Category Archives: word

Pronounced: rih-fah-chih-MEN-toh, noun Notes: I’ve not heard this word before, but most of us have run across rifacimenti (the plural form of rifacimento) Yesterday’s word The word hap can mean, as a noun chance; fortune an occurrence As a verb, it can mean to occur to clothe, cover, or wrap First usage The word goesContinue reading “rifacimento”

Pronounced: hap (duh), noun/verb Notes: You probably think you know the meaning (as did I), but there is one of the verb meanings that I’d not heard before (and so it made the list) Yesterday’s word The word fribble means, as a verb, “to act in a foolish, frivolous way” (often followed by ‘away’). AsContinue reading “hap”

Pronounced: FRIB-uhl, verb/noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve run across this word, and I could not guess the definition Yesterday’s word The word mithridatize means “to develop immunity to a poison by gradually increasing the dose” First usage This word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I like reading mysteries; especially theContinue reading “fribble”

Pronounced: MYTH-rih-day-tize, verb Notes: I’m surprised, given my enjoyment of mysteries, that I haven’t run across this word Yesterday’s word The word scabrous means full or problems or difficulty indecent, risqué, or scandalous First usage This word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I thought that this word might somehow beContinue reading “mithridatize”

Pronounced: SKAB-ruhs, adj Notes: Not what I thought it was… Yesterday’s word The word grimthorpe means “to restore or remodel something without paying attention to its original character, history, etc” First usage This word came into usage in the late 1800s Background / Comments Nothing to do with “grim” (although it might be considered “grim”Continue reading “scabrous”

Pronounced: GRIM-thorp, verb Notes: I don’t recall running across this word, but “grim” makes it look vaguely bad Yesterday’s word The word poetaster is “a bad poet; a writer of poor or mediocre verse” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday, I think I’veContinue reading “grimthorpe”

Pronounced: POE-it-as-ter, noun Notes: This word looks familiar; I may have posted this same word a couple of years ago when I had these on Facebook (I cannot guarantee that I’ll never repeat a word) Yesterday’s word The word subrogate means “to substitute one person or entity for another in a legal claim” First usageContinue reading “poetaster”

Pronounced: SUB-roh-gate, verb Notes: This looks like I word I should know, but I didn’t Yesterday’s word The word bushwa means “rubbish; nonsense; or baloney” First usage This word showed up in the 1910s Background / Comments As I wrote yesterday, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this word. The reference material I looked atContinue reading “subrogate”

Pronounced: BOOSH-wah (alt: BOOSH-waw), noun Notes: I’ve not run across this word Yesterday’s word The word middlescence means “the middle-age period of life” First usage This word came into usage in the 1960s Background / Comments Our word was patterned after adolescence (which came into usage in the early 1400s). Knowing that, the word nowContinue reading “bushwa”

Pronounced: mid-uhl-ESS-uhns, noun Notes: I didn’t know this word, but it is logical (you may know it with this hint) Yesterday’s word The word esse means “the essence; existence” First usage I cannot find information about when this word began to be used Background / Comments This word comes from the Latin word meaning “toContinue reading “middlescence”