Publication: Word A Day
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* WORD A DAY *
Thursday, June 28, 2007
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Fellow Logophiles,
Good morning! Here are the answers to the word scramble:
1) lucubration, 2) detritus, 3) malapropos, 4) contemn, and
5) equanimity.
Have you ever wondered who first coined the phrase "'Tis
better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at
all"? Well, the author of this phrase is Alfred Lord
Tennyson.
These lines are a part of "In Memoriam," which Tennyson
wrote after the death of his beloved friend Arthur Hallam.
Tennyson had met Hallam in 1829, when they were both
students at Trinity College in Cambridge. Hallam's sudden
death in 1833 threw Tennyson into a tormented and near-
suicidal state.
"In Memoriam" was not published until 1850, the same year
that Tennyson was chosen poet laureate of England. Samuel
Butler paraphrased the saying in "The Way of All Flesh"
(1903): " 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to
have lost at all."
Sincerely,
Carly
P.S. You can discuss this issue or any other topic in the
new Word A Day forum. Check it out here... Word A Day Forum
*
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*
WORD: bete noire bet-NWAHR (noun)
: Something or someone particularly detested or avoided
SYNONYMS: * bugbear
* persona non grata
* anathema
WORD WISE: Bete noire is French for "black beast."
QUOTE: "Even more regrettable, as far as Dame Edna is
concerned, is the presence of her old bete noire, the
extravagantly disgusting Sir Les Patterson."
--"The Dame's New Man," Daily Telegraph, April 18, 1998
*
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*
BONUS WORD OF THE DAY: aborning uh-BOR-ning (adverb)
: While being produced or born.
Aborning is derived from a-, "in the act of" + English
dialect borning, "birth."
OBSCURE AND UNUSUAL WORDS
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1) futz futs (intransitive verb)
: to spend time frivolously, lazily, or aimlessly
Early 20th century. Probably an alteration of Yiddish
arumfartzen "to fool around."
2) gadarene gadde reen (adjective)
: rushing headlong en masse
Early 19th century. Via Latin from Greek Gadarenos
"inhabitant of Gadara," the town that was the site of
the herd of swine's headlong rush into the sea in
Matthew 8:28 in the Bible.
GopherCentral's Question of the Week:
Should Illegal aliens be allowed to sign up for the military
in exchange for US Citizenship?
Please share your opinion, visit: The Question of the Week
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Questions? Comments? email: word@gophercentral.com
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