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A Word a Day
from the callypygian dept.
For anyone who finds MBA-speak infiltrating daily life (I'll admit to once telling a friend we could "table the discussion for later"), learning new, cool, real words is a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. Anu Garg runs A.Word.A.Day, the website, where, instead of the morning's daily dose of spam, acolytes can receive daily linguistic edification. (The urge to use big words in a review like this is difficult to suppress.) Now he's taken the best of these words and themes and collected them in a slim little volume good for both casual grazing and sit-down-reading.
What's to Like
Garg has a logical mind, dividing the book into small chapters with clever themes. There are some humdingers of words, but there are also many surprisingly small entries, as in the chapters "Words that Make the Spell-checker Ineffective" (example: specie, meaning "in kind") and "Words Not to Put on Your Resume" (example: distrait, or absentminded). Anyone who wants to get really meta will like the chapters that are words about words (example: verbigeration, the obsessive repetition of meaningless words and phrases). The truth is, it's just fun to learn new words, stretch the brain a little bit, and to find out how certain etymologies came to be. Pixilated (as opposed to pixelated), meaning whimsical or eccentric, came from the word "pixie," for example, while cremains (from the combining of the words cremate and remains) means exactly what you think.What's to Consider
Late in the book, Garg introduces the concept of the malapropism ("the humorous misuse of a word by confusing it with a similar-sounding word"), which seems like an important idea in geek culture. Lots of geeks are autodidacts and readers, and we fall into the habit of mispronouncing or slightly misusing big word. (For years I said prejudice as "pre-justiced" because that was how I thought of the meaning.) To be exact in language -- both in pronunciation and in meaning -- is to have a certain kind of power. It may seem a little prissy to worry about it, but communication is one of those things in daily life that really matter, that people use to make a judgement about how smart or interesting a person is. A weblog filled with all "like, you know" kind of commentary is tedious; a witty one gets forwarded to friends.As corporate-speak becomes more and more intertwined with technology, it's up to all of us to create a discourse community (a concept a friend from Harvard told me about) that makes conversation sparkly and yet exact, even in the middle of a cube farm. But mostly, it's just fun to think about words and how they could be used. Not that it will ever happen, but maybe at the next meeting, during the next inane bizdev presentation, someone will lean over and whisper "Clearly Manager X must have been decerebrated over the holidays, or he would never have perorated like that this afternoon." And we'll all actually know what he's talking about.
Summary
Anu Garg loves words, and the book reflects it. He has a natural curiosity and desire to explain bigger concepts about how language evolves and becomes useful. Playful and humorous in his writing style, he's created a book that other people will want to borrow from you.
You can purchase A Word a Day from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Best Ever Word of the Day (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Best Ever Word of the Day (Score:4, Funny)
I'm sure it's a best seller amongst the fans in Redmond.
Parent
The Diet of Worms and the Defenestration of Prague (Score:2)
Re:Best Ever Word of the Day (Score:2)
This is not so funny to those of us who come from a background of religious persecution.
Re:Best Ever Word of the Day (Score:2)
verbigeration, (Score:4, Funny)
Yup, that about describes my posting....
Some words it needs to attract the slashdot crowd (Score:5, Funny)
Wierd
Definately
Loose/Lose
Perhaps my all time favorite common misspelling is "retarted" when used as an insult.
Re:Some words it needs to attract the slashdot cro (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Some words it needs to attract the slashdot cro (Score:3, Funny)
wier'd, verb, past tense (archaic). To turn someone into a small dam.
retarted, verb, past tense. Bill Gates after he has just been hit with another cream pie.
Re:Some words it needs to attract the slashdot cro (Score:2)
Re:Some words it needs to attract the slashdot cro (Score:4, Informative)
Every time I hear someone say it's a mute point, I want to rip their tongue out and render them mute. Then their poor spoken grammar would be a moot point.
Sigh...I feel better now.
Parent
Re:Some words it needs to attract the slashdot cro (Score:3, Informative)
seperated
A word a day... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A word a day... (Score:2)
You do realize that here in the US, our words average about 4 letters. We don't even use the word characters anymore. You know, like, short words, w00t and w0rd and such.
Really Great Word (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Really Great Word (Score:2)
Callipygian in pop culture (Score:2)
How is her being ... (Score:2)
Re:spathic (Score:2)
Spathis is isolated to only describe minerals. Cleavage does not always mean boobs.
"Cleavage does not always mean boobs." (Score:2)
Re:"Cleavage does not always mean boobs." (Score:2)
A strange one, where my mind resides above my waistline.
The Problem Here... (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes but... (Score:2)
Yes but dictionary.com may not appreciate getting /.ed.
this reminds me (Score:4, Informative)
Example
GROYNE n. ~ This is the correct term for one of those little wooden fences or brick walls that run down English beaches and out into the water for some distance, as a device to check the drifting of the same. Pronounced, and sometimes spelled, groin. "Shall we get together down by the groyne?"
Hmmm. Can i sign up george bush? (Score:5, Funny)
Actually you can sign up anyone (Score:2)
I just subscribed and was alarmed to see that there's no confirmation required. At least it's not a high-volume list (I'd estimate that you'd get, er, one mail a day, making it a poor choice for mailbombing) but it's still a while since I last encountered a mailing list that trusting.
At least the unsubscribe link is prominently displayed on the introductory mail.
Re:Hmmm. Can i sign up george bush? (Score:2)
Learning the etymology of a word helps a lot (Score:5, Informative)
But more importantly, you can learn MANY more than 365 words a year if you look up the 'etymology' of the words you learn (the history and background of how they came into being).
