This week's theme: words from chemistry. caustic (KAW-stik) adjective
1. Capable of burning or corroding. 2. Highly critical; sarcastic. [From Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaustos (combustible), from kaiein, (to burn).] Caustic soda (Sodium hydroxide) is a highly corrosive substance used in the manufacture of soap, paper, and textiles. Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=caustic -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Some were outright sarcastic, others clearly caustic." Vijay Mruthyunjaya; ICC's Hairobics Baffle; Gulf Daily News (Bahrain); Aug 28, 2006. Sponsors' Messages: 101 Questions Answered! What do Muslims believe? How bad is bird flu? Who's to blame for income tax? http://knowledgenews.net/s?s=aw090606 Ever wonder why we aren't just happy, we're happy as a clam? Derivation, a fascinating game about word & phrase origins. A great gift! http://entspire.com ............................................................................ In the small matters trust the mind, in the large ones the heart. -Sigmund Freud, neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis (1856-1939) Send your comments to (words AT wordsmith.org). To unsubscribe, update address send gift subscription, etc., visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/caustic.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/caustic.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/caustic.html This message was sent to "[email protected]".
