A Word A Week: August 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Episode #047, 26.08.2012: pusillanimous

pusillanimous, adjective. Faint-hearted, mean-spirited.

Another definition: Showing ignoble cowardice, or contemptible timidity.

In a sentence: “The soldier deserted his troop in a pusillanimous manner.”

This word comes from Latin pusillus, i.e. very small, and animus, i.e. spirit. In other words, A pusillanimous person is small-spirited.

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Monday, August 20, 2012

Episode #046, 19.08.2012: impious

Sound: /ˈɪmpiəs/

impious, adjective. Not pious, wicked, profane.

pious, adjective. Devout, religious; (archaic) dutiful

In a sentence: “He was kicked out of church for his impious attitude.”

If you look up pious in the dictionary, you will come across the interesting phrase pious fraud: deception intended to benefit the deceived.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Episode #045, 12.08.2012: Spotlight: pirate speech and International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Arr! Ahoy, mateys! What be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, ye ask? Well, accordin' t' Wikipedia:

International Talk Like a Pirate Day (ITLAPD) be a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy), o' Albany, Oregon, U.S., who proclaimed September 19th each year as t' day when everyone in t' world should talk like a pirate. For example, an observer o' this holiday would greet buckos not with "Hello!," but with "Ahoy, matey!" T' holiday, and its observance, sprin's from a romanticized view o' t' Golden Age o' Piracy.

Savvy, ye landlubbers!? What? Ye know nothin' o' this? Shiver me timbers! Well, let me tell you some words (from t' website o' t' two scallywags):

Avast!	Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense o' surprise, “Whoa! Get a load o' that!” which today makes it more o' a “Check it out” or “No way!” or “Get off!”
Aye!	“Why yes, I agree most heartily with everythin' ye just said or did.”
Arrr!	This one be often confused with arrrgh, which be o' course t' sound ye make when ye sit on a belayin' pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, “aye,” “I'm happy,” “I'm enjoying this grog,” “me team be goin' t' win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and “That was a clever remark you or I just made.” And those be just a few o' t' meriad possibilities o' Arrr!
Lubber (or land lubber)	This be t' seaman’s version o' land lover, mangled by typical pirate disregard for elocution (proper speech). A lubber be someone who does not go t' sea, who stays on t' land.
Hornpipe	Both a sin'le-reeded musical instrument jack tars often had aboard ship, and a spirited dance that jack tars do.

There be a lot o' people who like pirate speech. For example, thar be Pirate Google: http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=xx-pirate

On Facebook, ye can also change yer language t' pirate English. Then ye can send “bottle o’ messages”, update yer “captain’s log”, plan “grog fests”, “fashion yerself a crew” and interact with other “scallywags”.

That’s it, lassies and lads! Drink up me hearties yo ho!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Episode #044, 05.08.2012: behoove, behove

Sound: /bɨˈhuːv/, /bɪˈhəʊv/

behove (esp. British) or behoove (American), impersonal transitive verb. Be incumbent on (person) to (do something).

In a sentence: “It behoves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others.” -Thomas Jefferson

What is incumbent? As a noun, it is the Holder of ecclesiastical benefice or (in the US) Holder of any office. But here they mean the adjective: resting upon a person as duty.

Long story short: behove or behoove means to suit, to befit.

Note that the British tend to spell it with one o and the Americans with two.