WORD OF THE DAY
lycanthropy / noun / lye-KAN-thruh-pee
Definition
1: a delusion that one has become a wolf
2: the assumption of the form and characteristics of a wolf held to be possible by witchcraft or magic
Examples
The 1941 film The Wolf Man starred Lon Chaney, Jr., as a man cursed with lycanthropy.
"Born in 1859, Alfred Edward Housman came from a talented family…. His sister Clemence's novella, The Were-Wolf, is one of the most powerful stories ever written about lycanthropy."
— Michael Dirda, The Washington Post, 13 July 2017
Did You Know?
If you happen to be afflicted with lycanthropy, the full moon is apt to cause you an inordinate amount of distress. Lycanthropy can refer to either the delusional idea that one is a wolf or to the werewolf transformations that have been the stuff of superstitions for centuries.
In some cultures, similar myths involve human transformation into other equally feared animals: hyenas and leopards in Africa, for example, and tigers in Asia.
The word lycanthropy itself, however, comes from the Greek words lykos, meaning "wolf," and anthrōpos, meaning "human being."
Werewolf myths are usually associated with the phases of the moon; the animal nature of the werewolf (or lycanthrope) is typically thought to take over when the moon is full.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Caterwaul
WORD OF THE DAY
caterwaul / verb / KAT-er-wawl
Definition
1: to make a harsh cry
2: to protest or complain noisily
Examples
The woods were quiet until the sound of a chainsaw caterwauling in the distance broke the calm.
"Between begging calls, the young birds made more practice launches, flapping their wings and jumping. Paired adults were re-forming their relationships; returning birds went in for bouts of head flicking and kissing. Neighbors were in dispute, caterwauling above the din."
— Tim Dee, The New York Review of Books, 11 Sept. 2018
Did You Know?
An angry (or amorous) cat can make a lot of noise. As long ago as the mid-1300s, English speakers were using caterwaul for the act of voicing feline passions.
The cater part is, of course, connected to the cat, but scholars disagree about whether it traces to Middle Dutch cāter, meaning "tomcat," or if it is really just cat with an "-er" added. The waul is probably imitative in origin; it represents the feline howl itself.
English's first caterwaul was a verb focused on feline vocalizations, but by the 1600s it was also being used for similar non-cat noises and for noisy people or things.
caterwaul / verb / KAT-er-wawl
Definition
1: to make a harsh cry
2: to protest or complain noisily
Examples
The woods were quiet until the sound of a chainsaw caterwauling in the distance broke the calm.
"Between begging calls, the young birds made more practice launches, flapping their wings and jumping. Paired adults were re-forming their relationships; returning birds went in for bouts of head flicking and kissing. Neighbors were in dispute, caterwauling above the din."
— Tim Dee, The New York Review of Books, 11 Sept. 2018
Did You Know?
An angry (or amorous) cat can make a lot of noise. As long ago as the mid-1300s, English speakers were using caterwaul for the act of voicing feline passions.
The cater part is, of course, connected to the cat, but scholars disagree about whether it traces to Middle Dutch cāter, meaning "tomcat," or if it is really just cat with an "-er" added. The waul is probably imitative in origin; it represents the feline howl itself.
English's first caterwaul was a verb focused on feline vocalizations, but by the 1600s it was also being used for similar non-cat noises and for noisy people or things.
Monday, October 29, 2018
Shambles
WORD OF THE DAY
shambles / noun / SHAM-bulz
Definition
1: slaughterhouse
2a: a place of mass slaughter or bloodshed
2b: a scene or a state of great destruction
2c: wreckage
2d: a scene or a state of great disorder or confusion
2e: great confusion
2f: mess
Examples
"The scene is reminiscent of the opening of the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indiana Jones flees a cave half a step ahead of a giant boulder. Instead of running from a rock, Croft spends the game running through a city that crumbles around her as the world is reduced to shambles."
— Bob Fekete, Newsweek, 21 Sept. 2018
"Career success does not exist in a vacuum. If the home life is a mess and the children and bills and house are in shambles, then it's very hard, if not impossible, to succeed at work."
— Gail Saltz, quoted in Psychology Today, 1 May 2018
Did You Know?
How does a word meaning "footstool" turn into a word meaning "mess"? Start with the Latin scamillum, meaning "little bench." Modify the spelling and you get the Old English sceamol, meaning "footstool" or "a table used for counting money or exhibiting goods."
Alter again to the Middle English shameles, and the meaning can easily become more specific: "a table for the exhibition of meat for sale." Pluralize and you have the base of the 15th-century term shambles, meaning "meat market."
A century takes shambles from "meat market" to "slaughterhouse," then to figurative use referring to a place of terrible slaughter or bloodshed (say, a battlefield).
The scene of a slaughter can get messy, so it's logical for the word to pick up the modern sense "mess" or "state of great confusion." Transition accomplished.
shambles / noun / SHAM-bulz
Definition
1: slaughterhouse
2a: a place of mass slaughter or bloodshed
2b: a scene or a state of great destruction
2c: wreckage
2d: a scene or a state of great disorder or confusion
2e: great confusion
2f: mess
Examples
"The scene is reminiscent of the opening of the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indiana Jones flees a cave half a step ahead of a giant boulder. Instead of running from a rock, Croft spends the game running through a city that crumbles around her as the world is reduced to shambles."
— Bob Fekete, Newsweek, 21 Sept. 2018
"Career success does not exist in a vacuum. If the home life is a mess and the children and bills and house are in shambles, then it's very hard, if not impossible, to succeed at work."
— Gail Saltz, quoted in Psychology Today, 1 May 2018
Did You Know?
How does a word meaning "footstool" turn into a word meaning "mess"? Start with the Latin scamillum, meaning "little bench." Modify the spelling and you get the Old English sceamol, meaning "footstool" or "a table used for counting money or exhibiting goods."
Alter again to the Middle English shameles, and the meaning can easily become more specific: "a table for the exhibition of meat for sale." Pluralize and you have the base of the 15th-century term shambles, meaning "meat market."
A century takes shambles from "meat market" to "slaughterhouse," then to figurative use referring to a place of terrible slaughter or bloodshed (say, a battlefield).
The scene of a slaughter can get messy, so it's logical for the word to pick up the modern sense "mess" or "state of great confusion." Transition accomplished.
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