anemometer

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

anemometer

PRONUNCIATION:

(an-uh-MOM-i-tuhr)

MEANING:

noun: An instrument for measuring the speed of wind.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek anemo- (wind) + -meter (measure).

USAGE:

"The highest three-second wind gust measured by the anemometer on the Mile High Swinging Bridge was 77 mph May 9."
Above-Average Temperatures, Dryness in May at Grandfather Mountain; Asheville Citizen-Times (North Carolina); Jun 4, 2010.
Explore "anemometer" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Power is only important as an instrument for service to the powerless. -Lech Walesa, human rights activist, Polish president, Nobel laureate (b. 1943)

Meiosis

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

meiosis

PRONUNCIATION:

(my-O-sis)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Understatement for rhetorical effect.
2. The process of cell division in which the number of chromosomes per cell is reduced to one half.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek meiosis (lessening), from meioun (to lessen), from meion (less).

NOTES:

Meiosis is a figure of speech in which underemphasis is used to achieve a greater effect, for example, "It took a few days to build the Great Wall of China." Also see litotes.

USAGE:

"At times I have a problem with this understatement. Understatement is effective only when there is real purpose to the meiosis."
James Gardner; Cold Mountain; National Review (New York); Dec 31, 1997.
"I took two years of biology in secondary school and couldn't today tell you the difference between meiosis and mitosis without a little help from Google, yet no one's arguing that studying cellular processes is a waste of precious school resources."
Kate Sommers-Dawes; Foreign Language in High Schools is Worthwhile; Washington Post; May 13, 2010.
Explore "meiosis" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The souls of emperors and cobblers are cast in the same mold. The same reason that makes us wrangle with a neighbor creates a war betwixt princes. -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

Tabby

tabby

PRONUNCIATION:

(TAB-ee)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A domestic cat with a striped or brindled coat.
2. A domestic cat, especially a female one.
3. A spinster.
4. A spiteful or gossipy woman.
5. A fabric of plain weave.
6. A watered silk fabric.
7. A building material made of lime, oyster shells, and gravel.

ETYMOLOGY:

For 1-6: From French tabis, from Medieval Latin attabi, from Arabic attabi, from al-Attabiya, a suburb of Baghdad, Iraq, where silk was made, from the name of Prince Attab. Cats got the name tabby after similarity of their coats to the cloth; the derivations of words for females are probably from shortening of the name Tabitha.
For 7: From Gullah tabi, ultimately from Spanish tapia (wall).

USAGE:

"I was playing whist with the tabbies when it occurred, and saw nothing of the whole matter."
Charles James Lever; Jack Hinton, the Guardsman; 1857.
"Kay Sekimachi uses tabby and twill weaving to contrast black and beige linens."
Stunning 30-year Retrospective at San Jose Museum of Quilts Textiles; Independent Coast Observer (California); Jan 4, 2008.
"Mayor Carl Smith suggested that tabby fence posts be used around the cemetery's perimeter because the oyster-based concrete would better fit the island's character."
Jessica Johnson; Group Restoring Cemetery; The Post and Courier (South Carolina); Jan 21, 2010.
Explore "tabby" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

And this our life, exempt from public haunt, / Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, / Sermons in stones, and good in everything. -William Shakespeare, playwright and poet (1564-1616)

utopia….

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg
With all the hassles of air travel, it's no fun flying any more. Things are different in A.Word.A.Day though. We'll fly you to places far and wide without having to remove remove shoes and jacket and walk through the see-thru scanners at the airport.

This week we have picked five fabled destinations, places that exist only in our collective imagination. So tighten your seat belts and enjoy the ride. You're not in Kansas anymore.

utopia

PRONUNCIATION:

(yoo-TOH-pee-uh)

MEANING:

noun:
1. An ideal place or state.
2. An impractical scheme for social or political reform.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Utopia, an imaginary ideal island in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More, from Greek ou (not) + topos (place).

USAGE:

"As we believe simplicity contributes to a peaceful life, we have not bought into the utopia promised by consumerism."
Harry MacLure; Mush Register; The Hindu (Chennai, India); Mar 22, 2010.

new word may 14th

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Shangri-la

PRONUNCIATION:

(shang-gri-LAH)

MEANING:

noun: An imaginary, idyllic place that is remote and secluded.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Shangri-La, a Tibetan utopia in the novel Lost Horizon (1933) by James Hilton (1900-1954). From Shangri (a coined name) + Tibetan la (mountain pass).

USAGE:

"For just one hour you think you are living in dreamland, a Shangri-La, where if life is not yet quite perfect, it will be very soon."
Simon Hoggart; Budget 2010; The Guardian (London, UK); Mar 25, 2010.
Explore "Shangri-la" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If the world ever advances beyond what it is today, it must be led by men who express their real opinions. -Robert G. Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (1833-1899)

a word a day….. may 14th

Garden of Eden

PRONUNCIATION:

(GAHR-dn of EED-n)

MEANING:

noun: A place of unspoilt happiness and beauty.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Hebrew eden (delight, pleasure). The Garden of Eden refers to the Biblical place where Adam and Eve lived before being expelled.

