frieze

Pronounced: freez, noun

Notes: When I read the first definition, I didn’t understand it at all; it used three key words that I did not understand

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase trouser role is used in opera, drama, film, etc and is

  • a role in which a female character pretends to be a male
  • a male part played by a female actor
First usage

Our phrase came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

Our phrase is also called a “breeches role” or a “pants role”. Our phrase was guessable; I would have thought of the second definition, but not the first. Our word derives from the traditional view of trousers as male clothing (and it was standard, at least in the West until the 1960s-1970s).

trouser role

Pronounced: TROW-zurh roll, noun

Notes: You can probably guess the meaning of this phrase

Yesterday’s word

The word gyre is “a circular or spiral motion or form; especially a giant circular oceanic surface current.”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

It is odd how one hears something, and then encounters it again. I recently heard a reference to the poem The Second Coming, which contains the line Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; (it was written by Yeats in 1920, but I didn’t know that). As it happens, that very poem contains our word (turning in the widening gyre). Our word came from the Latin word gyrus, which came from the Greek word gyros (ring; circle). As you may thinkg from the definition above, our word is often used in oceanographic realm.

gyre

Pronounced: jire (alt: jigh-uhr), noun

Notes: I’ve come across this word (but it is a little specialized)

Yesterday’s word

The word shirtsleeve means

  • relating to pleasant warm weather
  • informal; direct
  • hardworking; having a can-do attitude
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

All of our definitions derive from the sleeves of one’s shirt. In warmer weather, shirtsleeves are often rolled up. Also, shedding a coat and being in shirtsleeves is considered an informal way of dressing (in older times). Finally, we have the idea of rolling up one shirtsleeves to get working on something. Our word came from sleeve plus shirt, which came from the Old English word scyrte, which came from the Old English word sliefe.

shirtsleeve

Pronounced: SHIRT-sleeve, adj

Notes: I know the noun (what a shirtsleeve is), but not the meaning of the adjective

Yesterday’s word

The word colligate means

  • to bind, unite, or group together
  • to subsume (isolated facts) under a general concept
  • to be or become a member of a group or unit
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word traces back to the Latin word colligare, which is made up of com- (with) and ligare (to tie). Incidentally, that Latin word ligare is related to various words, such as “league” (it ‘ties’ sports team into a group), or “obligated” (to be ‘tied’ to a responsibility).

colligate

Pronounced: KAH-luh-gate, verb

Notes: I thought of “collegiate”, but this word is not that one

Yesterday’s word

The word supercargo is

  • an officer on a merchant ship who is in charge of the cargo
  • a superintendent or an agent
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I would not have thought that a supervisor of cargo would be what a supercargo is. The word is an alteration of supracargo, which came from the Spanish word sobrecargo, of which sobre (over) came from the Latin word super (super).

supercargo

Pronounced: soo-purr-CAR-go, noun

Notes: I thought perhaps “important cargo”, but that’s not right

Yesterday’s word

The word fossick means

  • to search for gold or gemstones typically by picking over abandoned workings
  • to search about; rummage
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I don’t feel too bad about not knowing this word, since it is primarily used in Australia and New Zealand. The first definition above is the oldest; the second one came about a few decades after the first one. The exact origin of our word is unclear, but it is thought to have come from the term “fussock” (to bustle about; to fidget).

fossick

Pronounced: FAH-sick, verb

Notes: I don’t feel too bad about not knowing this word

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase Jedburgh justice means “punishment before trial”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

Apparently, our word is also known by the names “Jedwood justice” or “Jeddart justice”. The town of Jedburgh is in Scotland, near Edinburgh. When King James I came to the English throne (he was King James VI in Scotland), there was a terrible problem with raiding along the England-Scotland border by “reivers” (mercenary soldiers that raided the borders for whatever they wanted – money, sheep, cattle, horses, or food. They would also abuse women and hold some people for ransom). King James was determined to eradicate the reivers, and many people were hung immediately. This practice gave rise to the saying “hang now, ask questions later” (which survives today as “shoot first; ask questions later”).

Jedburgh justice

Pronounced: JED-buh-ruh juhs-tihs, noun

Notes: I’ve not heard this phrase

Yesterday’s word

The word yeasty means

  • of, relating to, or resembling yeast
  • immature; unsettled
  • marked by change
  • full of vitality
  • frivolous
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1500s

Background / Comments

The first definition above seemed like the obvious one; the other ones were new to me. Even though our word is from the 1500s, the word “yeast” has been around as long as the English language has been around; it was “gist” or “geist” in Old English and had become “yest” in Middle English. Our word first referred to people or things with a yellowish or frothy appearance (similar to the froth that forms on the top of fermented beverages). The other definitions are extended figurative senses of our word; specifically, the excitable, chemical nature of fermentation.

yeasty

Pronounced: YEE-stee, adj

Notes: There is an obvious definition, but there were meanings I didn’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word Pactolian means “golden; lavish”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I really like having another word for “lavish”. Our word came from the river Pactolus in ancient Lydia. The river is now called Sart Çayi and is in the modern country of Turkey.

Pactolian

Pronounced: pak-TOE-lee-uhn, adj

Notes: I hope I remember this word; it’s useful — but it was new to me

Yesterday’s word

The word calumny is

  • a misrepresentation intended to harm another’s reputation
  • the act of uttering false charges maliciously
First usage

Our word came into English in the first half of the 1400s

Background / Comments

Somewhere, I have read the phrase “lies and calumnies”, and so I had the idea that it was lies told about a person. Thus, I was on the right track, but I didn’t quite have the correct definition. Our word came from the Middle French word calomnie, which came from the Latin word calumnia (false accusation; false claim; trickery), which came from the Latin verb calvi (to deceive).