salad days

Pronounced: [as it sounds], noun

Notes: This phrase has nothing to do with diets (heh); it is one of the phrases that I have read, but I didn’t know the proper definition

Yesterday’s word

The word catchpenny is “a trinket; something made to sell readily at a low price, regardless of value or use”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the phrase “catch a penny” — something that sells at a low price would indeed catch pennies. Back in those days, there was also a halfpenny and a farthing (a quarter of a penny).

catchpenny

Pronounced: KACH-pen-ee, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word, and had an idea of the meaning, but I wasn’t quite right

Yesterday’s word

Curiously, the word dabster means

  • an expert
  • a bungler
First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

It is a bit odd to have a word that has such widely different meanings. Apparently, in the UK, the first definition is used most often; in the US, the second definition is used more often. Our word comes from the word dab (an expert) and -ster (a suffix meaning a person engaged in some activity; it is also used as a diminutive and as a derogatory suffix). In the now extinct comic strip User Friendly, one of the characters is called ‘Sid Dabster’.

dabster

Pronounced: DAB-stir, noun

Notes: A simple, but strange word

Yesterday’s word

The word vinous means

  • of, resembling, characteristic, or containing wine
  • produced by, indicative of, or given to indulgence in, wine
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

People with experience of wines may know this word. I thought it was referred to vines, not wines. Our word came from the Latin word vīnum (wine).

vinous

Pronounced: VIE-nuss, adj

Notes: Another word that some people will know

Yesterday’s word

The word foozle means, as a verb, “to botch or bungle: especially to make a poor shot in golf”. As a noun it means “a botched attempt at something”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

If you play golf, you probably knew this word. After seeing the definition, I think I have run across the word in reading and probably figured out the meaning from the context. However, it wasn’t familiar enough to me to be actively recalled. It is thought that our word comes from the German dialect fuseln (to work badly).

foozle

Pronounced: FOO-zuhl, verb/noun

Notes: You may know this word, especially some people

Yesterday’s word

The word subfuscous means “slightly dark, dusky, or somber”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Yesterday, I noted that I had “sort of” run across our word. In the Lord Peter Wimsey story Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, the word ‘subfusc’ is used – this word has the the same definition as our word. However, it came into English a few years later (clearly, as an abbreviation of our word). I try to look up words that I don’t know, but I don’t remember every looking up that word. Our word comes from the Latin word subfuscus, composed of sub- (slightly; nearly) and fuscus (brownish-gray or dusky color).

subfuscous

Pronounced: sub-FUSS-kuss, adj

Notes: I’ve sort-of run across this word, but didn’t look it up, I’m ashamed to say

Yesterday’s word

The word floccinaucinihilipilification means “estimating as worthless”

First usage

Our word appeared in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Our word was one used in the funny and long-running British radio word show “My Word!” – it is one of those words that you don’t forget after you’ve heard it. However, I thought it was probably pretty unknown, so I posted it yesterday. It is actually an invented word, using four Latin words for things with little or no value: flocci (a tuft of wool) plus nauci (a trifling nothing) plus nihili, from nihil (nothing) plus pili, from pilus (a hair; trifle). It ends with the suffix -fication (making), so it is literally “making nothing”. I have not yet had a chance to slip this into conversation, but I haven’t given up hope.

floccinaucinihilipilification

Pronounced: FLOCK-see-NAH-see-NIL-ih-PILL-ee-fih-KAY-shun, noun

Notes: I happen to know this from a radio show, but I wanted to share it

Yesterday’s word

The word solander is “a case for maps, plates, etc, made to resemble a book, having a front cover and hinged fore edge”

First usage

Our word came into being in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word was named after the man who created it: Daniel Solander, a Swedish botanist while he was working at the British Museum.

Rejected word

The verb nictitate came up as a word, but I think I’ve previously run across it and happened to learn it. If you don’t know it, it is a fancy, Latin-based word for “wink”

solander

Pronounced: suh-LAN-der, noun

Notes: When I saw the pronunciation, it reminded me of “slander” stretched to three syllables (more in comments).

Yesterday’s word

The word calumniate means “to make false statements about someone maliciously”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

It is a total coincidence that our word can mean “slander”, and today’s word sounds a lot like “slander”. As I noted yesterday, I was close to the meaning: I was aware of the noun calumnies, but I thought it merely meant “lies”, so I thought our word was a fancy one for lying… I missed the ‘malicious’ part of the definition, and I’m not sure I knew that it was lies ‘about someone’. Anyway, our word comes from the Latin word calumniari (to accuse falsely).

calumniate

Pronounced: kuh-LUHM-nee-ate, verb

Notes: This was another close one; I had a sense of the meaning, but was a bit off

Yesterday’s word

The word affinal means “related to or concerning marriage”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

After seeing the definition, I thought our word was related to fiancé or finacée; to bolster that thought, I had seen the word affianced somewhere in my reading, and knew from the context that it meant “betrothed” or “engaged”. However, such is not the case: our word comes from the Latin word affinis (a relative), and is related to one of the definitions of affinity; specifically, “relationship by marriage or ties other than blood” – it stands in contrast to consanguinity (related by blood; having a common ancestor).

affinal

Pronounced: ah-FINE-l (alt: uh-FINE-l), adj

Notes: This is a word that I thought I figured out “backwards” – meaning that after I saw the definition, I could see how the word could mean it.

Yesterday’s word

The word comport means “to conduct (oneself)” or “to agree with”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I think I was thinking of the word deportment, which does trace back to similar roots. Our word comes from the French word comportement (behavior), which comes from comporter (to bear), which comes from the Latin word comportare (to transport), which is composed of com- (with) and portare (to carry).