31 Kangaroo Words 132 indolent ● rapscallion ● amicable ● frangible ● scion 32 What Does That Company Name Mean? 135 cingular ● lucent ● prudential ● vanguard ● suppurate 33 Words with Interesting Etymologies 139 erudite ● sobriquet ● indite ● pentimento ● cockamamie 34 Words to Describe People II 143 scrofulous ● ugsome ● gormless ● scalawag ● sciolist 35 Words about Collecting and the Study of Things 147 scripophily ● deltiology ● exonumia ● notaphily ● vexillology 36 Words from the World of Law II 150 voir dire ● en banc ● parol ● depone ● distrain 37 Words Derived from Other Languages 153 sangfroid ● dragoman ● hinterland ● apparat ● Blighty 38 Words about Words II 156 exonym ● mononym ● cryptonym ● teknonym ● matronym 39 Words Borrowed from African Languages 161 zombie ● veld ● juju ● spoor ● mumbo jumbo 40 Metallic Words Used as Metaphors 165 goldbrick ● silver bullet ● brassy ● leaden ● tin ear 41 Words Related to Movies 170 bogart ● cinematheque ● jeune premier ● McGuffin ● cineaste 42 Discover the Theme II 174 extemporize ● impresario ● macroscopic ● postdiluvian ● plausive x CONTENTS ftoc.qxd 7/21/05 12:03 PM Page x 43 Miscellaneous Words II 178 telic ● saltant ● conurbation ● trade-last ● tardigrade 44 Words That Aren’t What They Appear to Be 182 beestings ● pythoness ● lambent ● redoubt ● archimage 45 Words of Horse-Related Origins 185 desultory ● equitant ● tattersall ● spavined ● hors de combat 46 Words of Horse-Related Origins II 189 cheval-de-frise ● Hobson’s choice ● harridan ● cheval de bataille ● cavalier 47 Words with Origins in War 192 nom de guerre ● antebellum ● polemic ● bellicose ● casus belli 48 Words from Latin 196 stat ● ceteris paribus ● qua ● terra firma ● via media 49 Words to Describe Your Opponents 200 facinorous ● ventripotent ● dasypygal ● saponaceous ● yegg 50 Discover the Theme III 204 orotund ● draggle ● trunnel ● pinnate ● lability 51 Words Borrowed from Native American Languages 207 sachem ● wampum ● high-muck-a-muck ● manitou ● powwow 52 Loanwords from Spanish 211 amigo ● loco ● duende ● disembogue ● armada Answers 215 Web Resources: More Fun with Words 219 Index of Words 221 CONTENTS xi ftoc.qxd 7/21/05 12:03 PM Page xi ftoc.qxd 7/21/05 12:03 PM Page xii Thanks to all the linguaphiles who are a part of Wordsmith.org. Thanks to my literary agents, Marly Rusoff and Judy Hansen. Thanks to Hana Lane, my editor at John Wiley & Sons. Thanks to Todd Derr and Eric Shackle at Wordsmith. Thanks to Carolanne Reynolds, the grammar goddess. Thanks to my wife, Stuti, and our daughter, Ananya. Thanks to my parents. Thanks to my guru. xiii Acknowledgments flast.qxd 7/21/05 12:05 PM Page xiii flast.qxd 7/21/05 12:05 PM Page xiv A reader wrote,“I know you’ve been featuring words every day at Wordsmith.org for more than a decade. Do you think you’ll ever run out of them?” A living language, like English, is constantly on the move. Trying to describe it is like trying to take a snapshot of a flowing river. As a language passes through time and space, it is altered in innumerable ways. And it is continually replenished, refreshed, and rejuvenated. Time A river flowing through the centuries picks up some new pebbles and discards some old. It reshapes the existing ones,polishing them to show new hues, accentuate new angles. It brings some to the surface and buries others below layers (sometimes those pebbles can pop up again!). If we sat in a time machine and traveled back a few centuries, we would have to be careful using our current word- stock. If we met a man and in appreciation said,“Nice suit!” we’d be saying “stupid suit.” With the passage of time, the word nice has taken various senses, from “ignorant” to “stupid” to “silly” to “sim- ple” to “harmless” to “pleasing.” 1 Introduction cintro.qxd 7/21/05 12:08 PM Page 1 A grimy rock might get scrubbed and its bright exterior might shine forth; a word’s meaning might turn from negative to posi- tive—but the reverse takes place as well. A rock picks up sediment and what once was a translucent marble, today is a squalid lump, barely recognizable from its former self. The word egregious meant “preeminent” at one time, literally, one who is unlike the herd. Today it connotes someone or something bad in an extraordinary way. Earlier, flattering a king with this adjective might have fetched a few pieces of gold but today the same word would get one kicked out of the royal court. Space In the same way that a river picks up and discards pebbles as it flows, when one language encounters another, the two exchange words. They borrow some and lend some,though these borrowings and