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kvell: msg#00023culture.language.word-of-the-day
***************************************************************** Calling all new word spotters! Now there's a forum for your lexical discoveries--join Merriam-Webster Unabridged today! http://www.merriam-webster.com/premium/ ***************************************************************** The Word of the Day for June 24 is: kvell \KVELL\ verb : to be extraordinarily proud : rejoice Example sentence: "[Critics] will kvell over El Greco's uncanny anticipation of latter-day artistic trends, his proto-cubism, his precocious expressionism...." (Ariella Budick, _Newsday_, October 2003) Did you know? The history of "kvell" is far from a megillah, so don't kvetch. Etymology-meisters have determined that the word is derived from Yiddish "kveln," meaning "to be delighted," which, in turn, comes from the Middle High German word "quellen," meaning "to well, gush, or swell." The Merriam-Webster mavens whose shtick is dating words have not pinpointed an exact date for the appearance of "kvell" in the English language. They have found an entry for the word in a 1952 handbook of Jewish words and expressions, but actual usage evidence before that date remains unseen. (The words "megillah," "kvetch," "meister," "maven," and "shtick" are also of Yiddish origin.) |
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