Word of the Day Challenge

[Chasing Dreams]

circumlocution
noun| ser-kum-loh-KYOO-shun
 

Definition

1  : the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea
2  : evasion in speech


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

In The King’s English (1906), lexicographers H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler advised, “Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.” It’s good advice: using more words than necessary to convey a point can confuse and annoy one’s audience. Circumlocution itself combines two Latin elements: the prefix circum-, meaning “around,” and locutio, meaning “speech.” In essence, circumlocution may be thought of as “roundabout speech.” Since at least the early 16th century, English writers have used circumlocution with disdain, naming a thing to stop, or better yet, to avoid altogether. Charles Dickens used the word to satirize political runarounds in the 1857 novel Little Dorrit with the creation of the fictional Circumlocution Office, a government department that delayed the dissemination of information and just about everything else.

[Chasing Dreams]

qua
preposition| KWAH
 

Definition

1  : in the capacity or character of : AS


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

A preposition is a word—and almost always a very small, very common word—that shows direction (to in “a letter to you”), location (at in “at the door”), or time (by in “by noon”), or that introduces an object (of in “a basket of apples”) or a capacity or role (as in “works as an editor”). As such, prepositions tend not to attract as much attention as other parts of speech (unless there is some foofaraw about whether or not it’s okay to end a sentence with one). Qua, however, though very small is not very common—at least in everyday speech or writing. As one 20th-century usage writer commented, “Qua is sometimes thought affected or pretentious, but it does convey meaning economically.” Qua’s meaning is quite specific—it can substitute for the phrase “in the capacity or character of” or the preposition as in the right context, as in “they wanted to enjoy the wine qua wine, not as a status symbol.”

[Chasing Dreams]

Their plans had been something they had made over a month ago for the music festival that was coming up. She knew they had planned on meeting up before the festival started to avoid having to track each other down once inside the festival grounds. The night before the festival one of their friends was determined to discomfit their plans by making new ones without telling her of another one of their friends. She heard what their friend was offering and knew it was something the others would easily ditch their original plans for the others that left them out.

[Remec]

Word: qua
Theme: Slice of Life
Tags: VAN
Notes: Bee(s) Gees Mini-challenge [1/4]



It was pretty much just another day in the wood. Hatter and Hare sat about the large circular table, ignoring the slight mess of used dishes and utensils sitting before them, and lamenting tea parties of the past--when all of the seating at the table was filled and conversation flowed as easily as the freshly brewed tea from the large pot at the center of the table.

That had been, of course, before they had stuffed Dormouse into said pot after losing the Queen's favor--and, thus, all of their party guests besides themselves. Hatter reached over for a slice of bread, then looked about the table. "Have we used all the butter, again?" he asked.

"Quite probably," said Hare, "after all, it was the best butter. You said so yourself."

Hatter sighed. "Must I eat my bread plain, then? I mean, if I must then I must. I have nothing against the bread qua bread; I just like having something to bring it more, you know, there."

Hare gave a shrug while, behind him, the lid of the teapot rose up. "Perhaps there's still honey?" he said.

"No, the bees don't like us any more than the rest of the wood. I think the only ones who will deal with us is the Cat, now and then, and Cook because we still take in this pepper-loaded bread of hers. Such a shame, I miss having honey."

Sleepily, Dormouse's head came into view in the teapot, wearing the ceramic lid as a hat. "I miss the bees more. although, it was the best honey, too," they said.

[Chasing Dreams]

She had no clue how she was supposed to ignore the fact that the person she had been interested in had a surfeit of spirits that he tended to overindulge in. It was off putting and made her dislike the guy because he wasn't being responsible about it.

[Chasing Dreams]

She had been looking forward to starting work in her new position, but had a rude awakening when she met her new boss. The man's brusque attitude was off putting and concerning as she needed to be able to get along with the man. She knew she needed to figure out if this was his normal demeanor or if he was just having a bad day.

[Chasing Dreams]

She wasn't completely new to doing Equestrian riding, but she wasn't a pro at it either.  She had take lessons when she was in her late teens and had just gotten back into it. Her instructor took them to a race to see another form of riding and pointed out the marked furlongs along the track.

[Chasing Dreams]

She had no idea how to trust her friends again after what they had done. They claimed they did what they did for her own good, but she didn't think that was true. Her friends had purloined her secret that she had been keeping until she could make the announcement herself. She was angry and hurt because she thought she could trust them, but they didn't like the idea that she was trying to move cross country away from everyone in her support group and had told the only two people who could possibly stop her from doing what she wanted.

[Chasing Dreams]

There hadn't been a time she could remember having to stand up for herself with her friends group because one of their associates was rather pushy and demanding. She ran into trouble when that associate was trying to force his way into the small performance her and her friends were going to. He was trying to force her to give up her spot yet her ticket was inalienable as it had her name printed on it amd could not be removed.

[Lilias]

When the news broke in the university staff club that Beth had been awarded that year's research grant – a tidy sum, more so than other years', thanks to some effective, if discreet, fundraising – only one member was surprised. The dean's assistant, a new arrival. Everyone else nodded 'about damn time' and topped up their port for a toast.

'I mean, her profile has been deceptively low', the assistant tried to cover up his faux pas.

The vice president snorted. 'You're new here, that's all. Everyone who's been here for more than a year has Beth Hayward on their radar. She's been building up her reputation since she first stepped foot on campus.'

'A reputation for what, precisely?' The assistant tried to appear ever so slightly blasé.

'Aside for being a brilliant educator who really inspires her students?' interposed the president. 'I really recommend you look up her track record of productions put on, Jameson. Beyond that, there's always her knack for finding the missing piece that makes everything else fall into place, no matter how desperate the situation.'

'Extemporizing a whole cohort's orientation single-handed because her senior partner had an accident and couldn't make it in was next-level thinking on one's feet', agreed the vice president. She has also assembled a small but extremely cohesive working team. I can't imagine anyone else keeping Marina Robles and Arvid Johansson in the same room without anyone getting hurt.'

The president nodded; he was the only one who knew about Beth's connection to Penny Tredwell, and was not about to blab on that. 'I heard they were planning to bring Ludmila Kuzmin on board as well; I guess now they're going ahead with it. That's definitely going to be interesting.'

'In the Chinese curse way?' asked Jameson, in a last attempt to look dubious.

'Oh no – Gothic sensibilities all the way', chuckled the president. 'Watching them work is quite an experience, you'll see.'

[Lilias]

It was to be expected, really. The summer had been a torrid nightmare, with record-breaking temperatures and frequent thunderstorms that maintained a punishing humidity throughout. Add to that the fact that we were away with the Cadets the whole while and no one was left to keep the garden under control, and it was no surprise that the nettles had proliferated into a stinging jungle of nightmares.

'Why couldn't it be sorrels again, like last year?' grouched Lalo. He and his siblings had been roped into grudging assistance with the clearout, and no one was happy to be covered from head to toe in what was still too much heat for the season. He wasn't wrong; the sorrels had at least been edible. Well, technically the nettles could be edible too, but no one would bother to process them after this. We just wanted them gone as soon as possible.

The stalks, that were about as tall as we were, threatening to smack us in the face with every move (and we knew they would find the smallest unprotected bit of skin to hit), were finally downed when Dad appeared in the kitchen door. 'Great work, everyone!' he called. 'We'll take over from here. You lot go shower, and put all your clothes in the hamper. We don't want nettle seeds going everywhere. There will be Eton mess when you're all done!' We didn't need to be told twice.

[Lilias]

The sale contract was pretty straightforward, including the usual caveat – ownership of the artifact would not be transferred until it was fully paid off. Seeing as the payment involved more than money, as was the case with objects that went beyond the ordinary material plane, it was to be expected that non-payment could be a reasonable expectation. It could make for a particularly lucrative business, thought Sarah, glancing at the opulent furnishings all around, if one could collect most of the payment and still keep the artifact to sell all over again.

