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bonhomie: msg#00028

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: bonhomie

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Happy New Edition! Ring in the New Year with
Merriam-Webster's Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, Third Edition.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?croswrdpk.htm&3
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The Word of the Day for December 29 is:

bonhomie \bah-nuh-MEE\ noun
: good-natured easy friendliness

Example sentence:
We look forward every year to champagne and eggs benedict, served up with
plenty of bonhomie, at our friend's annual New Year's Day brunch.

Did you know?
English speakers adapted "bonhomie" from the French "bonhomme," which
means "good-natured man" and which is itself a composite of two other French
words: "bon," meaning "good," and "homme," meaning "man." That French compound
traces to two Latin terms, "bonus" (meaning "good") and "homo" (meaning either
"man" or "human being"). English speakers have warmly embraced the French term
and its meaning, but we have also anglicized the pronunciation in a way that
may make native French speakers cringe. (We hope they will be good-natured
about it!) At this festive time of year, "bonhomie" is also sometimes used to
mean "an atmosphere of good cheer," so you might say a merry family party has a
"holiday bonhomie."







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