Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: bluhj, verb Notes: I don’t mind not knowing this word, as it is not primarily used in this county. Yesterday’s word The word pensive means “sadly thoughtful; wistful” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments I thought of our word as “thoughtful”; I don’t really associate sadnessContinue reading “bludge”

Pronounced: PEN-sihv, adj Notes: I know the word, but I had the definition slightly wrong Yesterday’s word The word argosy is First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments Looking at our word, I saw “argo” and thought of “Argo” (the ship on which Jason set sail to seekContinue reading “pensive”

Pronounced: ARE-guh-see, noun Notes: Not only did I not know the meaning, my guess at the origin was incorrect Yesterday’s word The word bident is “a two-pronged implement, weapon, instrument, etc” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1600s Background / Comments I should have known the meaning; I know the wordContinue reading “argosy”

Pronounced: BY-duhnt, noun Notes: I didn’t know what this word meant, but when I saw the definition, I thought I should have known Yesterday’s word The word pellucid means First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments You may have recognized “lucid” in our word. Our word came fromContinue reading “bident”

Pronounced: puh-LOO-suhd, adj Notes: You may know part of the word Yesterday’s word The word basilect means “the least prestigious variety of a language” First usage Our word came into English in the 1960s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin words basis and dialectus (dialect). In discussing dialects, my reference data triedContinue reading “pellucid”

Pronounced: BAY-zuh-lekt (alt: BAY-suh-lect; BAZ-uh-lekt; BAS-uh-lekt), noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but some of the information about it irritated me Yesterday’s word The word nobby means “cleverly stylish; chic; smart” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments Our word sounds like “knobby” (having knobs), but clearlyContinue reading “basilect”

Pronounced: NAH-bee, adj Notes: I thought I recognized part of this word, but I didn’t know the meaning Yesterday’s word The word endonym is “a named used internally to refer to a place, people, language, etc” First usage Our word came into English in the 1970s Background / Comments An example may be useful here:Continue reading “nobby”

Pronounced: EN-duh-nihm, noun Notes: I recognized part of the word, but it did not help with the definition Yesterday’s word The word asseverate means “to affirm or declare positively or earnestly” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments Our word is not heard much today; it’s a niceContinue reading “endonym”

Pronounced: uh-SEH-vuh-rate, verb Notes: I didn’t know the meaning, but after I saw it, it made sense Yesterday’s word The word snark means, as a verb, “to make a snide remark”. As a noun, it is First usage There are multiple origins; one is from the mid-1800s, and the other is from the late 1800s.Continue reading “asseverate”

Pronounced: (as it looks), noun/verb Notes: I know the adjectival form of the word; I didn’t know that this was a word Yesterday’s word The word indurate means “physically or morally hardened” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments Interesting… the original reference only gave one pronunciation, butContinue reading “snark”