peccadillo

****************************************************************
Spring into action with Merriam-Webster's Learner's Word
of the Day--perfect for ESL students. It's free!
http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/learner_signup.html
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for May 12 is:

peccadillo   \pek-uh-DIL-oh\   noun 
     : a slight offense 

Example sentence:
     Michael's thank-you note to his hostess was sincere and touching; his only 
peccadillo, however, was addressing her by her first name instead of "Mrs. 
Buchanan." 

Did you know?
     "The world loves a spice of wickedness." That observation by Henry 
Wadsworth Longfellow may explain why people are so willing to forgive 
peccadilloes as youthful foolishness or lapses of judgment. The willingness to 
overlook petty faults and minor offenses existed long before English speakers 
borrowed a modified version of the Spanish "pecadillo" at the end of the 16th 
century. Spanish speakers distinguished the "pecadillo," or "little sin," from 
the more serious "pecado," their term for a sin of magnitude. And these Spanish 
terms can be traced back still further, to the Latin verb "peccare," meaning 
"to sin."





You Are Subscribed As: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to subscribe to the html
version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio
pronunciations, please visit:

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2006 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102

*mf mwt 051206 GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx mf*

---
You are currently subscribed to mw-text as: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
leave-mw-text-979910Y@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx