Word 19:
"""
jettison (verb)
to drop or cast overboard, as cargo from a moving ship or aircraft.
to discard something that is unwanted or superfluous.
"""
From the Old Franch "jeter" (to throw), likely from the Latin "jectāre" -> "iacto" (throw or cast out an object, throw out words, utter, boast).
This also entered the English language as "conjecture" (a likely but unproven statement, a guess) from the Latin "con jectāre" (throw together).
#linguistics #english https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jettison
Word 15:
"""
battery (noun)
The unlawful striking of a person.
A collection of heavy artillery.
A device storing energy to convert to power.
"""
Could these be related?
"battery" came from Old French, and Latin "battuo" meaning to beat or hit. (e.g. in law, assault and battery).
This Latin root also entered English as "batter" (mixture in baking), and "batterie" (apparent leg-hitting in dancing).
Next: What about that heavy artillery?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/battery
#english #word #linguistics
"Wikipedia is twenty, it’s time to start covering it better"
from CJR.
In a nut shell: We need good solid journalism, a lot of it!
Journalists and Wikipedia editors can and do strengthen each other. But, for day-to-day topics and news, I feel we're nowdays seeing too much journalism rely solely on Wikipedia and other tertiary sources, and too little little paid journalism to then serve as sources for Wikipedia itself.
#wikipedia20 #research #journalist #journalism
https://www.cjr.org/opinion/wikipedia-is-twenty-its-time-to-start-covering-it-better.php
The lizard peered into the pond, tilting their head from side to side.
Instead of a little brown creature with a pointed muzzle and splayed toes, their reflection was a human with grey skin and black eyes.
'Let me out,' the reflection mouthed, a hissing voice echoing in the lizard's head.
The lizard startled and looked around, but nobody was there.
The reflection smiled encouragingly. 'We could rule the world again, if only you let me out.'
Again?
(1/2)
In the winter of '89, long post
the light at the end of the tunnel
... is an oncoming train.
#plottwist #humor H/T @liw
_______
♥️ Don't give up hope!
Not everything is what
it seems. Whether better,
worse, or something new.
_______
reminds me of the powerful "Run, Forrest, Run!" scene in Forrest Gump.
No, not the funny (second) use the phrase when he's grown up and runs swiftly through a nice wide-angle shot (a very memeable 2s capture).
I mean the first instance of it, where the kid passes a dramatic turning point in their life and overcomes their limitations – both physically, and emotionally.
This is the Zemeckis direction I love, as also seen in Back to the Future, and Polar Express.
Word 20:
"""
skedaddle (intransitive verb)
: to depart hurriedly, to run away quickly, to scram
: to flee in a panic
"""
Probably from 19th century British "scathel" (harmful, wild) possibly of Ancient Greek origin through "σκέδασις" (skédasis, meaning to scatter).
Synonyms include:
💥 "blow this popsicle stand" (US), and
💨 "do a bunk" (British).
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/skedaddle
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Thesaurus:flee
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blow_this_popsicle_stand
Word 19:
"""
jettison (verb)
to drop or cast overboard, as cargo from a moving ship or aircraft.
to discard something that is unwanted or superfluous.
"""
From the Old Franch "jeter" (to throw), likely from the Latin "jectāre" -> "iacto" (throw or cast out an object, throw out words, utter, boast).
This also entered the English language as "conjecture" (a likely but unproven statement, a guess) from the Latin "con jectāre" (throw together).
#linguistics #english https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jettison
The correct answer, according to Merriam-Webster, is:
... 2003! (SARS)
This certainly surprised me when I saw it, and it appears only two of you (7% of 30) guessed this. The majority of you, like me, appear to have only first heard the phrase this past year.
Thanks for playing 🙂
https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/2003
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20distancing
When do you think "social distancing", as an English phrase, was first used?
