Pronounced: LAW-guh-file (alt: LOG-uh-file), noun

Notes: I originally looked at this word hastily and thought that it may be a lover of sawmills or logging… I should have paid closer attention; perhaps you know it?

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Yesterday’s word

The word mythomania means “an abnormal tendency to exaggerate or lie”

First usage

This word came into English in the early 1900s

Background / Comments

I was right as to origin, but wrong about the meaning. It does comes from the Greek word mythos (myth) combined with mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze). I suppose that someone who loves myths would be tempted to make up their own myths.

Pronounced: mith-uh-MAY-nee-uh, noun

Notes: Parsing this word, I thought it was an obsession with myths, but that’s not it.

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Yesterday’s word

The word saporific means “that which produces flavor or taste”

First usage

The word is relatively old – coming into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word is only one letter different from “soporific” (something that causes sleep), but they have different sources. Our word comes from the New Latin word sapōrificus, which comes from the Latin word sapōr (savor).

Pronounced: sap-uh-RIFF-ick, adj

Notes: It is very close in spelling to soporific, which is a different word

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Yesterday’s word

The word kayfabe means “portrayal of staged events as real, especially in professional wrestling”

First usage

This word is a relatively recent word and came into English in the 1980s

Background / Comments

The origin of this word is uncertain; however, some people think it is Pig Latin for “fake” or “be fake” (but shouldn’t that be “akefay” or “ebay akefay”). I remember watching professional wrestling when I was a child, but I haven’t seen it for years (and I don’t miss it).

Pronounced: KAY-fayb, noun

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

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Yesterday’s word

The word hortatory means “urging some course of positive action; encouraging”

First usage

The word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I confess that I’ve frequently mispronounced this word; I thought it was HOAR-uh-tore-ee, and I thought it was spelled “horatory”. I’ve heard the word before “preaching” to imply preaching that is encouraging. Our word comes from the Late Latin word hortātōrius (encouraging).

Pronounced: HAWR-tuh-tawr-ee (alt: HAWR-tuh-tore-ee), adj

Notes: I’ve been mis-pronouncing this word, and possible also misspelling it… I think I’ve been influenced by hearing others mis-pronounce it (see tomorrow’s comments)

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Yesterday’s word

The word whataboutery is “the practice of responding to an accusation by making a counter-accusation, real or imaginary, relevant or irrelevant”

First usage

This word came into being in the 1970s

Background / Comments

This seems like such a ridiculous word to exist; I thought “really!?!?” when I saw the definition and whence it came. Speaking of which, it comes from the response of “what about…” It is also called whataboutism. It is a popular way to deflect criticism.

Pronounced: what-uh-BOUT-uhr-ee, noun

Notes: This word makes me laugh… a bit. Most of us have experienced whataboutery

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Yesterday’s word

The word Panglossian means “having extreme optimism, despite ongoing hardship, difficulty, or adversity”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

I thought for sure I would know this, since I recognized pan as “every” or “all”, and glossia as “tongue” (“language” by extension). So, I thought it would be someone who spoke a lot of languages — also known as a polyglot. So, I was surprised to read the definition to see how far off I was. This was the name of a character (Pangloss) in a play (Candide) by Voltaire who was optimistic (the character, not Voltaire). The upper case of this word should have been a clue to me… but it wouldn’t have helped to define it. I can take some consolation in that I correctly parsed the word. There is a Greek word – panglossía, which means “wordiness; garrulousness”, which does come from the two words I noted above. Someone who is “all tongue” would be wordy, indeed!

Pronounced: pan-GLOSS-ee-uhn (alt: pan-GLAW-see-uhn)

Notes: Not at all what I thought (more on this tomorrow)

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Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase bush league, as a noun, is “a minor league of a professional sport”; most frequently used of baseball. As an adjective, it means “second-rate; unpolished; or amateurish”

First usage

Our phrase dates back to the early 1900s

Background / Comments

I was kind of aware of the meanings; I thought perhaps it referred to a specific league of baseball. And somewhere, I’ve read the phrase “He’s strictly bush league” – in context, it seemed to refer to second-rate. It was a close thing, but I decided to include the word… if nothing else, it is encouraging to have a word you know from time to time, eh? It is thought that the phrase comes from the allusion to bushes, thus referring to uncultivated land – the countryside (“the sticks) or small towns.

Pronounced: bush leeg, noun/adj

Notes: I almost didn’t include this, but decided to do so

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Yesterday’s word

The word empyreal means “of, or relating to, the sky or heavens; celestial”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1400s

Background / Comments

I tend to use the first first of the four pronunciations. The word comes from the Latin word empyreus, a variant of empyrius, which came from the Greek work empýrios (fiery).

Pronounced: em-PIR-ee-uhl (alt 1: em-PIE-ree-uhl; alt 2: em-puh-REE-uhl; alt 3: em-pie-REE-uhl)

Note: Wow, I don’t think I’ve run across a word with four different pronunciations

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Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase gung ho, as most people know, means “extremely eager and enthusiastic”

First usage

This phrase came into English in the 1940s

Background / Comments

It is the background that made me include this word. It was adopted by US Marine Corps officer Evans Carlson and used as training slogan. It comes from the Chinese word gonghe, an acronym from the Gongye Hezuoshe (the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society). The word gonghe was understood to mean “work together”. Evans Carlson liked the sound of it and thus used it for a slogan, from where is made its way into general English usage as our phrase.

Pronounced: gung hoe

Notes: I assume nearly everyone know the meaning of this phrase; I’ve included it because I found the background interesting.

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Yesterday’s word

The word oniomania means “the uncontrollable urge to but things” – we tend to use “shop-a-holic” to describe someone instead of this word. Ah, English, with the many ways to say something!

First usage

This word showed up in English in the early 1900s

Background / Comments

I am sure you recognized the Greek ending -manía (madness; insanity). The other one looks like it should be onion-related, but is actually the Greek word ṓnios (sale), which comes from the Greek word ônos (price). I’m sure that online buying has made it so easy to indulge in one’s oniomania; one used to have to drive somewhere to indulge in buying, or at least use a catalog with a lengthy delay between order and delivery… so many things today are delivered next-day or within a day or two.