Word of the Day: eleemosynary
Ok, no cheating. Tell me, do you know what this word means without looking it up? I sure didn't.
I saw this in a Time Magazine article. I would think that the author could have used a more common word to make his point. Or was his point to show off his extensive vocabulary?
Ok, no cheating. Tell me, do you know what this word means without looking it up? I sure didn't.
I saw this in a Time Magazine article. I would think that the author could have used a more common word to make his point. Or was his point to show off his extensive vocabulary?
posted by Lou Schwing at 11:31 AM
7 Comments:
Okay, I will here and now aver - Scout's honor - that I did indeed know the word "eleemosynary" prior to reading this, and have even managed to work it into the conversation myself every so often!
No, really, I did; decades ago, I worked for a crusty old cuss who, whenever the sales manager would whine that prices had to be reduced to increase sales (a not infrequent occurrence), simply fixed him with a cold stare and intoned, portentously:
"May I remind you, my dear sir, that we are NOT an eleemosynary organization?"
I've since used a similar line myself on occasion over the years - back when I was employed, that is - and once derived a great deal of satisfaction when I discerned the word "eleemosynary" immediately from a fairly obscure clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Let's all say it, together:
"Eleemosynary, eleemosynary, eleemosynary ... !"
:-)
Well, I bow to your superior scholarship regarding the lexicon of the English language!
Kudos are always welcome, of course - but I think I'll also make a mental note to be sure *not* to drop the elee-bomb during job interviews!
;-)
That, and "syzygy" ... !
;-)
I'm betting you use that word in the astronomical or mathematical contexts - but I liked this one:
In Gnosticism, a syzygy is a divine active-passive, male-female pair of aeons, complementary to one another rather than oppositional; in their totality they comprise the divine realm of the Pleroma, and in themselves characterise aspects of the unknowable Gnostic God. The term is most common in Valentinianism.
Right you are; but, you just gotta love those wild 'n crazy Gnostics nonetheless, eh?
I'll bet that folks just flocked to 'em at cocktail parties ... !
;-)
OK, I didn't know the Gnostic meaning of "syzygy." But there's also a biological meaning...
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