... shape suggests that of a seahorse. Anatomy
also yields a horse-related phrase: cauda equina, Latin for “the
tail of a horse,” an apt description of the array of sacral and
coccygeal nerve tracts ... what a war really is!
● “Better known by his nom de guerre as Abu Al Abed, Al Bas-
soumi recalls in detail his childhood and the happy and sad
events of that period.”
—Star (Amman, Jordan)...
... out”). One day he was ranting and raving
about an exaggerated claim made by his archrival, Louis B.
Mayer. Mayer had said that his studio, MGM, had more stars
than the sky. Goldwyn demanded to ... of a medial
syllable, as in people who say ‘realator’ instead of ‘realtor.’”
—Chicago Sun-Times
110 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic...
... drumbeats, and
landscapes. The English language has borrowed words from many
of Africa’s languages: trek, aardvark, impala, gnu, okra to name a few.
In this chapter we’ll see words that originate ... the Paradox database, by Borland. ANSA was the
zombie. My wife and I worked as freelance technical writers
for ANSA.
Borland is a zombie too, from all appearances. So the
“brilliant” venture...
... against the Chinese
armada in a friendly between Malaysia and China today.”
—Malay Mail (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
214 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body ... newspapers and popular
radio stations.
Here are five palabras (words) from Spanish that are now part of
the English language.
211
CHAPTER 52
Loanwords from
Spanish
cmp05.qxd 7 /...
... in auctions, reverse auc-
tions and Dutch auctions of livestock and grain.”
—Industry Standard
74 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
Every creature is better alive than dead,
men and moose and pine trees, and ... Double
Connections
cmp02.qxd 7 /21/ 05 12:14 PM Page 75
forming gambit, an opening in which a sacrifice is made to
secure advantage. And adding an F to estival results in the
word festiva...
... Another
Word A Day
ffirs.qxd 7 /21/ 05 12:07 PM Page i
Another
Word A Day
An All-New Romp
through Some of the Most
Unusual and Intriguing
Words in English
Anu Garg
John Wiley & Sons, ... Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Garg, Anu.
Another word a day : an all-new romp through some of the most unusual and intriguing
words in English / Anu Garg.
p. cm.
Includes bibl...
... the
Russian advances—real and imagined—in Central Asia, the
Himalayas and Tibet.”
—New York Times
gambit (GAM-bit)
noun 1. An opening in which a pawn or another piece is sacri-
ficed to obtain a strategic ... And she’s an Oxfordian, a believer in
Edward de Vere as the real Shakespeare.”
—Montreal Gazette
EARLS WHO BECAME WORDS (OR PLACES THAT BECAME WORDS) 11
Whodunit
The battle rages,...
... from gamba (leg).
●
“North Korea will no doubt try to gain maximum advantage by
playing South Korea,America and Japan off against each other.
If it fails to get the result—and the cash—it wants ... Economist
22 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
—
CARL SAGAN, astronomer and author (1934–1996)
Hasta Mañana
These three possibilities for the word ano...