Miscellaneous Words II

H
ave you ever taken a vacation that’s planned to every nanosec-
ond? At 9:37 we visit the Garden of Standonburg and spend an
hour and eighteen minutes there, then we reach the Pamponi
Museum at 11:09, and then . . . Well, that’s not a vacation, is it?
Sometimes it’s best to let yourself roam with no plan, no schedule,
no rules, no aim, and nothing to guide you except an open mind
and an open heart.
This chapter’s words are collected in just that spirit. A word
tickles our fancy and leads us to some others that bring forth yet
more words.We skip some of them, move ahead, or perhaps take a
leisurely stroll through the dictionary. The words selected have no
common thread—at least as far as we know. There is no theme to
constrain our word choices during the next five days. Or maybe
that’s the theme. Well, you decide.
telic (TEL-ik,TEE-lik)
adjective Tending toward a goal; expressing a purpose.
From Greek telikos,from telos (end). The word telephone comes from
the same root.
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CHAPTER 43
Miscellaneous
Words II
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● “A telic motivation starts with isolating a need and then feel-
ing anxious about resolving it.”
—Reason
saltant (SAL-tuhnt)
adjective Leaping, jumping, or dancing.
From Latin saltant-, stem of saltans,present participle of saltare (to
dance), frequentative of salire (to jump). Other words derived from

the same Latin root (salire) are sally, somersault, insult, result, and saute.
● “Sarabands that can charm a saltant chap at a danza . . .”
—Christian Bök, Eunoia
conurbation (kon-uhr-BAY-shuhn)
noun A large urban area involving several contiguous communi-
ties, formed as a result of expansion of neighboring areas.
From con- (together, with) + Latin urb- (city) + -ation.
● “With the conurbation of shanty towns emerging in the area
like mushrooms, very soon it might take hours to cross the area.
And who says this is the way to develop a city or a nation?”
—Accra Mail (Ghana)
MISCELLANEOUS WORDS II
179
I wish you all the joy that you can wish.
—
W
ILLIAM
S
HAKESPEARE
, playwright and poet (1564–1616)
Things That Leap
A derivation of “saltant” is the word saltation in geology
which, among its other uses, describes the process by which
sand grains move in dunes and snowflakes move in drifts.
—Rene Shinavar, Rochester, New York
There is a wonderful Italian dish called saltimbocca, which
means “leaps into the mouth.”
—Paul Baumgartel, Milford, Connecticut
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trade-last (TRAYD-last)

noun A compliment that a person has heard and offers to repeat
to the one complimented in exchange for a compliment made
about himself or herself.
From trade + last.
180
ANOTHER WORD A DAY
The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience,
the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.
—
M
ARCUS
T
ULLIUS
C
ICERO
, statesman, orator,
and author (106–43
B
.
C
.
E
.)
Urban Nation
Conurbation is the perfect description of Atlanta. While the
map shows different “city” names in the ten counties around
the city, at street level all you see is one endless succession of
multilane roads, strip malls, and housing subdivisions.
—Robert H. Rouse, Lilburn, Georgia
Memories of Trade-lasts

My dear sweet grandmother Retta Brooks Sevier was the
only person I’ve ever heard use that expression. With a twin-
kle in her eye, she would say, “I’ve got a trade-last for you.”
And she meant it! She would give you a compliment, and
expect one in return. She was the most fun grandmother.
—Kate Sevier Elkins, New Orleans, Louisiana
Since I was fairly young, my mom has been participating in a
(hated) tradition called “last-go trades.” She seems to love this
game, since all of her friends know me, and apparently com-
pliment me frequently. Few of my friends, however, know
her, so she builds up lists of compliments people have suppos-
edly made about me (I am confident that she makes half of
them up).
—Edward Bynum, Clemson, South Carolina
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● “‘I have a trade-last for you, Ida,’ she said. ‘Mrs. Mallard is in the
library, discussing our club, and I heard mother say something
awfully nice about you.’
‘Tell it!’ demanded Lloyd.
‘No, I said a trade-last.’
‘Oh, fishing for a compliment!’ sang Katie.”
—Annie Fellows Johnston, The Little Colonel at Boarding School
tardigrade (TAR-di-grayd)
noun Any of various tiny, slow-moving invertebrates of the phy-
lum Tardigrada.
adjective 1. Of or pertaining to the phylum Tardigrada. 2. Slow-
moving.
From Latin tardigradus (slow-moving), from tardus (slow) + gradus
(stepping). Another animal that is named in the same manner is the
bustard. Other words derived from the same root are tardy and retard.

