Word of the Day
schmatte
noun
an old ragged garment; tattered article of clothing.
More about schmatte
Schmatte, “an old ragged garment,” is an Americanism adapted from Yiddish shmate, “rag,” from Polish szmata, of the same meaning. Though much of Yiddish vocabulary comes from German, it uses the Hebrew writing system as an alphabet and treats silent Hebrew consonants as vowels. This is how the letters aleph and ayin, which are silent in most varieties of modern Hebrew, make the “ah” and “eh” sounds in Yiddish shmate. Schmatte may also appear as shmatte in English; both spellings are equally valid, with the sch- closer to German spelling standards despite its Polish origin. Schmatte was first recorded in English in the late 1960s.
EXAMPLE OF SCHMATTE USED IN A SENTENCE
“Take that schmatte off,” the grandmother scolded, “and put on a proper coat, or you’ll catch a cold!”
snye
noun
a side-channel, especially one that later rejoins the main stream.
More about snye
Snye, “a side-channel,” is probably adapted from Canadian French chenail, a variant of standard French chenal. Chenal comes from Latin canālis, “waterpipe, conduit,” which may derive from canna, “reed, pipe.” Canna, in turn, is a borrowing (via Ancient Greek kánna) of a word of Semitic origin such as Akkadian qanū, “reed”; related words in modern Semitic languages include Arabic qanāh, “canal, channel,” and Hebrew qāneh “cane, reed, stem.” In this way, the Semitic source of Latin canna is also the source of English canal, cane, canister, cannoli, cannon, canon, canyon, channel, and—for fashion mavens—the surname Chanel. Snye was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
EXAMPLE OF SNYE USED IN A SENTENCE
The snye joined the main waterway right in front of their cabin, which made for a perfect fishing spot.
malinger
verb
to pretend illness, especially in order to shirk one's duty, avoid work, etc.
More about malinger
Malinger, “to pretend illness,” is an adaptation of French malingre, “sickly, ailing,” with a change in spelling perhaps because of the influence of English linger, which is not at all related. A common hypothesis is that malingre is formed from Old French mal, “badly,” and heingre, “haggard, scrawny.” Alternatively, the mal- element may come from the related term malade, “sick,” the source of malady. Heingre is also of unclear origin, but a clue may lie in German hager, “gaunt,” which is—yet again—of unknown origin. Nevertheless, hager is perhaps connected to English haggard. Malinger was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
EXAMPLE OF MALINGER USED IN A SENTENCE
When the sun is shining and the birds are singing, it may be tempting to malinger.