Category Archives: word

Pronounced: (not providing: it’s just “happen + chance”), noun/adj Notes: You probably know what this means, but I didn’t know it was a word Yesterday’s word The word nostomania is “an irresistible compulsion to return home; intense homesickness” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I don’t really knowContinue reading “happenchance”

Pronounced: nos-tuh-MAY-nee-uh (alt: nos-tuh-MAIN-yuh), noun Notes: Another new word to me, but not what it is Yesterday’s word The word tromometer is “an instrument for detecting or measuring faint tremors caused by an earthquake” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments The first thing I thought when IContinue reading “nostomania”

Pronounced: troh-MOM-ih-turr, noun Notes: I was puzzled when I read the definition (more tomorrow) Yesterday’s word The word panivorous means “subsisting on bread; bread-eating” First usage Our word came into English in the early-to-mid 1800s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday, I was too smart for my own good yesterday: I saw “pan” andContinue reading “tromometer”

Pronounced: pa-NIV-er-uhs, adj Notes: This is one of those times when too much knowledge threw me off Yesterday’s word The word factious means “divisive; seditious; related to or arising from faction” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I had been thinking more “argumentative” than “divisive”; thus, my meaningContinue reading “panivorous”

Pronounced: FAK-shus, adj Notes: I was close to the meaning, but not quite, so I’ve added it. Maybe you know it? Yesterday’s word The word exiguous means “scanty; meager; small; slender” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments For some reason, I thought our word meant “hard; difficult” insteadContinue reading “factious”

Pronounced: ig-ZIG-you-us (alt: ik-SIG-you-us), adj Notes: I was quite mistaken as to this word’s meaning Yesterday’s word The word argle-bargle means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I wonder if this word has mutated further; I have heard people use the phrase “argie-bargie” with exactly the same meaningContinue reading “exiguous”

Pronounced: ARR-gull BAR-gull, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but I happen to know a similar one Yesterday’s word The word tutoyer means “to address someone, especially in French, using the familiar forms of the pronoun “you” instead of the more formal forms; to address familiarly” First usage Our word came into English inContinue reading “argle-bargle”

Pronounced: too-twah-YEA, verb Notes: I didn’t know the word… but I did encounter the meaning when I took Spanish Yesterday’s word The word tussie-mussie is “a small bouquet of flowers”; it is also known a a posy or a nosegay. First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments I amContinue reading “tutoyer”

Pronounced: TUSS-ee-MUSS-ee, noun Notes: I know some of the synonyms of this word, but not this word Yesterday’s word The word wisenheimer means “a wiseacre or smart aleck” First usage Our word came into English in the 1910s Background / Comments As I mentioned, I think I heard this word a long time ago, butContinue reading “tussie-mussie”

Pronounced: WHY-zuhn-hi-mer, noun Notes: I think I have heard this word, but it’s been many years since I’ve run across it Yesterday’s word The word hugger-mugger means, as a noun “confusion or secret”. As verb, it means “to keep secret or act in a secretive manner”. As an adjective, it means “confused or secret”. AsContinue reading “wisenheimer”