schmatte

Pronounced: SHMAH-tuh, noun

Notes: Also spelled shmatte; this is a word I could use in conversation

Yesterday’s word

The word zedonk is “the offspring of a zebra and a donkey”; it can also be called a zonkey, but that’s not as common as zedonk.

First usage

This word came into usage in the 1970s

Background / Comments

Looking at the definition, it’s quite obvious that the word is a combination of zebra and donkey (and less of a combination for zonkey). I didn’t pay attention at first to the fact that it was a noun, and I was thinking it sounded like some kind of verb, and I couldn’t imagine the meaning.

zedonk

Pronounced: ZEE-dongk (alt: ZEE-duhngk), noun

Notes: Just seeing the word, I had no idea; looking at the definition, I feel kind of stupid; maybe you know it or figured it out

Yesterday’s word

The word gnathonic means “sycophantic”

First usage

Our word appeared in English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from Gnatho, a sycophant in the comedy Eunuchus, written by Terence, a Roman playwright about 160 BC. (If you don’t know what a sycophant is, it is a self-serving, servile flatterer.) The name Gnatho comes from the Greek word gnathos (jaw). Incidentally, the character that Gnatho is flattering is called Thraso, from which we get our word thasoncial (boastful; vainglorious).

gnathonic

Pronounced: na-THON-ick, adj

Notes: You may know someone that this word fits

Yesterday’s word

The word cuittle means “to wheedle, cajole, or coax; to persuade”. As I noted yesterday, this word is mostly used in Scotland

First usage

Our word goes back to the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

The background of our word is not known; I suspect it is a couple of words put together, but I don’t know what they could be… possible someone familiar with the language of Scotland would be able to make a good guess.

cuittle

Pronounced: KYOO-tl, verb

Notes: This word is mostly used in Scotland

Yesterday’s word

The word potch, as a verb, means to slap or spank. Similarly, as a noun, it refers to a slap or a spanking

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

As you may have guessed, our word is another one with a Yiddish origin; specifically from the Yiddish word patshn (to slap). It is considered to be of imitative origin, meaning that the word sounds like the thing it defines.

potch

Pronounced: poch, verb/noun

Notes: I’ve never heard of this word, but you may guess the origin

Yesterday’s word

The word agnize means “to acknowledge or recognize; to own”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

I apologize for this word; I had a word-of-the-day calendar one year, and it is pretty inferior (I will not buy that brand of calendar again). Today’s word came from that calendar; after doing a little research, it turns out that this is an archaic word, which I think it a bit unfair. They really should have either not used it, or noted that is was archaic. Our word comes from the Latin word agnōscere (to recognize), which is made up of ad- & gnōscere (to come to know). You may recognize the root gnō- (know).

agnize

Pronounced: ag-NIZE (alt: AG-nize), verb

Notes: This is another case of a word looking like another; it looks like agonize to me (but that isn’t the meaning)

Yesterday’s word

The word yentz means “to cheat”

First usage

This word came into English in the 1930s

Background / Comments

Well, I first thought it would be a nice alternatively to “cheat” (and it is certainly worth a lot more points in Scrabble!). However, given the background, I’m a little uneasy about using it. In fact, it comes from the Yiddish word yentzen (to engage in physical intimacy, as between husband and wife; to copulate). I’m not sure how it came to mean “cheat”.

yentz

Pronounced: yents, verb

Notes: I don’t recall every running across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word dyad means “a pair, due, or set of two things”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

Because I read a lot of Greek/Roman mythology, I confused our word with “dryad”, which is a kind of woodland god. Astute people not thrown off by classical mythology may have noticed the similarity to “duo”. Our word comes from the Greek word dyad-, which is the root of dyás (pair), which is equivalent to dýo (two) with the noun ending -ad.

dyad

Pronounced: DIE-ad, noun

Notes: I confused this word with dryad, so I was completely wrong about this word

Yesterday’s word

The word verklempt means “overcome with emotion; choked up”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1990s

Background / Comments

The ‘f’ and ‘v’ sounds are very similar; the ‘v’ sound is called “voiced” (one makes a sound with the vocal cords), so that’s probably why there are two different pronunciations — or maybe it’s because of the origin. The word comes from the Yiddish word farklempt (overcome with emotion), which came from the German word verklemmt (inhibited).

verklempt

Pronounced: fuhr-KLEMT (alt: vuhr-KLEMT), noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve heard this word

Yesterday’s word

The word anagnorisis is “an ‘eureka’ moment; a moment of sudden discovery or revelation”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word came from Latin, but as you might expect, given the “eureka” in the definition above, it came into Latin from Greek anagnōrí (to know again) from ana- (again) and gnōr (knowing).

anagnorisis

Pronounced: an-ag-NAWR-uh-sis (alt: an-ag-NOR-uh-sis), noun

Notes: Another good word to know

Yesterday’s word

The word effluvium is “an unpleasant discharge, for example, fumes, vapors, or gases from waste or decaying matter”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I have a kind of memory that I’ve run across this word talking about sewage in Victorian times; I also seem to remember that they called it (euphemistically) “flow”. That’s rather appropriate, given the origin: it came from the Latin word effluere (to flow out), which was a combination of ex- (out) and fluere (to flow). We get the word fluid from the same kind of root words. In addition, the words affluent, influence, and influenza also come from the same root word.