Word of the Day
solecism
noun
a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage, as unflammable and they was.
More about solecism
The noun solecism ultimately derives from Greek soloikismós “incorrect use of (Attic) Greek; incorrect use of language” (whether of individual words or in syntax), later “incorrect reasoning in logic,” and finally, “awkwardness.” Soloikismós is a derivative of the adjective sóloikos “speaking incorrectly, speaking broken Greek,” then “having bad manners, in bad taste, awkward.” Sóloikos traditionally derives from Sóloi, a colony on the southern shore of modern Turkey, not far from Tarsus where St. Paul was born. Sóloi, however, was not founded by the Athenians (who spoke Attic Greek) but by the Argives and Rhodians, who spoke Doric dialects. Perhaps whichever Athenian colonists were there originally wound up speaking a mixed dialect, or perhaps the Sóloikoi have been getting an undeserved bum rap for the past few millennia. Solecism entered English in the 16th century.
how is solecism used?
… Lee finds in the solecism of “less” for “fewer”—catnip for pedants, and familiar to anyone who has stood in a grocery-store express lane—the inspiration for a beautiful poem about growing old …
And a single word couldn’t be a dead giveaway either, no matter how much people would like to portray the use of pled rather than pleaded as an obvious Trumpian solecism, especially when Dowd himself has been documented using pled at least once.
makebate
noun
Archaic. a person who causes contention or discord.
More about makebate
The rare noun makebate comes from the common English verb make and the uncommon, obsolete noun bate “strife, discord,” a derivative of the Middle English verb baten “to argue, contend; (of a bird) to beat the wings” (cf. abate), a borrowing from Old French batre “to beat.” Makebate entered English in the 16th century.
how is makebate used?
… he was no makebate or stirrer up of quarrels; he would rather be a peacemaker.
Trying to set you against me, the spiteful old make-bate, and no one knows how long she will be here …
ullage
noun
the amount by which the contents fall short of filling a container, as a cask or bottle.
More about ullage
If ever there was a Scrabble word, ullage is that word. In Anglo-French the word is spelled ulliage; Old French records many spellings, e.g., ouillage, (h)eullage, œillage; Middle English has ulage, oylage. The French noun ultimately comes from ouil “eye,” also “bunghole,” from Latin oculus “eye.” The very common Romance suffix -age, prolific in English, comes from Late Latin -agium, a suffix for forming nouns, a derivation of Latin -āticum, the neuter of the adjective suffix -āticus. The suffix -āticus is an extension of -ātus, the past participle ending of first conjugation verbs. Ullage entered English in the 15th century.
how is ullage used?
“And what about the ullage?” she said. We both looked at her. … “The ullage. The part of the bottle that’s empty, under the cap.”
… inspectors stroll casually from hatch to hatch, measuring ullage (the air space between the top of the oil and the top of the tank) with a long rule.