Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day
Words that I do not know
Pronounced: NETS-kay, noun
Notes: The pronunciation was not at all what I thought
The word macher is
Our word came into English in the 1910s
As I noted yesterday, I didn’t know what our word meant, but I thought it looked like “maker”… as it turns out, our word came from the Yiddish word makher, which came from the German word macher (maker; doer).
Pronounced: MOCK-uhr, noun
Notes: I wasn’t right in the definition, but I was close in the origin
The word argy-bargy is “a lively discussion; argument; dispute”
Our word came into English around 1600
I think that the alternate pronunciation was new to me because I have heard this word on some show from the UK using the first pronunciation. There is also a variant (“argle-bargle”). Both argy and argle are words that in some English and Scottish dialects of the word “argue”. However, there is no record of a word “bargy” or “bargle”; it is thought that the final word was added as a king of singsong reduplication of argy/argle. Synonyms are “donnybrook” and “contretemps”, but “donnybrook” implies a fight or brawl, and “contretemps” implies just an embarrassing mischance.
Pronounced: are-jee-BAR-jee (alt: are-gee-BAR-gee), noun
Notes: The alternate pronunciation was new to me
The word ganef is “a thief, swindler, or rascal”
Our word came into English in the 1920s
As I noted yesterday, I have run across a variant of our word; specifically, “gonif” in some novel or short story. The meaning was clear from the context, but I was completely unaware that there were alternate spellings. Our word came from Yiddish, which came from the Hebrew word gannabh (thief).
Pronounced: GAH-nuff, noun
Notes: Also spelled gonif, goniff, or ganif – I have run across one of these variants
The word bodacious means
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
I have a recollection from my youth of reading some comic strip that was about hillbillies, and our word was used. The title escapes me, but I think it may have been “Snuffy Smith”. The background to this question is not known for certain; it is thought that it may be a combination of “bold” and “audacious”. In addition, there is a British word “boldacious” that may be linked in some manner to our word.
Pronounced: boh-DAY-shuhs, adj
Notes: I have read this word, but I didn’t know all of the definitions
The word pernancy means “a taking or receiving of rent, profit, etc”
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Our word is another one that came about by switching some sounds around – it came from the Anglo-French word pernance (taking), which came from prendre, which came from the Latin word prehendre (to seize). It’s a nice fancy word for “collect rent”, but I don’t recall running across this word.
Pronounced: PURR-nun-see, noun
Notes: Another word I don’t know
The word refractory means
Our word came into English in the early 1600s
After reading the definition (especially the first one), a faint chord of remembrance stirred — I think I have run across our word somewhere. Our word came from the Latin word refragari (to oppose).
Pronounced: rih-FRAK-tree (alt: rih-FRAK-tuh-ree), adj
Notes: I thought this was related to the refraction of light (I was wrong)
The word girn means, as a verb, “to snarl, grimace, or complain”. As a noun, it means “a grimace or snarl”
Our word came into English in the mid-1400s
I said yesterday that it looked like a misspelling of “grin” and, as it turns out, that it does come from transposition of the letters “r” and “i” in “grin” — the definition is different from “grin”, but it comes from the Old English word grennian (to show teeth).
Pronounced: GURN, verb/noun
Notes: Looks like a misspelled “grin”
The word tweep is “a person who uses Twitter (for anyone who doesn’t know, Twitter is a online messaging service – it’s now called “X”).
Our word came into English in the first decade of the 2000s
I am not really a Twitter (X) user, so I have not heard the our word. I do know that the messages are called “tweets”. Our word is what is known as a portmanteau word: a combination of tweet and peeps (slang for “people”).
Pronounced: TWEEP, noun
Notes: This word is specialized; some people may know this word (I didn’t)
The word sprattle means, as a noun, “a scramble or struggle”. As a verb it means “to scramble or struggle”
Our word came into English around 1500
Our word came from the Scottish word sprattle, which came from switching the sounds in the word spartle (to scatter).
Pronounced: SPRAT-uhl, noun/verb
Notes: It doesn’t mean to talk pointlessly with a lisp (heh)
The word yips is “a state of nervous tension affecting an athlete (such as a golfer) in the performance of a crucial action”
Our word came into English in the 1960s
I don’t watch golf, where our word is usually used. The normal phrase I’ve heard in similar situations is “to fail in a clutch situation”. The origin is not certain — not even if our word has any relationship with “yip” (the quick bark of a dog).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day