-----Original Message----- From: Wordsmith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 12:08 AM To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org Subject: A.Word.A.Day--persiflage
persiflage (PUR-sih-flazh) noun Light-hearted or flippant treatment of a subject; banter. [From French persiflage, from persifler (to banter), from per- (thoroughly) + siffler (to whistle or hiss), from Old French, from Late Latin sifilare, an alteration of Latin sibilare (to hiss).] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=persiflage "It is derivative rather than destructive humour which presupposes serious history on which to base their persiflage." Stewart Lamont; It's the Way You Tell Them, When Something is Sacred; The Herald (Glasgow, UK); May 30, 1998. This week's theme: miscellaneous words. Sponsored by: Monthly French, German, Italian and Spanish cultural audio magazines for intermediate-to-advanced learners. http://web.champs-elysees.com/wsmith1 And you? Reach more than half-million readers in this space -- contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ............................................................................ Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891) Looking for a word/quotation previously featured in AWAD? Archives are at http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/persiflage.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/persiflage.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/persiflage.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]". _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list Futurework@fes.uwaterloo.ca http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
