing or breeding only once in a lifetime” First usage Our word came into English in the 1950s Background / Comments Our word comes the Latin parts semel (once) and…
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Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 