● “I had an inkling of some subtle spark to which his tardigrade
pace served as the perfect foil.”
—America
MISCELLANEOUS WORDS II
181
No one ever ever won a chess game by betting on each move.
Sometimes you have to move backward to get a step forward.
—
A
MAR
G
OPAL
B
OSE
, electrical engineer, inventor,
and founder, Bose Corporation (1929–)
I had a high school teacher in the 1940s who assigned my
weekly theme papers two grades. I wanted to excel to please
my parents, but I felt so separated from my peers, who mostly
got Cs and some Bs, that I would turn my paper in the day
after it was due and teacher would put what she called the
“tardigrade” above a line and the “earned grade” beneath it.
Only the tardigrade was reported. My As were reported as B s
and Bs as Cs.
—John Granath, Laguna Woods, California
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W
hen my daughter turned six, she received a magic kit as a birth-
day present. She was very excited, saying,“Now I can be like
Harry Potter!” She opened the cardboard box and a bunch of strings,

ribbons, playing cards, and a few other earthly objects came tumbling
out. She asked me to read the accompanying instructions. I
explained, “You tie one end of the ribbon to the black string and
hide it behind your shirt collar. Then you pull the string with one
hand and the ribbon magically appears!” She looked at me incredu-
lously and said,“That’s not magic! You have to hide the ribbon first.”
Well, it took some explaining to convince her that that’s how
magic works. Her disappointment was palpable. The Easter Bunny
is already dead. Eventually, the Tooth Fairy and Santa will also give
way. She’s growing up and growing wiser. That’s the price we pay
to grow up. One day, my daughter will be old enough to weave her
own magic. The Tooth Fairy and friends will come alive for her
again as they did for us when she was born. And the cycle will con-
tinue. Meanwhile, we’re in no hurry.
The words in this chapter are somewhat like magic. These
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Words That Aren’t
What They Appear
to Be
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unusual, out-of-this-world words aren’t what they appear to be.
They play a trick on us, but a closer look reveals the secret. There
are neither bees nor stings in beestings.
beestings (BEE-stingz), also beastings or biestings
noun The first milk produced by a mammal, especially a cow, after
giving birth. Also known as colostrum or foremilk.
From Middle English bestynge,from Old English bysting.
● “Two thriving calves she suckles twice a day,
And twice besides her beestings never fail

To store the dairy with a brimming pail.”
—“Publius Vergilius Maro”; translated from the Latin by John Dryden
pythoness (PIE-thuh-nis)
noun 1. A woman with the power of divination. 2. The priestess
of Apollo at Delphi in Greek mythology.
Ultimately from Greek puthon (python).
● “The coffee finds nothing else in the sack, and so it attacks
these delicate and voluptuous linings; it acts like a food and
demands digestive juices; it wrings and twists the stomach for
these juices, appealing as a pythoness appeals to her god.”
—Honoré de Balzac,“The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee,”
translated from the French by Robert Onopa
lambent (LAM-buhnt)
adjective 1. Flickering lightly over a surface. 2. Softly glowing.
3. Marked by lightness or grace (in an expression).
From Latin lambent, stem of lambens,present participle of lambere
(to lick).
W ORDS THAT AREN’T WHAT THEY APPEAR TO BE
183
Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius.
A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein.
—
J
OE
T
HEISMANN
, former quarterback (1949 –)
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● “With that, [Richard Hawley] launches into ‘Baby,You’re My
Light,’ a grown-up love song of delicate beauty, featuring a lam-

bent melody and a sonorous, deep vocal.”
—Guardian (London)
redoubt (ri-DOUT)
noun 1. A small, usually temporary fortification to defend a posi-
tion. 2. A stronghold; a refuge.
From French redoute,from Italian ridotto,from Medieval Latin reduc-
tus (refuge), past participle of Latin reducere (to lead back), from re-
+ ducere (to lead). The words conduct, produce, introduce, reduce, seduce,
ductile are all from the same Latin root.
● “Annetta Nunn was only 4 years old in 1963, when thousands
of Birmingham residents defied Connor’s men and their night-
sticks, attack dogs and fire hoses, got themselves arrested, filled
the jails and brought an end to segregation in Jim Crow’s
strongest redoubt.”
—New York Times
archimage (AHR-kuh-mayj)
noun A great magician.
From Greek archi- (principal, chief) + Latin magus (magician).
● “One of his ancestors, Sweyn Bettercnut, was an archimage
who used demons to perform his magic.”
—Houston Chronicle
184
ANOTHER WORD A DAY
Compassion, in which all ethics must take root,
can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces
all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.
—
A
LBERT
S

CHWEITZER
, philosopher, physician,
musician, and Nobel laureate (1875–1965)
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