Disinformation

WORD OF THE DAY

 

disinformation \ dis-in-fer-MAY-shun \ noun

 

Definition

: false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth

 

Examples

The writer's latest book examines the effects of propaganda and disinformation during the Cold War.

"But more than anything else, we believe the level of fury and disinformation in this debate does a disservice to every student, teacher and taxpayer."

— editorial, Newsday (New York), April 19, 2015

 

Did You Know?

In 1939, a writer describing Nazi intelligence activities noted, "The mood of national suspicion prevalent during the last decade ... is well illustrated by General Krivitsky's account of the German 'Disinformation Service,' engaged in manufacturing fake military plans for the express purpose of having them stolen by foreign governments."

Although the Nazis were accused of using disinformation back in the 1930s, the noun and the practice are most often associated with the Soviet KGB. Many people think disinformation is a literal translation of the Russian dezinformatsiya, which means "misinformation," a term the KGB allegedly used in the 1950s to name a department created to dispense propaganda.

Expeditious

WORD OF THE DAY
expeditious \ adjective \ ek-spuh-DISH-us

 

Definition

: marked by or acting with prompt efficiency

 

Examples

Geraldine was impressed by the company's expeditious response, which arrived in the mail only one week after she had submitted her query.

"[Councilman Frank Colonna] also noted that the recently formed Economic Development Commission is actively working to make the city more business friendly, and he hopes issues such as this can be dealt with in a more expeditious way."
— Ashleigh Ruhl, Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), May 9, 2015

 

Did You Know?

Like expeditious, all of the following words contain ped. Can you guess which ones get those three letters from the same Latin root as expeditious?

encyclopedia, expedition, stampede, torpedo, orthopedic, & impede

The Latin source of expeditious is the verb expedire, which means "to extricate," "to prepare," or "to be useful." The ped is from pes, meaning "foot." (The ex- means "out of," and the literal sense of expedire is "to free the feet.") The ped in impede also comes from pes. But the ped in encyclopedia and orthopedic is from the Greek pais, meaning "child"; stampede is from the Spanish estampar, meaning "to stamp"; and torpedo is from the Latin torpēre, meaning "to be sluggish." What about expedition? Meaning both "a journey" and "promptness," it is from expedire and, in turn, pes.

Waddy

WORD OF THE DAY

 

WADDY \ WAH-dee \ noun

 

Definition

: cowboy

 

Examples

"One of the waddies, a young, long-faced kid in an oversized black hat, held Renegade's reins up close to the bridle and was running a soothing hand down the skewbald's stout neck."

— Peter Brandvold, .45 Caliber Firebrand, 2009

"There is always an Old West gunfight re-enactment to watch, a nightly rodeo to attend, and waddies on horseback to witness strolling into downtown, tying their steed to a hitching post at the historic Irma Hotel—named after Buffalo Bill's daughter—and enjoying an after-work beverage and dinner."
— Michael Johnson, Alamogordo (New Mexico) Daily News, May 26, 2012

 

Did You Know?

It's easier to rope a wild mustang than to round up the origin of waddy. Some folks claim it comes from wadding (the material used in stuffing or padding) because waddies were once extra hands hired to fill in when extra cowhands were needed. But other evidence suggests that waddy originally referred to a cattle rustler, a usage that wouldn't support the wadding theory.

There is also an Australian waddy meaning "stick" or "club," but definitive evidence of a connection between the Australian and American words remains elusive. All researchers can say with certainty is that waddy has been used to refer to a cowboy since at least the late 19th century.

Futile

WORD OF THE DAY

 

FUTILE \ FYOO-tul \ adjective

 

Definition

1a: serving no useful purpose
1b: completely ineffective

 

2a: occupied with trifles

2b: frivolous

 

Examples

Unfortunately, all efforts to repair the damage ultimately proved futile.

"Kumiko's journey is a tragic one. It is made clear from the beginning that her quest is futile."
— Josh Weitzel, Columbia Chronicle (Columbia College Chicago), April 13, 2015

 

Did You Know?

Futile floated into the English language in the mid-16th century from Middle French, where it took shape from the Latin adjective futilis, meaning "that easily pours out" or "leaky."

That leak of information lets you in on how futile developed its "ineffective" and "frivolous" meanings: things that are leaky are of no use. In 1827, English author Robert Southey found use for the word by blending it into utilitarian to form futilitarian, a word that is used today for anyone who believes that human striving is futile.