lendings never need repaying. When the British ruled India, they acquired shampoo (from Hindi champee, literally, head-massage). English also got pundit, guru, pariah, nabob, punch, veranda, and numerous other words from Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, and other Indian languages. Those languages, in turn, helped themselves to words from English.When a train stops, in all languages in India, it stops at a station. In trade, travel, communication, exploration, technology, inva- sion, and many other areas of life, people come together and osmo- sis takes place. If you speak English, you know parts of at least a hundred different languages. Just as children take after their parents, often English builds up a distinctly local flavor and becomes specialized. A couple of hun- dred years ago there was one English—the English of the British Isles. Today,there is American English,Australian English, Canadian English, Indian English, South African English . . . and, of course, British English (we just hope it doesn’t become obsolete). 2 ANOTHER WORD A DAY cintro.qxd 7/21/05 12:08 PM Page 2 In earlier times, English might have gone the way of Latin, which turned into many separate languages,such as French,Italian, and Spanish—but today, given the Internet, overnight flights, and the worldwide marketing of English-language books,films, and TV shows, it’s unlikely that those Englishes will be so isolated in vari- ous pockets as to turn into mutually unintelligible languages, though they’ll become localized to a certain extent. Americans traveling in the United Kingdom best avoid a few words that are perfectly normal at home: In the United States someone can safely go out with vest and pants as the outermost clothing while in the United Kingdom only Superman can do that. When an Englishman is mad about his flat,he really loves his apart- ment. An American,in exactly the same words, is angry about hav- ing a flat tire. Well, maybe British and American are two different languages. This book is the second in a series celebrating the English lan- guage in all its quirkiness, grandeur, fun, and delight. It features words of all kinds—unusual, unfamiliar, and intriguing—but what they all have in common is that, as shown by the examples, they all are words in use. Most of the usage examples are taken from cur- rent newspapers and magazines. Throughout the book you’ll find little puzzles and quizzes. The answers are at the end of the book. Hop on the boat. We follow the English language as it winds through circuitous routes and pick pebbles from its shores along the way.For more words, you can sign up to receive the daily Word A Day via e-mail; just cruise to http://wordsmith.org. As always, write to me at anu@wordsmith.org. INTRODUCTION 3 cintro.qxd 7/21/05 12:08 PM Page 3 cintro.qxd 7/21/05 12:08 PM Page 4 A lways remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.” Like all genuine humor, this waggish remark carries a grain of truth. There are six billion of us on Earth, and we are all very dif- ferent—in our demeanor, diction, and dreams; in our finger prints, retinal patterns, and DNA sequences. Yet no matter which hand we write with, what language we speak, or what we eat, there is something that binds us together, whether it is our preference for a life free from fear, our efforts to make this world better for ourselves and for others, or our appreci- ation of the beauty of the soul and our longing for love. With so many people, so many shared traits, and so many dif- ferences,it’s no wonder we have so many words to describe people. Let’s take a look at some of them. opsimath (OP-si-math) noun One who begins learning late in life. From Greek opsi- (late) + math (learning). ● “Maybe they just cannot bring themselves to break the news to our presidential opsimath—after all, a politician can learn only 5 CHAPTER 1 Words to Describe People I cmp01.qxd 7/21/05 12:12 PM Page 5 . obsolete). 2 ANOTHER WORD A DAY cintro.qxd 7 /21 /05 12: 08 PM Page 2 In earlier times, English might have gone the way of Latin, which turned into many separate languages,such as French,Italian, and Spanish—but. mad about his flat,he really loves his apart- ment. An American,in exactly the same words, is angry about hav- ing a flat tire. Well, maybe British and American are two different languages. This book. 20 4 orotund ● draggle ● trunnel ● pinnate ● lability 51 Words Borrowed from Native American Languages 20 7 sachem ● wampum ● high-muck -a- muck ● manitou ● powwow 52 Loanwords from Spanish 21 1 amigo ● loco ● duende ● disembogue ● armada Answers 21 5 Web