Category Archives: word

Pronounced: mith-uh-MAY-nee-uh, noun Notes: Parsing this word, I thought it was an obsession with myths, but that’s not it. Yesterday’s word The word saporific means “that which produces flavor or taste” First usage The word is relatively old – coming into English in the late 1600s Background / Comments Our word is only one letterContinue reading “mythomania”

Pronounced: sap-uh-RIFF-ick, adj Notes: It is very close in spelling to soporific, which is a different word Yesterday’s word The word kayfabe means “portrayal of staged events as real, especially in professional wrestling” First usage This word is a relatively recent word and came into English in the 1980s Background / Comments The origin ofContinue reading “saporific”

Pronounced: KAY-fayb, noun Notes: I don’t think I’ve every run across this word Yesterday’s word The word hortatory means “urging some course of positive action; encouraging” First usage The word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I confess that I’ve frequently mispronounced this word; I thought it was HOAR-uh-tore-ee, and IContinue reading “kayfabe”

Pronounced: HAWR-tuh-tawr-ee (alt: HAWR-tuh-tore-ee), adj Notes: I’ve been mis-pronouncing this word, and possible also misspelling it… I think I’ve been influenced by hearing others mis-pronounce it (see tomorrow’s comments) Yesterday’s word The word whataboutery is “the practice of responding to an accusation by making a counter-accusation, real or imaginary, relevant or irrelevant” First usage ThisContinue reading “hortatory”

Pronounced: what-uh-BOUT-uhr-ee, noun Notes: This word makes me laugh… a bit. Most of us have experienced whataboutery Yesterday’s word The word Panglossian means “having extreme optimism, despite ongoing hardship, difficulty, or adversity” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments I thought for sure I would know this, since IContinue reading “whataboutery”

Pronounced: pan-GLOSS-ee-uhn (alt: pan-GLAW-see-uhn) Notes: Not at all what I thought (more on this tomorrow) Yesterday’s phrase The phrase bush league, as a noun, is “a minor league of a professional sport”; most frequently used of baseball. As an adjective, it means “second-rate; unpolished; or amateurish” First usage Our phrase dates back to the earlyContinue reading “Panglossian”

Pronounced: bush leeg, noun/adj Notes: I almost didn’t include this, but decided to do so Yesterday’s word The word empyreal means “of, or relating to, the sky or heavens; celestial” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1400s Background / Comments I tend to use the first first of the four pronunciations.Continue reading “bush league”

Pronounced: em-PIR-ee-uhl (alt 1: em-PIE-ree-uhl; alt 2: em-puh-REE-uhl; alt 3: em-pie-REE-uhl) Note: Wow, I don’t think I’ve run across a word with four different pronunciations Yesterday’s phrase The phrase gung ho, as most people know, means “extremely eager and enthusiastic” First usage This phrase came into English in the 1940s Background / Comments It isContinue reading “empyreal”

Pronounced: gung hoe Notes: I assume nearly everyone know the meaning of this phrase; I’ve included it because I found the background interesting. Yesterday’s word The word oniomania means “the uncontrollable urge to but things” – we tend to use “shop-a-holic” to describe someone instead of this word. Ah, English, with the many ways toContinue reading “gung ho”

Pronounced: oh-nee-uh-MAY-nee-uh (alt: oh-nee-uh-MAIN-yuh), noun Notes: So, take your choice of five or six syllables; I would tend to use the first pronunciation (thus, six). We have another word for this that is more commonly used Yesterday’s word The word synoptic means relating to a summary or general view of something covering a wide areaContinue reading “oniomania”