Anastrophe

WORD OF THE DAY

anastrophe \ uh-NASS-truh-fee \ noun

 

Definition

 

: inversion of the usual syntactical order of words for rhetorical effect

 

Examples

My father was fond of word play, especially anastrophe, when he talked to my sister and me about things we would rather not talk about; he would say things like "Tired you are not but to bed you must go."

"Should you buy 'Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric'? If you're at all interested in the techniques of writing, yes. At the very least, you'll learn that that last sentence, with its inversion of the usual word order —'yes' at the end instead of the beginning of the sentence—is an instance of anastrophe."
— Michael Dirda, Washington Post, May 5, 2011

 

Did You Know?

"Powerful you have become Dooku, the dark side I sense in you." Fans of Star Wars will recognize Yoda's line in Attack of the Clones. Others might guess that Yoda is the speaker because of the unconventional syntax that is the hallmark of Yoda's speech. (In typical Yoda fashion, the subject is second instead of first in both clauses—it follows a predicate adjective and the direct object, respectively.)

The name for this kind of syntactical inversion is anastrophe, from the Greek verb anastrephein, meaning "to turn back." President John F. Kennedy employed anastrophe for rhetorical effect when he inverted the typical positive-to-negative parallelism in his famous line "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

In poetry, anastrophe is often used to create rhythm, as in these lines from Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky": "So rested he by the Tumtum tree, / And stood awhile in thought."

Belated

WORD OF THE DAY

 

BELATED \ bih-LAY-tud \ adjective

 

Definition

1: delayed beyond the usual time

 

2: existing or appearing past the normal or proper time

 

Examples

Susan called Jim to let him know that a belated birthday gift from her was on its way.

"Friends and neighbors of the state Capitol complex joined Lt. Gov. Angela McLean Friday in a belated Earth Day celebration, planting trees and dedicating a new garden space across from the Capitol."
— Independent Record (Montana), May 1, 2015

Did You Know?

Long ago, there was a verb belate, which meant "to make late." From the beginning, belate tended to mostly turn up in the form of its past participle belated. Eventually, belate itself fell out of use, leaving behind belated as an adjective that preserved the original notion of delay. As you may have guessed, belate and its descendant belated derive from the adjective late; belate was formed by simply combining the prefix be- ("to cause to be") with late. Belated was also once used in the sense "overtaken by night," as in "belated travelers seeking lodging for the night." This sense was in fact the first meaning of the adjective but it too fell out of use.

Roustabout

WORD OF THE DAY
ROUSTABOUT \ noun \ ROWSS-tuh-bowt

 

Definition

1a : deckhand

1b : a person who loads and unloads ships at a seaport

 

2: an unskilled or semiskilled laborer especially in an oil field or refinery

 

3: a circus worker who erects and dismantles tents, cares for the grounds, and handles animals and equipment

 

4: a person with no permanent home or regular occupation; also : one who stirs up trouble

 

Examples

Nathan worked for years as a roustabout in the oil fields of Alaska until he earned enough money to go to college and become a petroleum engineer.

"The Copenhagen-based Berdino family, led by patriarch Benny Berdino, own the Arena Cirkus, a troupe that started out with just one trailer and now stretches to several, with dozens of performers, animals, and roustabouts working on the payroll."
— Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter, April 27, 2015

Did You Know?

Circus roustabouts (who erect and dismantle tents, care for the grounds, and handle animals and equipment) are commonly associated with circus animals, of course, but they also have a connection with game birds, at least in terms of etymology.

Roustabout comes from roust, which is an alteration of rouse, a verb from Middle English that originally meant "to shake the feathers" (as in the way a bird might ruffle its feathers or shake its plumage when it is settling down or grooming itself).

Rouse, which today is a synonym of awaken, also formerly meant "to cause to break from cover," a sense that may have influenced the modern meaning of roust: "to drive (as from bed) roughly or unceremoniously."

Parse

WORD OF THE DAY
PARSE \ PARSS \ verb

 

Definition

 

1a : to resolve (as a sentence) into component parts of speech and describe them grammatically

1b : to describe grammatically by stating the part of speech and explaining the inflection and syntactical relationships

 

2a: to examine in a minute way

2b: analyze critically

 

Examples

The lawyer meticulously parsed the wording of the final contract to be sure that her client would get all that he was asking for.

"The Federal Reserve releases a statement at the conclusion of each of its policy-setting meetings, outlining the central bank's economic outlook and the actions it plans to take.… Fed watchers closely parse changes between statements to see how the Fed's views are evolving."
— Sarah Portlock, Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2015

 

Did You Know?

