Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: ih-NIH-mih-kuhl, adj
Notes: Looks like “unable to be imitated” (but it’s not)
The word scansorial means “related to climbing”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word came from the Latin verb scandere (to climb)
Pronounced: SCAN-sor-ee-uhl, adj
Notes: I’ve never run across this word
The word lollapalooza (also lallapalooza, lalapalooza, or lollapaloosa) is “one that is extraordinarily impressive; an outstanding example”
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
There is a music festival held annually in Chicago that’s called lollapalooza. People aren’t sure where our word came from. Our word sometimes is used as a gambling term for a made-up hand used to trick an inexperienced player. However, our word is primarily used in the same way as “humdinger” and “doozy” are used. The 1930s cartoonist Rube Goldberg created a character named “Lala Palooza”.
Pronounced: lah-luh-puh-LOO-zuh, noun
Notes: I’ve heard the word, but I did not know the meaning
The word descamisado is “a very poor person”
Our word came into English in the early 1800s
Our word came from the Spanish word descamisado (shirtless), which is made up of des- (not) and camisa (shirt) – the idea is that a very poor person cannot even afford a shirt.
Pronounced: des-ka-me-SAH-doh, noun
Notes: I don’t think I’ve ever run across this world
The word will-o’-the-wisp is
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
I actually knew both meanings of our word, but I found the background information interesting: did you know that “jack-o’-lantern” was originally another word for a will-o’-the-wisp? (I didn’t). In marshy areas, gas from decaying plants can cause a flame-like phosphorescence. In the old days, this was called “Will with the wisp”, which turned into will-o’-the-wisp (a “wisp” is a bundle of sticks [or paper] used as a torch). These lights have also been called “spook-lights” or “ghost-lights” in the United States. A more scientific term is “ignis fatuus”, which is Latin for “foolish flame”. Because these lights look like a flickering lamp or lantern, some travelers would foolishly try to follow them and wander into the marsh. Personally, I’ve never seen a will-o’-the-wisp, but I’ve not lived around marshy areas. Sightings of will-o’-the-wisps are rare today; much marshland has been drained and converted into farmland. It is thought that these lights are caused by a combination of marsh gas (given off by decaying vegetable matter) oxidizing with phosphine and diphosephane, which is spontaneously flammable in air. As far as I can tell from research, no one has successfully created a will-o’-the-wisp in the lab.
Pronounced: will-uh-the-WISP, noun
Notes: Do you know both the literal and figurative meanings?
The word sansculotte (alternately spelled sans-culotte) is “a radical or revolutionary”
Our word came into English in the late 1700s
You probably knew this word if you have studied much about the French Revolution. Our word came from (as you might think) French, where is literally means “without knee breeches” from sans- (without) and culotte (knee breeches). During the French Revolution, the aristocrats used this term contemptuously to refer the the poorly dressed volunteers of the Revolution army: they rejected knee breeches as a symbol of the upper class, and wore pantaloons instead. The revolutionaries proudly adopted the epithet and used it proudly — and that practice is not that unusual: consider Anabaptist/Baptist or Yankee.
Pronounced: sanz-kyoo-LOT, noun
Notes: I pretty much knew this word, but I don’t know how commonly known it is
The word camarilla is “a group of unofficial – often secret and scheming – advisors; cabal”
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Our word came from the Spanish word camarilla (small room), which is a diminutive of cámara (room), which came from the Latin Latin word camera (room). Political cronies and plotters are likely to meet behind closed doors in small rooms, and thus the word took on that meeting when it entered English. It is a bit rare to run across our word.
Pronounced: ka-muh-RIH-luh, noun
Notes: Not a word I know
The word redshirt means, as a noun, “a college student who practices with the team, but does not take part in official games”. As a verb, it means
Our word came into English in the 1950s
Our word came from the fact that such athletes typically wore a red jersey. The second definition of the verb is one with which that I was unfamiliar. The other meanings I have heard referenced in college football. Despite the definition, at least in college football, a redshirt player is allowed to play in a limited number of official games. While I didn’t know the word, I was nearly redshited myself: when I was in grade school, my family moved, and due to changed admittance rules in the new school, I would be the youngest in the class, and there was a serious discussion of holding me back a year. In the end, they did not do so.
Pronounced: nope, not giving such obvious pronunciation, noun/verb
Notes: I enjoy watching football, and I’ve heard this term, but didn’t know precisely what it meant (and it has a definition of which I was unware)
The word orphic means
Our word came into English in the late mid-1600s [N.B.: not a typo; I mean the ending part of the “mid” range, which I defined as XX25-XX75 – if you don’t know N.B. (or NB), look up “nota bene”]
Our word came from Greek mythology; Orpheus was a man with the best musical ability, bar none. When he played his lyre, even rocks and trees would be affected. On his wedding day, his beloved bride-to-be (Eurydice) was bitten by a snake and died. Orpheus was heartbroken, and traveled to the underworld to plead for her release. His music touched even the cold heart of Hades himself, who agreed to release her, but Orpheus had to lead; Eurydice would follow, but he could not look back until they were out of the underworld. When Orpheus escaped the underworld, he looked back in joy, but she was not out yet, and was thus lost to him forever. After Orpheus’s death, an “oracle of Orpheus” was created that rivaled the oracle of Delphi. Thus, we see all three meanings; the first relating to Orpheus himself; the second from his oracle; and the third from his music-making skill.
Pronounced: OR-fik, adj
Notes: You may know one of the meanings
The word rort means
Our word came into English in the 1920s
Our word is another back-formation from rorty (boisterous; lively; jolly) – rorty is around 60 years older than our word, and its origin is uncertain. I’ve never heard of rorty or rort (maybe because I don’t go to those kind of parties).
Pronounced: rort, noun
Notes: A word I didn’t know at all
The word gust means “keen delight”
Our word came into English in the first half of the 1400s
I knew the word “gust” that refers to wind, but even though that word and our word are spelled the same in English, they have different origins. The windy “gust” came from (it is thought) the Old Norse word gustr. Our word came from Middle English, which came from the Latin word gustus (taste). The word “gusto” comes from the same source as our word.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day