Category Archives: word

Pronounced: DES-wih-tood (alt: DES-wih-tyood), noun Notes: My guess at the meaning was just… wrong Yesterday’s word The word squib is First usage Our word came into English in the early 1500s Background / Comments I think most of the reading in which I’ve run across this word has been English, and it usually seems toContinue reading “desuetude”

Pronounced: skwib, noun Notes: I knew one definition (the reference has three) Yesterday’s word The word acuity means “sharpness; keenness” First usage Our word came into English around 1400 Background / Comments I have read the phrase “visual acuity” somewhere, and thought it meant “excellent”, so I was close. Our word came from French, whichContinue reading “squib”

Pronounced: uh-KYOO-ih-tee, noun Notes: I was close to the meaning Yesterday’s word The word distrait means “apprehensively divided or withdrawn in attention; distracted” First usage Our word came into English twice; first in the 1400s and again in the mid-1700s (see the comments below) Background / Comments Our word came from the Anglo-French word distrait,Continue reading “acuity”

Pronounced: dih-STRAY, adj Notes: I’ve been running into this word a lot lately; it’s a useful word to know, with an interesting history Yesterday’s phrase The phrase secret of Polichinelle is “a supposed secret that’s widely known; an open secret” First usage Our phrase came into English in the mid-1800s Background / Comments Our phraseContinue reading “distrait”

Pronounced: SEE-krit of po-LISH-ih-nel, noun Notes: This phrase is new to me Yesterday’s word The word superficies means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I thought that this word referred to things sticking out of an object; something like spikes or knobs. Interestingly, although our word ends withContinue reading “secret of Polichinelle”

Pronounced: su-puhr-FIH-sheez, noun Notes: I had a rough idea of the meaning Yesterday’s phrase The phrase silk-stocking district is “a part of a city that is inhabited by the rich and powerful” First usage Our phrase came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments I think I’ve run across this phrase in olderContinue reading “superficies”

Pronounced: silk-STOCK-ing dis-trikt, noun Notes: You can probably guess the meaning of this phrase, even if you don’t know it Yesterday’s word The word pasquinade is First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word has an interesting history: in 1501, a ancient marble statue was unearthed in RomeContinue reading “silk-stocking district”

Pronounced: pa-skwuh-NADE, noun [note: The ‘pa’ in NOT pronounced like the shortcut word for father (that would be ‘pah’ – the ‘a’ is short as in ‘mat’] Notes: This sounds like something I ought to recognize, but I didn’t Yesterday’s word The word arrant means “complete; thorough” First usage Our word came into English inContinue reading “pasquinade”

Pronounced: AR-uhnt, adj Notes: This word sound like errant, but has a different meaning Yesterday’s word The word malapert means “impudently bold; saucy” First usage Our word came into English around 1400 Background / Comments You probably (as I did) recognized the mal- prefix (bad; badly), which came from the Latin word malus. The secondContinue reading “arrant”

Pronounced: ma-luh-PUHRT, adj Notes: I see a kind of opposite to “expert” in this word (but I’m wrong) Yesterday’s word The word ambage means “ambiguity; circumlocution” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1300s Background / Comments A shortcut word for “ambiguous”. Our word came from the Middle English word ambages (equivocation); ourContinue reading “malapert”