Tag Archives: Word of the Day

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Word of the Day (March 29, 2013): swivet

cropped-swivet-header-771827

– noun:

[SWIV-it]

Definition:

A state of nervous exceitment, haste, or anxiety; flutter.  I was in such a swivet that I could hardly speak.

Examples:

1. This sent her into a larger swivet, but its ferocity now didn’t faze Susan.  She now knew the deal.

– Douglas Coupland, Miss Wyoming, 2010

2. Benny had warned Patsy about this; the mother, he said, was in a swivet about the plea.

– Michelle Nuneven, Blame, 2010

[From Dictionary.com]

My thoughts on the matter:

This word strikes me as very Jane Austenian, but maybe that’s just me.

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Word of the Day (March 26, 2013): wrest

Wrest [rest]

Definition: To take away by force

verb:

1. to take away by force: to wrest a knife from a child.

2. to twist or torn; pull, jerk or force by a violent twist.

verb:

1. to get away be effort; to wrest a living from the soil.

2. to twist or turn from the proper course, application, use, meaning, or the like: wrench.

noun:

1. a wresting; twist or wrench.

2. a key or small wrench for tuning stringed musical instruments, as the harp or piano, by turning the pins to which the strings are fastened.

Examples:

1. Can I possibly go back and wrest from my past some remnant of a better beginning?

– Ken Kesey, Sometimes a Great Notion, 2006

2. He could wrest beauty from anything.

– Fiona Maazel, Last Last Change, 2009

From Dictionary.com

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Word of the Day (February 13, 2013): mainour

– noun:

[MEY-ner]

Definition:

1. a stolen article found on the person of or near the thief: to be taken with the mainour.

Examples:

1. Caught the thief, with the mainour, hey?

– Maria Edgeworth, the Parent’s Assistant

2. …if I be taken with the mainour, if the theft be found about me, I shall either be killed, or carted with a paper crown set upon my head, having my fault written in great text-letters.

– Fernando de Rojas, The Celestina

[From Dictionary.com]

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Word of the Day (February 5, 2013): epexegesis

– noun:

[ep-ek-si-JEE-sis]

Definition:

1. the addition of a word or words to explain a preceding word or sentence.

2. the word or words so added.

Examples:

1. But you did establish personal contact?  In epexegesis or on a point of order?

– James Joyce, Finnegan’s Wake

2. One of the most striking peculiarities of colloquial speech in Dutch, and of natural free talk in general, is what is called epexegesis.

– Jan Gonda, Selected Studies

[From Dictionary.com]

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