Category Archives: words

Word Snooper Poll: Most Pretentious Buzz Word

Posted on March 17, 2012 by

The Conceptual Art movement elevated ideas over traditional artistic values like discernment and craftsmanship. Maybe those displaced values needed a home. Is that why suddenly everything outside the realm of art is now “crafted,” “artisanal” or “curated”? You’ve heard of … Continue reading →

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Word Snooper Extra: Vote for your favorite blended word.

Posted on December 17, 2011 by
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Do you prefer your music diegetic?

Posted on April 19, 2011 by

In the April 18 issue of the New Yorker Nancy Franklin bemoans a stylistic change in new version of the TV series “Upstairs Downstairs.” In the original series the only soundtrack was the music the characters heard on the gramophone, … Continue reading →

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A Bouquet of Flower Names and their Origins

Posted on April 4, 2011 by

In celebration of spring, here’s a little mixed bouquet of flower-name etymologies. The starburst-shaped aster gets its name from Latin aster, which stems fromGreek ἀστήρ meaning ‘star.’ (An asterisk is a little star < Latin asteriscus, < Greek ἀστερίσκος, diminutive … Continue reading →

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Noodling around

Posted on March 28, 2011 by

Thanks to once more to Steven Schwartzman of wordconnections.wordpress.com for suggesting a mnemonic for the order of the planets without Pluto: “My very educated mother just served us noodles.” That’s using the old noodle, Steven. Hmm…how did the word for … Continue reading →

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My very educated mother forgot to remember.

Posted on March 22, 2011 by

Thanks to Steven Schwartzman of wordconnections.wordpress.com for explaining that when English words have their origin in Greek words with consonant blends that don’t occur in English, like the pt- in helicopter, we tend to break them up incorrectly. For example, … Continue reading →

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helicopter, helix, pterodactyl

Posted on March 16, 2011 by

Police use helicopters, but the etymology of helicopter has nothing to do with cops, but rather with fliers of the Jurassic period. It’s helico – pter, from the Greek ἕλικος (elikos) ‘spiral’ + πτερόν (pteron) ‘wing.’ In 1861    G. … Continue reading →

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clement, inclement, clemency

Posted on March 7, 2011 by

Fill in the blank: “inclement ________.”  That’s right “weather.” Inclement is one of those unusual adjectives used only to describe one thing. Even the OED gives as its first definition, “Of climate or weather: Not mild or temperate; extreme; severe. … Continue reading →

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scrutable, inscrutable

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

First guy: I don’t get my sister. She’s inscrutable. Second guy: Really? I find her highly scrutable. Wait, you say. Isn’t that the same old joke you used with ineffable? Yeah, basically. Here’s another lonely negative. There’s inscrutable, meaning ‘That … Continue reading →

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Mumblecore

Posted on February 4, 2011 by

Mumblecore is a trendy term for ultra-low budget independent films by and about twentysomethings.  J. Hoberman writes in the Village Voice, August 14, 2007 about a festival of  “micro-indie New Talkies (a/k/a Generation DIY, a/k/a Cine Slackavetes, a/k/a MySpace Neo-Realism, … Continue reading →

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