Category Archives: Wednesday Word

Sand-Loving Creatures

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Kathy

Psammophiles were in the news last week, thanks to Dev Shah, winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The word is pronounced “sam- uh-file.” If you know your Greek roots, as Bee competitors usually do, the “-phile” part would be … Continue reading →

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Juno’s Bustin’ Out

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Kathy

Wife of Jupiter and queen of the Roman gods, Juno gave her name to our brand-new month, Iunius Mensis, the Romans’ fourth month (with Martius as the first). Junio and Juin are two of her Romance language legacies. Juno is … Continue reading →

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Everythingology

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Kathy

Another book, another vocabulary word. Therapist Lori Gottlieb in her excellent book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed defines ultracrepidarianism as “the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of … Continue reading →

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No Right Way

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Kathy

Valerie Fridland’s new book Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English provides enough material for an eternity of Wednesday Word posts. Literally. Yep, Fridland takes on not only the non-literal sense of literally, but also um and … Continue reading →

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A Little Skin

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Kathy

A diminutive (from Latin deminuere–to make small) is a cute-ified word that expresses fondness or describes something little and perhaps feminine. In English, suffixes such as -ette and -y create diminutives. A drum major is the big guy wearing the … Continue reading →

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Everything Old Is New Again

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Kathy

Latin offers nouns in three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. As you may know, adjectives change their gender endings in order to agree with the noun they’re modifying: bonus puer (good boy), bona puella (good girl), and bonum consilium (good … Continue reading →

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Idiotic Idioms

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Kathy

Idioms are not really idiotic, but they don’t make a lot of sense when taken literally. The two words have a common etymology. Idios in Greek means “one’s own, private, unique.” A Greek idiotes was a private person, that is, … Continue reading →

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Getting at the Heart of Blood Pressure

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Kathy

Fortunately, when nurses take my husband’s or my blood pressure, they simply say it’s good. When the occasional nurse quotes the actual numbers at us instead, we don’t pay much attention. High blood pressure is not among our health concerns. … Continue reading →

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Next Time Won’t You Sing with Me

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Kathy

An abecedarium is an alphabet book, which we more commonly call an ABC book. The origin of the word, dating from the 17th century, is obvious from its spelling. It’s pronounced like the first three letters of the alphabet–ay, bee, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Uncategorized, Wednesday Word, Weekend Editions | 14 Comments

Sea Monsters on the Brain

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Kathy

Everybody knows that medical terms, including names for parts of the body, are frequently borrowed from ancient Greek and Latin. Often, the terms derive from what the body part looks like. The tibia, or shin bone, comes from the Latin … Continue reading →

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