Category Archives: word

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 any self-styled critic or expert in horse-racing a fan who watches races or workouts from the railing along the track” First usage Our word came into English (well, American English) in theContinue 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 a period of youthful innocence and inexperience a period of great success: heyday First usage Our phrase came about in the early 1600s Background / Comments Our phrase would appear toContinue 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 an expert a bungler First usage Our word came into English in the early 1700s Background / Comments It is a bit odd to have a wordContinue reading “catchpenny”

Pronounced: DAB-stir, noun Notes: A simple, but strange word Yesterday’s word The word vinous means of, resembling, characteristic, or containing wine produced by, indicative of, or given to indulgence in, wine First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments People with experience of wines may know this word. I thoughtContinue reading “dabster”

Pronounced: VIE-nuss, adj Notes: Another word that some people will know Yesterday’s word The word foozle means, as a verb, “to botch or bungle: especially to make a poor shot in golf”. As a noun it means “a botched attempt at something” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / CommentsContinue reading “vinous”

Pronounced: FOO-zuhl, verb/noun Notes: You may know this word, especially some people Yesterday’s word The word subfuscous means “slightly dark, dusky, or somber” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments Yesterday, I noted that I had “sort of” run across our word. In the Lord Peter Wimsey story GaudyContinue reading “foozle”