Why? Well, take the word 'malapropism' that was highlighted in this review. It's find learning what it means, but if you rattle along to its dictionary.com entry you find out it comes from the word 'malaprop'. Digging further, you can learn what this really means.
Any French student knows that mal means 'bad' or wrong.
Now, à propos means 'to the subject/purpose'. But what does it also sound like? It's sounds like malappropriate doesn't it?
Now it's a lot easier to remember.
bad + appropriate + for subject = malapropism
a word that's inappropriate for the topic = malapropism.
Now next time you hit words like malice and malfunction you won't have to wonder whether mal meant good or bad.. because you looked up the etymology!
So, look up the history of words you learn, because you could easily end up being able to guess many hundreds of OTHER words simply by knowing the roots.
DICTIONARY.COM RULES! (Score:2)
Learning the exact meaning of a word, it's variants, and it's etymology really helps me get a grip on nuances in language. A lot of the time I'll get a little surprise when I look up a word, ESPECIALLY when I think I already know what it means. It's also good prectice for SCRABBLE.
Re:DICTIONARY.COM RULES! (Score:3, Funny)
So does knowing a little history (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Learning the etymology of a word helps a lot (Score:5, Informative)
Now it might be argued that Sheridan named his character based on reasoning similar to the above derivation, but without the character, it is entirely possible that we'd be using another term.
Parent
Re:Learning the etymology of a word helps a lot (Score:3, Informative)
Well, to be more precise, it comes from Mrs Malaprop, a character in Sheridan's The Rivals, who comes out with a lot of malapropisms. I don't think `malaprop' itself is an English word, though the ever-promiscuous WordNet disagrees. Of course, the chances are that the resemblance to mal à propos was intentional...
Drat (Score:5, Interesting)
Excellent idea! (Score:3, Informative)
hacker [reference.com] n.
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file.
3. One who enthusiastically pursues a game or sport: a weekend tennis hacker.
That's been debated for far too long. And as for the argument that use define word meanings, dictionaries don't, that's basically shooting yourself in the foot, as everyone and his brother using "hacker" as in "cracker" is what prudists are arguing against in the first place.
Runner-ups: computer science, operating system, free, theft, intellectual property.
I have a nagging feeling that all the stuff being debated daily on Slashdot could be easily settled in a day or two if we could just agree on what certain keywords mean.
Any mention to (Score:2)
The Oxford English Dictionary (Score:4, Interesting)
site has a Word of the Day function:
http://www.oed.com/cgi/display/wotd
Today's word is 'mutton', which isn't very interesting until you read the the archaic forms. There is one from 1518: "And from thens to the halfe strete, To get vs there some freshe mete. Why, is there any store of rawe motton? "
Okay, I find the archaic bits interesting. YMMV.
Communication is important... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not saying that someone who spells poorly is stupid, or always wrong about things -- just that they're perceived that way. If you can't even learn to spell properly, what are the odds you can learn to think properly? Yeah, it's a gross oversimplification, but life isn't always fair.
Re:Communication is important... (Score:2)
Wonderful! I couldn't agree more. And you even managed to avoid making a mistake in your own post :-)
Slashdot should have a -1, Spelling moderating option so that people could set it to -5 in their preferences...
If english words made any sense (Score:4, Funny)
(Yes, I get all my posts from
Re:If english words made any sense (Score:2)
KDE (Score:2)
Here's some they missed (Score:5, Funny)
Aquadextrous - adj. Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub faucet on and off with your toes.
Gurmlish - n. The red warning flag at the top of a club sandwich which prevents the person from biting into it and puncturing the roof of his mouth.
Sniglet (snig'lit) - n. Any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should.
Lactomangulation - n. Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk carton so badly that one has to resort to using the "illegal" side.
Mozzalastics (maht suh las' tiks) - n. Large deposits of cheese that stick to the top of the pizza box.
I've been doing it. (Score:5, Funny)
Neolatin (romance) languages and English (Score:2, Interesting)
Seriously speaking, though, it's interesting how (apparently, at least) most, if not virtually all words in English (that come from a non-Latin root) have one or more Latin-derived synonyms. It's always fun to think of them for any random word.
Why link to the main site? (Score:3, Informative)
I'll probably buy that book just because I love the service they provide (for free) so much, but really, it's all in the archives if you want to spare a few bucks.
alternate definitions (Score:5, Funny)
Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
Carcinoma (n.), a valley in California, notable for its heavy smog.
Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightie.
Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.
Bustard (n.), a very rude Metrobus driver.
Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon.
Flatulence (n.), the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
Semantics (n.), pranks conducted by young men studying for the priesthood, including such things as gluing the pages of the priest's prayer book together just before vespers.
Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you.
Marionettes (n.), residents of Washington who have been jerked around by the mayor.
Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions.
Circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts.
Frisbatarianism (n.), Belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
annmariabell.com [annmariabell.com]
Dictionary.com button (Score:4, Interesting)
javascript:
q=document.getSelection();
for(i=0;i q=frames[i].document.getSelection();if(q)break;
}
if(!q)void(q=prompt('Keywords:',''));
if(q)location.href='http://www.google.com/search?
and modified it for use with dictionary.com [dictionary.com]. The result
javascript:
q=document.getSelection();
if(!q){
void(q=prompt('Enter word to define using dictionary.com. You can also define any word on this web page by highlighting the word and clicking Dictionary.',''))
};
if(q)location.href='http://dictionary.reference.c
is a button on your personal toolbar allowing you to lookup a word which you have highlighted in any webpage.
BTW, I had to insert html breaks in the code to get past slashdots javascript filter.
Re:General "Book Review" question (Score:2)
I am very afraid.
irony (Score:2)