Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: SUB-roh-gate, verb Notes: This looks like I word I should know, but I didn’t Yesterday’s word The word bushwa means “rubbish; nonsense; or baloney” First usage This word showed up in the 1910s Background / Comments As I wrote yesterday, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this word. The reference material I looked atContinue reading “subrogate”

Pronounced: BOOSH-wah (alt: BOOSH-waw), noun Notes: I’ve not run across this word Yesterday’s word The word middlescence means “the middle-age period of life” First usage This word came into usage in the 1960s Background / Comments Our word was patterned after adolescence (which came into usage in the early 1400s). Knowing that, the word nowContinue reading “bushwa”

Pronounced: mid-uhl-ESS-uhns, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but it is logical (you may know it with this hint) Yesterday’s word The word esse means “the essence; existence” First usage I cannot find information about when this word began to be used Background / Comments This word comes from the Latin word meaning “toContinue reading “middlescence”

Pronounced: ESS-seh, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word Yesterday’s word The word yeasayer is a person with a confident and positive outlook a person who agrees uncritically; a yes-man First usage This word came into usage in the 1930s Background / Comments I’ve not run across this word; it is patterned after naysayer, whichContinue reading “esse”

Pronounced: YAY-say-uhr, noun Notes: You probably can guess this word; I found it interesting Yesterday’s word The word lam means “to beat, slam, strike, or thrash” First usage This word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I think I’ve run across this word in the “hard-boiled” type of detective fiction, butContinue reading “yeasayer”

Pronounced: (like it sounds: lam), verb Notes: I was pretty close on the meaning of this word. More people probably know it as a noun Yesterday’s word The word allision is “a moving object striking against a stationary object” First usage This word showed up in the early 1600s Background / Comments I love ourContinue reading “lam”

Pronounced: UH-LIZH-uhn, noun Notes: I did not know that this was a word! Yesterday’s word The word hyperhidrosis means “a condition of excessive sweating” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments You probably recognized (as I did) the prefix hyper- (above; beyond). I didn’t know the rest of it,Continue reading “allision”

Pronounced: high-per-hih-DROH-sis, noun Notes: I didn’t know that a word for this existed Yesterday’s word The word unitasking means “doing one thing at a time” First usage This word showed up in the 1980s Background / Comments You may have guessed this word due to the similarity to “multitasking”; our word was patterned after “multitaking”,Continue reading “hyperhidrosis”

Pronounced: YOO-nih-tas-king, noun Notes: You can probably guess the definition; I’m adding it because I didn’t know this word existed. Yesterday’s word The word impolitic means “not politic [sigh-RL], judicious, expedient, or well-planned” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s. Background / Comments The definition makes me sigh; I recognized theContinue reading “unitasking”

Pronounced: ihm-PAHL-ih-tic, adj Notes: I’ve run across this word several times, but didn’t have a good grasp of the meaning Yesterday’s word The word niveous means “snowy or resembling snow” First usage The word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Latin word niveus, from nix (snow).Continue reading “impolitic”