acerbate

Pronounced: AS-uhr-bate, verb

Notes: You may know this word

Yesterday’s word

The word bootless does NOT mean “not wearing a boot”, but “useless; unprofitable” (but see the comments below)

First usage

Our word came into English before 1000

Background / Comments

Okay, our word has been used to mean “not wearing boots”, but our meaning is not related to something you wear on your feet: The boot part of our word came from the Old English word bōt (use; avail). We get the word “better” from this same Old English word.

bootless

Pronounced: It’s obvious — “BOOT” and “less”, adj

Notes: Not what I guessed

Yesterday’s word

The word shicker, as a noun, means “a drunkard; alcoholic liquor”. As an adjective, it means “drunk”, and as a verb, it means “to drink; to get drunk”.

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word came from the Yiddish word shiker, which came from the Hebrew word shikkor, which came from shakar (to be drunk).

shicker

Pronounced: SHICK-uhr, noun/adj/verb

Notes: I don’t think I’ve heard this word

Yesterday’s word

The word lucubration is “laborious or intensive study” (it can also mean, especially when used in plural, the product of such study).

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

When I glanced at our word, it looked similar to “lubrication”, so I thought it might be related (as you can see, it isn’t at all like that word). A phrase that gives the idea of this word is “burning the midnight oil” – our word came from the Latin word lucubrare (to work by lamplight). You may notice the root lux (light) in the Latin word. When our word first came into English, it meant both night-time study and the written product of such study, but as time passed, it referred to any intensive study. If you see our word today, it is usually plural and refers to stuffy scholarly writing. I like the idea of dropping this word in the place of “burning the midnight oil”.

lucubration

Pronounced: loo-kyuh-BRAY-shun, noun

Notes: Not at all what I thought (especially at a quick glance)

Yesterday’s word

The word tummler is

  • a comedian, social director, or entertainer who encourages and audience or guests to participate in entertainment activities
  • one who incites others to action
  • a lively, mischievous man
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1930s

Background / Comments

The second definition of our word would indicate that a synonym is “rabble-rouser”. Our word came from the Yiddish word tumler (one who makes a racket), which came from tumlen (to make a racket), which came from the German word tummeln (to stir). Resorts in the Catskill Mountains were popular with Jews in the 1900s, and tummlers were often found there.

tummler

Pronounced: TOOM-luhr, noun

Notes: A new word to me, and not pronounced how I thought (I though “tuhm-luhr”)

Yesterday’s word

The word obnubilate means “to make cloudy or obscure”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

Our word tends to be found in political circles (hmmm… I wonder why!? <grin>). Our word came from Latin roots, where ob- (in the way) is combined with nubes (cloud).

obnubilate

Pronounced: ahb-NEW-buh-late, verb

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I like it – it’s fun to say and can be used

Yesterday’s word

The word gunsel is

  • a gun-carrying criminal
  • a tramp’s young intimate companion
First usage

Our word came into English in the 1910s

Background / Comments

Every time I hear our word, it brings up memories of the classic film The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart. When I looked up the film, I discovered that it was the director’s first time to direct a film (how about that?!). Bogart’s character, Sam Spade, uses our word to refer to a gun-toting henchmen, and that was the only usage I knew, so the second was quite a surprise. In doing research on the word, it turns out that the film (and the book it was based on) are, in fact, the reason our word has the first meaning. The second meaning above is very delicately put; a synonym is “catamite”, but I won’t define it here (if you are curious, you can look it up). Our word is essentially an altered spelling of the Yiddish word genzel (gosling).

gunsel

Pronounced: GUN-suhl, noun

Notes: You may think you know this word, but… (see tomorrow)

Yesterday’s word

The word insuperable means “incapable of begin surmounted, overcome, passed over, or solved”

First usage

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

Background / Comments

I have heard or read this word, but I think it is misused to merely mean “hard to overcome” instead of the true meaning of “unable to be overcome”. As you might expect, our word came from Latin, where superare means “to go over, surmount, overcome, or excel”: with the addition of the prefix in- (not) and the suffix -abilis (able), we get insuperabilis, which was anglicized as our word.

insuperable

Pronounced: in-SOO-pruh-bull (alt: in-SOO-puh-ruh-bull), adj

Notes: A borderline word

Yesterday’s word

The word shadchan is “a matchmaker or a marriage-broker”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

I laughed… and then I wondered. If you looked at the pronunciation yesterday, our word sounds very much like “shotgun” … the thought of a “shadchan wedding” made me laugh. But then I wondered if the phrase “shotgun wedding” might not have come from hearing our word mispronounced. Our word came from the Yiddish word shadkhan, which came from Hebrew.

shadchan

Pronounced: SHAHT-kuhn, noun

Notes: Not a word I knew, but some people may know it

Yesterday’s word

The word presentiment is “a feeling that something will or is about to happen; premonition”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

I should have been able to get very close, as the word is a combination of pre- (before) and sentiment (feeling; emotion). Our word actually came from the French word pressentiment, but that came from the Latin word sentire (to feel). Note — the prefix pre- also came from Latin.

presentiment

Pronounced: prih-ZEN-tuh-muhnt, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but should have guessed better – it’s not that hard to work out

Yesterday’s word

The word futilitarian means, as an adjective

  • devoted to futile pursuits
  • holding the belief that human striving is useless

It has similar meanings as a noun:

  • a person devoted to futile pursuits
  • one who believes that human striving is useless
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

Our word sounded to me like a word created in the 1900s, so I was surprised to see that is came about earlier. It is a combination of futile and utilitarian and was coined by English author Robert Southey.