The word for today is… purloin (verb) – : to appropriate wrongfully and often by a breach of trust Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The word purloin features in the title of a famous Edgar Allan Poe story in its past tense form: “The Purloined Letter” was included in Poe’s 1845 Tales,
chimera (noun) – 1 a capitalized : a fire-breathing she-monster in Greek mythology having a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail b : an imaginary monster compounded of incongruous parts 2 : an illusion or fabrication of the mind 3 : an individual, organ, or part consisting of tissues
The word for today is… lodestone (noun) – 1 : magnetite possessing polarity 2 : something that strongly attracts Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Lodestone is made up of distinctly English components, ones that have been part of our language since before the 12th century. “Lode” comes from the Old English “lad,” which means
The word for today is… weird (noun, adjective) – noun: 1 : fate, destiny 2 : soothsayer adjective: 1 : of strange or extraordinary character 2 : of, relating to, or caused by witchcraft or the supernatural Source : Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology : Noun. Middle English wird, werd, going back to Old English wyrd, going back
The word for today is… obstreperous (adjective) – 1 : marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness 2 : stubbornly resistant to control Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The handy Latin prefix ob-, meaning “in the way,” “against,” or “toward,” occurs in many Latin and English words. “Obstreperous” comes from ob- plus strepere, a verb
The word for today is… folderol (noun) – 1 : a useless ornament or accessory 2 : nonsense Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Hogwash. Claptrap. Hooey. Drivel. Malarkey. English is rife with words that mean “nonsense,” and “folderol” is one of the many. Though not the most common of the words for nonsense, it’
discomfit (verb, noun) – verb: 1 : to put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment : 2a : to frustrate the plans of b archaic : to defeat in battle noun: the state of being confused, embarrassed, or upset Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Disconcerted by discomfit and discomfort? Here’s a little usage history
Roshaya Rodness University of Toronto Roshaya Rodness received their PhD from McMaster University in 2018 in the Department of English & Cultural Studies. Their research looks specifically to the history of queer film and visual culture to explore radical and promissory forms of social being that are unexpectedly revealed by
Magda Osman Queen Mary University of London The ethos of Magda Osman’s work has been to take a critical eye to well accepted views and challenge the status quo. As a result, her research interests cover a range of areas that include decision-making, learning, problem-solving, biases, risk and uncertainty,
Dunedin Mum I’m overweight. It’s my spoon’s fault, of course. Try as I might to be thin, that spoon keeps treating me badly, forcing me to fail my diet, forcing me to eat too much, then blaming me for my fatness. I am an innocent victim of
The word for today is… pristine (adjective) – 1 : belonging to the earliest period or state 2a : not spoiled, corrupted, or polluted (as by civilization) b : fresh and clean as or as if new Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : When pristine was anglicized in the 16th century, people borrowed the meanings of
The word for today is… minatory (adjective) – having a menacing quality Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Knowing that minatory means “threatening,” can you take a guess at a related word? If you’re familiar with mythology, perhaps you guessed Minotaur, the name of the bull-headed, people-eating monster of Crete. Minotaur is
The word for today is… bunkum (noun) – : insincere or foolish talk Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Some words in our language have more colorful histories than others, but in the case of bunkum, you could almost say it was an act of Congress that brought the word into being. Back in
Jeff Thomas internationalman.com Traditionally, inflation has been defined as “an increase in the amount of currency in circulation.” Such an increase almost always causes an increase in the cost of goods and services, since, more plentiful currency units lowers their rarity, as compared to the supply of goods and
The word for today is… brusque (adjective) – 1 : markedly short and abrupt a brusque reply 2 : blunt in manner or speech often to the point of ungracious harshnes Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : We borrowed “brusque” from French in the 1600s. The French, in turn, had borrowed it from Italian, where
Rodney Hide bassettbrashandhide.com Rodney Hide is former ACT Party leader, and Minister in the National-ACT Government from 2008 to 2011 It turns out numbers can be racist. Not just people. Or laws. But numbers. That’s now the size of the racism hammer. Racism explains everything. It justifies anything.