Then she went ahead and signed the contract anyway. She was not paying this out of pocket. The resources of both the Arcanum and the Institute were backing her, and should they fail, well, then probably nothing could have salvaged the sale, one way or another.

The notary, an elderly sluagh that looked positively ancient – like a reanimated mummy, someone less charitable might say – took the papers and confirmed the signature through blue-tinted spectacles, then pushed the velvet box in Sarah's direction. Even closed, the hairline beam of light escaping from beneath the lid was clearly visible. 'Thank you, Agent Bailey', whispered the notary, a sound like the rustle of old parchment. 'Please convey our regards to Dame Eluned and Princess Emerentiana. Always happy to provide to the Courts.' Sarah's effort to detect any threat or malice in either the words or the tone was futile; all she could sense was respect, and maybe a tinge of deference. Some hostility would have made this easier.

[Chasing Dreams]

underwhelm
verb| un-der-WELM
 

Definition

1  : to fail to impress or stimulate


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

Overwhelm and its rare synonym whelm have both been around since the Middle Ages, but underwhelm is a 20th-century coinage. Both overwhelm and whelm come from the Middle English whelmen, meaning "to turn over" or "to cover up." Underwhelm is a playful overturning of overwhelm that is well suited for contexts in which something fails to excite. As is often the case with younger words, there is a certain amount of misinformation regarding where underwhelm came from. We have seen reports that the playwright George S. Kaufman coined it, and also that the famed sportswriter Red Smith claimed to have used it first. Neither of these is likely to be accurate, for the simple fact that there is evidence that underwhelming was used, albeit as an adjective, before either of these men was born.

[Chasing Dreams]

gingerly
adjective| JIN-jer-lee
 

Definition

1  : very cautious or careful


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

Though more common as an adverb meaning “very cautiously and carefully,” as in “moving gingerly across the icy pond,” gingerly has for more than four centuries functioned both as an adverb and as an adjective. Etymologists take a gingerly approach to assigning any particular origins to gingerly. While it might have come from the name of the spice, there’s nothing concrete to back up that idea. Another theory is that it’s related to an Old French word, gençor, meaning “prettier” or “more beautiful,” with evidence being that in 16th century English an earlier sense of gingerly often described dancing or walking done with dainty steps. It wasn’t until the 17th century that gingerly was applied to movements done with caution in order to avoid being noisy or causing injury, and to a wary manner in handling or presenting ideas.

[Chasing Dreams]

noblesse oblige
noun| noh-BLESS-uh-BLEEZH
 

Definition

1  : the obligation of honorable, generous, and responsible behavior associated with high rank or birth


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

In a tale collected in 16th-century Germany, a noblewoman wonders why the hungry poor don’t simply eat Krosem (a sweet bread), her cluelessness prefiguring the later, much more famous quote attributed to Marie Antoinette: “let them eat cake.” The queen never actually said that, but we can think of the sentiment behind noblesse oblige as the quote’s opposite—something more like “let us bake them a cake since we own all the eggs/flour/sugar/etc.” In French, noblesse oblige means literally “nobility obligates.” It was first quoted in English in the early 19th century, before being used as a noun referring to the unwritten obligation of aristocrats to act honorably and generously to others. Later, by extension, it also came to refer to the obligation of anyone who is in a better position than others—due, for example, to high office or celebrity—to act respectably and responsibly.

[Chasing Dreams]

palpable
adjective| PAL-puh-bul
 

Definition

1  : capable of being touched or felt : TANGIBLE
2  : easily perceptible  : NOTICEABLE
3  : easily perceptible by the mind  : MANIFEST


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

If you find it fascinating how English speakers push words with concrete meanings into figurative use, we feel you. By which we mean we understand you, of course, not that we are patting your head or poking you in the shoulder. Palpable, which has since the 14th century described things that can be literally felt through the skin (such as a person’s pulse), has undergone an expansion similar to that of feel over the centuries, and is now more frequently used to describe things that cannot be touched but are still so easy to perceive that it is as though they could be—such as "a palpable tension in the air."

