Publication: Word A Day
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* WORD A DAY *
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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Fellow Logophiles,
Good morning! I heard someone use the expression 'pardon
my French,' the other day and I started to wonder how it
came to stand for 'please excuse my bad language.'
The French have been enemies of Britain for the past
thousand years (on and off). Perhaps because of this, the
British have considered the French to be vulgar and rude.
To say "pardon my French" is to say that you are about to
behave as a Frenchman would, i.e. you are about to say
something vulgar.
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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Living Green
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WORD: caliginous kuh-LIJ-uh-nuhs (adjective)
: Dark, gloomy, obscure, misty
SYNONYMS: * clouded
* gray
* dreary
WORD WISE: From Latin caliginosus (misty, dark).
QUOTE: "In March the cover got blown off of Brightly's
caliginous caper."
--Steve Mirsky; Academic Exams Taken by True And False
People; Scientific American (Washington DC); Jun 2005.
*
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BONUS WORD OF THE DAY: recidivism rih-SID-uh-viz-um
(noun)
: A tendency to lapse into a previous condition or pattern
of behavior; especially, a falling back or relapse into
prior criminal habits.
Recidivism derives from Latin recidivus, "falling back,"
from recidere, "to fall back," from re-, "back" + cadere,
"to fall." A recidivist is one who relapses or who is an
incorrigible criminal.
OBSCURE AND UNUSUAL WORDS
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1) cark kark (intransitive verb)
: to worry
Noun:
a worry or care.
From Middle English carken (to load or burden), from
Norman French carquier, from Latin carricare. Ultimately
from Indo-European root kers- (to run).
2) terete tuh-REET, ter-EET (adjective)
: smooth-surfaced, cylindrical, and tapering at the ends.
From Latin teret-, stem of teres (round).
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' at: word@gophercentral.com
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