Category Archives: word

Pronounced: ka-muh-RIH-luh, noun Notes: This one is new to me Yesterday’s word The word nimrod means First usage The first meaning came about in the early 1600s (and see the Comments below). The second meaning probably is from the 1930s, but it may have been used in that sense back in the mid-1800s by RobertContinue reading “camarilla”

Pronounced: NIM-rod, noun Notes: An interesting background Yesterday’s phrase The phrase roman à clef is “a novel in which real persons or actual events figure in disguise” (an possibly not very well disguised). First usage Our phrase came into English in the late 1800s Background / Comments In Agatha Christie’s novel The Mystery of theContinue reading “nimrod”

Pronounced: roh-mahn-ah-KLAY, noun Notes: I know a part of this phrase, but not this one Yesterday’s word The word scabrous means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1500s Background / Comments I thought our word meant “like a scab”, which possibly fist the first definition; however, the second and third definitionsContinue reading “roman à clef”

Pronounced: SKAB-russ, adj Notes: This word didn’t quite mean what I thought Yesterday’s word The word pelagic means “of, relating to, or living or occurring in the open sea; oceanic” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments Oddly enough, the meaning of our word hasn’t changed since it firstContinue reading “scabrous”

Pronounced: puh-LAH-jick, adj Notes: My guess was way off regarding the definition of this word Yesterday’s word The word homunculus is First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments In the classic British Sci-Fi show Doctor Who, one of the most popular actors to play the title role is TomContinue reading “pelagic”

Pronounced: huh-MUNG-kyuh-luhs (alt: HO-mung-kyuh-luhs), noun Notes: I’ve heard the word, but it didn’t help Yesterday’s word The word shivaree is “a nosy mock serenade to a newly married couple” First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments In the 1800s, a newly married couple would have a mock serenadeContinue reading “homunculus”

Pronounced: shih-vuh-REE, noun Notes: This word sounds slightly familiar, but I don’t have any recollection of it Yesterday’s word The word jaundiced means First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1600s Background / Comments I knew of the second meaning above; in fact, I knew a young man in college who was givenContinue reading “shivaree”

Pronounced: JAWN-dist, adj Notes: I didn’t have one definition right Yesterday’s word The word langueur is “a dull and tedious passage or section (as of a book, play, or musical composition)”. It is usually found in the plural form. First usage Our word came into English in the early 1800s Background / Comments I haveContinue reading “jaundiced”

Pronounced: long-GUHR, noun Notes: This word is frequently pluralized Yesterday’s word The word libertine means, as a noun, a person who is morally unrestrained. As an adjective, it means “unrestrained by conventions or morality” First usage Our word came into English in the late 1300s Background / Comments Our word brings back the memory ofContinue reading “longueur”

Pronounced: LIB-uhr-teen, noun/adj Notes: This word is not used much anymore Yesterday’s word The word factoid means First usage Our word came into English in the 1970s Background / Comments When our word was first coined (by Norman Mailer), he meant it in the first definition above. The suffix -oid came from the ancient GreekContinue reading “libertine”