Category Archives: word

Pronounced: KLER-uh-see, noun Notes: This word makes me think of a disease (but it isn’t!) Yesterday’s word The word Yarra-banker is First usage Our word came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments The Yarra is a river in Victoria, Australia. The bank of that river was a hangout for vagrants, soapbox orators,Continue reading “clerisy”

Pronounced: YAHR-uh-bank-uhr, noun Notes: Certain people may know this word (I didn’t) Yesterday’s word The word nabob is First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments As you might have guessed, the first definition above was the original meaning, which came from the Urdu title nawab for the provincial governor.Continue reading “Yarra-banker”

Pronounced: NAY-bob, noun Notes: You may know this word; I was close, but the origin is interesting Yesterday’s word The word Chadband is “an oily, hypocritical person” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our word is another one that came from a book by Charles Dickens: Bleak HouseContinue reading “nabob”

Pronounced: CHAD-band, noun Notes: You may know this word if you are well read; it was new to me Yesterday’s word The word toothsome means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments If you think (as I did) that our word can mean “toothy”, you (and I) are right;Continue reading “Chadband”

Pronounced: TOOTH-sum, adj Notes: I thought this word meant something like having or showing a lot of teeth Yesterday’s word The word perforce means “out of necessity” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1300s Background / Comments I thought that our word meant “by force”, which is is reasonable because it cameContinue reading “toothsome”

Pronounced: purr-FORCE, adv Notes: This didn’t mean what I thought it meant… Yesterday’s word The word dundrearies is “long, flowing sideburns” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our was named after Lord Dundreary, a character in the play Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor. Lord Dundreary had long,Continue reading “perforce”

Pronounced: done-DRIR-eez, noun Notes: This word has an interesting tie-in with a US President Yesterday’s word The word totes means “totally; absolutely; definitely” First usage Our word came into English in the 2000s (2000-2009)! Background / Comments I think our word is the first one from the 21st century. It is merely a shortening ofContinue reading “dundrearies”

Pronounced: tohts, adv Notes: This may be newest word I’ve featured to date (and it’s not a brand name) Yesterday’s word The word salvo means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments The first meaning was the original meaning, and it referred to a salvo used as aContinue reading “totes”

Pronounced: SAL-voh, noun Notes: I thought this was a synonym for “gunfire”, but that’s not correct Yesterday’s word The word ambivert is “one having the characteristics of both an extrovert and an introvert” First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments At first glance, our word seems to have contradictoryContinue reading “salvo”

Pronounced: AM-bih-vuhrt, noun Notes: This is another word that I didn’t know the meaning of, but after reading it, it made sense Yesterday’s word The word zaftig means “having a full rounded figure; pleasantly plump” First usage Our word came into English in the 1930s Background / Comments Our word came from the Yiddish wordContinue reading “ambivert”