Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: poch, verb/noun Notes: I’ve never heard of this word, but you may guess the origin Yesterday’s word The word agnize means “to acknowledge or recognize; to own” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I apologize for this word; I had a word-of-the-day calendar one year, and itContinue reading “potch”

Pronounced: ag-NIZE (alt: AG-nize), verb Notes: This is another case of a word looking like another; it looks like agonize to me (but that isn’t the meaning) Yesterday’s word The word yentz means “to cheat” First usage This word came into English in the 1930s Background / Comments Well, I first thought it would beContinue reading “agnize”

Pronounced: yents, verb Notes: I don’t recall every running across this word Yesterday’s word The word dyad means “a pair, due, or set of two things” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1600s Background / Comments Because I read a lot of Greek/Roman mythology, I confused our word with “dryad”, whichContinue reading “yentz”

Pronounced: DIE-ad, noun Notes: I confused this word with dryad, so I was completely wrong about this word Yesterday’s word The word verklempt means “overcome with emotion; choked up” First usage Our word came into English in the 1990s Background / Comments The ‘f’ and ‘v’ sounds are very similar; the ‘v’ sound is calledContinue reading “dyad”

Pronounced: fuhr-KLEMT (alt: vuhr-KLEMT), noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve heard this word Yesterday’s word The word anagnorisis is “an ‘eureka’ moment; a moment of sudden discovery or revelation” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments Our word came from Latin, but as you might expect, given theContinue reading “verklempt”

Pronounced: an-ag-NAWR-uh-sis (alt: an-ag-NOR-uh-sis), noun Notes: Another good word to know Yesterday’s word The word effluvium is “an unpleasant discharge, for example, fumes, vapors, or gases from waste or decaying matter” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I have a kind of memory that I’ve run across thisContinue reading “anagnorisis”

Pronounced: ih-FLOO-vee-uhm, noun Notes: You may know this word; it is a “borderline” word Yesterday’s word The word grimalkin means First usage This word came into English around 1600 (the late 1500s to the early 1600s) Background / Comments I think I’ve run across our word in one of its meanings, but I cannot recallContinue reading “effluvium”

Pronounced: grih-MAL-kin (alt: grih-MAWL-kin), noun Notes: I’m not sure if I’ve run across this in reading or not Yesterday’s word The word quotidian means First usage This word come into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments I think of our word as similar to “mundane” (at least, the first definition). Our word isContinue reading “grimalkin”

Pronounced: kwo-TID-ee-uhn, adj Notes: A nice vocabulary word Yesterday’s word The word spumescent means “foamy or frothy” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments As I noted, our word looked vaguely familiar to me; I think I’ve used it as a vocabulary entry, but not in this blog (IContinue reading “quotidian”

Pronounced: spyoo-MES-uhnt, adj Notes: This word looked familiar to me (more on that tomorrow). Yesterday’s word The word superbity means “pride; arrogance” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments I don’t think I’ve ever run across our word in any reading. Sounds like a fun addition to one’s vocabulary.Continue reading “spumescent”