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Word of the day

pacific

[ puh-sif-ik ]

adjective

tending to make or preserve peace; conciliatory: pacific overtures.

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More about pacific

The adjective pacific ultimately derives from the Latin adjective pācificus “making peace, peaceable,” a compound derived from pāx (inflectional stem pāc– “peace”) and –ficus, a combining form of the verb facere “to do, make.” In the Vulgate (the late 4th-century Latin version of the Bible, used by the Roman Catholic Church), pācificus as an adjective means “peace-loving,” and as a noun “peace offerings.” The Romans wanted peace like everyone else, but on their own terms. The great Roman historian Tacitus in his Agricola, a biography of his father-in-law, has the British chieftain Calgacus deliver a speech in which Calgacus says of the Romans, … ubi sōlitūdinem faciunt, pācem appellant, “… where they make a desert, they call it peace.” Pacific entered English in the 16th century.

how is pacific used?

My mother was a very calm, pacific individual, and I learned from her to be the same way.

Paul Tibbets, as quoted in "We Did It to Stop the Killing, to Stop the War," Chicago Tribune, January 12, 1999

In this way arose the Roman empire, the largest, the most stable, and in its best days the most pacific political aggregate the world had as yet seen.

John Fiske, The Destiny of Man Viewed in the Light of His Origin, 1884
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Word of the day

sidesplitter

[ sahyd-split-er ]

noun

something that is uproariously funny, as a joke or a situation.

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More about sidesplitter

Sidesplitter is perfectly obvious in its derivation and meaning: something that is so uproariously funny that you split your sides from laughing. Sidesplitter first appears in a weekly newspaper, the New-York Mirror, in 1834 and slightly later in England.

how is sidesplitter used?

If the lyric “In New York, you can be a real ham” sounds like a sidesplitter, this one’s for you.

Erik Piepenburg, "5 Shows to See in New York When You Have Only an Hour," New York Times, March 8, 2017

My appreciation of the short form was enhanced when I discovered the quirky humor of Damon Runyon and Ring Larder, clearly at their peak in a twenty-page sidesplitter.

Otto Penzler, "Foreword," The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century, 2000
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Word of the day

beaucoup

[ boh-koo ]

adjective

Informal: Usually Facetious.

many; numerous; much: It's a hard job, but it pays beaucoup money.

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More about beaucoup

In French, beaucoup is an adverb meaning (in various combinations) “a lot, lots, lots of, much, many.” Beaucoup first appeared in American English about 1760 in the sense “a lot, many.” The word, whether used as a singular or plural, was rare before 1918, when the United States became fully engaged in World War I, as in “We’ve been spending beaucoup francs lately for Uncle Sam,” and as an adverb “very, very much,” as in Ernest Hemingway’s “I’m pulling through my annual tonsilitis now so feel bokoo rotten” (1918). During the 1960s and ’70s, American servicemen returning from Vietnam popularized the word and introduced the spellings boo-koo, boocoo(p).

how is beaucoup used?

Grassroots support, a powerful message and good timing can still win elections, even without beaucoup bucks.

Eleanor Smeal, "Women Voted for Change," Ms., Vol. 17, 2007

Of course, one can ignore the message and simply revel briefly in the traditional values: the days of beaucoup silverware, heaping platters of mutton, folks upstairs and downstairs.

Rita Kempley, "The Past: Perfect for the Tense Present," Washington Post, November 21, 1993
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