Grace

 

A friend mentions an organization, Engage with Grace, and I think 'hmm, is grace today's word?'

Nah, everyone knows it, and it's too close to the Spanish word gracias.  Besides, we all know it's from Latin.  But then I'm curious about the word gracias. I check the Spanish

Royal Academy--the OED of the Spanish language.  And get this. Aviso

La palabra gracias no está en el Diccionario

What?  Well, guys, check it out.  here's the link:
http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=gracias

I then go back to check the English meaning of grace, and see the first definition: "seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/grace

Enough for me, I think.  And what's tomorrow's word? Wonder?

Seethe

"I couldn't read all of it--I skimmed it and seethed," wrote Pat, or words to that effect.  Nor was she alone.  Other people had the same reaction.  Pettifogging, snippy, pompous--wow, all wonderful words for this blog.

But enough of that.  "Seethe"--where does it come from?  And what does it mean?

In Middle English, it meant literally to boil.  In modern English, it has the same meaning.  But figuratively!  And yes, I could see Pat--with steam coming out her ears!

Whopper

"That's a whopper," I said to a friend, while eating a hamburger.  He looked puzzled, and then glanced at the food in my hands--we were at McDonalds.  Right, I thought...

He had been telling me a very unlikely story--and a big one at that.  So that's really the meaning, or the two meanings  of "whopper." It's also why, ahem, Burger King took it over.  Their "whopper" is a BIG hamburger.

All that makes sense.  The word comes from Middle English, and meant originally to strike with a heavy blow.  So how did it get its present meaning?  Don't know--but it works for Burger King! 

Plaintive

"Listen to that plaintive voice in the second violin," I said to a friend while listening to Beethoven.  Then it occurred to me--do the good folk at the law firm I'm working with know that word?  "Plaintiff" they know, of course, but "plaintive?"

Probably not, I decided, but they--and everybody--should.  It means to be sad, mournful, deeply unhappy.  Originally from the French, it comes into Middle English and has stayed until today.  And yes, it's related to "plaintiff."

And it's one of those words that evokes great feeling.  Just like the second violin in the Beethoven quartet!

Drizzle

"It's drizzling," I thought, as I started my morning walk, and then thought, "how curious!  Don't think I know that word in Spanish...."

Well, a drizzle--again, both a noun and a verb--is a light, gentle rain.  Think London, although that may evoke fog--quite another thing.  And where does the word come from?

Old English--that I suspected.  And the dictionary confirms that "perhaps it's from verb drysnian, meaning to pass away, to vanish."

Logical enough.  This morning, in the drizzle, the contours of buildings, the angles of street corners all seemed slightly to vanish.

Glitter

"A third protestor was later arrested after she threw glitter on Santorum as he was shaking hands with the crowd," reports the National Journal; obviously "glitter" was the word for the day....

It raised two questions.  I knew that glitter (both a noun and a verb) means to shine brightly. As Santorum discovered, it also is that bright tiny stuff that people throw at parties--generally after the third bottle or so.  And it comes from the Norse--who generally HAVE to be drunk to be that merry.

What can't I answer?  The second question--why was a protestor throwing glitter on Santorum?

Tetchy

"My mother grinned tetchily," I wrote recently, and then thought hey--that's it!  The word for the day!

Right, I know what it means--slightly irritable or annoyed.  But where does it come from?  The sunny Italians?  The grumpy Norwegians?  I had no idea....

Well, of all people, it's the French!  Yup, the wine and cheese guys!  But maybe they can be forgiven (though with the French, I usually don't.)  It originally meant a blemish, and since one tends to touch a blemish, it was influenced by another word, "touchy."  (Don't ask how, or rather, look it up yourself!

Guess I'm tetchy!