gust

Pronounced: GUHST, noun

Notes: This word is NOT the meaning of a strong wind. Do you know it?

Yesterday’s word

The word swashbuckle means “to swagger, bluster, behave recklessly, etc”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word is another back-formation. Well over 300 years earlier than our word was the noun “swashbuckler” (one who makes a noise by striking a sword on a shield). That word came from swash (from the sound of a sword swishing through the air) and buckler (a small, round shield). The word buckler came from boucle (a boss on a shield), which came from the Latin word buccula, which is a diminutive of bucca (cheek).

swashbuckle

Pronounced: SWASH-buhkl, verb

Notes: You probably know (or can guess) the meaning; however, the background is interesting

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase dragon’s teeth means

  • seeds of strife
  • wedge-shaped concrete antitank barriers laid in multiple rows
First usage

Our phrase came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

Our phrase comes from the legend of Cadmus, who supposedly invented the alphabet and founded Thebes. Per the legend, Cadmus killed a dragon and planted its teeth in the ground. Each tooth grew into a fierce armed man, and they fought one another until only five were left. These five founded the noble families of Thebes and helped to build its citadel.

dragon’s teeth

Pronounced: (probably not needed) DRA-guns-teeth, noun

Notes: I didn’t know the meaning, but the background was somewhat familiar to me

Yesterday’s word

The word onymous means “bearing the author’s name; named”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word is what’s called a “back-formation”; I presume most of us know the anonymous. Well, our word was created from the older (over 150 years older) word “anonymous” by removing the “an-” (not), leaving onymous, which came from the Greek word onyma (name). This is a clear illustration of a back-formation.

onymous

Pronounced: AHN-uh-muhs, adj

Notes: I was quite interested to read about the origin of this word that is unknown to me

Yesterday’s word

The word schlemiel is “an unlucky bungler; chump”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Yiddish word shlemil. It is thought to come from Peter Schlemihl, the hero of a story about an unlucky man who wold his shadow to the devil. The word may come from Shelumiel, who is mentioned is the Bible in Numbers 1:6. The Talmud describes him as a man whose behavior earned derision. Our word is often paired with another Yiddish word: “schlimazel” (an unlucky or bungling person). It has been said that a schlemiel is someone who spills his soup, and a “schlimazel” is the person it lands on. As I noted yesterday, I remember hearing our word: in the opening of the 1970s sitcom Laverne & Shirley, both schlemiel (and “schlimazel”) are used.

schlemiel

Pronounced: shluh-MEEL, noun

Notes: I’ve never read this word, but I’ve heard it

Yesterday’s word

The word tinhorn means, as a noun, “someone who pretends to have money, skill, influence, etc”. As an adjective, it means “inferior or insignificant, while pretending to be otherwise”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I’ve heard the word used as an adjective, but the noun meaning was quite unknown to me. Our word comes from the world of gambling, in which a cone-shaped container was used to shake the dice. A “tinhorn” gambler was someone who pretended to be a big player, but actually played for small stakes.

tinhorn

Pronounced: TIN-horn, noun/adj

Notes: I’ve heard this word as an adjective, and was pretty close, but I don’t think I’ve heard it as a noun

Yesterday’s word

The word vilipend means

  • to hold or teat as of little worth or account; contemn
  • to express a low opinion of; disparage
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

Our word came from French, and into French from the Latin roots vilis (cheap; vile) and pendere (to weigh; to estimate). So, while we get “vile” and “vilify” from he first of these root, villain has another source.

vilipend

Pronounced: VIH-luh-pend, verb

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but it makes me think of “villain”

Yesterday’s word

The word hyponym is “a more specific term in a general class”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1960s

Background / Comments

Examples are useful: “blue” is a hyponym of “color”. Oddly enough, I happened to recently learn that “javelin” is a hyponym of “spear” (a javelin is a subclass of spear; a spear can be thrust or thrown, but a javelin is a light spear that is thrown). Our word came from the Greek word hypo- (under) and -nym (name).

hyponym

Pronounced: HI-puh-nim, noun

Notes: A neat word that I didn’t know

Yesterday’s word

The word lodestar means “one that serves as an inspiration, model, or guide”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1300s (but see Comments below)

Background / Comments

The literal meaning of our word is “a star that leads or guides” and was used (in the northern hemisphere) to refer to the North Star. However, that usage is archaic. The lode- part of our word came from the Middle English word lode (course). The figurative sense is what remains, but both the literal meaning and the figurative meaning died out in the 1600s; the word was revived by Sir Walter Scott in the early 1800s, and it has been around since then.

lodestar

Pronounced: LOAD-star

Notes: Not what I thought

Yesterday’s word

The word henotheism is “belief in or worship of one god without denying the possibility of others”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

The definition of our word confuses me. If one believes in one God, then it seems to be that to allow for other gods is not consistent with that belief. The second part of the definition could, at least, make sense. I can understand worshiping one god while thinking that there may be other gods – for example, if one had a favorite god amidst a group, one may worship just that god. Our word came from the Greek words heno- (one) and -theism (belief in God).

henotheism

Pronounced: HEN-uh-thee-iz-uhm, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, and I find the meaning strange

Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase Potemkin village is “an impressive facade or show designed to hide an undesirable fact or condition”

First usage

Our phrase came into English in the 1930s

Background / Comments

Our word (as you may guess from the upper case “P”) came from a person – Prince Grigory Alevsandrovich Potemkin, who was commander in chief of the Russian army under Catherine the Great. After designing and carrying out the conquest of Crimea, he arranged for Catherine to take a grand tour of her new holdings. The story is that Potemkin had a series of imposing but fake villages erected along her route in order to impress her. The story is not considered to be true, but the idea is indeed clever.