Category Archives: word

Pronounced: shur-muh-NESK, adj Notes: You may know the origin of the word, but do you know the meaning? Yesterday’s word The word galoot means “an awkward, eccentric, or foolish person” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments In my mind’s eye, I can hear Yosemite Sam using theContinue reading “shermanesque”

Pronounced: guh-LOOT, noun Notes: I’ve heard this word in Bugs Bunny (Yosemite Sam), but I didn’t quite know the meaning Yesterday’s word The word fane means “a place of worship” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments Our word comes from the Latin word fanum (temple).

Pronounced: FAIN, noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve every run across this word Yesterday’s word The word hallux is, in humans, “the big toe”, or, more technically, “the first of innermost digit of the foot of humans and primates”. In bird, it refers to “the comparable, usually backward-directed digit”. First usage Our word came intoContinue reading “fane”

Pronounced: HAL-ucks, noun Notes: Some people may know this word Yesterday’s word The word symphysis means “a growing together” First usage Our word first came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I recognized the ‘sym-‘ (syn- or sun- in Greek) as meaning ‘together’, as in symphony (sounding together) or symbiosis (living together), butContinue reading “hallux”

Pronounced: SIM-fih-sis, noun Notes: I knew part of the word Yesterday’s word The word dalles means “the rapids of a river running between the walls of a canyon or gorge” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments The reason that our word is one that I didn’t know thatContinue reading “symphysis”

Pronounced: dolls, noun Notes: This is one of those words that I knew, but didn’t know that I knew Yesterday’s word The word politic means “tactful; shrewd” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comments Our word came from the Old French word politique (political), which came from the LatinContinue reading “dalles”

Pronounced: POLL-ih-tick, adj Notes: I’ve run across this word and had a vague idea of the meaning Yesterday’s word The word railbird is First usage Our word came into English (well, American English) in the late 1800s Background / Comments The “rail” part of this word refers, not to railroads (as I thought), but toContinue reading “politic”

Pronounced: RALE-bird, noun Notes: It looked to me like it was someone fond of trains, but no Yesterday’s phrase The phrase salad days means First usage Our phrase came about in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our phrase would appear to have been invented by Shakespeare, and was used in the play Antony andContinue reading “railbird”

Pronounced: [as it sounds], noun Notes: This phrase has nothing to do with diets (heh); it is one of the phrases that I have read, but I didn’t know the proper definition Yesterday’s word The word catchpenny is “a trinket; something made to sell readily at a low price, regardless of value or use” FirstContinue reading “salad days”

Pronounced: KACH-pen-ee, noun Notes: I’ve run across this word, and had an idea of the meaning, but I wasn’t quite right Yesterday’s word Curiously, the word dabster means First usage Our word came into English in the early 1700s Background / Comments It is a bit odd to have a word that has such widelyContinue reading “catchpenny”