Pronounced: BRAH-kish, adj

Notes: I knew one meaning, and was unaware of the others, so I included it

---

Yesterday’s word

The word jerkwater means “remote, unimportant, or small”

Background / Comments

Back in the days of steam locomotives, they needed frequent refills of water. The train would make water stops near streams and lakes and haul water up to the boiler. These trains were called jerkwaters from jerking water in buckets. The stops were often in remote, insignificant areas, and the word spread to describe towns around these areas — the phrase ‘jerkwater town’ is what I remember from western shows. However, the adjective can be applied to anything small, insignificant, backward, or inferior. Note that jerkwater is a tosspot word.

First usage

The word began to be used in the late 1800s

Pronounced: JERK-wah-tuhr, adj

Notes: I recognized this word from westerns, but my understanding of the definition was a bit off

---

Yesterday’s word

The word smashmouth means “characterized by brute force without finesse”

Background / Comments

I’ve heard this word used to describe physical, hard-hitting football, and that was indeed how it started. It has since spread to other contact sports. It is sometimes used to describe politics (at least in the United States).

First usage

This word is relatively new; it showed up in the 1980s.

Pronounced: SMASH-mouth, adj

Notes: This is a borderline case… I was pretty close to the correct meaning – do you know it?

---

Yesterday’s word

The word shunpike, as a noun, means “a side road taken to avoid a toll road”. As a verb, it means “to travel on a side road”.

Background / Comments

This word is a “tosspot” word; such words are a combination of a verb and a noun. To be a tosspot word, there are two conditions: first, the verb must be first, and second, the noun is the object of the verb. Thus, “pickpocket” is a tosspot word because a pickpocket picks pockets, whereas “repairman” is not (he doesn’t repair men). Today’s word is the combination of “shun” and “turnpike” (an expressway; especially one with a toll). Clever readers may note that turnpike is itself a tosspot word. The word shun comes from Old English scunian (to avoid or fear).

First usage

This word showed up in the mid-1800s.

Pronounced: SHUN-pike, noun/verb

Notes: I don’t remember running across this word, and couldn’t guess the meaning, but I felt kind of silly when I looked it up; the meaning is straightforward — and with that hint, maybe you’ll get it.

---

Yesterday’s word

We know the word intestine as a noun (the lower part of the alimentary canal), but as an adjective, it means internal, and specifically, “of or relating to the internal affairs of a state or country”; a synonym for “civil”.

Background / Comments

The word comes from Latin intestinus (internal), which itself comes from intus (within). Thus, we can note that there is quite a difference between “intestinal rumblings” and “intestine rumblings” (heh).

First usage

The word came into English in the 1400s

Pronounced: in-TES-tuhn, adj

Notes: Yes, we know the noun meaning… but do you know what the adjective means? (I didn’t)

---

Yesterday’s word

The word paragnosis means “knowledge that cannot be obtained by normal means”

Background / Comments

I knew both parts of this word, but I still didn’t have the meaning; the word comes from para- (beyond) and gnosis (knowledge). We have the words “paranormal” (beyond normal) and “agnostic” (not knowing). I’m not really sure what qualifies as paragnosis; it sounds like it means things that one knows without ever having been taught them.

First usage

A later word; it showed up in the 1930s

Pronounced: par-uh-GNOH-sis, noun

Notes: I like this word! I’m not entirely sure under which circumstances I’d use it

---

Yesterday’s word

The word propaedeutic is “preparatory study or instruction”.

Background / Comments

The root for today’s word is the Greek word paideuein (to teach); this root and the “paedeu” part of todays’ word make me think of Star Wars “padawan”. The other part of today’s word is pro- (before). Although the word is normally used in scholarly circles, someone who take college “prep” courses in high school could be said to be taking propaedeutics. Also, when I attended college, some students had to take pre-English or pre-algebra classes; these were propaedeutics as well.

First usage

The word showed up in the late 1700s

Pronounced: proh-pih-DUE-tit, noun

Notes: I think I see bits of other words in here (Sorry this was late in getting posted-RL).

---

Yesterday’s word

The word pathophobia is “fear of disease”

Background / Comments

It’s Greek all the way: patho- (suffering, disease) with -phobia (fear). I figured this one out because I knew pathology (the study of diseases).

First used

This word first showed up in the late middle 1800s

Pronounced: path-uh-FOE-bee-uh, noun

Notes: So many of the phobia words are oddball that I wasn’t sure… maybe a fear of losing one’s way (path?) – it’s not that. My vocabulary must be improving since the time I added this word to the list… I figured it out this time, but apparently, I didn’t know it. Maybe you do?

---

Yesterday’s word

The word wushu (also wu shu) is “Chinese martial arts”

Background / Comments

No surprise; this word comes from Chinese (specifically, the Beijing dialect). It is a combination of wǔ (military or martial) and shù (art). It was originally the same thing as “kung fu”, but the meanings have diverged a bit: kung fu is more focused on hand-to-hand combat, but modern wushu emphasizes aesthetics and performance. One well-known form of wushu is “tai chi”.

First usage

This word showed up the in 1970s

Pronounced: woo-shoo

Notes: Where I found this word shows both syllables accented, which seems pointless (it’s the same as neither being accented). I immediately thought of something (I’ll talk about it tomorrow), but wasn’t sure of the meaning.

---

Yesterday’s word

The word oldspeak means “normal English usage, as opposed to propagandist, euphemistic, or obfuscatory language”.

Background / Comments

I thought of newspeak, but didn’t realize how close I was; this word, just like newspeak, comes from George Orwell’s book 1984.

First usage

The book 1984 was published in 1949, which is, naturally, the first usage.

Pronounced: (as you think: “old” and “speak”)

Notes: I haven’t heard this word, but I have heard a similar word

---

Yesterday’s word

The word acephalous means

• lacking a head or having the head reduced
• lacking a governing head or chief

Background / Comments

As I noted, I should have thought a bit more about this word: I think I first saw “ace” and “phalous” and didn’t have a clue, but had I tried “a” and “cephalous”, I could have been closer. In the beginning of the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Bakervilles, the new client (James Mortimer) describes Mr Holmes’ skull as dolichocephalic. Somewhere else, I’ve heard other words that describe the shape of a skull, all with ‘cephalic’ as part of them. Thus, I should have been able to guess something along the lines of ‘not’ from the “a”, and ‘having a head’ from the “cephalous”. This turns out to be the case as the word comes from Medieval Latin meaning “headless”. It meant clerics not under a bishop or lines of verse with the first part missing or abbreviated. The Latin comes from Greek a- (not) and kephalē (head).

First usage

This word showed up in the mid-1700s.