Tag: Word of the month

Word of the Month: Apricity

David Zapatka Friend and fellow pickleball player, Natasha Thompson, writes, “‘Apricity’ means warmth of the sun in winter. Did I expand your vocabulary?” Yes, you have, Tash, and I expect you will be expanding our readers’ vocabulary with this word as well. Maybe you will even bring it back into use as it has fallen…

Word of the Month: Redolent

David Zapatka While reading The Metaphysics of Ping-Pong: Table Tennis as a Journey of Self Discovery by Guido Mina di Sospiro, I ran across the word redolent. His use of the word while describing table tennis rubber was intriguing. Redolent—red·​o·​lent adjective 1. Exuding fragrance: aromatic 2. Full of a specified fragrance: a. scented (air redolent of seaweed)…

Word of the Month: Resilience

David Zapatka Reader, friend, and fellow bridge player, Pat Schlect, writes, “I was very happy to see your article in the Sun Lakes Splash.I loved the subject. The word I would choose for research is ‘resilience.’ Why? If you had to pick one characteristic or quality you’d most like to have, what would it be?…

Word of the Month: Verso and Recto

David Zapatka Reader, friend, and fellow bridge player, Gayle Covey, writes, “As always, enjoyed your SaddleBrooke word column. I’ve been saying I’d send a word or two. Finally … I’m an English major and a words person. How did I not know this? It just came up in Wordle (and I thought of you!) … verso. And…

Word of the Month: Abecedarian

David Zapatka Reader, friend, and fellow pickleball player Janie Blake-Zunino writes, “While reading Dancing with the Muse in Old Age by Priscilla Long, I read the word abecedarian and found it interesting.” Abecedarian abe·ce·dar·i·an noun a person who is just learning; a novice adjective 1. arranged alphabetically 2. rudimentary; elementary Origin and Etymology—abecedary “alphabet book, primer” (going back to…

Word of the Month: Gaslighting

David Zapatka Reader Greg West writes, “Merriam-Webster has announced its word of the year for 2022. Over the past year, this word has increased in the number of lookups it has received at a rate of 1,740% in 2022 compared to its lookup rate in 2021. Oddly enough though, unlike the typical word of the…

Word of the Month: Run

David Zapatka Reader Carmela Hopkins writes, “Every month I look for your column in the Splash. Have you considered an article on the word ‘run?’ You’re on a run. I mean roll.” There are more definitions of this word than any word I have researched. Here are a few. Run verb a. to go faster than…

Word of the Month: Inutile

  David Zapatka Reader Carmela Hopkins writes, “Dear Mr. Zapatka, every month I look for your column in the Splash. Last month’s article particularly grabbed my attention because you mentioned Richard Lederer, whom I read monthly in the Mensa Bulletin. Have you considered an article on the word ‘run?’ It seems like such an obviously…

Word of the Month: Luthier and Oud

David Zapatka At a recent Weird Music concert at Stillwell Pianos in Mesa, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a traveling Belgian-Italian guitar duet playing the music of Gurdjieff collaboratively written with Gurdjieff’s musically gifted pupil, Thomas de Hartmann. I have had an appreciation for Gurdjieff’s philosophies since I began reading him in the early ‘70s…

Word of the Month: Eggcorn Reader Comments

David Zapatka July’s WOTM word, “eggcorn,” resulted in a flurry of reader comments. “Just read your article in the Pioneer Press about eggcorns, and it made me chuckle. I didn’t realize they were called eggcorns, but I’ve encountered a few of the same “slip of the ears.” One that always annoys me is when people say ‘It’s…