I look forward to being a curmudgeon some day.

Everything old is new again!

Yes, both fascinating and ecstatic have been watered down somewhat over the years.

The phrase fast friends was used in the not too distant past on a fairly regular basis.

And (to the point about marriage) I believe there are certain religions today that call their marriage ceremony a hand-fasting...?

From the nether-regions of the Internet: There are many terms used to describe other example specimens of a species called biological types: • Paratype, A biological specimen other than the holotype used for the development of the original description. • Isotype, A duplicate specimen of the holotype...

Funny how uagh looks both like ugh and wah...

Right. Roger that.

I'd love to know how the word transformed over the centuries to Spanish pregunta...

I'm also caught up in all the ways that 'claw' and 'nail' share their linguistic roots...

And I reckon there is a connection to enclave and cleave...?

Awww mannn.... and I didn't even get credit for the suggestion!

I think placing commas between the words that form the zeugma would allow the expression to be understood more easily. But maybe that's just me...

aphetic 1880, from aphesis , coined by OED editor Sir James A.H. Murray (1837-1915) for "gradual and unintentional loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word" (as squire from esquire ), from Gk. aphienai "to let go, to send forth," from apo - "from" + hienai "to send." It is a sham...

There is a town not far from my home called Cornelius, like the rooster on Kellogg's Corn Flakes.

The locals pronounce it K'neeyus.

Gotta love English.

-Tim

Thanks, Slava!

I suggest 'freelance' as an interesting WoTD. I became re-interested in this word through an advertisement for a website that outsources professionals, called elance.com... The website name made me think of some medical site rather than a 'find work' website, but after I realized what they were goin...

I can't read 'kelter' without thinking about helter-skelter...

It might have been just for looks: that is how rime became rhyme, just to look more Greek and worthy of being used in the same sentence as rhythm.

But why the Rs are doubled, I've never heard or read.

Initially, I'd say this is a quirk of Greek compound words.