pirogue – A canoe made from a tree trunk. More…
tree ring – Any of the concentric rings of the cross-section of a tree trunk, representing a year’s growth, or the layer of wood produced by a year’s growth in a woody plant; also called annual ring. More…
block – Derives from Middle Dutch blok, “tree trunk.” More…
snag – Literally first meant a stump on a tree trunk or a piece of timber underwater that obstructed navigation. More…
diminish – A blend of diminue, “speak disparagingly,” and minish, “reduce in amount, degree, influence, power.” More…
formulate – Can mean “reduce to a formula.” More…
moderate – Etymologically, it means “keep within due measure,” and is derived from Latin moderari or moderare, “control, reduce.” More…
minimize – Means to reduce to an absolute minimum—not to play down or soften. More…
bilge – Can mean “nonsense, rubbish.” More…
culch – Rubbish or refuse, or meat scraps. More…
flathers – A synonym for rubbish or dirt. More…
quisquilious, quisquiliary, quisquilian – Quisquilious and quisquiliary mean “having the nature of refuse or rubbish,” and quisquilian means “consisting of trash or rubbish.” More…
dolman sleeve – One that is much wider at the arm-hole than it is at the wrist, patterned on a Turkish robe. More…
rasceta, rascettes – The deep transverse creases across your wrist at the base of the palm are rasceta or rascettes. More…
carpus – In humans, it is the group of eight bones that form the wrist and part of the hand. More…
addled, muddled – Addled refers to mental confusion; muddled is anything confused or in a mess. More…
dog’s breakfast, dog’s dinner – Meaning a mess or muddle, a dog’s breakfast or dog’s dinner originally may have referred to a cooking mishap with results fit only for a dog’s consumption. More…
higgledy-piggledy – Probably formed from pig and the animal’s suggestions of mess and disorder. More…
kettle of fish – Meaning “mess, muddle,” the phrase is from “a pretty kettle of fish,” a corruption of “kiddle of fish,” in which a kiddle is a basket set in the opening of a weir for catching fish. More…
boast – First meant “threaten” or “threat.” More…
gunboat diplomacy – Foreign policy carried out with the backing of the threat or use of military force. More…
ostrichism – Self-delusion, a refusal to cope with something, such as a threat—figuratively hiding one’s head in the sand, as the animal is mistakenly thought to do. More…
extemporaneous, impromptu – Extemporaneous means “prepared in advance and carried out with few or no notes,” while impromptu means “totally unprepared, performed on the spur of the moment”—but this distinction has been all but lost. More…
moment, momentum – Latin momentum, from movere, “move,” and -mentum, is the source of moment and momentum, which first meant “moving power.” More…
moment of truth – A translation of a Spanish expression referring to the time of the final sword thrust in a bullfight. More…
momentarily, presently – Momentarily means “in a moment”; presently means “soon” or “shortly.” More…
great circle – Any circle on the surface of a sphere that lies on a plane through its center, or a circle that divides into two equal parts—as the Equator. More…
quadrant – A quarter of a circle or sphere. More…
rhumb line – A line on a sphere that cuts all meridians at the same angle; the path taken by a ship or plane that maintains a constant compass direction. More…
diameter – From Greek, meaning “measure through” (a circle or sphere, etc.). More…