Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: BRAH-kish, adj Notes: I knew one meaning, and was unaware of the others, so I included it Yesterday’s word The word jerkwater means “remote, unimportant, or small” Background / Comments Back in the days of steam locomotives, they needed frequent refills of water. The train would make water stops near streams and lakes andContinue reading “brackish”

Pronounced: JERK-wah-tuhr, adj Notes: I recognized this word from westerns, but my understanding of the definition was a bit off Yesterday’s word The word smashmouth means “characterized by brute force without finesse” Background / Comments I’ve heard this word used to describe physical, hard-hitting football, and that was indeed how it started. It has sinceContinue reading “jerkwater”

Pronounced: SMASH-mouth, adj Notes: This is a borderline case… I was pretty close to the correct meaning – do you know it? Yesterday’s word The word shunpike, as a noun, means “a side road taken to avoid a toll road”. As a verb, it means “to travel on a side road”. Background / Comments ThisContinue reading “smashmouth”

Pronounced: SHUN-pike, noun/verb Notes: I don’t remember running across this word, and couldn’t guess the meaning, but I felt kind of silly when I looked it up; the meaning is straightforward — and with that hint, maybe you’ll get it. Yesterday’s word We know the word intestine as a noun (the lower part of theContinue reading “shunpike”

Pronounced: in-TES-tuhn, adj Notes: Yes, we know the noun meaning… but do you know what the adjective means? (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word paragnosis means “knowledge that cannot be obtained by normal means” Background / Comments I knew both parts of this word, but I still didn’t have the meaning; the word comes fromContinue reading “intestine”

Pronounced: par-uh-GNOH-sis, noun Notes: I like this word! I’m not entirely sure under which circumstances I’d use it Yesterday’s word The word propaedeutic is “preparatory study or instruction”. Background / Comments The root for today’s word is the Greek word paideuein (to teach); this root and the “paedeu” part of todays’ word make me thinkContinue reading “paragnosis”

Pronounced: proh-pih-DUE-tit, noun Notes: I think I see bits of other words in here (Sorry this was late in getting posted-RL). Yesterday’s word The word pathophobia is “fear of disease” Background / Comments It’s Greek all the way: patho- (suffering, disease) with -phobia (fear). I figured this one out because I knew pathology (the studyContinue reading “propaedeutic”

Pronounced: path-uh-FOE-bee-uh, noun Notes: So many of the phobia words are oddball that I wasn’t sure… maybe a fear of losing one’s way (path?) – it’s not that. My vocabulary must be improving since the time I added this word to the list… I figured it out this time, but apparently, I didn’t know it.Continue reading “pathophobia”

Pronounced: woo-shoo Notes: Where I found this word shows both syllables accented, which seems pointless (it’s the same as neither being accented). I immediately thought of something (I’ll talk about it tomorrow), but wasn’t sure of the meaning. Yesterday’s word The word oldspeak means “normal English usage, as opposed to propagandist, euphemistic, or obfuscatory language”.Continue reading “wushu”

Pronounced: (as you think: “old” and “speak”) Notes: I haven’t heard this word, but I have heard a similar word Yesterday’s word The word acephalous means lacking a head or having the head reduced lacking a governing head or chief Background / Comments As I noted, I should have thought a bit more about thisContinue reading “oldspeak”