[Chasing Dreams]

exodus
noun| EK-suh-dus
 

Definition

1 capitalized  : the mainly narrative second book of canonical Jewish and Christian Scripture
2  : a mass departure  : EMIGRATION


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

The Biblical book of Exodus describes the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, so it's no surprise that the word exodus, uncapitalized, has come to refer more generally to any mass departure. Exodus was adopted into English (via Latin) from the Greek word Exodos, which literally means “the road out.” Exodos was formed by combining the prefix ex-, meaning “out of,” and hodos, meaning “road” or “way.” Indeed, many roads led out of hodos into English; other hodos descendants include episode, method, odometer, and period. While exodus is occasionally encountered in reference to an individual’s leaving (e.g., “his/her/their exodus”), such usage is likely to raise the eyebrows of editors who feel it should only refer to the departure en masse of a large group of people, as when novelist Nnedi Okorafor writes in her science fiction novel Lagoon (2015): “Everyone was trying to get somewhere, be it a church, a bar, home or out of Lagos. Then there was the exodus of people … to the parts of the city that had the least chance of flooding if the water rose too high.”

[Chasing Dreams]

burgeon
verb| BER-jun
 

Definition

1  : to send forth new growth (such as buds or branches) : SPROUT
2  : BLOOM
3  : to grow and expand rapidly  : FLOURISH


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

Burgeon arrived in Middle English as burjonen, a borrowing from the Anglo-French verb burjuner, meaning "to bud or sprout." Burgeon is often used figuratively, as when writer Ta-Nehisi Coates used it in his 2008 memoir The Beautiful Struggle: "… I was in the burgeoning class of kids whose families made too much for financial aid but not enough to make tuition payments anything less than a war." Usage commentators have objected to the use of burgeon to mean "to flourish" or "to grow rapidly," insisting that any figurative use should stay true to the word's earliest literal meaning and distinguish budding or sprouting from subsequent growing. But the sense of burgeon that indicates growing or expanding and prospering (as in "the burgeoning music scene" or "the burgeoning international market") has been in established use for decades and is, in fact, the most common use of burgeon today.

[Chasing Dreams]

tendentious
adjective| ten-DEN-shus
 

Definition

1  : marked by a tendency in favor of a particular point of view : BIASED


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

Tendentious is one of several words English speakers can choose when they want to suggest that someone has made up their mind in advance. You may be partial to predisposed or prone to favor partisan, but whatever your leanings, we’re inclined to think you’ll benefit from adding tendentious to your repertoire. Tendentious is a relatively recent arrival to English, considering its Latin roots. In the latter half of the 19th century, English users took the Latinate stem tendenti- (from tendentia, meaning “tendency”) and combined it with the familiar adjective suffix -ious to form a word describing someone with a tendency to favor a particular point of view, motivated by an intent to promote a particular cause.

[Chasing Dreams]

homage
noun| AH-mij
 

Definition

1a  : a feudal ceremony by which a man acknowledges himself the vassal of a lord
  b  : the relationship between a feudal lord and his vassal
  c  : an act done or payment made in meeting the obligations due from a vassal to a feudal lord
2a  : expression of high regard   : RESPECT
  b  : something that shows respect or attests to the worth or influence of another : TRIBUTE




Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

In medieval times, a person could officially become a vassal of a king or lord by publicly announcing allegiance to him in a formal ceremony. In that ritual, known as homage (from the Latin root homo-, meaning “man”), the subject (who was usually but not always a man) knelt and placed his hands between those of his lord, symbolically surrendering himself and putting himself at the lord’s disposal and under his jurisdiction. A bond was thus forged between the two; the vassal’s part was to revere and serve his lord, and the lord’s role was to protect and provide for the vassal and his family. The symbolism attached to the word proved irresistible, and homage quickly broadened to apply with the meaning “respect or honor” in a variety of contexts. Today, a singer can pay homage to someone who influenced their career, and a recipe can be an homage to a chef’s hometown.




