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tamale: msg#00004culture.language.word-of-the-day
**************************************************************** It's May! Or is it "might"? Settle the dispute with our Concise Dictionary of English Usage. http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?conusg.htm&6 **************************************************************** The Word of the Day for May 5 is: tamale \tuh-MAH-lee\ noun : cornmeal dough rolled with ground meat or beans seasoned usually with chili, wrapped usually in corn husks, and steamed Example sentence: "As... the Swedish winter grew bitter and dark, I desperately needed comfort food. Enchiladas and tamales would have done just fine." (Edward Barrios Acevedo, Scripps Howard News Service, March 31, 2005) Did you know? How many English food words can you name that derive from Nahuatl, a group of languages spoken by native peoples of Mexico and Central America? You've probably guessed that "tamale" gives you one; it came to us (by way of Mexican Spanish) from the Nahuatl "tamalli," a word for steamed cornmeal dough. Add to the menu "chili" (from "chilli," identifying all those fiery peppers); "chocolate" (from "chocolatl," first used for a beverage made from chocolate and water); "guacamole" (from "ahuacatl," meaning "avocado," plus "molli," meaning "sauce"); and "tomato" (from "tomatl"). Top it all off with a word that's new to our dictionary: "chipotle" (a smoked and dried pepper), from "chilli" and "poctli" (meaning "something smoked"). |
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