Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: SIR-burr-us, noun Notes: Another word for which I know the etymology, but didn’t know the meaning Yesterday’s word The word vagary is “an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I am used to coming across our word in theContinue reading “Cerberus”

Pronounced: VAY-guh-ree, noun Notes: This is another word I have a vague idea of Yesterday’s word The word hydra means “a persistent or multifaceted problem that presents a new obstacle when a part of it is solved” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1300s Background / Comments When I was in gradeContinue reading “vagary”

Pronounced: HI-druh, noun Notes: I didn’t know the meaning, but I did know the etymology Yesterday’s word The word raconteur is “a person who excels in telling anecdotes” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments As I noted, I’ve run across our word in reading; for some reason, insteadContinue reading “hydra”

Pronounced: ra-kahn-TUHR, noun Notes: I’ve run across this word, but I didn’t know the exact meaning Yesterday’s phrase The phrase inter alia means “among other things” First usage Our phrase came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I know I’ve spoken the phrase “in other words…”, so (if I can remember), our phraseContinue reading “raconteur”

Pronounced: IN-tuhr AT-leeuh (alt: IN-tuhr AH-lee-uh), adv Notes: I didn’t know this phrase, but it is useful Yesterday’s word The word tendentious means “marked by a tendency in favor of a particular point of view; biased” First usage Our word came into English around 1900 Background / Comment After seeing the definition, it then lookedContinue reading “inter alia”

Pronounced: ten-DEN(t)-shuhs, adj Notes: I didn’t know the word when I saw it Yesterday’s word The word athwart, as an adverb, means “from side to side; crosswise”. As a preposition, it means “from side to side of; across” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments Our word is aContinue reading “tendentious”

Pronounced: uh-thwart, adv/prep Notes: Not a word I’ve heard of; it may be useful Yesterday’s word The word prolegomenon means “prefatory remarks; specifically a formal essay or critical discussion serving to introduce and interpret an extended work First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word is a scholarlyContinue reading “athwart”

Pronounced: pro-lih-GAH-muh-nahn, noun Notes: A word I don’t know Yesterday’s word The word wherewith means, as an adverb, “with which”. As a pronoun, it means “the thing(s) with which”. As a conjunction, it means “by means of which” First usage Our word came into English in the very early 1200s Background / Comments As IContinue reading “prolegomenon”

Pronounced: where-WITH, adv/pronoun/conjunction Notes: I am familiar with “wherewithal”, but not our word Yesterday’s word The word interlocutor is “one who takes part in dialogue or conversation” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1500s Background / Comments I have heard our word in old-time Jack Benny radio shows, and also inContinue reading “wherewith”

Pronounced: in-turh-LAH-kyuh-tuhr, noun Notes: Not what I thought Yesterday’s word The word constellate means “to gather or form a cluster” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments I thought this had to do with stars because I recognized the origins: Our word came from the Latin words con-Continue reading “interlocutor”