If parse brings up images of elementary school and learning the parts of speech, you've done your homework regarding this word. Parse comes from the first element of the Latin term for "part of speech," pars orationis. It's an old word that has been used in the schoolroom since at least the student days of King Edward VI of England (1537-1553). Edward's tutor, Richard Cox, recorded that at the age of nine the young prince had memorized all four of the Roman author Cato's Moral Distichs and had parsed them as well. But it was not until the late 18th century that parse graduated to its extended, non-grammar-related sense. Remember this extended sense, and you're really at the head of the class.

Caparison

WORD OF THE DAY

 

CAPARISON \ kuh-PAIR-uh-sun \ noun

 

Definition

1a : an ornamental covering for a horse

1b : decorative trappings and harness

 

2a: rich clothing

2b: adornment

 

Examples

A group of horses outfitted in medieval caparison were standing near the area where the festival's jousting would begin.

"The female mummy was called the princess because of the richness of her burial trove. Six horses were entombed with her; some of the tasseled caparisons they carried were still in almost perfect condition after more than 2,000 years."
— St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch, February 15, 1998

 

Did You Know?

Caparison first embellished English in the 1500s, when we borrowed it from the Middle French caparaçon. Early caparisons were likely used to display the heraldic colors of a horseman, and in some cases may also have functioned as protective covering for the horse.

 

In British India, it was elephants, not horses, that were decked out with caparisons—and to this day both animals can still be seen in such attire during parades and circuses. It did not take long for caparison to come to refer to the ornate clothing worn by a man or woman.

 

Caparison also serves English as a verb, a use first recorded in Shakespeare

when Richard III commanded, "Come, bustle, bustle; caparison my horse."

Esoteric

WORD OF THE DAY

 

ESOTERIC \ es-uh-TAIR-ik \ adjective

 

Definition

1a : designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone
1b: requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group
1c: broadly : difficult to understand

 

2a : limited to a small circle

2b : private, confidential

 

3: of special, rare, or unusual interest

Examples

Some of the terms used in the book were so esoteric that I had to look them up in a special glossary that really should have been appended to the book itself.

"The esoteric nature of most theories of art prevent them from being absorbed and understood by the art-going public, who on the whole have little interest in philosophy."

— Launt Thompson, Philosophy Now, June/July 2015

Did You Know?

The opposite of esoteric is exoteric, which means "suitable to be imparted to the public." According to one account, those who were deemed worthy to attend Aristotle's learned discussions were known as his "esoterics," his confidants, while those who merely attended his popular evening lectures were called his "exoterics." Since material that is geared toward a target audience is often not as easily comprehensible to outside observers, esoteric acquired an extended meaning of "difficult to understand."

Both esoteric and exoteric started appearing in English in the mid-1600s; esoteric traces back to ancient Greek by way of the Late Latin esotericus. The Greek esōterikos is based on the comparative form of esō, which means "within."

Libertine

WORD OF THE DAY

 

LIBERTINE \ noun \ LIB-er-teen

 

Definition

1: a freethinker especially in religious matters

 

2a: a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality; specifically

2b: one leading a dissolute life

 

Examples

Don Juan is known as a famous libertine who seduced countless women.

"In the movie, she's portrayed as a libertine who had affairs with both men and women, while she was single and while she was married, and she drank copious quantities of Prohibition Era gin."
— Adam Buckman, Television News Daily, May 12, 2015

 

Did You Know?

"I only ask to be free" says Mr. Skimpole in Charles Dickens's Bleak House, and his words would undoubtedly have appealed to the world's first libertines. The word libertine was first used in early writings of Roman antiquity to identify a slave who had been set free (the Roman term for an emancipated slave was the Latin libertus).

By the late 1500s, the "freedman" sense of libertine had been extended to refer to freethinkers (both religious and secular); Shakespeare used it to refer to anyone who follows his or her own inclinations. By 1600, though, the term had come to imply that an individual was a little too unrestrained, especially in moral situations. And yes, the Latin root of libertine is liber, the ultimate source of our word liberty.

Gossamer

WORD OF THE DAY

 

gossamer \ adjective \ GAH-suh-mer

 

Definition

: extremely light, delicate, or tenuous

 

Examples

Except for a few gossamer clouds, the sky was clear and blue.

"On two screens, she watched herself spin in a green field, gossamer wings floating off her body."
— Melena Ryzik, New York Times, March 3, 2015

 

Did You Know?

