Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: GAH-nuff, noun Notes: Also spelled gonif, goniff, or ganif – I have run across one of these variants Yesterday’s word The word bodacious means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I have a recollection from my youth of reading some comic strip that was about hillbillies, andContinue reading “ganef”

Pronounced: boh-DAY-shuhs, adj Notes: I have read this word, but I didn’t know all of the definitions Yesterday’s word The word pernancy means “a taking or receiving of rent, profit, etc” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word is another one that came about by switching someContinue reading “bodacious”

Pronounced: PURR-nun-see, noun Notes: Another word I don’t know Yesterday’s word The word refractory means First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments After reading the definition (especially the first one), a faint chord of remembrance stirred — I think I have run across our word somewhere. Our wordContinue reading “pernancy”

Pronounced: rih-FRAK-tree (alt: rih-FRAK-tuh-ree), adj Notes: I thought this was related to the refraction of light (I was wrong) Yesterday’s word The word girn means, as a verb, “to snarl, grimace, or complain”. As a noun, it means “a grimace or snarl” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / CommentsContinue reading “refractory”

Pronounced: GURN, verb/noun Notes: Looks like a misspelled “grin” Yesterday’s word The word tweep is “a person who uses Twitter (for anyone who doesn’t know, Twitter is a online messaging service – it’s now called “X”). First usage Our word came into English in the first decade of the 2000s Background / Comments I amContinue reading “girn”

Pronounced: TWEEP, noun Notes: This word is specialized; some people may know this word (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word sprattle means, as a noun, “a scramble or struggle”. As a verb it means “to scramble or struggle” First usage Our word came into English around 1500 Background / Comments Our word came from theContinue reading “tweep”

Pronounced: SPRAT-uhl, noun/verb Notes: It doesn’t mean to talk pointlessly with a lisp (heh) Yesterday’s word The word yips is “a state of nervous tension affecting an athlete (such as a golfer) in the performance of a crucial action” First usage Our word came into English in the 1960s Background / Comments I don’t watchContinue reading “sprattle”

Pronounced: YIPS, plural noun Notes: Some people with specialized knowledge may know this word Yesterday’s word The word mullion is “a piece of stone, wood, metal, etc, dividing a window or other opening First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I have often heard about “mullioned windows”, but IContinue reading “yips”

Pronounced: MULL-yuhn, noun Notes: I have often heard this word, but I didn’t know the meaning Yesterday’s word The word eldritch means “weird; eerie” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1500s Background / Comments For some reason, I thought our word was some kind of tree (I may have been confusingContinue reading “mullion”

Pronounced: EL-drich, adj Notes: This word seemed familiar to me, but I had the definition completely wrong Yesterday’s word The word charon is “a ferryman” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1500s Background / Comments I have previously mentioned that long ago I used to read Greek mythology: thus, i “knew”Continue reading “eldritch”