dalmatic

Pronounced: dal-MAT-ick, noun

Notes: My guess at the meaning was far off the mark

Yesterday’s word

The word battology is “a tiring repetition of words, either spoken or written”

First usage

This word goes back to around 1600

Background / Comments

I’ve definitely met people whose conversation was battology — just a repetition of the same stories without end. I heard one man tell the same store three times within a few minutes. Our word comes from Greek battología, which is báttos (stammerer) combined with -logia.

battology

Pronounced: buh-TAHL-uh-jee, noun

Notes: A neat word to know; it has uses

Yesterday’s word

The word showboat means, as a verb, “to seek attention by showy, flamboyant behavior; to show off”. As a noun, it is “one who seeks attention in such a way; a show-off”

First usage

This word came into usage in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This came from riverboats; they had an onboard theater and troupes of actors… they would stop at towns along the river to offer entertainment. As I noted, this was a borderline word; I knew the verb meaning (“to show off”), but I was unaware of the noun meaning.

showboat

Pronounced: SHOW-boat, verb/noun

Notes: This was a borderline word. I was pretty close to the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word wuther means “the manner of wind blowing fiercely”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I got this word confused with “druther” or “druthers”. Our word is more commonly found in the UK and comes from a variant of Scots whither, which comes from Middle English (Scots) word quhediren, which may have comes from Old Norse hvitha (squall of wind).

wuther

Pronounced: WUHTH-er, verb

Notes: I confused this word with another word

Yesterday’s word

The word gaslight means “to manipulate psychologically”

First usage

This word came into use in the 1960s

Background / Comments

I assume most people know this word, and may be surprised that I didn’t know it. I know that the word comes from the classic movie Gaslight (made in 1940 and remade in 1944). I knew that our word came from there, but (never having seen the movie), I wasn’t sure what was meant by it. I had the idea that it meant trying to trick someone or deceive them.

gaslight

Pronounced: GAS-light, verb

Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, and had a sense of the word, but wasn’t quite right (you probably know this word)

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase de profundis means “out of the depths of sorrow or despair”

First usage

I could not find information about when this phrase started being used; it seems to go way back

Background / Comments

This is a Latin phrase, and is the beginning of Psalm 130 in the Latin Bible. As I noted, I attempted to parse the word. I knew that de means “out; from”. I thought that profundis was related to profound, and thus perhaps “deep”.

de profundis

Pronounced: day pro-FOON-dis, adv

Notes: I didn’t know this phrase, but I tried to work it out, and didn’t get it right

Yesterday’s word

The word masstige, as a noun, means “products that have the perception of luxury, but are relatively affordable and marketed to masses”. As an adjective, it means “relating to such a product”

First usage

This word came into usage in the 1990s

Background / Comments

Our word is a combination of mass market and prestige.

masstige

Pronounced: mass-TEEZH (alt: mass-TEEJ), noun/adj

Notes: My guess was way off one this word

Yesterday’s word

The word lunker means “something very large compared to others of its kind; a very large fish”

First usage

The word showed up in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This word showed up in America, so it is thought to be an Americanism, but the origin is not known.

lunker

Pronounced: LUNG-ker, noun

Notes: Another word that I don’t recall

Yesterday’s word

The word dripple means “to flow in a small stream or to fall in drops”

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

This word is a blending of drip and dribble. I guess one would use this word to describe the water flow out of a hose after the water is turned off at the faucet… There is a small steam of water that continues to run after the water is turned off, and it breaks up into a stream of drops.

dripple

Pronounced: DRIP-uhl, verb

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this — you may know the word

Yesterday’s word

The word hadal means “found at extreme ocean depth, the abyss (over 20,000 feet or 6.5 km)”

First usage

The word comes from the 1950s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the word Hades with the -al suffix meaning, basically, “like”. By the way, this has nothing to do with our word, but seeing 20,000 feet in the definition made me think of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I feel a bit foolish admitting this, but for years, I thought that the “20,000 Leagues” referred to how far down the submarine went; I more-or-less recently learned that it refers to how far the submarine traveled without having to surface. The deepest part of the ocean is slightly over 2.5 leagues deep. I hope I’m not the only one who’s misunderstood the title. In our definition, 20,000 feet is about 1.5 leagues. Note that because 20,000 Leagues under the sea was written in French, I used the French distance for a league (2.5 miles). The American distance refers to 3 miles on land and 3 nautical miles at sea (equivalent to 3.452 land miles).

hadal

Pronounced: HAYD-l, adj

Notes: Another new word for me

Yesterday’s word

The word judder, as a verb, means “to shake or vibrate violently”. As a noun it means “an intense shaking or vibration”

First usage

This word came into English in the 1920s.

Background / Comments

You may have correctly guessed that this is another blended word — this time it is jerk/jolt/jar combined with shudder. Nevertheless, I don’t recall reading or hearing this word.