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by George Kovac
Sun Mar 24, 2024 2:49 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Sultry
Replies: 3
Views: 101

Re: Sultry

So, how did we get from death to seduction? That linkage has arisen in other English words as well. John Donne, Shakespeare and the metaphysical poets punningly exploited the word “die” to mean mortal death and, well, not to mince words here, orgasm. Lots of graduate students and assistant professo...
by George Kovac
Sat Mar 16, 2024 7:53 am
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Enfilade
Replies: 9
Views: 10124

Re: Enfilade

I just watched “Saving Private Ryan,” a great film, and one I have seen several times. For this viewing I selected the “close captioning” option so that I could closely follow the dialog, some of which is obfuscated by the noise of battle. I noticed that the Tom Hanks character shouted to his advanc...
by George Kovac
Tue Mar 12, 2024 2:08 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Luftmensch
Replies: 4
Views: 728

Re: Luftmensch

In “The Joys of Yiddish,” Leo Rosten provides this charming gloss on luftmensch (Rosten spells the word without a penultimate "c"): The prototype of the luftmensh was one Leone da Modena, a sixteenth century Venetian Jew, who listed his skills and cited no fewer than twenty-six professions...
by George Kovac
Wed Feb 28, 2024 10:42 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Courtesan
Replies: 7
Views: 1792

Re: Courtesan

Hmm…. So how did we get to the verb “to court,” a thoroughly respectable verb, whether it is “to court favor with …” or to engage in the respectable ritual of slowly and publicly trying to persuade a nice woman that you would be a suitable husband?
by George Kovac
Sat Feb 24, 2024 9:52 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Alembic
Replies: 1
Views: 3126

Re: Alembic

Yes, a rare and arcane Good Word, but one which deserves currency, as this recent example demonstrates: Emperor Napolean managed, through the alembic of his personal charisma, to transform [the patriotic singing of the “Marseillaise”] into a personal loyalty that endured,at least in part, through hi...
by George Kovac
Wed Feb 21, 2024 11:51 am
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Flourish
Replies: 3
Views: 218

Re: Flourish

Thanks Slava. I agree and would like to add to your list one of my favorite (but rare) words which blossoms from the same root word: “floruit.” Dictionary.com defines it as “he (or she) flourished: used to indicate the period during which a person flourished, especially when the exact birth and deat...
by George Kovac
Mon Jan 08, 2024 9:47 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Etiolate
Replies: 2
Views: 5868

Re: Etiolate

I just came across this exquisite metaphorical use of “etiolate.” James Gleick, who is the reviewer in this case, is a writer of clarity, style and eloquence who makes complex science and its history accessible to lay readers. From James Gleick’s review of “Free Agents: How Evolution Gave us Free Wi...
by George Kovac
Fri Dec 29, 2023 8:10 am
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Glee
Replies: 6
Views: 27487

Re: Glee

I can remember when old, white-haired women would bleach their hair and it would come out as pale blue. Anyone else remember that? Yes, I do remember that. An expression of that time was “blue-haired ladies” to refer to older women of a certain type. Today that atavistic expression would be confusi...
by George Kovac
Sat Dec 16, 2023 7:38 am
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Appellation
Replies: 4
Views: 17419

Re: Appellation

Dr GoodWord wrote: Today’s Word often trips up spellers because of its double double letters: two Ps and two Ls. In this respect it is like accommodate and millennium. Be careful. Indeed. The rules for doubling consonants are harder than advanced bookkeeping. In the beginning I had many occasions in...
by George Kovac
Sat Dec 09, 2023 8:40 am
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Enfilade
Replies: 9
Views: 10124

Re: Enfilade

David wrote: As a very young man, I lived very close to Hampton Court in England, a fine Tudor palace There is a new book “The Palace” by Gareth Russell (Atria, 480 pages) which describes in sometimes extraneous (but delicious) detail the history of Hampton Court and its residents over the centuries.
by George Kovac
Fri Dec 08, 2023 10:20 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Caveat
Replies: 2
Views: 7760

Re: Caveat

I came across this use of "caveat" as a verb in The Guardian
Nice catch. Thanks.
by George Kovac
Sun Nov 19, 2023 11:10 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Epiphyte
Replies: 6
Views: 10691

Re: Epiphyte

OK, one more southern epiphyte story. Resurrection ferns prefer to live on the shagbark surface of live oaks. They spend almost all of their days dried, brown, shriveled and desiccated. They look ugly and dead. But when a drenching rain occurs, as in the fluke 9 inches of rain we got two days ago he...
by George Kovac
Sun Nov 19, 2023 8:47 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Epiphyte
Replies: 6
Views: 10691

Re: Epiphyte

Orchids and bromeliads
by George Kovac
Sun Nov 19, 2023 8:23 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Epiphyte
Replies: 6
Views: 10691

Re: Epiphyte

I have two large banyans next to my house here in subtropical Miami. The nooks and crannies are attractive homes for orchids, bromeliads, staghorn ferns and other epiphytes. These examples and their banyan hosts have lived happily together for many years.
by George Kovac
Sun Nov 19, 2023 7:59 pm
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: Cosplay
Replies: 4
Views: 7244

Re: Cosplay

The public has taken a fancy to the word “cosplay.” Since that initial posting, use of “cosplay” has become widespread (or, at least, I am noticing it more.) I hear it said on TV and frequently find it in print. I just encountered a related word—more of an acronym really: “LARP. ” It’s usually spell...

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