Another word a day part 1 pps

Another
Word A Day
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Also by Anu Garg
A Word A Day: A Romp through Some of the Most
Unusual and Intriguing Words in English
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Another
Word A Day
An All-New Romp
through Some of the Most
Unusual and Intriguing
Words in English
Anu Garg
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2005 by Anu Garg. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
Composition by Navta Associates, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Garg, Anu.
Another word a day : an all-new romp through some of the most unusual and intriguing
words in English / Anu Garg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13 978-0-471-71845-1 (pbk.)
ISBN 10 0-471-71845-9 (pbk.)
ISBN 13 978-0-471-77878-3 (cloth)
ISBN 10 0-471-77878-8 (cloth)
1. Vocabulary. 2. English language—Glossaries, vocabularies, etc. I. Title.
PE1449.G3345 2006
428.1—dc22 2005004284
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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All words are pegs to hang ideas on.
—H

ENRY WARD BEECHER
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Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1 Words to Describe People I 5
opsimath
●
agelast
●
losel
●
nebbish
●
cruciverbalist
2 Earls Who Became Words
(or Places That Became Words) 9
orrery
●
cadogan
●
Oxfordian
●
derby
●
Yarborough
3 Words Having Origins in Chess 14
zugzwang
●
checkmate

●
gambit
●
stalemate
●
endgame
4 Words That Appear to Be Misspellings of
Everyday Words I 18
passible
●
monestrous
●
cloture
●
nutriment
●
assoil
5 Archaic Words 21
clepe
●
sennight
●
anon
●
gainsay
●
hearken
6 Toponyms 24
Chautauqua
●

Pax Romana
●
Gibraltar
●
seltzer
●
Kilkenny cats
vii
Contents
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7 Words about Books and Writing 28
roman à clef
●
orihon
●
amphigory
●
conspectus
●
magnum opus
8 Words Borrowed from Yiddish 31
chutzpah
●
mensch
●
zaftig
●
kvetch
●
schlep

9 Te r ms from the World of Law 36
estoppel
●
laches
●
solatium
●
sui juris
●
mittimus
10 Words That Appear to Be Misspellings of Everyday
Words II 40
eagre
●
imprest
●
endue
●
biennial
●
quacksalver
11 Words Borrowed from Arabic 44
alembic
●
nadir
●
jihad
●
houri
●

talisman
12 Words Formed Erroneously 48
niddering
●
obsidian
●
helpmeet
●
zenith
●
derring-do
13 What’s in a Name? 52
randy
●
tony
●
ted
●
bobby
●
brad
14 Words from Poetry 56
cataract
●
dreary
●
nosegay
●
collyrium
●

tarry
15 Fishy Words 61
minnow
●
gudgeon
●
remora
●
inconnu
●
tope
16 Discover the Theme I 66
ubiety
●
irade
●
ambit
●
estival
●
lanate
17 Te r ms Employing Various Nationalities 71
French leave
●
Chinese wall
●
Roman holiday
●
Irish bull
●

Dutch auction
18 Words with Double Connections 75
diplopia
●
double entendre
●
ambsace
●
satchel
●
doppelgänger
viii CONTENTS
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19 Words Related to the Calendar 79
ides
●
bissextile
●
Greek calends
●
menology
●
fin de siècle
20 False Friends 83
sacrilegious
●
scission
●
oust
●

impregnable
●
mellifluous
21 Red-Herring Words 87
undulate
●
fartlek
●
conversant
●
assize
●
valorize
22 Words Related to the Human Body 90
nares
●
oxter
●
pollex
●
nevus
●
glossal
23 Words Related to Buying and Selling 93
emptor
●
nummary
●
duopoly
●

monopsony
●
chandler
24 Miscellaneous Words 98
astrobleme
●
pudency
●
aporia
●
remontant
●
loricate
25 Words That Have Changed Meaning with Time 101
demagogue
●
decimate
●
feisty
●
egregious
●
officious
26 Words about Words 107
hapax legomenon
●
metaphor
●
vulgat
●

hyperbole
●
metaplasm
27 Anglo-Saxon Words 111
meed
●
fen
●
lief
●
fain
●
wight
28 Words Borrowed from Other Languages 115
cumshaw
●
smorgasbord
●
baksheesh
●
taboo
●
honcho
29 Words from Medicine 118
sequela
●
nosology
●
idiopathy
●

placebo
●
nyctalopia
30 Numeric Terms 123
sixty-four-dollar question
●
eighty-six
●
twenty-twenty
●
deep-six
●
catch-22
CONTENTS ix
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