#linguistics #english #covid #covid19
Watch us evolve as we fill important language gaps, recognise issues, and innovate ourselves:
1965: dork, mockumentary, beta-blocker
1975: person-hour, string cheese, GPS
1985: bi-curious, "N-word", microbrew
1995: genderqueer, misgender, wiki
2000: carbon footprint, overshare, blogosphere
2005: manscaping, net neutrality, flash mob, microblogging
2010: dumpster fire, mansplain, crowdsourcing, makerspace
2015: aphantasia, deadname, hard pass, ASMR
#linguistics #english https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/2015
Watch society collapse, through the lens of Merriam-Webster's Time Traveler:
by 1965: remote access.
by 1975: mobile phone, string cheese, kneecapping.
by 1985: boy band, crack house, adware.
by 1995: auto-tune, page view, click-through, anti-spam.
by 2000: K-pop, climate change denial, deep state.
by 2005: selfie, sexting, ransomware, truther, unfriend.
by 2010: Instagram, filter bubble, subtweet, fat-shame, anti-vaxxer.
#linguistics #english https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/2010
"peruse" is contranym, one of those rare words that has skewed over time to have two opposing meanings:
1. to study carefully, or read completely.
2. to browse, skim, or glance over.
A similar shift ocurred with the word "scan", which means these two words make a synonym pair, including along their contradictory axis. 🤯
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peruse
#english #word #linguistics
Word 18:
"""
peruse
(verb) to examine or consider with care; to read completely; to look over casually;
"""
Holmes while exposing an art gallery as a front organization, in Elementary:
> Holmes: Uh, do you mind if we peruse? Huge fans of the neo-deconceptualists.
> Fabiana: Sure. - Holmes: Thank you. […]
> Watson: Neo-deconceptualists? Not a thing!
> Holmes: I know, but don't tell Fabiana, it might crush her..
Word 17:
"""
carry a tune (verb, idiomatic)
To sing or otherwise produce music with accurate pitch.
To sing well.
"""
The opposite (can't carry a tune) means someone can't sing a the melody very well, oft with humorous exaggeration applied. Such as in this scene, from The Time Traveler's Wife:
> Henry: I can't sing, […] not like you.
> Henry: Dad says I can't carry a tune in a wheelbarrow.
> Mom: Dad was joking. I love your voice. We both love your voice.
A British solicitor (lawyer) is tidying up the affairs of a wealthy businessman who had left lots of money but no one knew what happened to his heirs in a distant american branch of the family. The solicitor spends days researching, finds the cousin, flies across the Atlantic, takes a taxi to the guy's house in his suit and bowler hat. Gets out of the taxi, walks up to the house to ring the bell -- there's a sign "no solicitors". Stops a beat, turns around and gets back in the taxi.
The end.
"The bored boarder boarding up the boarder, for boarder boarders on the border."
(It's okay, I didn't get each word either..)
From a sketch written by Julie Nolke:
https://youtu.be/Rus_3VjMf0s
#english #word
Word 16:
????????
An adjective pronounced /ə-ˈpȯld/, akin to "ehpault".
Example: "Irene was ???????? by the proposal."
Let's try to look this up:
- ⚠️ uphold – should've been upheld? 🤔 or...
- ❌ uphauled? – to haul, U-Haul? 🚚
- ❌ uphaul
- ❌ apaul – Hi Paul! 👋
- ❌ apauled
- ❌ appauld – Did you mean "applaud"?
- ❌ apoled
- ❌ appolled
- 🛎 APPALLED 🎉
"""
appalled (adjective)
- affected by feelings of shock, dismay, or dread.
- shocked, horrified by something unpleasant.
"""
Word 15 (continued, end):
In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin experimented with electricity. He hooked up several Leyden jars, to accumulate static electricity in a glass bottle. He referred to these as a "battery", consisting of "eleven panes [of] glass, armed with thin leaden plates".
In review:
- to beat
-> hit with heavy artillery
-> set of idle artillery
-> set of anything
-> set of Leyden jars storing energy
-> anything storing energy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_battery
#english #word #linguistics
Dutch geek in London, interested in linguistics.
This is where I talk about words, usually once or twice a week. He/him.