exaptation

Pronounced: ek-sap-TAY-shuhn, noun

Notes: I’ve not run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word philosophaster means “a person who only has a superficial knowledge of philosophy or who feigns a knowledge he or she does not possess”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Yesterday, I really should have had that I have met a philosophaster, but I thought that it might give too much away. It was in the course of work; we had installed some software, and were training people to maintain the system. The lead maintenance software engineer had read the manuals enough to pick up some of the technical terms, and he would randomly throw these words in to impress his superiors. To us (who had written and knew the system), it was clear that he was spouting gibberish, but it impressed those who didn’t know the system. He did sound impressive; unfortunately, he didn’t have any idea of how the system worked. We found it highly amusing; fortunately, our manager had a quiet word with some of the higher-ups and was able to get the guy re-assigned. To this day, I don’t know if if he ever realized that we were fully aware of his pretense at knowledge. When I saw our word, I immediately thought of this guy. You may have had a guess at the meaning if you recall the post of poetaster from last year, where -aster is a Latin pejorative (something that imperfectly resembles or mimics the real thing) combined with philosopher, which came from the Latin word philosophus (philosopher), which came from the Greek word philósophus (philosopher), made up up philo- (loving) and sophía (wisdom).

philosophaster

Pronounced: fi-loss-uh-FAS-ter (alt: fi-LOSS-uh-fas-ter), noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I do know what this word is

Yesterday’s word

The word petrichor means “the pleasant smell of the first rain after a dry spell”

First usage

Our word came into English (was coined) in the 1960s

Background / Comments

I happened to know this word because it was used in a Doctor Who show called The Doctor’s Wife, which aired in May 2011. Our word was used and defined in the show to be something like ‘the smell of the earth after rain’. I had never heard the word before and assumed that it was made up for the show, and then later discovered that it was a real word. Our word was coined by IJ Bear and RG Thomas in 1964; it is from two Greek words: petros (stone) and ichor (the fluid that slows in the veins of the Greek gods).

petrichor

Pronounced: PET-rih-kuhr, noun

Notes: I happen to know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word degust means “to taste or savor carefully or appreciatively”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word degustare (to taste or try), which is composed of de- (a Latin intensifier) plus gustare (to taste).

degust

Pronounced: dih-GUST, verb

Notes: Pretty close to disgust, but it’s not that word

Yesterday’s word

The word roué means “a man devoted to a life of sensual pleasure; rake”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Yesterday, I noted that most people have heard this word: if you’ve ever seen the film The Sound of Music, you have heard the word. When the oldest girl, Liesl, sneaks out of the house meets with Rolfe, they sing Sixteen Going on Seventeen. In the first part of the song, Rolfe is trying to impress Liesl of her naïveté says “…fellows will fall in line – eager young lads, and roués, and cads will offer you food and wine. Totally unprepared are you…” At first, I could not remember the word, but then the above line came back to me. As you might guess, our word is a French word; it began to take on its meaning when it was used to refer to the disreputable (libertine) companions of Philippe II. The word roué literally means “broken on the wheel”, and came from the Latin word rota (wheel). The wheel was an instrument of punishment, so the word was used for people who were deserving of that punishment.

roué

Pronounced: rue-AYE (long a), noun

Notes: This is a word that most everybody has heard, but may not realize that they have heard it, or even what it means.

Yesterday’s word

The word chiaroscuro is “the distribution of light and shade in a picture or sketch”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

I don’t think I’ve run across this word; it seems somewhat technical to me. However, I don’t know much about art, so maybe people who are familiar with art will recognize it. Our word comes from the Italian word chiaroscuro, which is composed of chiaro (bright), which comes from the Latin word clārus and+ oscuro (dark), which comes from the Latin word obscūrus.

chiaroscuro

Pronounced: kee-ahr-uh-SKYOOR-oh, noun

Notes: This is a somewhat technical word

Yesterday’s word

The word ecdysiast is “a person who disrobes to provide entertainment for others”

First usage

Our word was created in the 1940s

Background / Comments

Our word was created by HL Mencken from ecdysis (shedding; molting), which came from the Greek word ekdysis (casting off), which is a combination of ek- (out) and dyein (to put on).

ecdysiast

Pronounced: ek-DIZ-ee-ast, noun

Notes: I don’t know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word oeuvre means “the complete works of a writer, painter, musician, or the like, taken as a whole”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes directly from French word oeuvre (work), which comes from the Latin word opera (work; effort). I think I’ve run across this word in the work of Peter Schickele – he created the fictional person of PDQ Bach and in one of the PDQ Bach pieces, I think our word is used (it has been quite a while since I’ve listened to my collection, and I’m not sure which work this is a part of).

oeuvre

Pronounced: ERV-ruh, noun (the UK pronunciation has this as a one-syllable word)

Notes: I think I’ve heard this word, but wasn’t clear on the spelling or meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word snowclone refers to a cliche adapted to a new use

First usage

Our word came into English in the first decade of the 2000s

Background / Comments

The word was coined by Glen Whitman, an economics professor, in 2004. It originally referred to statements about Eskimos having many words for snow, which is expanded into forms like “If Eskimos have 20 words for snow, Texas have 40 words for heat.” Another example is the original Star Trek line: “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!” (from The Devil in the Dark, which first aired in 1967). A snowclone of this would be anything of the order “I’m a X, not a Y”; for example, “I’m an accountant, not a magician!”. There are a lot of phrases that have become snowclones, ranging from Shakespeare (‘my kingdom for a horse’ ==> ‘my kingdom for a[n] X’) to famous letters to the editor (‘Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus’ ==> ‘Yes, Virginia, there is a X’) to movies (‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat’ ==> ‘We’re gonna need a bigger X’).

snowclone

Pronounced: SNOW-klone, noun

Notes: I have run across snowclones, but did not know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word frisson means “a sudden, passing sensation of excitement; a shudder of emotion; thrill”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid- to late 1700s

Background / Comments

The key part of this definition is “sudden” and “passing” in whatever emotion is being presented. Our word comes from the French word frisson (shiver; shudder), which comes from the Old French word friçons, which comes from the Late Latin word frictiōnem, the accusative of frictiō (to shiver), which is a derivative of frīgēre (to be cold).

frisson

Pronunciation: free-SONE, noun

Notes: I’ve run across the word, but could not properly define it

Yesterday’s word

The word windrow, as a noun, means

  • a row of raked hay laid to dry in the wind before being baled
  • a row of leaves, dust, snow, or other material swept together

As a verb, it meas “to arrange in a windrow”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1500s

Background / Comments

Growing up on a farm, I have seen multiple windrows, but I didn’t know the name for them. It seems clear that the verb came from the noun. Moreover, I assume that the first definition is the original one, and the second definition arose from non-raked-hay materials that looked like a woodrow. The word is just “wind” and “row” put together.