affectious

Pronounced: uh-FEK-shuhs, adj

Notes: You might be able to guess the meaning of this one… and do you see anything interesting in our word?

Yesterday’s word

The word cacography means

  • bad handwriting
  • bad spelling
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I should have been able to guess the meaning of our word, as I should have recognized the parts of the word: it comes from the Greek words kakos (bad) and graphein (writing). It is, more or less, the opposite of ‘calligraphy’ (beautiful writing). These days, our word is usually used in the first meaning above; however, back in the early days of our word, it was used to mean the second definition above. At the time our word came into English, spelling was not standardized, and people spelled words as they thought made sense to them. Note that the Authorized Version of the Bible in 1611 greatly helped to stabilize the English language.

cacography

Pronounced: ka-KAH-gruh-fee, noun

Notes: I should have known the meaning of this word

Yesterday’s word

The word quacksalver means “a quack; one pretending to have skills or knowledge – especially in medicine”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1500s

Background / Comments

I was familiar with the word “quack”; what I didn’t know was that it is a shortening of our word. Our word comes from an obsolete Dutch word that is now kwakzalver, which is made up of quack (boast) and salve (ointment).

quacksalver

Pronounced: QUACK-sal-vuhr, noun

Notes: An interesting word

Yesterday’s word

The word quotidian means

  • occurring every day
  • belonging to each day; everyday
  • commonplace; ordinary
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1300s

Background / Comments

What a great word to swap out for “daily”! Our word comes form the Latin word quotīdiānus / cottīdiānus (daily), which comes from the adverb cottīdiē (every day). The root is quot (however may occur; every) combined with diē (day).

quotidian

Pronounced: kwoh-TIH-dee-uhn, adj

Notes: A good word to know and use

Yesterday’s word

The word jaculate means “to emit or hurl”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1600s

Background / Comments

Our word comes from the Latin word jaculare (to dart), which comes from jaculum (dart; javelin), which comes from jacere (to throw).

jaculate

Pronounced: JACK-yuh-late, verb

Notes: Another new word for me

Yesterday’s word

The word benedict is “a newly married man who has long been a bachelor”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

Our word traces back to Shakespeare; specifically, the play Much Ado About Nothing: Benedick and Beatrice are two of the characters that exchange barbed comments and both claim to detest marriage. However, at the end of the play, these two marry each other. Thus, the name Benedick came to mean a man who married later in life. Over time, the spelling was changed to benedict (there is a little evidence – very little evidence – that benedict meant “bachelor” at one point in time). Our word isn’t used much these days; if you like to use rare words, drop this into your conversation.

benedict

Pronounced: BEH-nuh-dikt, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word existed

Yesterday’s word

The word gramarye is “occult learning; magic”

First usage

Our word is old; coming into English in the early 1300s

Background / Comments

I don’t do much reading in that area, so the word was unknown to me. It comes from the Old French word gramaire (grammar; book of magic), which came from the Greek word gramma (letter).

gramarye

Pronounced: GRAM-uh-ree, noun

Notes: Some people may know this; it has a pretty specific meaning

Yesterday’s word

The word flack means “to provide publicity: engage in press-agentry”

First usage

Our word didn’t come into English until the 1960s

Background / Comments

After seeing the definition, I recalled hearing or reading the phrase “to flack for <someone>”, which is the meaning of our word. I thought the noun might refer to anti-aircraft gun-fire, but that word is “flak”. The noun version of our word means “publicity agent” and came into usage in the 1930s. Our word derived from the noun form. Officially, the origin of the noun form is said to be unknown; however, one story is that the word originated as a tribute to Gene Flack, a well-known publicist of the 1930s. Another story is the origin is a similar-sounded Yiddish word that refers to someone who talks about someone else’s affairs.

flack

Pronounced: FLAK, verb

Notes: I know the noun, but do you know the verb?

Yesterday’s word

The word bibulous means

  • excessively fond of drinking
  • highly absorbent
First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1600s

Background / Comments

As I noted, I was close to the definition because the word made me think of the Spanish word “beber” (to drink), which is pretty close to the first definition. In fact, our word comes from the Latin word bibere (to drink).

bibulous

Pronounced: BIB-yuh-luhs, adj

Notes: I was close to the definition

Yesterday’s word

The word quidnunc is “a person who seeks to know all the latest news or gossip; busybody”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1700s

Background / Comments

While the word “busybody” is very descriptive, our word is a good one to sprinkle into conversation. A busybody or gossip always wants to know “what’s new?”. The Latin equivalent of this question is “quid nunc”; literally, “what now”… and this became our word.

quidnunc

Pronounced: KWID-nunk, noun

Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I like it a lot

Yesterday’s word

The word fastuous means

  • haughty; arrogant
  • pretentious
First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1600s

Background / Comments

As I noted, I know the word fatuous”, but that’s not related. A word that is related to our word is “fastidious” (they trace back to the same word). Our word comes from the Latin word fastuosus, which comes from fastus (arrogance; pride).