Word of the Day
inscape
noun
the unique essence or inner nature of a person, place, thing, or event, especially depicted in poetry or a work of art.
More about inscape
It is likely that the English poet and Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89) coined the noun inscape. The obsolete noun inshape (i.e., internal form or inward shape) was a probable model. Hopkins also coined sprung rhythm and instress (i.e., the force sustaining an inscape). Inscape entered English in 1868.
how is inscape used?
Spanish chestnuts: their inscape here bold, jutty, somewhat oaklike, attractive, the branching visible and the leaved peaks spotted so as to make crests of eyes.
What we wanted to do was to marry the meaning with the “inscape” of the poem.
More about shavie
Shavie is a rare word used in Scottish poetry, first appearing in English in the 18th century and current for just a little more than a century after that.
how is shavie used?
But urchin Cupid shot a shaft / That play’d a dame a shavie …
‘Twas then that Love played him a shavie, / And strak his dart in donsie Davie.
kosher
adjective
Informal. a. proper; legitimate. b. genuine; authentic.
More about kosher
Kosher is one of the most common words of Yiddish origin in American English. Yiddish kosher comes from Hebrew kosher (Ashkenazi pronunciation), from Hebrew kāshēr “right, fit, proper.” Kosher as an adjective “pertaining to foods prepared according to Jewish dietary law” dates from the mid-19th century; the sense “proper, legitimate” dates from the late 19th century. Kosher as a noun “kosher food, kosher store” dates from the late 19th century.
how is kosher used?
This is kosher. I’m an officer of the court requesting assistance from a citizen.
Forsyth knew that was all a cover story. He knew the whole setup wasn’t kosher.