pelagic

Pronounced: puh-LAH-jick, adj

Notes: My guess was way off regarding the definition of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word homunculus is

  • a tiny human being
  • [an early belief] a fully-formed miniature human being present in the male or female reproductive cells
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

In the classic British Sci-Fi show Doctor Who, one of the most popular actors to play the title role is Tom Baker. One of his stories, The Talons of Weng-Chiang is always ranked near or at the top of the best of the classic Doctor Who shows. In that show, there is a criminal from 51st century earth who brings with him something called “the Peking Homunculus”, which is a kind of android using the brain of a pig. That is my only encounter with our word, and it didn’t really help with the definition. Our word came from the Latin word homunculus (little man), which is just a diminutive of homo (man).

homunculus

Pronounced: huh-MUNG-kyuh-luhs (alt: HO-mung-kyuh-luhs), noun

Notes: I’ve heard the word, but it didn’t help

Yesterday’s word

The word shivaree is “a nosy mock serenade to a newly married couple”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

In the 1800s, a newly married couple would have a mock serenade with pots, pans, or homemade instruments. The reference material for our word says that such a “serenade” was more common for second marriages or other “incongruous” marriages (such as a significant age discrepancy). I wonder if the idea of celebrating a marriage with noise descends from this tradition – we have probably seen (on television or in movies) cars labeled “Just Married” with tin cans tied behind it. In some places, there is a tradition of driving around and honking cars to the new couple. In the eastern United States, this practice was called a “serenade”; it was in the central US and Canada that our word was used; it came from the French word charivari (the same custom in France). The origin of the French word is not known for sure.

shivaree

Pronounced: shih-vuh-REE, noun

Notes: This word sounds slightly familiar, but I don’t have any recollection of it

Yesterday’s word

The word jaundiced means

  • prejudiced (biased) because of envy or resentment
  • having jaundice (a disease in which the skin or the whites of the eyes is unnaturally yellow)
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

I knew of the second meaning above; in fact, I knew a young man in college who was given a shot from an unclean needle that gave him jaundice. I still remember how oddly yellow his eyes looked. However, I was incorrect regarding the first definition; I thought that the word meant “cynically jaded”. Our word came from the Old French word jaunice (yellowness), which came from jaune (yelllow), which came from the Latin word galbinus (yellowish), which came from galbus (yellow).

jaundiced

Pronounced: JAWN-dist, adj

Notes: I didn’t have one definition right

Yesterday’s word

The word langueur is “a dull and tedious passage or section (as of a book, play, or musical composition)”. It is usually found in the plural form.

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

I have run across, in my reading, passages that are langueurs – as I assume most people have, but I didn’t know that there was a word for it. Our word is pronounced like “longer”, except that the emphasis is on the second syllable. Our word came from the French word longueurs (tedious passages), which came from longueur (length). One of the earliest English uses (perhaps the first) was by Horace Walpole writing about James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson.

longueur

Pronounced: long-GUHR, noun

Notes: This word is frequently pluralized

Yesterday’s word

The word libertine means, as a noun, a person who is morally unrestrained. As an adjective, it means “unrestrained by conventions or morality”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1300s

Background / Comments

Our word brings back the memory of the film “The Music Man” – pretty early in the film “Professor” Harold Hill (played by Robert Preston) is speaking against the new pool table… in part of his “Ya Got Trouble” spiel, he mentions “…libertine men and scarlet women and ragtime – shameless music!” I have run across our word in a few books, but usually older ones. Our word came from the Latin word libertinus (freedman), which came from liber (free).

libertine

Pronounced: LIB-uhr-teen, noun/adj

Notes: This word is not used much anymore

Yesterday’s word

The word factoid means

  • an invented fact believed to be true because of its appearance in print
  • a briefly stated and usually trivial fact
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1970s

Background / Comments

When our word was first coined (by Norman Mailer), he meant it in the first definition above. The suffix -oid came from the ancient Greek word eidos (appearance; form). Just as “humanoid” refers to something that appears human (but isn’t), so was factoid originally used. The meaning has changed over time and now is used primarily with the second definition above.

factoid

Pronounced: FAK-toyd, noun

Notes: I didn’t know both definitions

Yesterday’s word

The word mythomane means, as a noun, “one having a tendency to exaggerate or lie”. As an adjective, it means “having a tendency to exaggerate of lie”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

Our word came from two Greek words: mythos (myth) and -mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze).

mythomane

Pronounced: MYTH-uh-mane, noun/adj

Notes: Another word I didn’t recognize

Yesterday’s word

The word Pecksniffian means “unctuously hypocritical; sanctimonious”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I recognized our word; I knew it came from a character created by Charles Dickens — but that’s all I knew. The character (Seth Pecksniff) comes from the novel Martin Chuzzlewit (published in 1843): he would brag about his virtue and preach morality, but he was a selfish, deceptive scoundrel. It didn’t take long after the novel was out before the word started being used as a synonym of “hypocrite”. I especially like the phrase “unctuously hypocritical” in the definition above.

Pecksniffian

Pronounced: peck-SNIH-fee-uhn, adj

Notes: I recognized the word, but couldn’t properly define it

Yesterday’s word

The word ultracrepidarian means, as an adjective, “giving opinions beyond one’s area of expertise”. As a noun, it means “one who gives opinions beyond one’s area of expertise”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word has an interesting story behind the word. Our word came from the Latin words ultra (beyond) and crepidarious (shoemaker), which came from crepida (sandal). How did a shoemaker get into our word? Thus the story: In ancient Greece, a famous painter named Apelles would display his paintings and then hide behind them to listen to the comments. One day a cobbler came by and noted that the sole of a shoe was not painted correctly. Apelles heard this and corrected the painting; the cobbler was emboldened by this and begin to comment on other parts of the painting, but the artist stopped him by stating “Ne sutor ultra crepidam” [Shoemaker, not above the sandal], meaning he should stick to what he knew. There is a temptation in all of us to be an ultracrepidarian.

ultracrepidarian

Pronounced: utl-truh-krep-ih-DAYR-ee-uhn, adj/noun

Notes: Quite the long word!

Yesterday’s word

The word ruly means “obedient; orderly”

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-to-late 1300s

Background / Comments

You probably guessed the correct meaning if you thought of “unruly”. In fact, “unruly” is the older word, and our word is what is called a “back-formation”. Our word came from the Middle English word reuly (disciplined), which came from the Middle English word reule, from which we get “rule”.