Last night I was reading The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763 – 1789 when I came across this word, in a sentence referring to the prorogue of Parliament in (I think) 1766. Usually when I come across a word that is new to me I have some idea what it might mean from the context or familiar roots, but this one was entirely new to me.… Read the rest
I started wondering if this word existed as I was using my vacuum cleaner as a means of dispensing with a procession of the six-legged pests crossing my kitchen floor. They seem to really like my garbage. I know the vacuum cleaner won’t get rid of them, but it makes me feel better. I remembered that ants secrete formic acid, so it was pretty easy to browse through the «form-» entries in the dictionary. My first guess was «formicide» but … Read the rest
Found in River of Doubt, a book about Theodore Roosevelt’s exploration of the South American river which today bears his name, six years after leaving the White House. Roosevelt was a naturalist with great understanding of natural sciences and no fear of the unknown.
I’ve also recently read the article written by Roosevelt for the February 1916 issue of National Geographic entitled, «How Old Is Man?» I’ve commented before that it’s somewhat mindblowing to think that once upon a … Read the rest
Another word that I understood only from contextual clues. «His word carries a lot of clout» implies import and respect. This is how the word is most often used, in my experience. I’ve begun reading Stephen King’s On Writing. Just a few pages in he writes something about seeing babysitters and nannies «wind up and clout the kids». It occurred to me with the violence of an idea one should have known all along, that there might be more … Read the rest
This was a job for the OED. Neither the Oxford American (included in the Dictionary dashboard widget on my Mackertosh) nor the Merriam-Webster Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged (the usually adequate dictionary kept on my Palm) had a listing for this word, introduced to me today by my father (thanks Dad!) by way of its derivative adjective apricity. Luckily I have access to the OED through the San Francisco Public Library, even though my library card appears to … Read the rest
This was part of a collection prints from the 1880s depicting letters of the alphabet, with a profession starting with said letter. A was for Artist, R is for Robber, X is for xylographer. O, of course, is for Ostler.… Read the rest
Once again, I would have told you that I knew what scourge means. And I would have been generally sort of right. I would have used it in certain contexts as a synonym for threat or to mean a damaging influence.
But when I came across the second Porcian law, which according to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_laws), «prohibits scourging of citizens without appeal», it became painfully clear that I had no idea of its specific meaning. Now it’s 2:30 in the … Read the rest
The most sacred rights of freedom, confirmed by the Porcian and Sempronian laws, were suspended by the military engagement.
Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
I can tell by the context that these are proper names, and so sort of falls outside the normal parameters of my hunt for vocabulary words. But I did have to look these up, and so here we are.
Sempronian Law refers to a set of laws written by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus … Read the rest
According to Slate, early twentieth-century fashion designer Paul Poiret wrote, «The taste for the refinements of the eighteenth century had led all women into a sort of deliquescence.» Even having looked up the word, I have no idea what he was talking about. (article originally seen at moleskinerie.com)… Read the rest