|
osdir.com mailing list archive |
|
Subject: mercurial - msg#00031List: culture.language.word-of-the-dayNo need for "agita"-- order your copy of the new Eleventh Edition and stay "heart-healthy!" http://www.merriam-webstercollegiate.com/info/new_words.htm ***************************************************************** The Word of the Day for July 31 is: mercurial \mer-KYUR-ee-ul\ adjective *1 : characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood 2 : of, relating to, containing, or caused by mercury Example sentence: Paul's mercurial moods made him extremely difficult to work with because even the most innocuous event could provoke a fit of violent temper. Did you know? The Roman god Mercury ("Mercurius" in Latin) was the messenger and herald of the gods and also the god of merchants and thieves. (His counterpart in Greek mythology is Hermes.) He was noted for his eloquence, swiftness, and cunning, and the Romans named what appeared to them to be the fastest-moving planet in his honor. The Latin adjective derived from his name, "mercurialis," meaning "of or relating to Mercury," was borrowed into English in the 14th century as "mercurial." Although the adjective initially meant "born under the planet Mercury," it came to mean also "having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury or the influence of the planet Mercury," and then "unpredictably changeable." *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. You Are Subscribed As: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx To subscribe to the html version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio pronunciations, interactive surveys, and more: http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml (c) 2003 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated *mf mwt 073103 GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx mf* Thread at a glance:
Previous Message by Date: click to view message previewde***************************************************************** No need for "agita"-- order your copy of the new Eleventh Edition and stay "heart-healthy!" http://www.merriam-webstercollegiate.com/info/new_words.htm ***************************************************************** The Word of the Day for July 30 is: de minimis \dee-MIH-nih-miss\ adjective : lacking significance or importance : so minor as to merit disregard Example sentence: "The likelihood that I'm going to win the lottery is de minimis," said the struggling young law student, "so I don't expect to be buying that luxury yacht I've got my eye on anytime soon." Did you know? Proponents of readable prose over jargon and legalese might argue that the last thing 20th-century American jurisprudence needed was another Latin term. Yet here we have a legal term that entered English only around 1950. Perhaps we should clarify: the legal doctrine of "de minimis non curat lex" ("the law does not concern itself with trifling matters") has been around for awhile, but use of "de minimis" on its own is relatively recent. At first, the shortened phrase was simply used to refer to the legal doctrine itself ("the de minimis rule"). Then it came to be used more broadly as an adjective ("de minimis contacts with the defendant"). Finally, "de minimis" leaked out of the courtroom and into the world at large. NOTE: Today's Word of the Day can be found in the NEW Eleventh Edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, along with more than 10,000 new words and senses. Find out more at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/book/diction/c11.htm You Are Subscribed As: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx To subscribe to the html version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio pronunciations, interactive surveys, and more: http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml (c) 2003 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated *mf mwt 073003 GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx mf* Previous Message by Thread: click to view message previewde***************************************************************** No need for "agita"-- order your copy of the new Eleventh Edition and stay "heart-healthy!" http://www.merriam-webstercollegiate.com/info/new_words.htm ***************************************************************** The Word of the Day for July 30 is: de minimis \dee-MIH-nih-miss\ adjective : lacking significance or importance : so minor as to merit disregard Example sentence: "The likelihood that I'm going to win the lottery is de minimis," said the struggling young law student, "so I don't expect to be buying that luxury yacht I've got my eye on anytime soon." Did you know? Proponents of readable prose over jargon and legalese might argue that the last thing 20th-century American jurisprudence needed was another Latin term. Yet here we have a legal term that entered English only around 1950. Perhaps we should clarify: the legal doctrine of "de minimis non curat lex" ("the law does not concern itself with trifling matters") has been around for awhile, but use of "de minimis" on its own is relatively recent. At first, the shortened phrase was simply used to refer to the legal doctrine itself ("the de minimis rule"). Then it came to be used more broadly as an adjective ("de minimis contacts with the defendant"). Finally, "de minimis" leaked out of the courtroom and into the world at large. NOTE: Today's Word of the Day can be found in the NEW Eleventh Edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, along with more than 10,000 new words and senses. Find out more at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/book/diction/c11.htm You Are Subscribed As: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx To subscribe to the html version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio pronunciations, interactive surveys, and more: http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml (c) 2003 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated *mf mwt 073003 GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx mf* Loading Comments...
|
|
