Another word a day part 2 pot

31 Kangaroo Words 132
indolent
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rapscallion
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amicable
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frangible
●
scion
32 What Does That Company Name Mean? 135
cingular
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lucent
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prudential
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vanguard
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suppurate
33 Words with Interesting Etymologies 139
erudite
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sobriquet
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indite
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pentimento
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cockamamie
34 Words to Describe People II 143

scrofulous
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ugsome
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gormless
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scalawag
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sciolist
35 Words about Collecting and the Study of Things 147
scripophily
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deltiology
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exonumia
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notaphily
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vexillology
36 Words from the World of Law II 150
voir dire
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en banc
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parol
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depone
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distrain
37 Words Derived from Other Languages 153

sangfroid
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dragoman
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hinterland
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apparat
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Blighty
38 Words about Words II 156
exonym
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mononym
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cryptonym
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teknonym
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matronym
39 Words Borrowed from African Languages 161
zombie
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veld
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juju
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spoor
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mumbo jumbo
40 Metallic Words Used as Metaphors 165

goldbrick
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silver bullet
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brassy
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leaden
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tin ear
41 Words Related to Movies 170
bogart
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cinematheque
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jeune premier
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McGuffin
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cineaste
42 Discover the Theme II 174
extemporize
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impresario
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macroscopic
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postdiluvian
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plausive
x CONTENTS

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43 Miscellaneous Words II 178
telic
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saltant
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conurbation
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trade-last
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tardigrade
44 Words That Aren’t What They Appear to Be 182
beestings
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pythoness
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lambent
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redoubt
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archimage
45 Words of Horse-Related Origins 185
desultory
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equitant
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tattersall
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spavined
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hors de combat
46 Words of Horse-Related Origins II 189
cheval-de-frise
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Hobson’s choice
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harridan
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cheval de bataille
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cavalier
47 Words with Origins in War 192
nom de guerre
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antebellum
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polemic
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bellicose
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casus belli
48 Words from Latin 196
stat
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ceteris paribus
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qua
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terra firma
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via media
49 Words to Describe Your Opponents 200
facinorous
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ventripotent
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dasypygal
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saponaceous
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yegg
50 Discover the Theme III 204
orotund
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draggle
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trunnel
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pinnate
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lability
51 Words Borrowed from Native American Languages 207
sachem
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wampum
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high-muck-a-muck
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manitou
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powwow
52 Loanwords from Spanish 211
amigo
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loco
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duende
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disembogue
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armada
Answers 215
Web Resources: More Fun with Words 219
Index of Words 221
CONTENTS xi
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Thanks to all the linguaphiles who are a part of Wordsmith.org.
Thanks to my literary agents, Marly Rusoff and Judy Hansen.
Thanks to Hana Lane, my editor at John Wiley & Sons.
Thanks to Todd Derr and Eric Shackle at Wordsmith.
Thanks to Carolanne Reynolds, the grammar goddess.
Thanks to my wife, Stuti, and our daughter, Ananya.
Thanks to my parents.
Thanks to my guru.
xiii
Acknowledgments
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A

reader wrote,“I know you’ve been featuring words every day at
Wordsmith.org for more than a decade. Do you think you’ll
ever run out of them?”
A living language, like English, is constantly on the move.
Trying to describe it is like trying to take a snapshot of a flowing
river. As a language passes through time and space, it is altered in
innumerable ways. And it is continually replenished, refreshed, and
rejuvenated.
Time
A river flowing through the centuries picks up some new pebbles
and discards some old. It reshapes the existing ones,polishing them
to show new hues, accentuate new angles. It brings some to the
surface and buries others below layers (sometimes those pebbles can
pop up again!). If we sat in a time machine and traveled back a few
centuries, we would have to be careful using our current word-
stock. If we met a man and in appreciation said,“Nice suit!” we’d
be saying “stupid suit.” With the passage of time, the word nice has
taken various senses, from “ignorant” to “stupid” to “silly” to “sim-
ple” to “harmless” to “pleasing.”
1
Introduction
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A grimy rock might get scrubbed and its bright exterior might
shine forth; a word’s meaning might turn from negative to posi-
tive—but the reverse takes place as well. A rock picks up sediment
and what once was a translucent marble, today is a squalid lump,
barely recognizable from its former self. The word egregious meant
“preeminent” at one time, literally, one who is unlike the herd.
Today it connotes someone or something bad in an extraordinary
way. Earlier, flattering a king with this adjective might have fetched