In the days of Middle English, a period of mild weather in late autumn or early winter was sometimes called a gossomer, literally "goose summer." People may have chosen that name for a late-season warm spell because October and November were the months when people felt that geese were at their best for eating. Gossomer was also used in Middle English as a word for filmy cobwebs floating through the air in calm, clear weather, apparently because somebody thought the webs looked like the down of a goose. This sense eventually inspired the adjective gossamer, which means "light, delicate, or tenuous"—just like cobwebs or goose down.

Jeopardy

WORD OF THE DAY
JEOPARDY \ noun \ JEP-er-dee\

 

Definition

 

1a: exposure to death, loss, or injury

1b: danger

 

2: the danger that an accused person is subjected to when on trial for a criminal offense

 

Examples

Rather than risk placing his passengers in jeopardy, the pilot waited for the storm to pass before taking off.

"Unless they have already accumulated substantial wealth, retirees typically are anxious to know how much they can afford to spend without putting the latter end of their retirement years in financial jeopardy."
— John Napolitano, Accounting Today, May 1, 2015

 

Did You Know?

Centuries ago, the Old French term jeuparti didn't mean "danger" but rather "an alternative" or, literally, "a divided game." That French expression was used for anything that represented an alternative viewpoint or gave two opposing viewpoints. Jeuparti passed into Anglo-French as juparti, and from there it was borrowed into Middle English and respelled jeopardie. At first, the English word was used to refer to the risks associated with alternative moves in the game of chess. Almost immediately, however, the term came to be used more generally in the "risk" or "danger" sense that it has today.

Inculcate

WORD OF THE DAY

INCULCATE \ verb \ in-KUL-kayt

 

Definition

: to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions

 

Examples

Mark and Victoria tried to inculcate in their children the values of hard work, self-reliance, and respect for other people.

"When Duke went to seven Final Fours over a nine-year span from 1986 through 1994, the Blue Devils were invariably led by juniors and seniors inculcated in how Krzyzewski wanted the game played."
— Barry Jacobs, Charlotte (North Carolina) News & Observer, April 10, 2015

 

Did You Know?

Inculcate derives from the past participle of the Latin verb inculcare, meaning "to tread on." In Latin, inculcare possesses both literal and figurative meanings, referring to either the act of walking over something or to that of impressing something upon the mind, often by way of steady repetition. It is the figurative sense that survives with inculcate, which was first used in English in the 16th century.

Inculcare was formed in Latin by combining the prefix in- with calcare, meaning "to trample," and ultimately derives from the noun calx, meaning "heel." In normal usage inculcate is typically followed by the prepositions in or into, with the object of the preposition being the person or thing receiving the instruction.

Bellwether

WORD OF THE DAY

 

BELLWETHER \ noun \ BEL-WEH-ther

 

Definition

1: one that takes the lead or initiative

2: leader

3: an indicator of trends

 

Examples

The company has long been viewed as a bellwether for the tech market, so analysts are watching it closely.

"Plus, on an increasingly divided council, and in a new district elections system inviting wholesale change, Godden's race could be a bellwether for how incumbents are faring this election year."
— Heidi Groover, The Stranger, May 13, 2015

 

Did You Know?

We usually think of sheep more as followers than leaders, but in a flock one sheep must lead the way. Long ago, it was common practice for shepherds to hang a bell around the neck of one sheep in their flock, thereby designating it the lead sheep. This animal was called the bellwether, a word formed by a combination of the Middle English words belle (meaning "bell") and wether (a noun that refers to a male sheep that has been castrated). It eventually followed that bellwether would come to refer to someone who takes initiative or who actively establishes a trend that is taken up by others. This usage first appeared in English in the 13th century.

Obtain

Word of the Day

OBTAIN \ verb \ ub-TAYN

 

Definition

1: to gain or attain usually by planned action or effort

 

2a: to be generally recognized or established

2b: prevail

Examples

The experiment was designed to obtain more accurate data about weather patterns.

"Business owners and musical acts that want to participate in the series can sign up online and skip the trip to City Hall to pay fees and obtain acoustic entertainment licenses…."

— Steve Annear, Boston Globe, April 28, 2015

 

Did You Know?

Obtain, which was adopted into English in the 15th century, comes to us via Anglo-French from the Latin obtinēre, meaning "to take hold of."

Obtinēre was itself formed by the combination of ob-, meaning "in the way," and the verb tenēre, meaning "to hold." In its earliest uses, obtain often implied a conquest or a successful victory in battle, but it is now used for any attainment through planned action or effort.

