Word Of The Day

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MISINFORMATION noun (mis-in-fer-mey-shuhn)

noun
1. false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead: In the chaotic hours after the earthquake, a lot of misinformation was reported in the news.


Quotes

Facebook and other social platforms have been fighting online misinformation and hate speech for two years.
--*Barbara Ortutay,*AP News, November 3, 2018


We’ve got Pinkerton so full of misinformation now that he truly thinks General Lee has a million men under arms, and that we’re fixing to kidnap Lincoln.
--*Gore Vidal,*Lincoln, 1984



Origin

Misinformation simply means wrong or false information; it does not necessarily imply deception or lying. Indeed, it is often difficult to determine from the context whether the misinformation is simply a mistake or a deliberate lie. Misinformation is a compound formed from the Germanic prefix mis- (also miss-) “wrong, bad.” (Mis- does not occur in Latin or Greek: in Latin misinformation would be something like mala nuntiātiō; the Greek would be kakḕ angelía.) Information comes ultimately from Late Latin informātiō (stem informātiōn-), one of whose meanings is “instruction, teaching.” Disinformation on the other hand, is deliberately false and meant to deceive. English disinformation is a calque, a loan translation of Russian dezinformátsiya, which is based on the French verb désinform(er) “to misinform.” Misinformation entered English in the 16th century (disinformation entered English in the mid-20th century).

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TSURIS noun (tsoor-is)

noun
1. Slang. trouble; woe.


Quotes

Graham, I want Jack's work in the show, don't give me any tsuris on this.
--*Marc Olden,*Wellington's, 1977


Initially, the series only broadly winked at the reasons for Jack’s slow-burning tsuris.
--*Manohla Dargis,*"Patriarch Faces Future: Who to Lead Nutty Clan When He Is Gone?" New York Times, December 21, 2010



Origin

Tsuris is from Yiddish tsures, tsores. This, in turn came from Hebrew ṣarā, plural ṣarōth meaning “troubles.” Tsuris entered English in the 1970s.

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ATELIER noun (at-l-yey)

noun
1. a workshop or studio, especially of an artist, artisan, or designer.


Quotes

Upon his arrival she began by introducing him to her atelier and making a sketch of him.
--*Kate Chopin,*The Awakening, 1899


The secret atelier is the pezzo forte of the place, a beautifully cluttered warren of objects, art pieces and ephemera.
--*Chiara Barzini,*"The Secret Atelier Behind a Roman Boutique," New York Times Style Magazine, May 16, 2018



Origin

The English noun atelier, not quite naturalized, comes from French atelier “workshop,” from Old French astelier “pile of wood chips, workshop, carpenter’s workshop,” a derivative of Old French astele “chip,” which comes from Late Latin astella “splinter,” a variant of astula, assula “splinter, chip,” diminutives of Latin assis, axis “plank, board.” Atelier entered English in the 19th century.

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KEEK verb (keek)

verb
1. Scot. and North England. to peep; look furtively.


Quotes

I will be near by him, and when he keeks round to spy ye, I will bring him such a clout as will gar him keep his eyes private for ever.
--*Alfred Ollivant,*"Danny," Everybody's Magazine, Volume 6, January to June, 1902


And at that he keeks out o' the wee back window, plainly fearing that old Hornie himself was on the tracks o' him.
--*Michael Innes,*From London Far, 1946



Origin

Keek “to peep” is a verb used in Scotland and northern England. It does not occur in Old English but is related to, if not derived from, Middle Dutch and Middle Low German kīken “to look.” Keek dates from the late 14th century, first appearing in The Canterbury Tales.

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MODISH adjective (moh-dish)

adjective
1. in the current fashion; stylish.


Quotes

It’s a work both modish and antique, apparently postmodern in emphasis but fed by the exploratory energies of the Renaissance.
--*James Wood,*"'Flights,' A Novel That Never Settles Down," The New Yorker, October 1, 2018


Describing hairstyles is not my forte, I lack the vocabulary, but there was something of the fifties film star to it, what my mother would call 'a do', yet it was modish and contemporary too.
--*David Nicholls,*Us, 2014



Origin

The adjective modish is formed from the noun mode “fashion, current fashion” and the suffix -ish. Modish, very common in the 17th and 18th centuries, entered English in the 17th century.

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SHRIEVALTY noun (shree-vuhl-tee)

noun
1. the office, term, or jurisdiction of a sheriff.


