Welcome
John William Tuohy lives in Washington DC
Word stuff: Factotum
fak-TOH-tuhm
A servant or a low-level
employee tasked with many things.
From Latin factotum, from
facere (to do) + totus (all). Earliest documented use: 1573.
Advise for writers: simplify
The ability to simplify means
to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. -Hans Hofmann,
painter (1880-1966)
Word stuff: kamikaze
kah-mi-KAH-zee
Someone who behaves in a
reckless, self-destructive manner.
From Japanese kamikaze (divine
wind), from kami (god, divinity) + kaze (wind). Earliest documented use: 1896.
In Japanese folklore, kamikaze
was the divine wind that destroyed a Mongol invasion fleet under Kublai Khan.
In World War II, the kamikaze were suicidal attacks by Japanese pilots who
crashed their planes on an enemy target such as a ship.
Word stuff: Tycoon
ty-KOON
A wealthy and powerful person,
especially in business or politics.
From Japanese taikun (great
lord or prince), from Chinese ta (great) + kiun (prince). Earliest documented
use: 1857.
It is as easy to dream a book
It is as easy to dream a book
as it is hard to write one. -Honore de Balzac, novelist (1799-1850)
Word Stff: interlocutors
(in-tuhr-LOK-yuh-tuhr, -yoo-)
One who takes part in a
conversation or dialogue, especially as a representative of an organization.
From Latin inter- (between) +
loqui (to speak). Earliest documented use: 1518.
Word stuff: Itinerant
eye-TIN-uh-runt\
traveling from place to place;
especially : covering a circuit
In Latin, "iter" means
"way" or "journey." That root was the parent of the Late
Latin verb "itinerari," meaning "to journey." It was that
verb which ultimately gave rise to today's English word for traveling types:
"itinerant." The linguistic grandsire, "iter," also
contributed to the development of other words in our vocabulary, including
"itinerary" ("the route of a journey" and "the plan
made for a journey") and "errant" ("traveling or given to
traveling").
Word stuff: confrere
KON-frayr
Colleague; a fellow member of a
profession, fraternity, etc.
From Latin con- (with) + frater
(brother). Other cousins of this word, derived from the same Indo-European root
bhrater- (brother), are brother, pal, fraternal, and bully. Earliest documented
use: 1425.
Word stuff: Respite
RESS-pit
a period of temporary delay, an interval of rest or relief
"Respite" traces from the Latin term
"respectus," which comes from a verb meaning, both literally and
figuratively, "to turn around to look at" or "to regard."
By the 14th century, we had granted "respite" the sense we use most
often today—"a welcome break."
Word Stuff: Protege
PRO-tuh-zhay, pro-tuh-ZHAY
One who is protected, guided,
and supported by somebody older and more experienced.
From French protégé, past
participle of protéger (to protect), from Latin protegere, from pro- + tegere
(cover). Ultimately from Indo-European root (s)teg- (to cover), which is the
ancestor of other words such as tile, thatch, protect, detect, and toga.
Earliest documented use: 1786.
Word Stuff: Metonymy
Metonymy
muh-TAH-nuh-mee
a figure of speech consisting
of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an
attribute or with which it is associated
Metonymy derived via Latin from
Greek "metonymia" (from "meta-," meaning "among, with,
or after," and "onyma," meaning "name"), metonymy
often appears in news articles and headlines, as when journalists use the term
"crown" to refer to a king or queen.
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