Category Archives: word

Pronounced: kuhn-VOKE, verb Notes: Interesting thoughts Yesterday’s word The word epigram is “a short witty saying, often in verse” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I confused our word with “pangram”. A famous Benjamin Franklin epigram is “Little strokes/Fell great oaks”. Our word came from the Latin wordContinue reading “convoke”

Pronounced: EP-ih-gram, noun Notes: I get this word confused with another word Yesterday’s word The word prolix means First usage Our word came into English around 1400 Background / Comments I like having an alternative to “verbose” and “wordy”; in addition, I thought that this would be a great Scrabble word. It seems that ourContinue reading “epigram”

Pronounced: PRO-licks, adj Notes: An interesting word Yesterday’s word The word clerihew is “a humorous, pseudo-biographical verse of four lines of uneven length, using the rhyming scheme AABB and with the first line containing the name of the subject” First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments Our word cameContinue reading “prolix”

Pronounced: KLER-uh-hyoo, noun Notes: I save off words to use in these posts; this word I ran across nine years ago, and I don’t remember it at all. Yesterday’s word The word depredate means First usage Our word came into English in the early 1600s Background / Comments As I noted yesterday, I get ourContinue reading “clerihew”

Pronounced: DEH-pruh-date, verb Notes: I get this word confused with a similar one Yesterday’s word The word tumulus is First usage Our word came into English in the late 1600s Background / Comments I have heard “barrow” for many years, but I’ve never heard our word used. It came from the Latin word tumere (toContinue reading “depredate”

Pronounced: TOO-myuh-luhs (alt: TYOO-myuh-luhs), noun Notes: I’ve never heard this word, but I do know a synonym Yesterday’s word The word phatic means “of, relating to, or being speech used for social or emotive purposes rather than for communicating information” First usage Our word came into English in the 1920s Background / Comments If youContinue reading “tumulus”

Pronounced: FAH-tick, adj Notes: Not what I thought, and not related to the word I thought it was Yesterday’s word The word poltroon is “an utter coward” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1500s Background / Comments I keep thinking I first heard this word during an after-school cartoon (maybe Bugs Bunny?Continue reading “phatic”

Pronounced: pol-TROON Notes: I’ve heard this word, but wasn’t sure of the meaning Yesterday’s word The word trenchant means First usage Our word came into English in the late 1200s or the early 1300s Background / Comments I thought that our word meant “dedicated”; I think I confused our word with “trencherman”. Our word cameContinue reading “poltroon”

Pronounced: TREN-chuhnt, adj Notes: Not quite what I thought (but at least I pronounced it correctly) Yesterday’s word The word imprimis means “in the first place” First usage Our word came into English in the mid-1400s Background / Comment For some reason, I thought that our word had to do with books. It is aContinue reading “trenchant”

Pronounced: im-PRY-miss (alt: im-PREE-miss), adv Notes: This word wasn’t quite what I thought Yesterday’s word The word insouciance is “lighthearted unconcern; nonchalance” First usage Our word came into English around 1800 Background / Comments Our word came from French, where is it a combination of in- (negative) and soucier (to trouble or disturb). The wordContinue reading “imprimis”