AWADmail Issue 265
June 10, 2007
A Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages
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From: Wordsmith.org (words wordsmith.org)
Subject: Reminder: Wordsmith.org online chat with Anne Curzan
Join us in an online chat on the history of English. Our guest will be
Anne Curzan, author, editor, and professor of English at the University
of Michigan.
She is the author of "Gender Shifts in the History of English" (2003)
and "How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction" (2006) and editor of
Journal of English Linguistics.
The event will take place on Tue, June 12, 2007, 6 pm Pacific (GMT -7)
For more details, please see http://wordsmith.org/chat
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From: Nancy Friedman (nancyf wordworking.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--premorse
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/premorse.html
In "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times", an episode of
"The Simpsons" that first aired in January 2007, the character
Milhouse takes preemptive action against a bully and calls it
"prevenge". I imagine he subsequently experienced premorse.
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From: J.R. Arner (redragon ptd.net)
Subject: George Herbert: Paradise (1633)
Concerning this week's motif of beheading words, you may remember
George Herbert. Particularly his poem Paradise:
http://www.ccel.org/h/herbert/temple/Paradise.html
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From: Tracy Johnston (trackyj acer-access.com)
Subject: Re: beheaded words
I was driving past a recently renovated apartment complex today and saw
their "Now Leasing" sign which made me giggle. They had added, using a
different font and color, the letter "P" to it, making it "Now Pleasing".
A reverse beheading!
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From: Paul Laurance (paul.laurance areva-td.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--testate
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/testate.html
I liked the fact that this word is "recursively decapitatable":
testate - valid will
estate - land, property
state - condition, nation
tate - common in crosswords, normally defined as an art gallery in London
ate - past tense eat
te - Tellurium
e - base of the natural logarithm
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From: Sue Levy (slevy jalcomputer.com.au)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--testate
My husband remembered an incident when he was a child -- his father
received a small share in the estate of a distant relative who died
intestate, and there was some discussion in the family because the
two oldest members each received one penny more than the others. I
just hope they didn't spend it all at once!
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From: Richard Koepsell (haskoepr earthlink.net)
Subject: feedback: testate
My wife, who's a medievalist, tells me testate is related to testimony and
testes. In fact, in one of the orthodox faiths, when the priest makes the
sign of the cross he makes the lowest part of the sign near his testes
because he's swearing by his testes that his testimony is true. Thus he's
willing to give them up if he's not being truthful--thus testimony.
It's a popular story, but the origin of the word testify is
really in the Indo-European root trei- (three) implying that
to testify is to be the third person: to bear witness.
-Anu Garg
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From: Joel Wollner (bashou peacevillage.net)
Subject: Re: strident/trident/rident
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/strident.html
Why cut off your beheadings at two?
More than merely trident or rident, hydra-headed strident can endure five
decapitating blows revealing hidden inner words:
Strident/trident/rident/ident/dent and, if you dare to stick your neck out
far enough, /ent.
Tolkien enthusiasts will immediately recognize ent as the giant, humanoid
tree creatures of Middle Earth. But the word has deep roots in old
Anglo-Saxon, naming the mythical humanoid giants, and appears extensively in
fantasy, folklore, and poetry. Tolkien's adaptation is explored (along with
99 others of his coinage) in the fascinating new book "The Ring of Words:
Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary" by Peter Gilver, Jeremy Marshall,
and Edmund Weiner.
The other uncommon inner word, ident, is defined in the OED as: "a short
sequence shown on television between programmes to identify the channel."
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From: Srinivas Shastri (shastrix gmail.com)
Subject: Topless Words
Ah, that reminds me of a favorite crossword clue:
Fruit, with the top off, is still fruit (6).
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From: Grant Barrett (gbarrett worldnewyork.org)
Subject: Dictionary Society of North America New Word Open Mic
This year Chicago will be hosting the biennial conference of the Dictionary
Society of North America. Of special interest is the "New Word Open Mic",
in which people can share words they've coined and get them critiqued by a
panel of experts and then voted on by everyone present. It'll be goofy, not
serious. The session is open to the public and press Saturday, June 16th,
4:30 - 5:45 pm in Brea sted Hall, at the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago in Hyde Park.
More info about the open mic: http://dtww.org/dsna/
More information about the whole conference: http://dsna-chicago.blogspot.com/
............................................................................
While language is forming, writers are applauded for extending its limits;
when established, for restricting themselves to them. -Isaac Disraeli,
writer (1766-1848)
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