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[Chasing Dreams]

assail
verb| uh-SAIL
 

Definition

1   : to attack violently : ASSAULT
2   : to encounter, undertake, or confront energetically
3   : a to oppose, challenge, or criticize harshly and forcefully
4a  : to trouble or afflict in a manner that threatens to overwhelm
  b  : to be perceived by (a person, a person's senses, etc.) in a strongly noticeable and usually unpleasant way




Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

If you're assailed by doubts about the word assail, allow us to set your mind at ease by providing some surety. Assail comes, by way of Anglo-French, from the Latin verb assilire ("to leap upon"), which in turn comes from the Latin verb salire, meaning "to leap." (Salire is the root of a number of English words related to jumping and leaping, such as somersault and sally, as well as assault, a synonym of assail.) When assail was first used in the 13th century, it meant "to make a violent physical attack upon." By the early 15th century, English speakers were using the term to mean "to attack with words or arguments." Now the verb can apply to any kind of aggressive encounter, even if it is not necessarily violent or quarrelsome, as in "Upon entering the room, we were assailed by a horrible odor."





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[Chasing Dreams]

ken
noun| KEN
 

Definition

1    : the range of perception, understanding, or knowledge
2a  : the range of vision
  b  : SIGHT, VIEW




Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

Need a word that can encompass all that one perceives, understands, or knows? It’s just ken. Of course, whether someone is a president, writer, physicist, diplomat, journalist, or even a stereotypical Barbie, everyone has their own personal ken. So when someone says something is “beyond” it, they’re not admitting to being a gosling, only that the topic or question at hand is beyond their particular range of knowledge or expertise. Ken appeared on the English horizon in the 16th century referring to the distance bounding the range of ordinary vision at sea (about 20 miles), and would thus have been familiar to skippers in particular. Its meaning soon broadened, however, to mean “range of vision” or “sight” on land or sea. Today ken rarely suggests literal sight, but rather the extent of what one can metaphorically “see.” And that, as they say, is enough.

[Chasing Dreams]

inviolable
adjective| in-VYE-uh-luh-bul
 

Definition

1  : secure from violation or profanation
2  : secure from assault or trespass : UNASSAILABLE



Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

Inviolable is a venerable word that has been with us since the 15th century. Its opposite, violable ("capable of being or likely to be violated"), appeared in the following century. The 17th century English playwright Shackerley Marmion made good use of violable in A Fine Companion, writing, "Alas, my heart is Tender and violable with the least weapon Sorrow can dart at me." But English speakers have never warmed up to that word the way we have to inviolable, and it continues to be used much less frequently. Both terms descend from the Latin verb violare, which both shares the meaning with, and is an ancestor of, the English word violate.

[Chasing Dreams]

demagogue
noun| DEM-uh-gahg
 

Definition

1  : a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power
2  : a leader championing the cause of the common people in ancient times



Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

When the ancient Greeks used dēmagōgós (from dêmos, meaning “people,” and -agōgos, “leading”) they meant someone good—a leader who used outstanding oratorical skills to further the interests of the common people. The first known use of demagogue in English comes from the introduction to Thomas Hobbes’s 1629 translation of a text by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides: “It need not be doubted, but from such a master Thucydides was sufficiently qualified, to have become a great demagogue, and of great authority with the people.” Alas, the word quickly took a negative turn; within decades it was being used to refer to someone who uses powers of persuasion to sway and mislead.

[Chasing Dreams]

cohesive
adjective| koh-HEE-siv
 

Definition

   : exhibiting or producing cohesion or coherence


Weekly Theme

Slice of Life

Did You Know?

The Latin verb haerēre has shown remarkable stick-to-itiveness in influencing the English lexicon, which is fitting for a word that means "to be closely attached; to stick." Among its descendants are adhere (literally meaning "to stick"), adhere’s relative adhesive (a word for sticky substances), inhere (meaning "to belong by nature or habit"), and even hesitate (which implies remaining stuck in place before taking action). In Latin, haerēre teamed up with the prefix co- to form cohaerēre, which means "to stick together." Cohaerēre is the ancestor of cohesive, a word borrowed into English in the early 18th century to describe something that sticks together literally (such as dough or mud) or figuratively (such as a society or sports team).