Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: A-nuh, noun/adv Notes: This word has been around a long time, but I’ve not heard it Yesterday’s word The word ploce is “a rhetorical phrase with internal repetition, such as I mean what I mean“ First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments Apparently, the word used toContinue reading “ana”

Pronounced: PLOH-see, noun Notes: Interesting word Yesterday’s word The word retral means located at the back backward First usage This word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Latin word retro (back). I suppose a “back door” would be a “retral entrance”.

Pronounced: REE-truhl (alt: REH-truhl), adj Notes: I haven’t heard this word, but it’s helpful Yesterday’s word The word rifacimento means “a re-making or complete reworking of a literary or musical piece” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments I enjoy the Agatha Christie mysteries, but I don’t care forContinue reading “retral”

Pronounced: rih-fah-chih-MEN-toh, noun Notes: I’ve not heard this word before, but most of us have run across rifacimenti (the plural form of rifacimento) Yesterday’s word The word hap can mean, as a noun chance; fortune an occurrence As a verb, it can mean to occur to clothe, cover, or wrap First usage The word goesContinue reading “rifacimento”

Pronounced: hap (duh), noun/verb Notes: You probably think you know the meaning (as did I), but there is one of the verb meanings that I’d not heard before (and so it made the list) Yesterday’s word The word fribble means, as a verb, “to act in a foolish, frivolous way” (often followed by ‘away’). AsContinue reading “hap”

Pronounced: FRIB-uhl, verb/noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word, and I could not guess the definition Yesterday’s word The word mithridatize means “to develop immunity to a poison by gradually increasing the dose” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I like reading mysteries; especially theContinue reading “fribble”

Pronounced: MYTH-rih-day-tize, verb Notes: I’m surprised, given my enjoyment of mysteries, that I haven’t run across this word Yesterday’s word The word scabrous means full or problems or difficulty indecent, risqué, or scandalous First usage This word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I thought that this word might somehow beContinue reading “mithridatize”

Pronounced: SKAB-ruhs, adj Notes: Not what I thought it was… Yesterday’s word The word grimthorpe means “to restore or remodel something without paying attention to its original character, history, etc” First usage This word came into usage in the late 1800s Background / Comments Nothing to do with “grim” (although it might be considered “grim”Continue reading “scabrous”

Pronounced: GRIM-thorp, verb Notes: I don’t recall running across this word, but “grim” makes it look vaguely bad Yesterday’s word The word poetaster is “a bad poet; a writer of poor or mediocre verse” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday, I think I’veContinue reading “grimthorpe”

Pronounced: POE-it-as-ter, noun Notes: This word looks familiar; I may have posted this same word a couple of years ago when I had these on Facebook (I cannot guarantee that I’ll never repeat a word) Yesterday’s word The word subrogate means “to substitute one person or entity for another in a legal claim” First usageContinue reading “poetaster”