Word Of The Day

• chowderhead
• 
• \CHOW-der-hed\

• DEFINITION

noun

: dolt, blockhead

• EXAMPLES

"No matter how hard I have tried I cannot stop them from yelling 'Chowderhead!' and trying to poke one another's eyes out…." — From Elizabeth Berg's 2002 novel True to Form

"Many of my fellow Americans enjoy the sport of football…. If you're like me, you often opine that you could run the team, the program, or the franchise in immeasurably greater fashion than the millionaire chowderheads currently employed to do so." — From an article by Timothy Geigner at Techdirt.com, January 1, 2014

• DID YOU KNOW?

The "chowder" in "chowderhead" is neither New England nor Manhattan (though one could speculate that a chowderhead has either type of clam chowder for brains). "Chowderhead" is a mispronunciation of "jolterhead," a derivative of the 16th-century insult "jolt head." Before being extended to a thickheaded person (i.e., a blockhead), the term "jolt head" was used literally for a large, heavy head. The etymology of "jolt head" is obscure; the term is likely connected somehow to the "jolt" that means "an abrupt jerky blow or movement," but the exact nature of the connection is not known.

Word Of The Day

• meed
• 
• \MEED\

• DEFINITION

noun

: a fitting return or recompense

• EXAMPLES

For his valor displayed on the field of battle, the knight was rewarded with his due meed of praise and gratitude from the king.

"At the time, and thanks to Berger, it won its meed of attention because it was worth lots of money." — From an article by Christopher Hitchens in The Times Literary Supplement, October 5–10, 1990

• DID YOU KNOW?

The word "meed" is one of the oldest terms in our language, having been part of English for about 1,000 years. An early form of the word appeared in the Old English classic Beowulf, and it can be found in works by literary luminaries including Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, John Milton, Alexander Pope, and Ben Jonson. Its Old English form, "mēd," is akin to terms found in the ancestral versions of many European languages, including Old High German, Old Swedish, and ancient Greek. In Modern English, the venerable "meed" is most likely to be found in poetic contexts.

Word Of The Day

• soigné
• 
• \swahn-YAY\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: dressed with great care and elegance : well-groomed, sleek

2

: elegantly maintained or designed

• EXAMPLES

Wearing a fetching evening gown, Alyssa looked soigné and sophisticated and ready for the night's events.

"'Nijinsky' opens in 1919 in a hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where the artist gave his final performance before sinking into madness, surviving until 1950. This solo performance in a soigneballroom uncorks a flood of memories…." — From a dance review by Allan Ulrich in the San Francisco Chronicle, February 15, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

Not surprisingly, "soigné" comes from French, where it serves as the past participle of the verb "soigner," meaning "to take care of." It first appeared in English in the 19th century and can be used to describe such things as an elegant wardrobe, a fancy restaurant, or the extravagant meal one might enjoy at such a restaurant. It can also be used to describe people, as in an article about fashion designer Donna Karan: "Though her name is really pronounced 'Karen,' people said it with a glamorous continental inflection; it suited their image of a fashion designer: aloof, soigné, different from you and me." (Josh Patner, The New York Times, April 11, 2004)

Word Of The Day

• refulgence
• 
• \rih-FULL-junss\

• DEFINITION

noun

: a radiant or resplendent quality or state : brilliance

• EXAMPLES

The winning photo captured the refulgence of a full moon on a clear autumn night.

"The sound the Philadelphia players mustered from the heroic opening bars of Brahms's Third Symphony was the orchestra's own, showing the richness and refulgence that are this institution's legacy." — From a review by Steve Smith in The New York Times, April 30, 2012

• DID YOU KNOW?

