Word of the Day
quidnunc
noun
a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip; a gossip or busybody.
More about quidnunc
Quidnunc comes from Latin quid nunc “what now?” Readers of the Roman poet Horace might recognize quidnunc as a quote from one of his humorous and elegant Epistles: “Albius, frank judge of my Epistles, / What now shall I say you are doing …?” Horace’s two lines are a trope for someone who wants to hear all the latest gossip, like Horace, the second person narrator in his Epistle. Quidnunc entered English in the early 18th century.
how is quidnunc used?
It’s hard enough to get on with one’s life without the tittle-tattle of a quidnunc spotlighting your weaknesses.
It is a restaurant with a loyal clientele and, as a quidnunc might put it, a place whose fame has been hushed about for seven years.
daffadowndilly
noun
Chiefly British Dialect.
a daffodil.
More about daffadowndilly
Daffodil has given rise to many, many playful, fanciful variations: daffadowndilly, daffadoondilly, daffadilly, daffodilly, daffydowndilly. The Middle English word is affodil (also affadil and affedil) “asphodel,” the name of several plants, including the daffodil. Affodil comes from French affadille and Medieval Latin affodillus (also asfodillus), from Latin asphodelus, from Greek asphódelos “asphodel.” Spellings with and without initial d– have always existed side-by-side in English, but the initial d– in daffadowndilly (and daffodil) has never been satisfactorily explained. Daffadowndilly entered English in the 16th century.
how is daffadowndilly used?
With your kirtle of green and your gay yellow gown, Daffadowndilly.
Growing in the vale / By the uplands hilly, / Growing straight and frail, / Lady Daffadowndilly.
cosset
verb (used with object)
to treat as a pet; pamper; coddle.
More about cosset
The verb cosset “to treat as a pet, pamper, coddle” is a derivative verb use of the noun cosset “a lamb raised as a pet.” The noun cosset has no certain etymology, but it has been suggested that it comes from Middle English cot-sēte “cottage dweller, cottager,” from Old English cot-sǣta. Cot-sēte, a rare enough word, is last recorded about 1400. Modern cosset (in the sense “pet lamb”) first appears in English in The Shepheardes Calender (1579) by Edmund Spenser, who uses words and spellings that were already archaic in his time.
how is cosset used?
It occurred to me, as I took my bag over, that it might be airline policy to comfort those who were going home for reasons such as mine with an upgrade, to cosset them through the night with quiet sympathy and an extra blanket or something.
We cosset and succor its every sniffle with enormous devotion, even as we more or less ignore the increasingly urgent fever that the globe is now running.