Zyzzyva

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Dr. Goodword
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Zyzzyva

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Jun 20, 2018 10:34 pm

• zyzzyva •

Pronunciation: zi-zê-vê • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A genus of tropical South American weevils particularly fond of palm trees.

Notes: The sole interest in this word is the fact that it is the last word in the American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary. The last word in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged is a related word, zyzzogeton "a genus of large South American leafhoppers of the family Cicadellidae". The Oxford English Dictionary ends on a nonword, zyxt, a long-obsolete Kentish spelling of second person singular present tense of see! Clearly, American Heritage has a word more befitting last position in a dictionary than the competition.

In Play: The next time you see a raggedy palm tree, you may wish to speculate, "I wonder if that tree is under attack by zyzzyvas?" It will be worth it just to see the expressions on the faces of those with you. Let's say someone calls you an insignificant bug; you now have a retort that trumps their term hand over fist: "I consider that a compliment coming from a zyzzyva like you." When they look it up they will find that it is the least known bug on earth and the lowest thing in the dictionary. Top that!

Word History: Less is known about the origin of this word than is known about the bug itself. It is common to say that it comes from New Latin Zyzzyva, genus name, probably from Zyzza, former genus of leafhoppers. The reason for the mystery of this word's origin is probably that it is an onomatopoetic word based on the sound bugs make, especially beetles, when they fly.
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Slava
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Re: Zyzzyva

Postby Slava » Mon Sep 11, 2023 7:48 am

Here's a picture for the curious:

Image

And a nice little column from 1991: amazing but true.

I have to fess up to regularly confusing this word with the noisemaker vuvuzela. I forget this one's the bug.

I wonder if weevil might not be a good Good Word, too. Anyone care to opine?
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David Myer
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Re: Zyzzyva

Postby David Myer » Mon Sep 11, 2023 9:52 pm

Yes, weevil is a good word, judging from my preliminary investigations. And if someone can offer some guidance on how to stop the damn things eating my clothes, that would be much appreciated.

As for the etymology of zyzzyva, I note from your intriguing link, Slava, that the suggestion is the biologist who named it was simply trying to have the last word. I like that idea. But can anyone help with the onomatopoeic spelling for that wonderful kitchen tool that turns boiled vegetables into soup, shakes milk into a froth, reduces fruit to a drink and performs lots of other cooking tasks? We call it a joojer with two very soft j's (similar to the dge in fudge) and the double o as in cook. Does the tool have an official name?
Last edited by David Myer on Mon Sep 11, 2023 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Slava
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Re: Zyzzyva

Postby Slava » Mon Sep 11, 2023 9:59 pm

I understand no bugs like cedar. And to keep it word related, I just learned that the adjective is cedrine, and that way back the same word for cedar also meant juniper. Too bad we don't really seem to know whence came kedros.
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