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Post by ARENA on Jan 30, 2017 14:15:28 GMT
FASTIDIOUS
fastidious once meant "haughty," "disgusting," and "disagreeable," although those uses are now archaic or obsolete. Today, the word is most often applied to people who are very meticulous or overly difficult to please, or to work which reflects a demanding or precise attitude.
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Post by goldelox on Feb 19, 2017 11:27:25 GMT
Interesting
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Post by ARENA on Feb 22, 2017 11:49:09 GMT
MAYHAP
If mayhap looks to you like a relative of its synonym perhaps, you're right—the words are related. Both ultimately derive from the Middle English noun hap, meaning "chance" or "fortune." Mayhap was formed by combining the phrase "(it) may hap" into a single word (the word maybe, another synonym of mayhap and perhaps, was developed similarly from may and the verb be). Hap in the phrase is a verb essentially meaning "to happen," and the verb hap comes from the noun hap. Perhaps came about when per (meaning "through the agency of") was combined directly with the noun hap to form one word. Today, mayhap is a rare word in contrast with the very common maybe and perhaps, but it does show up occasionally.
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Post by ARENA on Feb 25, 2017 11:57:42 GMT
HOARY
"How to save the old that's worth saving ... is one of our greatest problems." British novelist John Galsworthy knew the value of preserving the past—and he would likely have counted hoary among those old things worth saving. The word is old indeed; it traces to an Old English adjective, hār, which appeared in Beowulf. That hoary ancestor evolved over time into hoar, a synonym of ancient. Hoary developed from hoar more than 475 years ago, and since then it has been used for anything that is old or that has the whitened look of age (from the hoary bat to the hoary willow). The venerable hoar also remains as a synonym of hoary and as a component of compounds such as hoarfrost.
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Post by althea on Feb 25, 2017 16:31:32 GMT
MAYHAPIf mayhap looks to you like a relative of its synonym perhaps, you're right—the words are related. Both ultimately derive from the Middle English noun hap, meaning "chance" or "fortune." Mayhap was formed by combining the phrase "(it) may hap" into a single word (the word maybe, another synonym of mayhap and perhaps, was developed similarly from may and the verb be). Hap in the phrase is a verb essentially meaning "to happen," and the verb hap comes from the noun hap. Perhaps came about when per (meaning "through the agency of") was combined directly with the noun hap to form one word. Today, mayhap is a rare word in contrast with the very common maybe and perhaps, but it does show up occasionally. I used to have a cousin who used "mayhap" a lot. He also was fond of "methinks". He was an engineer in the Royal Navy and an entertaining storyteller. |
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Post by ARENA on Feb 28, 2017 11:52:07 GMT
GENUFLECT
Genuflect is derived from the Late Latin genuflectere, formed from the noun genu ("knee") and the verb flectere ("to bend"). Flectere appears in a number of our more common verbs, such as reflect ("to bend or throw back," as light) and deflect ("to turn aside"). By comparison genu sees little use in English, but it did give us geniculate, a word often used in scientific contexts to mean "bent abruptly at an angle like a bent knee." Despite the resemblance, words such as genius and genuine are not related to genuflect; instead, they are of a family that includes the Latin verb gignere, meaning "to beget."
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Post by althea on Feb 28, 2017 15:21:56 GMT
GENUFLECTGenuflect is derived from the Late Latin genuflectere, formed from the noun genu ("knee") and the verb flectere ("to bend"). Flectere appears in a number of our more common verbs, such as reflect ("to bend or throw back," as light) and deflect ("to turn aside"). By comparison genu sees little use in English, but it did give us geniculate, a word often used in scientific contexts to mean "bent abruptly at an angle like a bent knee." Despite the resemblance, words such as genius and genuine are not related to genuflect; instead, they are of a family that includes the Latin verb gignere, meaning "to beget." I can't remember the title of an irreverent film starring Peter O'Toole.He was draped across a crucifix at one point ,then came down and sang the Genuflection Rag. I know it was shocking and hilarious at the time, so whenever I come across the word "genuflect" I sing a bit of that song to myself. |
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Post by ARENA on Feb 28, 2017 16:08:46 GMT
GENUFLECTGenuflect is derived from the Late Latin genuflectere, formed from the noun genu ("knee") and the verb flectere ("to bend"). Flectere appears in a number of our more common verbs, such as reflect ("to bend or throw back," as light) and deflect ("to turn aside"). By comparison genu sees little use in English, but it did give us geniculate, a word often used in scientific contexts to mean "bent abruptly at an angle like a bent knee." Despite the resemblance, words such as genius and genuine are not related to genuflect; instead, they are of a family that includes the Latin verb gignere, meaning "to beget." I can't remember the title of an irreverent film starring Peter O'Toole.He was draped across a crucifix at one point ,then came down and sang the Genuflection Rag. I know it was shocking and hilarious at the time, so whenever I come across the word "genuflect" I sing a bit of that song to myself. I think you'll find it was called, 'The Ruling Classes'. |
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Post by althea on Mar 1, 2017 20:24:07 GMT
Haven't I replied to this post? Oh dear,my brain must have gone walkabout.
I must say,it's handy having a film buff as a friend.
I used to find Peter O'Toole totally mesmerising.
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Post by ARENA on Mar 4, 2017 11:51:16 GMT
NUGATORY
Nugatory, which first appeared in English in the 17th century, comes from the Latin adjective nugatorius and is ultimately a derivative of the noun nugae, meaning "trifles." Like its synonyms vain, idle, empty, and hollow, nugatory means "without worth or significance."
Not to be confused with NEGATE ...........
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Post by ARENA on Mar 9, 2017 10:02:35 GMT
PISS POOR
In the old days, agents came round buying the previous night's urine, to sell on to tanners for curing hide, to make leather.
The poor got less for their urine,as they were undernourished so the urine had less of the necessary nutrients.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2017 15:10:21 GMT
PISS POORIn the old days, agents came round buying the previous night's urine, to sell on to tanners for curing hide, to make leather. The poor got less for their urine,as they were undernourished so the urine had less of the necessary nutrients. If that is true (and I have no reason to doubt you Arena) that is both funny and fascinating. I had always thought it was a modern expression. |
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Post by althea on Mar 9, 2017 17:09:01 GMT
I know they used urine as a mordant to set the dyes in Harris Tweed until fairly recently.
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Post by ARENA on Mar 24, 2017 9:52:18 GMT
NIGHTMARE........
Looking at nightmare, you might guess that it is a compound formed from night and mare. If so, your guess is correct. But while the night in nightmare makes sense, the mare part is less obvious. Most English speakers know mare as a word for a female horse or similar equine animal, but the mare of nightmare is a different word, an obsolete one referring to an evil spirit that was once thought to produce feelings of suffocation in people while they slept. By the 14th century the mare was also known as nightmare, and by the late 16th century nightmare was also being applied to the feelings of distress caused by the spirit, and then to frightening or unpleasant dreams.
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Post by ARENA on Mar 27, 2017 9:48:43 GMT
SARCASM
Were all guilty of it, at times.
If you've ever been hurt by a remark full of cutting sarcasm, you have some insight into the origins of the word. Sarcasm can be traced back to the Greek verb sarkazein, which initially meant "to tear flesh like a dog." Sarkazein eventually developed extended senses of "to bite one's lips in rage," "to gnash one's teeth," and "to sneer." The verb led to the Greek noun sarkasmos, ("a sneering or hurtful remark"), iterations of which passed through French and Late Latin before arriving in English as sarcasm in the 17th century. Even today sarcasm is often described as sharp, cutting, or wounding, reminiscent of the original meaning of the Greek verb.
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