Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: PUNG-uhl Notes: Another word I have no recollection of running across Yesterday’s word The word chatoyant means “having a changeable luster or color with an undulating narrow band of white light” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments You may recognize the first four letters of ourContinue reading “pungle”

Pronounced: shuh-TOI-unt, adj Notes: Interesting word; you may recognize part of it Yesterday’s word The word camarilla is “a group of confidential scheming advisors” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments If you didn’t guess, our word came from the Spanish; it is a diminutive of cámara (chamber), whichContinue reading “chatoyant”

Pronounced: kam-uh-RIL-uh (alt: kah-mah-REE-yah), noun Notes: This word rings absolutely no bells in my memory Yesterday’s word The word bemuse means First usage Our word came into English around 1700 Background / Comments I like the third definition above — especially the phrase “wry or tolerant amusement”.The first definition above is also interesting: it stemsContinue reading “camarilla”

Pronounced: bih-MYOOZ, verb Notes: This word has some different meanings; I’m not sure I knew all of them Yesterday’s word The word votary means, as an adjective, “bound by a vow or relating to a vow”. As a noun, it means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments OurContinue reading “bemuse”

Pronounced: VOH-tuh-ree, noun/adj Notes: Nothing to do with voting (which is what I thought) Yesterday’s word The word clerihew is “a light verse quatrain rhyming a-a-b-b and usually dealing with a person named in the initial line” First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments I don’t have any memoryContinue reading “votary”

Pronounced: KLER-ih-hyoo, noun Notes: I have not heard of our word Yesterday’s word The word plutarchy means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I thought our word was related to Pluto, from Roman mythology, but that is wrong. I’ve never considered our word to be related to “Plutarch”Continue reading “clerihew”

Pronounced: PLOO-tar-kee, noun Notes: You may know this word; it was somewhat familiar to me, but I was incorrect as to the origin Yesterday’s phrase The phrase tu quoque is “a retort charging an adversary with being or doing what he criticizes in others” First usage Our phrase came into English in the early 1600sContinue reading “plutarchy”

Pronounced: TOO-KWOH-kwee, noun Notes: I didn’t know this phrase, but many of us have experienced what it means Yesterday’s word The word dispositive means “relating to or bringing about the settlement of a case” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1400s Background / Comments I thought that our word might meanContinue reading “tu quoque”

Pronounced: dis-POZ-ih-tihv, adj Notes: This word didn’t mean what I thought it meant Yesterday’s word The word prepend means (also see the Comments below) First usage Our word came into English in the early 1500s Background / Comments There is a word spelled the same way, but meaning “a brick or stone reaching through aContinue reading “dispositive”

Pronounced: purr-PEND, verb Notes: This word looks familiar; I think it is parts that look familiar Yesterday’s word The word formicate means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word formicare (to crawl like ants), which came from formica (ant). It’s interesting theContinue reading “perpend”