The verb tenēre has incontestably prevailed in the English language, providing us with such common words as abstain, contain, detain, sustain, and, perhaps less obviously, the adjectives tenable and tenacious.

Youthquake

Word of the Day

 

youthquake \ noun \ YOOTH-kwayk \

 

Definition

: a shift in cultural norms influenced by the values, tastes, and mores of young people

 

Examples

"One late afternoon in the summer of 2009, I was walking down Wythe Avenue, a thoroughfare in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood still lined with warehouses that were home to vintage clothing and indie-band practice spaces and peppered with a few bars and restaurants. At this point, Williamsburg had earned a reputation as the home of a global youthquake of fashion, music and culture."

— Anne Szustek, Business Insider, March 11, 2015

"There have been innumerable situations in which the senior employees of Don’s firm … have seemed … unwilling or unable to truly understand the changes the world was going through.… They tried to harness the energy of the youthquake of the ‘60s here and there, but the true import of all the cultural and social changes of the last decade more or less passed them by."

— Maureen Ryan, Huffington Post, April 27, 2015

 

Did You Know?

The 1960s were a time of seismic social upheaval brought about by young people bent on shaking up the establishment. From politics to fashion to music, the ways of youth produced far-reaching cultural changes.

 

Linguistically, the sixties saw the addition to English of such words as flower child, peacenik, hippie, love beads, trippy, vibe, freak-out, and love-in. Not surprisingly, they also saw the emergence of youthquake. Although commonly attributed to Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, an earlier use of youthquake in print comes from a 1966 article in McCall's: "the youthquake, as some call it ... has swept both sides of the Atlantic."

Futility

WORD OF THE DAY

Futility \ FYEW-til-leh-tee \ noun
plural: futilities

 

Definition

1a:  the quality or state of being futile

1b:  uselessness

 

2:  a useless act or gesture

 

3a:  occupied with trifles

3b:  frivolous

Examples

Katie was either convinced or saw the futility of the conversation, because she dropped the subject

Maintaining classical studies in 1987 is like Cosmopolitan magazine obstinately advertising bustles
—Dennis O’Brien, New York Times OpEd, February 12, 1987

Did you know?
 The word futility comes from French futilité or directly from Latin futilitatem (nominative futilitas) "worthlessness," from futilis (see futile). Hence, jocular futilitarian (1827).

Stalwart

Word of the Day

 

stalwart \ STAWL-wert \ adjective

 

Definition

: marked by outstanding strength and vigor of body, mind, or spirit

 

Examples

Judith has long been a stalwart supporter of the community theater, always volunteering at fundraisers and helping out backstage during productions.

"A gaggle of little children chase after the family dog and roll around on the floor. Meanwhile, a stalwart grandmother, now raising a third generation of kids, the worn lines of the years etched in her striking yet stoic face, stands idly to the side."

— Joshua Silavent, Gainesville (Georgia) Times, April 26, 2015

 

Did You Know?

Sometime in the 15th century, English speakers began to use stalwart in place of the older form stalworth. Although stalworth is now archaic, it laid the groundwork for today's meaning of stalwart.

In the 12th century, stalworth began to be used to describe strongly built people or animals (a meaning stalwart took on about two centuries later). It also came to be used as an adjective for people who showed bravery or courage (likewise a meaning passed on to stalwart). So, in a way, stalwart has been serviceable in keeping the spirit of stalworth alive. This character of stalwart is true to its roots. Stalworth came from the Old English word stælwierthe (meaning "serviceable"), which, in turn, is thought to come from terms meaning "foundation" and "worth."

Phreaker

Word of the Day

phreaker \ FREE-ker \ noun

 

Definition

 

: one who gains illegal access to the telephone system

 

Examples

 

This year's annual conference on culture and technology will focus on the subculture of hackers and phreakers.

"Wire fraud spiked, and the FBI cracked down on phreakers and their blue boxes."
— Jose Pagliery, CNN.com, March 11, 2015

 

Did You Know?

Phreakers are people who specialize in attacks on the telephone system. The word, which became popular in the mid-1980s, is probably a combination of the words phone and freak. (Phreakers are also known as "phreaks" or "phone phreaks.") In the early days, phreakers whistled or used an instrument to mimic the tones the phone system then used to route calls and identify payment, especially as a way to avoid paying for an expensive call. Modern phreaking involves breaking into and manipulating the phone company's computer system, making it a specialized kind of hacking.