satori

Pronounced: suh-TORE-ee, noun

Notes: I thought this might be related with how one dresses, but no… you may get it if you have the right background

Yesterday’s word

The word klatsch is “a casual gathering of people, especially for refreshments and informal conversation”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the German word Klatsch (chitchat, gossip). I think I have run across something that was posing as our word, but my recollection is that it was misspelled or mispronounced. I remember reading about something that fits our word, but was written as “a coffee klutch”; I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be “klatsch”. It was a long time ago, and I don’t remember where I read it.

Rejected word

The word bevy (BEH-vee) came up, but I’ve run across it in reading and I had a good idea of the meaning. I have heard it used for a collection of quail, and that turned out to be one of the meanings. I have also read the word in Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout. The character Archie Goodwin refers to “a bevy of beautiful maidens” – I thought that the word therefore meant a large group, and that is also correct. It’s original meaning was used for a group of deer, quail, larks, or young ladies. From there has become more generalized to a large number.

klatsch

Pronounced: klahch (alt: klach)

Notes: I find those pronunciations to be very close; the second would be latch with a ‘k’ in front.

Yesterday’s word

The word cunctation means “delay; procrastination; tardiness”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I can just image the phrase “he has a tendency toward cunctation” causing eyebrows to raise around the office. Our word comes from the Latin word cunctari (to hesitate, delay).

cunctation

Pronounced: kungk-TAY-shun, noun

Notes: This is a good word to know, as it is useful and will make people wonder

Yesterday’s word

The word aglet is “a metal tag or sheath at the end of a lace used for tying (such as a shoelace)”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s.

Background / Comments

Modern shoelaces seem to use plastic aglets instead of metal ones — but perhaps expensive shoes have metal ones. Our word came from Middle English from the Middle French word aiguillette; equivalent to aiguille (needle).

aglet

Pronounced: AG-lit, noun

Notes: This word is one you either know, or else you say “I didn’t know there was a word for that!”

Yesterday’s word

The word pricket is

  • a sharp point or spike for holding a candle
  • a male deer in its second year, before his antlers have branched
First usage

Our word goes back a ways; it came into English in the mid-1300s

Background / Comments

I don’t think that our word would get a lot of usage: most people have candle holders instead of prickets to hold their candles (if they even use candles much anymore). Likewise, it is hard to imagine the deer definition coming up in causal conversation, though possibly it may come up in among hunters. Our word is a diminutive of prick (also spelled prik in days long ago), which came from the Old English word prica (point).

pricket

Pronounced: PRIK-it, noun

Notes: Looks like a misspelling of “picket” (as in “picket fence”) – a new word to me

Yesterday’s word

The word tautology is “the needless repetition of an idea, especially in words”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Apparently, the common example of a tautology is “widow woman”… I spent a few minutes trying to think of something else; I can think of straight, unnecessary repetition, such as “ATM machine” or “PIN number”, but our word seems to be used when the other word is not the same, but adds nothing. I have had annoying conversations when I ask a yes/no question and get back a lengthy statement that could have been stated as “yes” — these may be an example of tautological conversation, which sounds nice. Our word comes from the Late Latin word tautologia, which came from the Greek word tautología (repetition of something already said).

tautology

Pronounced: taw-TAHL-uh-jee, noun

Notes: I’ve seen this word used, but wasn’t sure of the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word pinchgut means, as a noun, “a miserly person”; as an adjective, it means “miserly”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word has a nautical origin: it originally meant someone who didn’t give enough food to a ship’s crew (presumably causing their “guts” to pinch together).

Rejected Word

The word rigmarole came up; my first thought was that it was a typo; I was sure it was rigamarole (because that’s how I pronounce it). It had the meaning I thought (“confused or meaningless talk”). I learned that the word is also spelled rigamarole – due to the common pronunciation of “RIH-guh-muh-roll”. The origin of the word is also interesting: in the Middle Ages, there was a game called Ragmane or Ragman: a player randomly selected a string attached to a roll of verses and read the selected verse. The roll was called a “Ragman roll” after the fictional king who supposedly wrote the verses. In the 1500s, ragman and ragman roll referred to a list or catalog. These terms fell our of written use, the in speech, ragman roll persisted and became, in the 1700s, written as rigmarole to mean “a succession of confused, meaningless, or foolish statements”.

pinchgut

Pronounced: PINCH-gut, noun/adj

Notes: This word is new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word hypocorism is

  • a pet name
  • the practice of using a pet name
  • the use of forms of speech imitative of baby talk
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Instead of “pet name”, I’ve seen the word defined as a “nickname”. The third definition is new to me; I don’t remember it from before. Our word came from the Greek word hypokórisma (pet name; endearing name).

hypocorism

Pronounced: high-POCK-uh-riz-uhm (alt: hih-POCK-uh-riz-uhm), noun

Notes: I think I posted this word at work some years ago, but not here

Yesterday’s word

The word bludge, as a noun, means “an easy task”. As a verb it means

  • to shirk responsibility
  • to obtains something through the generosity of others; to scrounge
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1910s

Background / Comments

Yesterday, I thought our word looked like it should be related to bludgeon, which I knew was a kind of club, so I thought our word had the meaning of hitting someone. While that idea was wrong, our word does indeed descend from bludgeon, in a convoluted way. Incidentally, the origin of bludgeon is not known. From the verb bludgeon (to force into something) came bludge on (to impose on someone). From the noun bludgeon came the back formation bludge (to use a bludgeon). From bludge came bludger, someone who would do the bludging – it came to mean a harlot’s bully or pimp. Apparently through this path, the meaning of “to shirk” came out. I told you it was convoluted!

bludge

Pronounced: bluhj, verb/noun

Notes: I thought this might have have something to do with hitting another person (nope!)

Yesterday’s word

The word previse means “to forsee” or “to forewarn”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

I thought that most might get this meaning, seeing pre- (before) and vise with looks like it comes from the base of “vision” or “seeing”. That’s mostly right, but the word comes from late Middle English, where is came from the Latin word praevīsus, the past participle of praevidēre (to forsee).

previse

Pronounced: prih-VIZE, verb

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but you may be able to correctly guess it

Yesterday’s word

The word codswallop means “nonsense”

First usage

This word came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

I knew this word, but there is a story behind this word that I didn’t know. In reality, the origin of the word is not known, but I thought the unproven story was worth sharing: A man named Hiram Codd designed a soft drink bottle that had a marble in its neck to keep the fizz. The word “wallop” was slang for beer; those who preferred alcoholic drinks referred to the Hiram’s drink as “Codd’s Wallop”. I’m kind of surprised that something so relatively recent has an unknown origin.