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.

judder

Pronounced: JUD-uhr, verb/noun

Notes: I didn’t know this was a word, but you may be able to guess the meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word trachle means “an exhausting effort such as from a long walk or lengthy work”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Dutch word tragelen (to walk laboriously). I haven’t seen a lot of words in the lists that have a Dutch origin.

trachle

Pronounced: TRAH-khuhl, noun

Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word

Yesterday’s word

The word solunar means “relating to the sun and the moon” (as you might think)

First usage

This word came into usage in the 1930s

Background / Comments

This word is the words “solar” and “lunar” run together to make the new word.

solunar

Pronounced: so-LOO-nuhr, adj

Notes: It’s probably what you think (but I’ve never seen this word before)

Yesterday’s word

The word miscegenation is “a marriage between different racial groups” (but see comments)

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

A note on the definition: I’ve run across differences in the definitions; some use the one I provided above, but some add “cohabitation” and “collaboration” in addition to “marriage”, and add “cultural groups” to “racial groups”. During the US Civil War, a journalist named David Goodman Croly wrote an anonymous pamphlet that attempted to discredit the Lincoln administration and the abolitionist movement. He coined the term miscegenation to refer to marriage between blacks and whites. The word was based on the Latin words miscēre (to mix) combined with genus (species, race, stock). Over time, the definition has widened from this rather narrow definition. I noted that I’ve run across this word during reading; it referred to a mixed marriage between different races (not the narrow original meaning).