This week's theme: words with hidden animals. dragoon (druh-GOON) verb tr.
To force someone to do something; coerce. [From French dragon (dragon, to dragoon).] This is a good example of how a term transferred from an object to a people to an action. Originally it referred to the firearms, either from the fact that they breathed fire like a dragon or from the shape of the pistol hammer. Eventually it began to be applied to a European cavalryman armed with a carbine. Today the term is used in the sense of forcing someone to do something against his or her will. Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=dragoon -Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org) "Canadians should not be dragooned into going down the same garden path. We should say no to no-fly lists." Ground Canada's No-fly List Now; The Gazette (Montreal, Canada); Jan 16, 2007. Sponsored by: Ever wonder why we don't just talk, we chew the fat? Derivation, a hilarious game about word and phrase origins. A great gift! http://entspire.com Monthly French, German, Italian and Spanish cultural audio magazines for intermediate-to-advanced learners. http://web.champs-elysees.com/wsmith1 ........................................................................... There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952) Our privacy policy: AWAD mailing list addresses are never sold, rented, leased, traded, swapped, exchanged, or bartered. We hate junk mail. Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/dragoon.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/dragoon.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/dragoon.html