"The full bow of the crescent moon peeps above the plain and shoots its gleaming arrows far and wide, filling the earth with a faint refulgence, as the glow of a good man's deeds shines for a while upon his little world after his sun has set, lighting the fainthearted travellers who follow on towards a fuller dawn." So British author Sir Henry Rider Haggard described the light of the moon in King Solomon's Mines. Haggard's example reflects both the modern meaning and the history of "refulgence." That word derives from Latin "refulgēre," which means "to shine brightly" and which is itself a descendant of the verb "fulgēre," meaning "to shine." By the way, "fulgēre" also underlies "effulgence," a shining synonym of "refulgence."

Word Of The Day

• simpatico
• 
• \sim-PAH-tih-koh\

• DEFINITION

adjective

1

: agreeable, likeable

2

: being on the same wavelength : congenial, sympathetic

• EXAMPLES

Even though they weren't always simpatico with regard to the direction of their company, Jerry and Michael managed to be successful partners for more than 35 years.

"Regular readers might be sick of my saying this, but there's nothing that will help you drink better wine more than getting to know a merchant or three, and letting them get to know you (or at least your palate). No holding back on your end, and you’ll know fairly quickly if you’ve found a simpatico soul." — From an article by Bill Ward in the Minnesota Star Tribune, December 24, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

"Simpatico," which derives from the Greek noun "sympatheia," meaning "sympathy," was borrowed into English from both Italian and Spanish. In those languages, the word has been chiefly used to describe people who are well-liked or easy to get along with; early uses of the word in English reflected this, as in Henry James's 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady, in which a character says of another's dying cousin, "Ah, he was so simpatico. I’m awfully sorry for you." In recent years, however, the word's meaning has shifted. Now we see it used to describe the relationship between people who get along well or work well together.

Word Of The Day

• malversation
• 
• \mal-ver-SAY-shun\

• DEFINITION

noun

1

: misbehavior and especially corruption in an office, trust, or commission

2

: corrupt administration

• EXAMPLES

The city council impeached the mayor for administrative misconduct and malversation, charging that he has used his office primarily for personal gain.

"The Office of the Ombudsman is still evaluating the plunder cases filed three months ago by the Department of Justice…. Included in the first batch of cases were 34 respondents, while at least 10 more legislators were charged, this time withmalversation, early last month." — From an article by Christian V. Esguerra in the Philippines Daily Inquirer, December 30, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

The form "mal-" is often a bad sign in a word, and "malversation" is no exception. In Middle French, "mal-" (meaning "bad," from the Latin word for "bad," "malus") teamed up with "verser" ("to turn, handle," from the Latin verb "vertere," "to turn ") to create "malverser," a verb meaning "to be corrupt." This in turn led to the French noun "malversation," which was adopted by English speakers in the mid-16th century. Some other "mal-" words that entered English from Middle French are "maladroit" ("inept"), "malcontent" ("discontented"), and "maltreat" ("to treat badly").

Word Of The Day

• pusillanimous
• 
• \pyoo-suh-LAN-uh-mus\

• DEFINITION

adjective

: lacking courage and resolution : marked by contemptible timidity

• EXAMPLES

The senator resorted to mudslinging, calling his opponent "apusillanimous pawn of special interest groups."

"Here's the pusillanimous and unprincipled attitude of the RUSU [Reading University Student Union] and its sad ilk, offered in their own words: modern university students should not do anything to give offense, and if anyone claims offense, they should stop whatever they are doing immediately." — From a blog post by Ken White at Popehat.com, October 23, 2013

• DID YOU KNOW?

Do you know someone who has a small, weak spirit, someone whose reserve of inner strength is too small to draw from in times of danger and adversity? If so, you'll find "pusillanimous" to be the perfect descriptor for that person. The Latin roots of this derisive adjective are "pusillus," meaning "very small" (and related to "pusus," meaning "boy") and "animus," which means "spirit" and is the ancestor to many words in our language, including "animal" and "animate." "Pusillanimous" first appeared in English in the 16th century, but it gained prominence in the 1970s when Vice President Spiro Agnew famously accused his ideological rivals of "pusillanimous pussyfooting."