• mother • Pronunciation: mê -dhêr • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: The female parent, a woman who bears and/or primarily raises a child. Notes: Mother, the word, has born a large and happy family of derivational offspring. The adjective and adverb of this noun are both motherly , which has...

• surly • Pronunciation: sêr -li • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Churlish, gruff, very grumpy. 2. Crass if not even a bit thuggish, threatening. Notes: Today's Good Word comes with a noun, surliness and an adverb surlily . The latter is rarely used since it sounds a bit silly and c...

• moxie • Pronunciation: mahk -si • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass (no plural) Meaning: Self-confident willpower, backbone, unbridled courage. This word is a New England regionalism for chutzpah, gumption, brashness, or just plain pluck. Notes: English has a fairly wide array of regional terms...

• haecceity • Pronunciation: hæk- see -ê-tee • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. That essence of an individual that distinguishes it from all other similar individuals, the "here-and-nowness" of a thing. 2. One of the properties that makes up our haecceity. Notes: For the past few...

• denigrate • Pronunciation: de -nê-grayt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, transitive Meaning: 1. To blacken, make dark (rare). 2. To sully, blacken, defame, disparage. 3. To belittle, abase, to criticize as being of no value. Notes: This Good Word originally meant "to blacken" and, accor...

• fossick • Pronunciation: fah -sik • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive Meaning: 1. To search for bits and pieces of gold left behind in abandoned mines or mining sites. 2. To search or rummage for something casually, usually in a random fashion. Notes: Today's Good Word expresses a conce...

• slogan • Pronunciation: slo -gên • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A motto expressing an opinion or position, repeated for effect. 2. The battle cry of a Scottish clan. Notes: "The battle cry of a Scottish clan?" I hear you asking. Wait for Word History. A person known for spe...

• disturb • Pronunciation: dis- têrb • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, transitive Meaning: 1. To move out of place, upset, to change the arrangement of, as to disturb the items on someone's desk. 2. To interrupt or prevent from doing something, as to disturb someone resting. 3. To upset emotionally,...

• chicanery • Pronunciation: chi- kayn -êr-i • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass (no plural) Meaning: 1. Quibbling, caviling, nit-picking. 2. Trickery, shiftiness, sneakiness, cheating. Notes: Today's good noun rests on a verb, (to) chicane , which also has a personal (agent) noun, chicaner . Chi...

• caterwaul • Pronunciation: kæd-êr-wawl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive Meaning: 1. (Of cats) To bellow as cats do when they mate or fight. 2. To make loud, discordant, irritating sounds. 3. To have a loud, boisterous argument. Notes: Today's word has been in the English language sin...

My apologies for missing May Day. I have an article on May Day itself in the library. May Day was first proclaimed International Workers Day by the Second International in Paris in 1889 to commemorate the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886. It was so successful that it continued everywhere in the...

Larry't right--great ones. They're on tap for next April Fool's Day.

• majesty • Pronunciation: mæ -jes-ti • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. The glory of the greatest in size, beauty, power or position. 2. Breath-taking trappings of great power and riches, as the majesty of the throne room. 3. [Capitalized] An honorific title of address given to those of t...

• hectic • Pronunciation: hek -tik • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Feverishly active and confused, as a hectic day. 2. Feverish, related to a persistent fever, especially recurrent fevers accompanying tuberculosis. Notes: Today's Good Word is, unfortunately, much too necessary thes...

• ventriloquy • Pronunciation: ven- tril -ê-kwi • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass (No plural) Meaning: Speaking without moving the lips, the voice in sync with the mouth movements of a dummy, so as to leave the impression that the ventriloquist is throwing his or her voice. Notes: Today's Good ...