Author Archives: Richard

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”

Pronounced: FOR-mih-kate, verb Notes: I didn’t know the meaning of the word, but after I saw the definition, it was obvious Yesterday’s word The word luftmensch is “an impractical contemplative person having no definite business or income” First usage Our word came into English in the 1900s (meaning 1900-1910) Background / Comments If you thoughtContinue reading “formicate”

Pronounced: LUFT-men(t)sh, noun Notes: The word looks slightly familiar, but I cannot recall where I may have read it (and I don’t know the meaning) Yesterday’s word The word assonance is “the use of words with the same or similar vowel sounds but with different end consonants”. An example of assonance is the “o” soundsContinue reading “luftmensch”

Pronounced: AS-uh-nuhns, noun Notes: I have run across this word, but I didn’t know the meaning of it Yesterday’s word The word borborgymus is “intestinal rumbling caused by moving gas” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1700s Background / Comments A more common expression used instead of our word is “stomachContinue reading “assonance”