brackish

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The Word of the Day for April 2 is:

brackish   \BRACK-ish\   adjective
    *1 : somewhat salty
     2 a : not appealing to the taste b : repulsive

Example sentence:
     Water is often brackish and undrinkable at points where freshwater rivers 
flow into the sea.

Did you know? 
     When the word "brackish" first appeared in English in the 1500s, it simply 
meant "salty," as did its Dutch ancestor "brak." Then, as now, brackish water 
could simply be a mixture of saltwater and freshwater. Since that time, 
however, "brackish" has developed the additional meanings of "unpalatable" or 
"distasteful" -- presumably because of the undrinkable quality of saltwater. 
"The brackish water that we drink / Creeps with a loathsome slime, / And the 
bitter bread they weigh in scales / Is full of chalk and lime." As this use 
from Oscar Wilde's "Ballad of Reading Gaol" illustrates, brackish water can 
also include things other than salt that make it unpleasant to drink.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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