Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: dih-BEN-chur, noun Notes: I’ve run across the word before; it turns out that I have been mispronouncing it… and not only that, I wasn’t quite right in the meaning Yesterday’s word The word magniloquent means “speaking in or characterized by a high-flown (often bombastic) style or manner” First usage Our word came into EnglishContinue reading “debenture”

Pronounced: mah-NIH-luh-kwuhnt, adj Notes: My guess at this word’s meaning was wrong Yesterday’s word The word mittimus is “an official order to commit someone to prison” First usage Our word is an old one, coming into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments I think we tend to call a mittimus “an arrest warrant”. OurContinue reading “magniloquent”

Pronounced: MIT-uh-muss, noun Notes: This is a new word to me Yesterday’s word The word atavism means First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments For some reason, our word makes me think of the original Star Trek series; possibly from the episode “All Our Yesterdays”. I may haveContinue reading “mittimus”

Pronounced: AH-tuh-vih-zuhm, noun Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, but I could not properly define it Yesterday’s word The word jayhawker is First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I should have known the second definition, and would have, if I paid closer attention to college football.Continue reading “atavism”

Pronounced: JAY-haw-kuhr, noun Notes: I almost had the definition correct Yesterday’s word The word cineast is “a devotee of motion pictures; moviemaker” First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments After seeing the definition, I should have recognized cine- from ‘cinema’ and been able to guess the meaning. Our wordContinue reading “jayhawker”

Pronounced: SIH-nee-ast, noun Notes: A word I should have have been able to figure out Yesterday’s word The word pinchbeck, as an adjective, means “counterfeit; spurious”. As a noun, it is “an alloy of zinc and copper, used as imitation gold in jewelry” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background /Continue reading “cineast”

Pronounced: PINCH-bek, adj/noun Notes: While I don’t know this word, it makes me think of The Music Man Yesterday’s word The word garniture means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments After I read the definitions (especially the second one), I thought that garniture may be to garnish asContinue reading “pinchbeck”

Pronounced: GAR-nih-chur, noun Notes: I don’t think I know the word, but after reading the definition, I had a good idea of the origin of the word Yesterday’s word The word vidimus means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments If you remember the famous saying attributed to JuliusContinue reading “garniture”

Pronounced: VAI-dih-muss, noun Notes: It looks Latin to me, but I don’t know this word Yesterday’s word The word Bonapartism means “a policy supporting dictatorial rule usually by a leader who has ostensibly received a popular mandate” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments You may have thoughtContinue reading “vidimus”

Pronounced: BO-nuh-par-tih-zuhm, noun Notes: Not quite what you might think Yesterday’s word The word quoz means “an odd person or thing” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments I know people who are odd, and even one who describes himself as odd, but I didn’t know that weContinue reading “Bonapartism”