Author Archives: Richard

Pronounced: YOO-burr-us, adj Notes: Not what I thought Yesterday’s word The word Apollonian means of, relating to, or resembling the god Apollo harmonious, measured, ordered, or balanced in character First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s (but see the comments below) Background / Comments The first definition is the obvious one. IContinue reading “uberous”

Pronounced: a-puh-LOH-nee-uhn, adj Notes: You probably know one meaning, but there is a second one that you may not know (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word resumptive means (as you might guess) “tending to resume, repeat, or summarize” First usage Our word goes back a long way; it came into English in the late 1300sContinue reading “Apollonian”

Pronounced: rih-ZUMP-tihv, adj Notes: You may know this word Yesterday’s word The word oligopsony is “a market situation in which a few independent buyers exert a disproportionate influence on the market” First usage Our word came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments Many people are familiar with ‘monopoly’; our word is similar. InContinue reading “resumptive”

Pronounced: ah-luh-GAHP-suh-nee, noun Notes: Certain people may know this word (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word peculate means “to steal of misuse money or property entrusted to one’s care; embezzle” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1700s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word pecu (cattle; money). IContinue reading “oligopsony”

Pronounced: PECK-yuh-late, verb Notes: I know a related word; do you know this one? Yesterday’s word The word potboiler is “a usually inferior work (as of art or literature) produced chiefly for profit First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments The reason I had a debate with myself overContinue reading “peculate”

Pronounced: POT-boy-ler, noun Notes: I had a debate about posting this word (more tomorrow) Yesterday’s word The word ambit means “scope; range; limit; or boundary” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments I’ve never run across our word, but it is a nice, useful word. It comes fromContinue reading “potboiler”

Pronounced: AM-bit, noun Notes: Interesting word Yesterday’s word The word vertiginous means characterized by, suffering from, or causing vertigo or dizziness inclined to frequent change First usage Our word came into English around 1600 Background / Comments At first, the definitions look quite different, but if you think about frequent and rapid changes occurring aboutContinue reading “ambit”

Pronounced: ver-TIH-juh-nuss, adj Notes: There are two definitions that don’t appear to be related at all Yesterday’s word The word sternutate means “to sneeze” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments I hope I remember to use this once in a while to be different from “sneeze”. What aContinue reading “vertiginous”

Pronounced: stir-NEW-tate (alt: stir-NYOU-tate), verb Notes: A great word to know and use Yesterday’s phrase The phrase qui vive means “alert; lookout” First usage Our phrase came into English in the 1700s (probably mid-1700s) Background / Comments I am not sure where I first read this word, but I have certain read the phrase “onContinue reading “sternutate”

Pronounced: key-VEEV, noun Notes: I do know this word, but not the origin or the correct pronunciation Yesterday’s word The word ingurgitate means “to swallow greedily or in large amounts” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I did not know that this word exists, but it is surelyContinue reading “qui vive”