David Zapatka Dear friend and Wisdom Seeker moderator, Ellen Engel, suggested the word jeremiad for this month’s WOTM. Jeremiad: noun jer·e·mi·ad | ˌjer-ə-ˈmī-əd, -ˌad 1. a prolonged lamentation or complaint 2. a cautionary or angry harangue. 3. a long, literary work, usually in prose, sometimes in verse, where the author bitterly laments the state of society and its…
Tag: word of the month
Features, December 2020
Word of the Month: Cool
David Zapatka After reading last month’s WOTM “groovy,” sister and reader, Debbie Zapatka, wrote, “That was cool, man! Does ‘cool’ have the same sort of history as groovy? A friend at work uses the word groovy all the time.” Sister and reader Judy Haberstroh wrote, “Interesting. The only person I know who still occasionally uses…
Features, November 2020
Word of the Month: Groovy
David Zapatka The 59th Street Bridge Song, known by many as the “Feelin’ Groovy” song by Simon and Garfunkel, came on the radio. I was asked if I knew the history behind the word “groovy” which led to this month’s WOTM, “groovy.” Groovy: ˈgrü-vē Adjective 1. marvelous, wonderful, excellent 2. hip, trendy Origin and Etymology: “pertaining to a…
Features, October 2020
Word of the Month: Petrichor
David Zapatka Following a good rain after a long, dry spell one evening on the pickleball court with friend Natasha Thompson, that luscious smell we are all familiar with danced in our noses. Imagine that fresh, earthy smell we all know so well as you read this column. Tash said, “There’s a word for that…
Features, September 2020
Word of the Month: Dendrology
David Zapatka The poll results of the July WOTM column regarding the question, “Is it ‘It’s a few more miles still’ or is it ‘It’s a few more miles yet?’” posed by reader Sally Teusch are in and they are very interesting. There was one vote for ‘still,’ three votes for ‘yet,’ and four votes…
Features, August 2020
Word of the Month: Contumacious
David Zapatka Sister and reader Judy Haberstroh wrote after reading the June column, “This one is interesting. Initially I was leaning toward using ‘yet’ but once I saw the specific definition of ‘still,’ I felt that was the correct word. However, when talking, I would more likely place the word ‘still’ after ‘it’s’ rather than at the end…
Features, July 2020
Word of the Month: Yet and Still
David Zapatka Reader Sally Teusch wrote after reading the May column, “I enjoy your column. Thank you. ‘It’s a few more miles yet’ or ‘It’s a few more miles, still.’ Looking forward to it. Warmly, Sally Teusch.” Let’s dive into both words to see where this journey takes us. Yet – adverb ˈyet 1. in addition; besides. 2. on…
Features, June 2020
Word of the Month: Tsuris
David Zapatka Friend Marty Minnich and I were discussing the coronavirus pandemic when he closed his email with this statement, “I hope you and I will see each other fairly soon on the other side of all this tsuris.” Marty loves words so threw in tsuris at the end of his message. He’s a fellow verbivore.…
Features, May 2020
Word of the Month: Obsequious & Sycophant
David Zapatka Friends and readers Randi and Jim Nulty write, “We enjoyed your April WOTM column. Randi once scored a triple word in Scrabble using the word ‘pismire.’ I think it was 70+points. We have never forgotten the word or its definition.” I suspect many of our readers are Scrabble players. I’ve always enjoyed that…
Features, April 2020
Word of the Month: Pismire
David Zapatka Reader Diane DeCarlo writes, “I enjoyed your article ‘Word’ in our January paper. I just wanted to share with you a favorite word of mine which is ‘pismere,’ another word for ‘ant.’ But I use the word for an annoying person.” Thank you for your suggestion Diane. I discovered you’re not the only…