Quotes

You must give up your shrievalty immediately and I will get the Shire Court to appoint a caretaker sheriff in your place until the will of the King is known.
--*Bernard Knight,*Witch Hunter, 2004


Judges, small magistrates, officers large and small, the shrievalty, the water office, the tax office, all were to come within its purview.
--*Theodore Dreiser,*The Titan, 1914



Origin

Shrievalty, “the office, term, or jurisdiction of a sheriff,” is a rare word. Shrieve is one of many, many spelling variants of the Late Middle English compound noun shire-reeve. A shire is “the office of administration, jurisdiction of an office or county,” and a reeve is “a high official in charge of an administrative district.” Sheriff is an ordinary outcome of shire-reeve. The suffix -alty is taken from such political and legal terms as mayoralty (from mayoral and the suffix -ty, from Old French -tet, ultimately from Latin -tās, a suffix for forming abstract nouns from adjectives). The equally rare but more transparent noun sheriffalty was also formed from sheriff and -alty. Shrievalty entered English in the 16th century.

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CANDELABRUM noun (kan-dl-bruhm)

noun
1. an ornamental branched holder for more than one candle.


Quotes

The menorah is an eight-branched candelabrum that is symbolic of the celebration of Hanukkah.
--*José Antonio Burciaga,*"An Anglo, Jewish, Mexican Christmas," Weedee Peepo, 1988


... I bade Pedro to close the heavy shutters of the room ... to light the tongues of a tall candelabrum which stood by the head of my bed--and to throw open far and wide the fringed curtains of black velvet which enveloped the bed itself.
--*Edgar Allan Poe,*"The Oval Portrait," Graham's Magazine, April 1842



Origin

Candelabrum comes straight from Latin candēlābrum, formed from the noun candēla “a candle, taper” (from the verb candēre “to shine, gleam”) and -brum, a variant of -bulum, a suffix for forming neuter nouns for tools or places. English candle (Old English candel, condel) had already been in Old English long enough to become part of its poetic vocabulary, e.g., Glād ofer grundas / Godes condel beorht “God’s bright candle glided over the grounds” in the magnificent poem “The Battle of Brunanburh” recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (c. 955). Candelabrum entered English in the 19th century.

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BEANFEAST noun (been-feest)

noun
1. Chiefly British Slang. (formerly) an annual dinner or party given by an employer for employees.
2. Chiefly British Slang. a celebration or festive occasion, especially when a meal is provided.


Quotes

In August the annual outing, or, as it was called, the bean-feast, at the works took place.
--*G. A. Henty,*Sturdy and Strong, 1888


Why do we come? ... Simply from the primordial love of a bean-feast!
--*W. W. Blair-Fish,*"Because We Are Conventional," The Rotarian, June 1930



Origin

Beanfeast is a perfectly ordinary compound of the humble bean and feast. A beanfeast was originally an annual dinner given by employers for their employees, but the word acquired the sense “festive occasion” by the end of the 19th century. Beanfeast entered English in the early 19th century.

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BRUSQUERIE noun (broos-kuh-ree)

noun
1. abruptness and bluntness in manner; brusqueness.


Quotes

... I could see that she was doing her best to irritate me with the brusquerie of her answers.
--*Fyodor Dostoyevsky,*The Gambler (1866), translated by C. J. Hogarth, 1917


I hope you have not been so foolish as to take offence at any little brusquerie of mine ...
--*Edgar Allan Poe,*"The Gold-Bug," Philadelphia Dollar Magazine, 1843



Origin

Brusquerie, which still feels like a French word, is a derivative of the adjective brusque. The French adjective comes from Italian brusco “rough, tart,” a special use of the noun brusco “butcher's broom” (the name of a shrub). Brusco may come from Latin bruscum “a knot or growth on a maple tree”; or brusco may be a conflation of Latin ruscus, ruscum “butcher’s broom” and Vulgar Latin brūcus “heather.” Brusquerie entered English in the mid-18th century.

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POSTICHE noun (paw-steesh)

noun
1. a false hairpiece.
2. pretense; sham.
3. an imitation or substitute.

adjective
1. superadded, especially inappropriately, as a sculptural or architectural ornament.
2. artificial, counterfeit, or false.


Quotes

... the Goulet postiche is guaranteed to blend imperceptibly with the wearer's own hair, for I refuse to settle for anything less than a perfect match.
--*Catherine Chidgey,*The Transformation, 2003


... when the hair had been thoroughly dyed it could only recover its natural colour by this slow process, but that usually the effect was concealed by a postiche ...
--*Laurence Oliphant,*Piccadilly, 1870



Origin

Postiche, like many cultural terms derived from the Romance languages, has a complicated etymology, what with the borrowing and lending of forms and meanings between Latin, Late Latin, Medieval Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The English word postiche, from French postiche, has two original meanings: as an adjective, it is a term used in architecture and sculpture and means “added on, especially inappropriately; artificial, counterfeit”; as a noun, it means “a hairpiece made of false hair.” The French word may come from Spanish postizo “artificial, substitute,” or from Italian posticcio with the same meanings. The Spanish and Italian forms most likely derive from Late Latin apposticius “placed beside or on” (and equivalent to Latin appositus “adjacent, near at hand, suitable”).