USAGE:

"Long before the Spaniards arrived in Palos Verdes, a nation of people lived in a veritable Garden of Eden. Lush and teeming with wild game and fish, life on the Peninsula for its native people, the Tongva, was rich and abundant."
Mary Scott; Paradise Lost -- And Found?; Peninsula News (California); Mar 25, 2010.
Explore "Garden of Eden" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I abhor vivisection. It should at least be curbed. Better, it should be abolished. I know of no achievement through vivisection, no scientific discovery, that could not have been obtained without such barbarism and cruelty. The whole thing is evil. -Charles Mayo, physician and founder of the Mayo Clinic (1865-1939)

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new word on ….. 14th may

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Land of Oz

PRONUNCIATION:

(land ov oz)

MEANING:

noun: An unreal or magical place.

ETYMOLOGY:

A mythical and magical place, first introduced in the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919). The legend that Baum came up with the name when he saw a filing cabinet drawer labeled O-Z (below the drawers A-G and H-N) is disputed. See here.

USAGE:

"Perhaps you were living in the Land of Oz if you had been expecting anything but what we were handed by an Ontario Government up to its snoot in red ink."
Tayler Parnaby; Don't Peek Behind the Curtain; Caledon Enterprise (Canada); Mar 30, 2010.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The death of dogma is the birth of morality. -Immanuel Kant, philosopher (1724-1804)

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New word today .. April 19th, 2010

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg
When my daughter was little and scraped a knee, what brought the swiftest diversion wasn't candies or toys, but stories. Stories soothe us, teach us, take us to other worlds. Even when we grow up, our hunger for stories remains.

Each of this week's five words is a story in itself. From mythology, fiction, and poetry, they contain tales that are hundreds or thousands of years old. Through the allusions and metaphors in them we'll visit lands afar.

vanity fair

PRONUNCIATION:

(VAN-i-tee fair)

MEANING:

noun: A place characterized by frivolity and ostentation.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Vanity Fair, a fair that lasted all year long in the town of Vanity, in the novel Pilgrim's Progress by writer and preacher John Bunyan (1628-1688). In the fair were traded houses, honors, titles, kingdoms, pleasures, and much more -- sounds like an early version of eBay.

USAGE:

"[The Millionaire Fair] was a vanity fair of thin beautiful women sporting mink fur coats and low necklines decorated with glittering jewelry and dark-suited, elegant men shadowed by beefy bodyguards."
Maria Danilova; In Moscow, A Nouveau Riche Showcase; The Associated Press; Nov 3, 2006.

"In one corner was Karl Rove, presidential adviser and global-warming denier. In the opposite corner was the An Inconvenient Truth tag team of singer Sheryl Crow and documentary producer Laurie David. Their encounter took place Saturday night in Washington at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, a vanity fair for journalists, politicos, and celebrities."
The Lightning Round; The Philadelphia Inquirer; Apr 24, 2007.
Explore "vanity fair" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

One is happy as a result of one's own efforts once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience. -George Sand [pen name of Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin], novelist (1804-1876)

TSYT-gyst

PRONUNCIATION:

(TSYT-gyst)

MEANING:

noun: The defining spirit of a particular period: the general cultural, political, intellectual, and moral climate of an era.

ETYMOLOGY:

From German Zeitgeist (spirit of the time), from Zeit (time) + Geist (spirit).

USAGE:

"Once again Lionel Shriver has stomped into the middle of a pressing national debate with a great ordeal of a novel So Much For That that's impossible to ignore. ... If Jodi Picoult has her finger on the zeitgeist, Shriver has her hands around its throat."
Ron Charles; So Much For That; The Washington Post; Mar 17, 2010.
Explore "zeitgeist" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I react pragmatically. Where the market works, I'm for that. Where the government is necessary, I'm for that. I'm deeply suspicious of somebody who says, "I'm in favor of privatization," or, "I'm deeply in favor of public ownership." I'm in favor of whatever works in the particular case. -John Kenneth Galbraith, economist (1908-2006)

weltanschauung… ( new word)

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

weltanschauung

PRONUNCIATION:

(VELT-ahn-shou-oong)

MEANING:

noun: World view; philosophy of life; a framework through which to interpret the world.

ETYMOLOGY:

From German Weltanschauung (world view), from Welt (world) + Anschauung (perception).

NOTES:

When we bring in a word from another language, sometimes we borrow it and at other times make a loan translation. The word weltanschauung appears so useful that English has borrowed the original form and also made a loan translation: world view.

USAGE:

"Gwyneth Paltrow summed up her weltanschauung thus: 'My life is good because I am not passive about it.'"
Richard Dorment; Gwyneth Paltrow Feels Good -- And So Can You; Esquire (New York); Sep 16, 2009.
Explore "weltanschauung" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)

armageddon

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Armageddon

PRONUNCIATION:

(ahr-muh-GED-n)

MEANING:

noun: A decisive, catastrophic conflict.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the Book of Revelation 16:16 where Armageddon is mentioned. It is the supposed site of a final battle between the forces of good and evil. The word is from Greek Harmagedon, from Hebrew har megiddo (Mount Megiddo).

USAGE:

"In the event that the US unleashed a nuclear Armageddon, the radar station would have immediately warned Moscow."
Luke Harding; For Sale: One Communist-era Ghost Town; The Guardian (London, UK); Feb 5, 2010.
Explore "armageddon" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Every one of us is precious in the cosmic perspective. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)