Category Archives: word

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 a lampoon posted in a public place satirical writing; satire First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Our word has an interesting history:Continue 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”

Pronounced: AM-bij, noun Notes: A new word for me Yesterday’s word The word sententious means given to or abounding in aphoristic expression or excessive moralizing terse in expression in the manner of an aphorism First usage Our word came into English in the first half of the 1400s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday,Continue reading “ambage”

Pronounced: sen-TEN(T)-shuhs, adj Notes: I had the spelling and the meaning incorrect Yesterday’s phrase The phrase royal road is “an easy way to achieve something” First usage Our phrase came into English in the late 1700s Background / Comments This is a neat phrase that I would love to drop into conversations as the needContinue reading “sententious”

Pronounced: ROY-uhl road, noun Notes: I’ve not run across this phrase Yesterday’s word The word jackanapes is an impudent or conceited fellow a saucy or mischievous child monkey; ape First usage Our word came into English in the first half of the 1400s Background / Comments When I run across our word, I saw itContinue reading “royal road”

Pronounced: JAH-kuh-napes, noun Notes: You may know this word, but I found the origin interesting Yesterday’s word The word basilic means “kingly; royal” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1700s Background / Comments Our word came from the Latin word basilicus, which came from the Greek word basilikos (royal). As I notedContinue reading “jackanapes”

Pronounced: buh-SIL-ick (alt: buh-ZIL-ick), adj Notes: I didn’t know the word, but I mostly know a root Yesterday’s word The word abyssal means unfathomable of or relating to the bottom waters of the ocean depths First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments There is some strange things aboutContinue reading “basilic”

Pronounced: uh-BIH-suhl, adj Notes: When I first glanced at this word, I thought it was “abysmal” (which meaning I know) Yesterday’s word The word interregnum means “the period between the end of a reign and the beginning of the next; a time when there is no ruler” First usage Our word came into English inContinue reading “abyssal”