Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: ih-PEN-thuh-sus (alt: ih-PENT-thus-sus), noun Notes: A technical term that many of us have experience with Yesterday’s word The word Ophelian means “displaying madness, suicidal tendencies, and similar characteristics” First usage Our word came into English in the first decade of the 1900s Background / Comments You probably recognized (as I did) “Ophelia”, a characterContinue reading “epenthesis”

Pronounced: oh-FEE-lee-uhn, adj Notes: The origin is probably what you think, but do you know the meaning? Yesterday’s word The word procrustean is “marked by arbitrary often ruthless disregard of individual differences or special circumstances” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I was completely wrong about the originContinue reading “Ophelian”

Pronounced: pruh-KUH-stee-uhn, noun Notes: I had a vague idea of the meaning, but I wasn’t quite right Yesterday’s word The word muzzy means mentally confused blurred; indistinct First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments Our word looks a bit like “fuzzy” (in the sense of “confused”) so I wasContinue reading “procrustean”

Pronounced: MUHZ-ee, adj Notes: I had some idea of the meaning Yesterday’s word The word eolian (also spelled aeolian) means “borne, deposited, produced, or eroded by the wind” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments Our word came from Greek mythology: Aeolus was the Greek god of theContinue reading “muzzy”

Pronounced: ee-OH-lee-uhn, adj Notes: Not quite what I was thinking Yesterday’s word The word stiction is “the frictional force that much be overcome to set one object in motion when it is in contact with another” First usage Our word came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments In the early days of hardContinue reading “eolian”

Pronounced: STICK-shun, noun Notes: I’ve used and heard this word, but I always thought we just made it up; I had no idea it was a real word Yesterday’s word The word distaff means “maternal; female” First usage Our word came into English before 1000 Background / Comments I ran across this word somewhere inContinue reading “stiction”

Pronounced: DIH-staff, adj Notes: I happen to know this word, but I don’t think it is generally known Yesterday’s word The word slimsy means “flimsy; frail” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I thought our word was just another form of “slim”, so the definition surprised me. OurContinue reading “distaff”

Pronounced: SLIM-see, adj Notes: I didn’t know that this was a word Yesterday’s word The word telegraphese is “language characterized by the terseness and ellipses that are common in telegrams” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments These days, we have email and texting and Twitter (X) toContinue reading “slimsy”

Pronounced: teh-luh-gra-feez, noun Notes: You can probably guess the meaning of this word Yesterday’s word The word sulfurous means relating to or resembling sulfur pale yellow fiery; hellish hot-tempered profane; blasphemous First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments Clearly, the first two definitions are pretty clear; sulfur is aContinue reading “telegraphese”

Pronounced: SULL-fur-us (alt: sull-FYOOR-us), adj Notes: Also spelled “sulphurous” – there are multiple definitions: how many do you know? Yesterday’s word The word haplology is “the contraction of a word by omission of one or more similar sounds or syllables” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments AnContinue reading “sulfurous”