Wordsmith in Training

Along with being awkward, adept at social situations, and an awesome blogger I'm also kind of a nerd. For example, I record Jeopardy every night and have an excel document where I input the number of questions/answers that I get right. Along the same lines, the book I'm currently reading is titled, "The Big Book of Words You Should Know." It basically reads like a dictionary, so it's taken me a while to trudge through it, but it's been incredibly insightful. I'm not even half way through it and I can already tell that my vocabulary is improving. Here a few examples of what I've learned.

You know the phrase, "wet your appetite"? Well, it's actually whet your appetite.

whet (v.)- to stimulate; also to sharpen a knife of similar object by honing on a stone.

I always thought that people with hidden reasons for things had "alterior" motives, but low and behold the actual word is ulterior.

Similarly I always thought the word was "anti-climatic", but it's actually anti-climactic. That extra "c" will get you.

anti-climactic (adj.)- a disappointing decline in contrast to a previous rise; an average ending to a series of important events.

When learning how to play defense in basketball and lacrosse I was always taught to "sluff off" when playing in a zone. Well guess what? The actual word is slough.

slough (v.)- to become shed or cast off, like the slough- or outer skin layer- of a snake.

I always thought that Bob Barker's sign off phrase was "spade and neutered", but I guess I had just never seen it spelled out. The proper spelling is spayed.

spay (v.)- to render an animal infertile by removing the ovaries.

Another word that I had never seen written was brouhaha. Honestly I was surprised to see that it was actually a word.

brouhaha (n.)- an event that involves or invokes excitement, turmoil, or conflict.

Speaking of which, fracas is also a word.

Another word that I had heard of, but wasn't entirely sure that it was an actual word was snafu.

snafu (n.)- an eggregious, but common error.

Much like Sarah Palin I've always thought that "gambit" meant the same thing as gamut (FYI- Palin thought "refudiate" meant the same as "repudiate"; however "refudiate" isn't a word....until now).

Now, of course, my confusion was related to the X-Men character named Gambit (who I just learned was played by Tim Riggins/Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), but I digress.



gamut (n.)- the full range or extent.

As many of you know there are sophisticated terms for some wild things. For example, the proper terms for oral sex are fellatio and cunnilingus. Also, the proper term for a wet dream is nocturnal emission. I bring this up because in reading this book I came across the proper term for a burp, belch, etc.

eructation (n.)- a fancy word word for belch.

Now that's an easy transition to the first of two words that I've always spelled improperly.

flaccid (adj.)- lacking firmness, stiffness, vigor.

I never knew there was a second "c".

gist (n.)- the main point; the essential meaning, the core or heart of the message.

I always thought it was "jist".

The word I think I was happiest to stumble across was crag.

crag (n.)- a steep rock formation rising higher than its surrounding rocks.

Obviously this tidbit of info was music to my ears because I now know half of the derivation of "The Aggro Crag" from Nickelodeon's Global Guts.



You know the "dobber" that your grandmother uses while playing BINGO? Well it's actually daubber and comes from the word daub.

daub (v.)- to smear with a sticky substance; to paint a surface in a hurried fashion.

I've always equated the term "double entendre" with sexual innuendo and I've now learned that I was only partially correct.

double entendre (n.)- a statement in which one or many of the words may be interprated in several ways, resulting in ambiguity; an expression that can be taken two ways, one of which often has sexual or threatening undertones.

While we're at it? What's the difference between overtones and undertones?

Well, I just looked up their definitions and I'm pretty sure that they're interchangeable.

This book of mine also has a cool section on popular foreign idioms. Now I'll assume that most of you know what these ones mean- a cappella, ad lib, ad nauseum, au contraire, au revoir, carpe diem, deja vu, faux pas, quid pro quo, status quo- but here are 10 more that you should familiarize yourself with.

1.) ad hoc (adj.)- for a specific purpose or end; formed for immediate or present need. The Latin phrase literally translates to "for this purpose".

ex: an ad hoc committee

2.) avant-garde (adj.)- relating to the latest trends, especially in the world of art; of a new or experimental nature. The term is French for "fore guard", or furthest from the line of battle.

3.) bon mot (n.)- a clever or witty comment.

4.) carte blanche (n.)- unrestricted power, access, or privilege; permission to act entirely as one wishes. Carte blance is French for "blank document".

ex: having little to no regard for consequences is to act in a carte blanche manner.

5.) coup de grace (n.)- a decisive act or event that brings a situation to a close; the finishing blow.

6.) fait accompli (n.)- something undertaken and already concluded. Fait compli is French for "accomplished fact".

ex: a done deal

7.) je ne sais quoi (n.)- a special, intangible quality. The term is French for "I don't know what.

ex: When someone has a je ne sais quoi about them they have what we Americans like to call the "it" factor.

8.) mea culpa (n.)- an acknowledgement, usually in public, of a blunder or mistake. The term is Latin for "I am to blame."

ex: Tiger Woods' February press conference, the one where he fielded no questions, was a mea culpa.

9.) non sequitur (n. adj.)- something that does not follow logically. A statement that has no basis in what has gone before.

ex: The term is usually used to refer to comedic one liners that are seemingly absurd.

10.) tete-a-tete (n.)- a meeting in which two people meet face to face. The term is French for "head to head".