Pronounced: BAY-zuh-lekt (alt: BAY-suh-lect; BAZ-uh-lekt; BAS-uh-lekt), noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but some of the information about it irritated me

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Yesterday’s word

The word nobby means “cleverly stylish; chic; smart”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word sounds like “knobby” (having knobs), but clearly isn’t related. I have not run across our word, but I did know that “nob” is used in British English for one is a superior position in life. It turns out that our word is also British slang. The origin of “nob” is uncertain; some think it may be related to “noble” (I myself prefer this idea). Others think that “nob” was a slang word for “head”.

Pronounced: NAH-bee, adj

Notes: I thought I recognized part of this word, but I didn’t know the meaning

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Yesterday’s word

The word endonym is “a named used internally to refer to a place, people, language, etc”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1970s

Background / Comments

An example may be useful here: The endonym for Germany is “Deutschland” (because that is what Germans all their country). Our word came from the Greek word endo (inside; within) and -onym (word; name). As I noted yesterday, I recognized a part of our word — the “nym”.

Pronounced: EN-duh-nihm, noun

Notes: I recognized part of the word, but it did not help with the definition

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Yesterday’s word

The word asseverate means “to affirm or declare positively or earnestly”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1700s

Background / Comments

Our word is not heard much today; it’s a nice fancy word for “to declare”. It came from the Latin words ad- (to; towards) and the verb severare, which is related to the adjective severus (serious; severe).

Pronounced: uh-SEH-vuh-rate, verb

Notes: I didn’t know the meaning, but after I saw it, it made sense

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Yesterday’s word

The word snark means, as a verb, “to make a snide remark”. As a noun, it is

• a mysterious, imaginary animal
• something or someone hard to track down
• a snide remark

First usage

There are multiple origins; one is from the mid-1800s, and the other is from the late 1800s.

Background / Comments

As I noted, I was aware of the adjectival form (snarky – having a rudely critical tone or manner), usually heard as “I was rather snarky with the telemarketer” or “I made a few snarky comments”. The first two definitions above come from Lewis Carroll in his poem The Hunting of the Snark, which was published in 1876 – it didn’t take long for this word to enter English after the poem. When I was in Boy Scouts (long ago), scouts new to camping were often taken on “snipe” hunts; this exactly fits the first definition, so I wonder if “snipe” was somehow corrupted or altered from “snark”. The other meanings come from “snark” being imitative of snort or snore.

Pronounced: (as it looks), noun/verb

Notes: I know the adjectival form of the word; I didn’t know that this was a word

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Yesterday’s word

The word indurate means “physically or morally hardened”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

Interesting… the original reference only gave one pronunciation, but when I did more research, I found six pronunciations, and none of those match the one I listed yesterday. Alternate (or possibly correct) pronunciations are: IN-do-rate, IN-dyou-rate, IN-do-rit, IN-dyoo-rit, in-DOOR-it, and in-DYOUR-it. Our word came from Middle English indurat, which came from the Latin word induratus, a past participle of indurare (to harden). We get “durable” from the same source.

Pronounced: IN-duh-ruht, adj

Notes: This word is vaguely familiar to me (but I could not properly define it)

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Yesterday’s word

The word Bigfoot means, as a noun, “a prominent person in a commanding position – especially a journalist”. As a verb, it means

• to dominate or to take control of a situation from someone
• to behave in an authoritative, domineering manner

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word does come from the legendary creature called Bigfoot — also known as Sasquatch, which supposedly lives in the remote wilderness of the Pacific Northwest (in both the US and Canada).

Pronounced: BIG-foot, noun/verb

Notes: Not the legendary creature

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Yesterday’s word

The word catachresis means

• use of the wrong word for the context
• use of a forced and especially paradoxical figure of speech

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1500s

Background / Comments

A handy word to know for using the wrong word for the context. Grammarians enjoy employing this word. Our word came from Latin, which came from the Greek word karachrēsis (misuse).

Pronounced: ka-tuh-KREE-suhs, noun

Notes: A neat word that could be used in some situations

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Yesterday’s word

The word bunyip means, as a noun, “an impostor”. As an adjective, it means “counterfeit; phony”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from Australia; specifically, an Aboriginal legend: the bunyip was a large (mythical) creature who lived in swamps and riverbeds. It certainly has possibilities for usage, and it has the bonus of being fun to say. Although I’ve never heard the word, I understand that the most common expression is “bunyip aristocracy”.

Pronounced: BUN-yip, noun/adj

Notes: Another word that is a complete stranger to me

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Yesterday’s word

The word volplane means “to glide in or as if in an airplane”

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1900s (1900-1909)

Background / Comments

Our word came from French; in the 1800s, they used the term vol plané (gliding flight) to refer to downward flight by birds — the other kind of flight was vol à voile (soaring flight). With the invention of the airplane, the gliding term came into being.

Pronounced: VOL-plane, verb

Notes: I didn’t quite know this word

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Yesterday’s word

The word scamander means “to take a winding course”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

A useful word to drop in where appropriate – it is named after the Scamander river in Turkey, which was named after a river god in Greek mythology. The modern name of the river is Karamenderes.