gargoyle

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The Word of the Day for October 31 is: 

gargoyle   \GAR-goy-ul\   noun
          1 *a : a spout in the form of a grotesque human or animal figure 
projecting from a roof gutter to throw rainwater clear of a building  b : a 
grotesquely carved figure
     2 : a person with an ugly face

Example sentence:
     The monastery's gargoyles had supposedly been modeled on the faces of 
monks who had formerly resided there. 

Did you know?
          In the 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux reportedly complained 
about the new sculptures in the cloisters where he lived. "Surely," he is 
quoted as saying, "if we do not blush for such absurdities we should at least 
regret what we have spent on them." St. Bernard was apparently provoked by the 
grotesque figures designed to drain rainwater from buildings. By the 13th 
century, those figures were being called "gargoyles," a name that came to 
Middle English from the Old French “gargoule.” The stone beasts may have earned 
that name because of the water that gargled out of their throats and mouths.





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