layette

Pronounced: lay-ET, noun

Notes: I’ve run across this word in reading, but couldn’t properly define it, but I’m sure some readers will know it

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase pro se means “on one’s own behalf”; it tends to be used in law when referring to someone who represents himself in court

First usage

The phrase came into usage in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

A common legal saying is “an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client”. Even though I’ve read many Perry Mason stories, I don’t recall our phrase. Our phrase is Latin: pro (for) and se (himself, herself, itself, themselves).

pro se

Pronounced: pro say

Notes: I don’t know this phrase, but if I were better at languages, I could probably work it out

Yesterday’s word

The word boniface is “an innkeeper or landlord, usually of a kind nature”

First usage

The word goes back to the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

Despite the actual year it came into our language, our word seems to me to have an old-world charm and seems to belong to the days of chivalry and knights. In reality, our word comes from a character in a 1707 play: The Beaux’ Strategem by George Farquhar. “Boniface” was the name of a jovial innkeeper in the play. It must have been popular and memorable, because it became a word not too many years later. Interestingly enough, that same play is also the origin of Lady Bountiful; I’ve run across the expression do the Lady Bountiful in my reading, which has the uncomplimentary meaning of “being generous in order to show off one’s wealth in a patronizing way”.

boniface

Pronounced: BON-uh-face (alt: BON-uh-fiss), noun

Notes: Maybe you know this word; I did not (depends on what you read, I think)

Yesterday’s word

The word depose means

  • to remove from a high office or throne suddenly and forcefully
  • to examine under oath
  • to give testimony
First usage

The word goes back to around 1300

Background / Comments

I knew of the first definition; and I think for most people that it is the one that they know. The other definitions are probably used more in the legal realm, and the phrase take a deposition (using the noun form of depose) is one I’ve read in the Perry Mason stories. However, even with this aid, these other definitions were not ready in my mind. The word comes from the Old French word deposer, which comes from Latin deponere (to testify, to put down), which is made up of de- combined with ponere (to put).

depose

Pronounced: dih-POZE, verb

Notes: You may know a meaning, but this word has a meaning that didn’t spring to my mind

Yesterday’s word

The word glom means “take hold or possession of; to steal, catch, or grab” – but see my comments below.

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

I quoted the definition as provided in the information I had, but it seemed to be missing something; I had run across this word in a Nero Wolfe novella This Won’t Kill You, and, from the context, it was clear that glom meant “to look at”, which wasn’t given as a meaning. So, naturally, I checked the internet, and it has “steal” as the first meaning, then “to catch or grab” as the second meaning, and then “to look at” for the third meaning. I felt vindicated. By the way, when I was checking on the name of the novella, it was originally called This Will Kill You when published in magazines; the title changed when it was published in book form – a collection of Nero Wolfe novellas. The word is an Americanism; it is thought to come from the Scots word glaum/glam (to snatch at). There is also the Scots word glammis (the jaws of a vice). A parent word is the Scots Gaelic word glàm (to grab; to clutch). I’m guessing that the “look at” definition arises from the idea of “clutching” or “grabbing” someone with one’s eyes.

glom

Pronounced: glom, verb

Notes: I was surprised when I looked at the definition; it wasn’t what I thought. I’ve run across this word and I thought I knew it… more in the comments tomorrow.

Yesterday’s word

The word surrebuttal is “the response to a rebuttal”

First usage

This word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

I enjoyed reading Perry Mason stories, and with all of the courtroom action, I’m surprised that I did not read this word in any of the stories (at least that I remember). Perhaps Mr Gardner (author of the Perry Mason stories) thought that the word would be a distraction; I seem to remember reading re-rebuttal instead in the books. Our word comes from the Latin word sur- (over; above) combined with rebuttal, which comes from rebut (to refute), which in turn comes from Old French rebouter (to push back), which came from boute (to push).

surrebuttal

Pronounced: suhr-rih-BUT-l, noun

Note: This is a word I should have come across, but haven’t

Yesterday’s word

The word accrete means “to become fused together; to grow or merge together”

First usage

Our word goes back to the late 1700s

Background / Comments

I like this word. In my mind’s eye, I can see spots of grass accreting (growing together). The word is actually a back formation from accretion. Ice can also accrete.

accrete

Pronounced: uh-KREET, verb

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but maybe you do (or can figure it out)

Yesterday’s word

The word ana means, as a noun “a collection of items, such as quotations, anecdotes, etc related to a person, place, etc”. As an adverb, it means “in equal quantities” (The adverbial usage can be found in prescriptions).

First usage

The noun form came into English in the mid-1700s; the adverb is older, going back to around 1500.

Background / Comments

I had trouble with making a guess at this word because aná in Koine Greek means “up; again; back”. Oddly enough, the adverbial definition does come from the Greek word aná, but the meaning in classical Greek means “of each”. The noun is far removed from Greek; it is the suffix -ana (such as in Americana) without the dash.

ana

Pronounced: A-nuh, noun/adv

Notes: This word has been around a long time, but I’ve not heard it

Yesterday’s word

The word ploce is “a rhetorical phrase with internal repetition, such as I mean what I mean“

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Apparently, the word used to be spelled ploche. It came from the Late Latin word plocē, which came from the Greek word plokḗ (plaiting).

ploce

Pronounced: PLOH-see, noun

Notes: Interesting word

Yesterday’s word

The word retral means

  • located at the back
  • backward
First usage

This word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word retro (back). I suppose a “back door” would be a “retral entrance”.

retral

Pronounced: REE-truhl (alt: REH-truhl), adj

Notes: I haven’t heard this word, but it’s helpful

Yesterday’s word

The word rifacimento means “a re-making or complete reworking of a literary or musical piece”

First usage

This word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

I enjoy the Agatha Christie mysteries, but I don’t care for the rifacimenti of them… I find they are best when they follow her plots. I understand that often, when making a film from a book, it is common to drop minor characters, but that’s not a re-make or a re-work. A re-make is when the guilty party is changed from one person to another. Our word comes to us from the Italian word rifare (to make over), which comes from ri- [re-] (again) combined with fare (to do).