David Zapatka Reader, friend, and fellow pickleball player Janie Blake-Zunino writes, “While reading Dancing with the Muse in Old Age by Priscilla Long, I read the word abecedarian and found it interesting.” Abecedarian abe·ce·dar·i·an noun a person who is just learning; a novice adjective 1. arranged alphabetically 2. rudimentary; elementary Origin and Etymology—abecedary “alphabet book, primer” (going back to…
Tag: Word of the Month
Features, October 2022
Word of the Month: Luthier and Oud
David Zapatka At a recent Weird Music concert at Stillwell Pianos in Mesa, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a traveling Belgian-Italian guitar duet playing the music of Gurdjieff collaboratively written with Gurdjieff’s musically gifted pupil, Thomas de Hartmann. I have had an appreciation for Gurdjieff’s philosophies since I began reading him in the early ‘70s…
Features, August 2022
Word of the Month: Sniglet
David Zapatka Thirteen months ago, we went off the beaten path of dictionary words when reader Debbie M. wrote, “Hello, I enjoy your column and want to offer a suggestion. ‘Orbisculate’ is a word not yet in the dictionary. I think we should help the young people who are trying to get this word into…
Features, July 2022
Word of the Month: Eggcorn
David Zapatka Is it just me or are you hearing this too? It seems more people are using words or phrases that sound like but are mistakenly used in a semi-logical or seemingly plausible way for the correct word or phrase either on its own or as part of an expression. While at Rudy’s BBQ,…
Features, May 2022
Word of the Month: Emplacement
David Zapatka While watching the last two episodes of The Expanse, I heard significant dialogue about the rail guns being used by Marcos Inaros, the leader of the Belters’ Free Navy, who was intent on destroying the Inners (pronounced Innas), the people residing on Earth, Luna (the moon), and Mars. These rail guns were powerful…
Features, April 2022
Word of the Month: Ziggurat
David Zapatka Reader John W. Patterson writes, “For what it’s worth, because of my ever-deepening interest in what might be called “The History of Ideas,” I’ve been following your Word column in our Quail Creek Crossing for some years now. In a very real way, etymology is itself a useful adjunct for dealing with the…
Features, March 2022
Word of the Month: Domestique
David Zapatka Last month we discussed the word “chicane” used in describing an obstacle on the Tour de France racecourse. Our word this month is “domestique,” used to describe a rider in the Tour de France. Domestique noun do·mes·tique dō′mĕs-tēk′ (Cycle Racing) (in competitive road cycling) a cyclist whose job is to support the higher-ranking members of…
Features, February 2022
Word of the Month: Chicane
David Zapatka The Tour de France is one of the greatest sporting spectacles of the year. I love watching the drama and triumph. While watching the broadcast, I heard a commentator describe the upcoming chicane in the course and knew immediately that “chicane” would be my next word of the month. Chicane verb chi·cane | shi-ˈkān…
Features, January 2022
Word of the Month: Quincunx
David Zapatka While reading The Labours of Hercules by Alice A. Bailey in my book-reading group, I ran across the familiar word “quincunx” and had to reach back in my memory to recall where I had been exposed to this word before. Quincunx noun quin·cunx | ˈkwin-ˌkəŋ(k)s 1. an arrangement of five objects with four at the…
Generals, December 2021
Word of the Month: Irenic
David Zapatka Friend, fellow bridge enthusiast, and reader Maria Davis wrote, “I came across this word today as I was flying to Miami. I rarely get five hours of uninterrupted reading time! I was reading Essays on Ethics by Jonathan Sacks, so he used the British spelling “eirenic,” which is closer to the original Greek word.…