a few pieces of gold but today the same word would get one kicked
out of the royal court.
Space
In the same way that a river picks up and discards pebbles as it
flows, when one language encounters another, the two exchange
words. They borrow some and lend some,though these borrowings
and lendings never need repaying. When the British ruled India,
they acquired shampoo (from Hindi champee, literally, head-massage).
English also got pundit, guru, pariah, nabob, punch, veranda, and
numerous other words from Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, and other
Indian languages. Those languages, in turn, helped themselves to
words from English.When a train stops, in all languages in India, it
stops at a station.
In trade, travel, communication, exploration, technology, inva-
sion, and many other areas of life, people come together and osmo-
sis takes place. If you speak English, you know parts of at least a
hundred different languages.
Just as children take after their parents, often English builds up
a distinctly local flavor and becomes specialized. A couple of hun-
dred years ago there was one English—the English of the British
Isles. Today,there is American English,Australian English, Canadian
English, Indian English, South African English . . . and, of course,
British English (we just hope it doesn’t become obsolete).
2 ANOTHER WORD A DAY
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In earlier times, English might have gone the way of Latin,
which turned into many separate languages,such as French,Italian,
and Spanish—but today, given the Internet, overnight flights, and
the worldwide marketing of English-language books,films, and TV
shows, it’s unlikely that those Englishes will be so isolated in vari-

ous pockets as to turn into mutually unintelligible languages,
though they’ll become localized to a certain extent.
Americans traveling in the United Kingdom best avoid a few
words that are perfectly normal at home: In the United States
someone can safely go out with vest and pants as the outermost
clothing while in the United Kingdom only Superman can do that.
When an Englishman is mad about his flat,he really loves his apart-
ment. An American,in exactly the same words, is angry about hav-
ing a flat tire. Well, maybe British and American are two different
languages.
This book is the second in a series celebrating the English lan-
guage in all its quirkiness, grandeur, fun, and delight. It features
words of all kinds—unusual, unfamiliar, and intriguing—but what
they all have in common is that, as shown by the examples, they all
are words in use. Most of the usage examples are taken from cur-
rent newspapers and magazines.
Throughout the book you’ll find little puzzles and quizzes. The
answers are at the end of the book.
Hop on the boat. We follow the English language as it winds
through circuitous routes and pick pebbles from its shores along the
way.For more words, you can sign up to receive the daily Word
A Day via e-mail; just cruise to . As always,
write to me at
INTRODUCTION 3
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A
lways remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.”
Like all genuine humor, this waggish remark carries a grain of
truth. There are six billion of us on Earth, and we are all

very dif-
ferent—in our demeanor, diction, and dreams; in our finger
prints,
retinal patterns, and DNA sequences.
Yet no matter which hand we write with, what language we
speak, or what we eat, there is something that binds us together,
whether it is our preference for a life free from fear, our efforts to
make this world better for ourselves and for others, or our appreci-
ation of the beauty of the soul and our longing for love.
With so many people, so many shared traits, and so many dif-
ferences,it’s no wonder we have so many words to describe people.
Let’s take a look at some of them.
opsimath (OP-si-math)
noun One who begins learning late in life.
From Greek opsi- (late) + math (learning).
● “Maybe they just cannot bring themselves to break the news to
our presidential opsimath—after all, a politician can learn only
5
CHAPTER 1
Words to Describe
People I
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