Palaver, gymkhana, manque, daedal!
Oct. 9th, 2002 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserI keep forgetting to recommend this to folks:
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day email!
http://www.Merriam-Webster.com/service/subinst.htm
I don't get to read as much as I'd like to (no time!), so this helps satisfy my desire to keep learning (or relearning) new words. It arrives to you in handy email form every day!
Today's:
palaver \puh-LAV-ur or puh-LAH-vur\ (noun)
1 a : a long parley usually between persons of different
cultures or levels of sophistication *b : conference,
discussion
2 a : idle talk b : misleading or beguiling speech
Example sentence:
Almost every Saturday, Dad and the other men from our
neighborhood would hold a palaver out by the mailbox on the
corner.
Did you know?
During the 18th century, Portuguese and English sailors
often met during trading trips along the African coast. This
contact prompted the English to borrow the Portuguese "palavra,"
a word for a conference or for misleading, idle talk. The
Portuguese word traces back to the Late Latin "parabola," a
noun meaning "speech, parable," which in turn comes from the
Greek "parabole," meaning "juxtaposition, comparison."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day email!
http://www.Merriam-Webster.com/service/subinst.htm
I don't get to read as much as I'd like to (no time!), so this helps satisfy my desire to keep learning (or relearning) new words. It arrives to you in handy email form every day!
Today's:
palaver \puh-LAV-ur or puh-LAH-vur\ (noun)
1 a : a long parley usually between persons of different
cultures or levels of sophistication *b : conference,
discussion
2 a : idle talk b : misleading or beguiling speech
Example sentence:
Almost every Saturday, Dad and the other men from our
neighborhood would hold a palaver out by the mailbox on the
corner.
Did you know?
During the 18th century, Portuguese and English sailors
often met during trading trips along the African coast. This
contact prompted the English to borrow the Portuguese "palavra,"
a word for a conference or for misleading, idle talk. The
Portuguese word traces back to the Late Latin "parabola," a
noun meaning "speech, parable," which in turn comes from the
Greek "parabole," meaning "juxtaposition, comparison."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
