Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: SKER-uh-fie, verb Notes: I didn’t know this word, and my guess that it was related to “scare” was wrong Yesterday’s word The word backronym refers to “a word re-interpreted an an acronym” Background / Comments The word is a blend of “back” + “acronym”. It is taking a word and pretending that it isContinue reading “scarify”

Pronounced: BACK-roe-nim, noun Notes: I’ve run across this word, but couldn’t define it to my satisfaction Yesterday’s word The word bright-line means “providing an unambiguous criterion or guideline – especially in the law Background / Comments This word began in courts in the first half of the 1900s; they described whether or not a “brightContinue reading “backronym”

Pronounced: As expected: BRITE-line, adj Notes: I assume lawyers don’t enjoy this descriptive word Yesterday’s word The word acecdata means “anecdotal information gleaned from casual information” Background / Comments This word is a blend of anecdotal and data. The source of anecdotal is Greek from anekdota (things unpublished), and that word is composed of an-Continue reading “bright-line”

Pronounced: an-ik-DAY-tuh, noun Notes: I’ve not run across this word before Yesterday’s word The word eidetic means “marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall – especially of visual images”. Background / Comments This word is most frequently used with memory as a technical description of what is commonly called “photographic memory”. The wordContinue reading “anecdata”

Pronounced: aye-DEH-tick, adj Notes: I usually only hear the phrase ‘eidetic memory’, so I wasn’t sure what this word actually meant by itself. Yesterday’s word The word quincentenary means, as a noun, “a 500th anniversary”; as an adjective, it means “of or relating to a 500th anniversary”. Background / Comments This word has a mixedContinue reading “eidetic”

Pronounced: kwin-sen-TEN-uh-ree, noun/adj Notes: I probably should have figured this one out, but I didn’t, so it’s here Yesterday’s word The word roorback means “a defamatory falsehood published for political effect” Background / Comments Dirty politics are nothing new in the United States; incidents go back to the very early days of the republic. OurContinue reading “quincentenary”

Pronounced: RULL-back, noun Notes: I did not know this word, but some may Yesterday’s word The word palilogy is “a repetition of words, especially for emphasis” Background / Comments The word comes from Greek palin (again) and -logy (words). The first half of the word is the source of the word palindrome. First usage ThisContinue reading “roorback”

Pronounced: pul-LIL-uh-jee, noun Notes: I didn’t know the word, but I’ve heard quite a bit of what it means (as I suspect many have) Yesterday’s word The word microburst has a pretty specific meaning: “a violent short-lived localized downdraft that creates extreme wind shears at low altitudes” Background Credit for this word is usually givenContinue reading “palilogy”

Pronounced: MY-kroh-burst, noun Notes: This word is much more specific than I thought it was. Yesterday’s word The word eucatastrophe means, as you may have guessed, “a happy ending” – especially one in which, instead of an impending disaster, a sudden turn leads to a favorable resolution of the story. Background I figured that mostContinue reading “microburst”

Pronounced: you-kuh-TAS-truh-fee, noun Notes: I’m guessing that readers will be able to guess this meaning, but I found the origin interesting. Yesterday’s word The word pullulate means to germinate or sprout; to breed or produce freely to swarm or teem Background When I thought this might be related to chickens, you can see above thatContinue reading “eucatastrophe”