descamisado

Pronounced: des-ka-me-SAH-doh, noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve ever run across this world

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Yesterday’s word

The word will-o’-the-wisp is

• a light that appears at night over marshy ground
• a misleading or elusive goal or hope

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I actually knew both meanings of our word, but I found the background information interesting: did you know that “jack-o’-lantern” was originally another word for a will-o’-the-wisp? (I didn’t). In marshy areas, gas from decaying plants can cause a flame-like phosphorescence. In the old days, this was called “Will with the wisp”, which turned into will-o’-the-wisp (a “wisp” is a bundle of sticks [or paper] used as a torch). These lights have also been called “spook-lights” or “ghost-lights” in the United States. A more scientific term is “ignis fatuus”, which is Latin for “foolish flame”. Because these lights look like a flickering lamp or lantern, some travelers would foolishly try to follow them and wander into the marsh. Personally, I’ve never seen a will-o’-the-wisp, but I’ve not lived around marshy areas. Sightings of will-o’-the-wisps are rare today; much marshland has been drained and converted into farmland. It is thought that these lights are caused by a combination of marsh gas (given off by decaying vegetable matter) oxidizing with phosphine and diphosephane, which is spontaneously flammable in air. As far as I can tell from research, no one has successfully created a will-o’-the-wisp in the lab.