Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: JA-buhr-wah-kee, noun Notes: I know bits of the poem, but I wasn’t sure of the meaning; you might know it Yesterday’s phrase The phrase sleeping beauty is “someone or something that lies dormant for a long time” First usage Our phrase came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments Our phrase came fromContinue reading “jabberwocky”

Pronounced: (as it sounds), noun Notes: I know the story of Sleeping Beauty, but I didn’t know it was a word Yesterday’s word The word wyvern is “a mythical animal usually represented as a two-legged winged creature resembling a dragon” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments TheContinue reading “sleeping beauty”

Pronounced: WHY-vuhrn, noun Notes: I recognized the word, but could not properly define it Yesterday’s word The word Goldilocks means “just right; a happy medium; optimum; not at either extreme” First usage Our word came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments As you might express, our word comes from the fairy tale GoldilocksContinue reading “wyvern”

Pronounced: GOL-dee-locks, adj Notes: I had no idea that this was an actual word – do you know the meaning? Yesterday’s word The word aghast means “struck with terror, amazement, or horror; shocked and upset” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1200s Background / Comments If you are aghast, you might lookContinue reading “Goldilocks”

Pronounced: uh-GAST, adj Notes: You probably know this word, but I wanted to share its background Yesterday’s word The word concupiscence is “strong desire; lust” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1300s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word concupiscere (to desire ardently), which is made up of con-Continue reading “aghast”

Pronounced: kon-KYOO-pih-suhns, noun Notes: This word I am familiar with, but could not precisely define it – I don’t think it’s well known Yesterday’s word The word greenmail is “the practice of buying enough of a company’s stock to threaten a hostile takeover and then reselling it to the company at an above-market price” FirstContinue reading “concupiscence”

Pronounced: GREEN-male, noun Notes: Not a word I knew (again) Yesterday’s word The word disquisition is “a formal discussion on a subject; discourse; dissertation” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our word looked a bit to me like “inquisition”, but it came from the Latin word disquiereContinue reading “greenmail”

Pronounced: dis-kwuh-ZISH-uhn, noun Notes: Not a word I knew Yesterday’s word The word inchoate means “being only partly in existence or operation; incipient – especially imperfectly formed or formulated; formless; incoherent” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I thought that our word ended in “ate”, not “uht” –Continue reading “disquisition”

Pronounced: in-KOH-uht, adj Notes: Not only did I not know the meaning, I wasn’t pronouncing it properly Yesterday’s word The word stridor means “a harsh, grating or creaking sound” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word is often used for the harsh vibrating sound that occurs whenContinue reading “inchoate”

Pronounced: STRY-duhr, noun Notes: Another word I’ve never run across (but I do know another word that descends from the same source) Yesterday’s word The word inimical means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word inimicus, which is a combination of in-Continue reading “stridor”