Search found 202 matches
- Wed Feb 24, 2021 7:07 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Hoodlum
- Replies: 3
- Views: 88
Re: Hoodlum
Wearing a hoodie in the hood does not necessarily indicate one is a hood.
- Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:06 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Gravitas
- Replies: 6
- Views: 1819
Re: Gravitas
The note about the Greek descendant of the *PIE root gwr-/gwor- reminded me of "baryon," the term applied to subatomic particles that are subject to the strong force and composed of three quarks. And the dictionary says the term was indeed coined on the basis of Greek "bary" + "-on"
- Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:56 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Nosegay
- Replies: 5
- Views: 198
Re: Nosegay
I put "tussie-mussie" into the Ngram viewer and got a first, quite small peak at about 1920, a second, much higher peak at about 1950 and a final, highest peak at 1993. The highest peak was about 1/3 higher than the second peak. No help on actual etymology though. I then entered "tussie-mussie" in t...
- Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:58 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: President
- Replies: 4
- Views: 239
Re: President
Thank you for posting the link to the reading. Unfortunately, laughter covered some of the jokes. The original piece appeared in Harpers and is behind a paywall, but someone posted a copy here if you wish to read it. http://www.joshpachter.com/pages/weans.pdf The Good Doctor may wish to comment on t...
- Mon Feb 15, 2021 6:56 pm
- Forum: Res Diversae
- Topic: Proning - Definition Sought
- Replies: 3
- Views: 147
Re: Proning - Definition Sought
Thank you, Slava
- Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:26 am
- Forum: Res Diversae
- Topic: Proning - Definition Sought
- Replies: 3
- Views: 147
Proning - Definition Sought
I read the following sentence in the Jan 4 & 11, 2021 New Yorker (pg 53), and I can't find a definition. Can anyone help? "In part, this was because the average age of patients was lower, but the improved chances of survival were also the result of flattening the curve, which gave doctors and scient...
- Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:25 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Intern -- verb
- Replies: 1
- Views: 138
Intern -- verb
I was recently struck at the difference the use of the active vs passive voice makes to the meaning of "intern" as a verb. The dictionary gives intern - 1 as "to work as an intern" (e.g. After graduating from medical school, Ima Doctor interned at Bellevue.) Active voice and intern - 2 as "to depriv...
- Tue Feb 09, 2021 7:40 pm
- Forum: Idioms
- Topic: Ever Heard This?
- Replies: 2
- Views: 188
Re: Ever Heard This?
First, No, I haven't heard this expression. Second, is there a typo in this? Did your mother say "mention by you" (as quoted) or "mentioned by you," with a past tense -ed? In latter, the syntax seems to me to reflect the semantics/pragmatics of the situation. Third, in pragmatic terms, the expressio...
- Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:32 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: FOMO
- Replies: 5
- Views: 313
Re: FOMO
Philip, what I wanted TO DO was GO INTO the SO many all TOO common English words that have NO (or at least minimal) connection with French, Latin and Greek and that ALSO end in "O". I mentioned but TWO words of the type that the Good Doctor has from time TO time ALSO chosen TO refer TO as "authentic...
- Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:33 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: FOMO
- Replies: 5
- Views: 313
Re: FOMO
Dear Dr Goodword
Hello, who says?
Hello, who says?
- Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:03 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Pierian
- Replies: 10
- Views: 639
Re: Pierian
"Nankeen" does indeed refer to the color. According to New Zealand Birds Online "The name 'nankeen' refers to the similarity in colour of the kestrels back to the yellowish-brown cotton found originally around the Chinese city of Nanking, once used to make buff-coloured cotton trousers." http://nzbi...
- Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:14 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Lick
- Replies: 8
- Views: 5105
Re: Lick
The prototypical lichen is a round blob growing on a flat rock. It's diameter (and area) gradually increases over the years, slowly expanding over the surface of the rock. In crustose lichens, the area on the margin is where most of the growth occurs (Wikipedia) which gives the impression of slowly ...
- Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:50 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Belonger
- Replies: 3
- Views: 6318
Re: Belonger
Etymonline has long (v.) Middle English longen, from Old English langian "to yearn after, grieve for," literally "to grow long, lengthen," from Proto-Germanic *langojan, which probably is connected with the root of long (adj.). Cognate with Old Norse langa, Old Saxon langon, Middle Dutch langhen, Ol...
- Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:45 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Corvid
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1722
Re: Corvid
According to The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds (J. K. Torres; Alfred A. Knopf: 1987) and Wikipedia, "corvus" is Latin for "raven." The Crow family, Corvidae, consists of 103 species world-wide, 18 in North America, 10 in Japan. In addition to crows and ravens, other corvids in...
- Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:45 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Apoptosis
- Replies: 4
- Views: 6340
Re: Apoptosis
Etymonline says it's the "potamos" -- "rushing river" part. "Potamos" is Greek for "river" and from the PIE-root "*pet" "to rush, to fly." The "hippo" part is from Greek "hippos" "horse" and the PIE-root is "*ekwo-." Other fairly common words from the "hippo-" part are Hippocrates, the Greek physici...