verigreen

Pronounced: VER-ih-green, noun

Notes: I thought that this word might mean “very green”, but that’s not really the correct meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word kegler means “bowler”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1930s

Background / Comments

Our word came from medieval Germany, where bowling was practiced as a test of religious faith and purity. The Kegel (bowling pin) represented a heathen, and those who cold topple it with a round stone proved that they were free of sin (note: that the game of bowling goes back as far as man can remember). Anyway, English speakers took from the German word the words kegling (bowling) as well as kegler. These days, kegler and kegling are usually used humorously these days.

kegler

Pronounced: KEH-gluhr, noun

Notes: I am a bit surprised that I don’t know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word akrasia is “the lack of will or self-control resulting in one acting against one’s better judgment”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Greek word akretes (powerless), which came from a- (not; without) and kratos (power; strength).

akrasia

Pronounced: uh-KRAY-zhuh (alt: uh-KRAY-zhee-uh), noun

Notes: Another new word

Yesterday’s word

The word habiliments means

  • characteristic apparatus; trappings
  • the dress characteristic of an occupation or occasion
  • clothes (usually used in plural)
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s to early 1400s

Background / Comments

I can almost see the word “habit” (that nuns wear), so that is the habiliments of a nun. Our word came from the Middle French word abillement.

habiliments

Pronounced: huh-BIH-luh-muhnts, noun

Notes: This words looks familiar, but I could not define it

Yesterday’s word

The word philocynic means, as a noun, “a dog lover”. As an adjective, is means “fond of dogs”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

You probably recognized the Greek word philo- (loving) part of the word. The other part came from the Greek word kyon (dog). So, nothing to do with cynics.

philocynic

Pronounced: fil-oh-SIN-ick, noun/adj

Notes: I thought our word meant someone who either was fond of being a cynic or else enjoyed the company of cynics

Yesterday’s word

The word risorgimento is

  • the 19th-century movement for Italian political unity (often capitalized)
  • a time of renewal or renaissance; revival
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came straight into English from the Italian word risorgimento (rising again), which is the word for the “Unification of Italy” movement that occurred in the mid-1800s. Our English word also has the more general usage of the second definition above.

risogimento

Pronounced: ree-ZAHR-jih-MEN-toe, noun

Notes: Another new word to me (note that this word may be capitalized)

Yesterday’s word

The word dobber means

  • an informer
  • (in cricket) a bowler, especially a slow bowler
  • a float for a fishing line
  • a large marble
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word has different origins; the first two definitions come from the word dob (to inform; to put down; to throw). The third definition above comes from the Dutch word dobber (float; cork) — I am used to hearing such a thing called a “bobber”, which would seem to a corruption of dobber, but “bobber” also does describe what the dobber does. The fourth definition above comes from the word dob, which is a variant of dab (lump).

dobber

Pronounced: DOB-uhr, noun

Notes: A new word for me, as far as I can remember

Yesterday’s word

The word duckboard is “a boardwalk or slatted flooring laid on a wet, muddy, or cold surface” (usually used in the plural form)

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1910s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from World War I to describe the boards or slats of wood laid down to provide safe footing for soldiers walking across wet or muddy ground in trenches or camps. This idea didn’t always work as desired; some soldiers walking on wet duckboards would slide off them much like water slides off a duck’s back; thus, duckboard. I myself have laid duckboards, but I didn’t know that is what they were called. There was a muddy area over which people needed to walk, so we got boards and put them down.

duckboard

Pronounced: DUCK-board, noun

Notes: I think I’ve heard the word, but could not define it properly

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase Hawthorne effect means “an improvement in workers’ performance attributed to the special attention they received when singled out for a study”

First usage

Our phrase came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

The origin of our phrase is interesting: in the 1920s, researchers were studying productivity. They noticed that, for example, if they tried to determine if workers were more productive under bright lights – they found that productivity increased with brighter lights. But then they tried dimmer lights — and found that productivity increased as well. They decided that the problem was that the workers were aware that their productivity was being measured, and this caused them to be more productive. This study was done at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company, and thus the phrase Hawthorne effect came about.

Hawthorne effect

Pronounced: HAW-thorn ih-FEKT, noun

Notes: I had not heard of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word threnody is “a song of lamentation for the dead; elegy”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

I said yesterday that the word stirred a faint memory, but that I couldn’t remember where I’d come across it. Upon thinking more about it, it seems to be the kind of word I would have run across in the Nero Wolfe stories by Rex Stout, but I still cannot specifically remember the word. Our word came from the Greek word thrēnōidia, which came from thēnos (dirge) and ōidē (song).

threnody

Pronounced: THREH-nuh-dee, noun

Notes: This word seems vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it or define it

Yesterday’s word

The word sough means, as a verb, “to make a moaning, sighing, whistling, murmuring, or rustling sound”

As a noun it means

  • a sound as defined by the verb above
  • a rumor
First usage

Our word came into English a long time ago – before the mid 1000s, my reference says.

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Old English word swogan (to rustle; to whistle; etc). I’m not sure how it came to refer to a rumor — maybe because a rumor can be as insubstantial as the sound.