Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: AL-uh-zon, noun Notes: I definitely did not know this word or its source Yesterday’s word The word legerity means “alert facile quickness of mind or body” Background / Comments The word has the idea of being quick or light on one’s feet. It comes from words in Middle French, Old French, and Latin thatContinue reading “alazon”

Pronounced: luh-JER-uh-tee, noun Notes: I know many people that this word describes Yesterday’s word The word punchinello means “a grotesque or absurd person” Background / Comments As you might have guessed, this comes from the Italian (specifically, the Naples dialect) word polecenella (a short, fat buffoon, a principal character in Italian puppet shows). This wordContinue reading “legerity”

Pronounced: pun-chuh-NELL-oh, noun Notes: People with what I call a “classical education” (arts/opera) may know this word; I never learned much about either of these things. Yesterday’s word The word plastron means the ventral part of the shell of a tortoise of turtle a trimming like a bib for a woman’s dress a man’s separateContinue reading “punchinello”

Pronounced: PLAS-truhn, noun Notes: This word has multiple meanings; I haven’t looked at the origin yet, but I suspect that the original meaning evolved into the later definitions (it’s one of those words). Yesterday’s word The word scooby means “clue” Background / Comments To many people, seeing scooby reminds them of Scooby-Doo; I remember watchingContinue reading “plastron”

Pronounced: SKOO-bee, noun Notes: This is another rhyming slang word… you may be able to guess this one Yesterday’s word The word transpicuous means “clearly seen through or understood” Background / Comments The word comes from Latin transpicere (to look through); that word is a combination of trans- (through) and specere (to look or see).Continue reading “scooby”

Pronounced: tran(t)s-PIH-kyuh-wuhs, adj Notes: A very useful word Yesterday’s word The word boracic means “poor or broke” Background / Comments This word is rhyming slang (also known as Cockney rhyming slang) – if you’re not familiar with rhyming slang, look it up. The phrase is boracic lint, and lint is rhymed with skint (broke). BoracicContinue reading “transpicuous”

Pronounced: buh-RAS-ik, adj (alternative: boh-RAS-ik) Notes: In addition to the alternative pronunciation, it can be spelled “brassic” (BRA-sik) Yesterday’s word The word Frankenfood is “genetically engineered food” Background / Comments The word is a combination of Franken- (an allusion to “Frankenstein”) and food. It was coined by Paul Lewis, an English professor, in a letterContinue reading “boracic”

Pronounced: FRANG-kuhn-food, noun Notes: You can probably guess this one Yesterday’s word The word plunderbund means “a group of political, business, and financial interests engaged in exploiting the public. Background / Comments This word has German origins; it is our word plunder (pillage), which comes from German plündern (to loot), combined with bund, from GermanContinue reading “Frankenfood”

Pronounced: PLUN-der-bund, noun Notes: Some people may be able to make a good guess at this word Yesterday’s word The word invigilate means “to keep watch : supervise, monitor” Background / Comments This word has a Latin root : vigilare (to stay awake); the same root gave us vigilant. Oddly enough, another descendant is reveille.Continue reading “plunderbund”

Pronounced: in-VIH-juh-late, verb Notes: I thought maybe it was related to vigilante (but no) Yesterday’s word The word orexigenic means “stimulating the appetite” Background / Comments The word comes from Greek: orexis (longing) and -genic (producing). This seems like a handy word to know. First usage This word isn’t that old; it showed up inContinue reading “invigilate”