skeuomorph

Pronounced: SKYOO-uh-morf, noun

Notes: This is probably a good word to learn – if for no other reason that words that contain “e-u-o” are probably pretty rare.

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Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase au courant means

• up-to-date; fully informed
• fashionable

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I knew the “up-to-date” meaning; I know I’ve come across the word in reading, but I’m not sure if it was in a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) story, or a Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie) story – it may have even been some other story. However, the fashionable meaning was new to me; thus it has been included. The word, as you might guess, is from the French phrase au courant (literally “in the current”, meaning “knowledgeable” or “up-to-date”). Presumably, the “fashionable” definition was an outgrowth of the ‘up-to-date’ meaning.