I’m glad I did not set a firm goal of finishing the letter D by the end of September but boy did I come close anyway! The letter D was very kind to me for whatever reason. Maybe breaking down the dictionary into monthly goals had an impact. I still think that there were just more interesting words beginning with the letter D.Once I hit words beginning 'down-' and 'dr-' though, I started to struggle. Hopefully the last few pages of D kick it back up a notch. Next up is the letter E, which is actually shorter than I expected it to be. E is the most commonly used letter in the English language but it appears that it is not a terribly popular letter to start a word with. I am hopeful that E will be as interesting as D but maybe I’m destined to find that only every other letter is neat.
Noteworthy words:
DIESEL- It only makes sense that the name of a kind of fuel is named after a person. Except that Rudolf Diesel didn’t invent what we call diesel fuel. Rather, he invented the diesel engine. Diesel fuel is just any kind of fuel used in a diesel engine. While Diesel’s creation is widely used now in a number of ways, he committed suicide over his personal finances in 1913. If only he could have known.
DIMPLE- The Old High German word this term traces its roots too means ‘whirlpool.’ How would you like it if someone said you have really cute whirlpools on your face? Maybe to Dark Age Germanic folk, that’s just what they kind of looked like.
DISCO- While I do admit to enjoying the genre of music, the oldest form of this word is merely a shortening of the French word ‘discotheque,’ a nightclub with music and dancing. This abbreviation is now 50 years old, with the full word celebrating 60 years of popular use. Maybe disco hasn’t died after all!
DISCRIMINATE- This is one of only a few words that I have come across that have contradictory definitions. We use the term mostly now in a very negative sense- to treat something or someone different based on a superficial trait. It also has a positive and neutral definition. It can also mean to use good judgment or to simply observe a unique or identifying trait.
DISMAL- This word comes from the Latin phrase ‘dies mali,’ which means ‘evil days.’ If we’re to use words in proper context, I don’t know that there are too many times when this word is actually appropriate.
DISTELFINK- It’s the word for the hex signs used in Pennsylvania Dutch folk art that feature birds. They are styled after a goldfinch (the literal translation is ‘thistle finch’). Being from Central Pennsylvania, I happen to think words referring to the local stuff are pretty neat.
DOILY- We all know what these dainty things look like. What is interesting is that they get their name from an 18th century draper in London. I haven’t been able to find out if the owner’s name was doily or if that was just the name of the business.
DOMINO EFFECT/THEORY- I am surprised that this term only dates back to the mid-1960s. I mean, we really only came up with this term when the spread of communism had everybody on high alert? Maybe some foreign policy weenie was watching his kid play with dominos and came up with the term. I just can’t believe the term doesn’t go back as far as people have been knocking dominos over.
DONKEY- It never fails! It seems like between each of my posts I find a common word with no known origin. Is English just that weird a language or are these MW folks really trying their hardest to trace certain words?
DOUGLAS FIR- And now I know who this tree was named after. Good for David Douglas, a Scottish botanist, but isn’t it a little odd to name a tree originally found only in the western part of North America after a Scotsman? Just saying.
DOW-JONES AVERAGE- And now I know who this was named after as well. Charles H. Dow and Edward D. Jones were financial statisticians. I bet they were real babe magnets back in the late 1800s, though I am kind of impressed that such a thing as a financial statistician existed back then. Double geek bonus- Charles H. Dow also co-founded The Wall Street Journal.
DRAIZE TEST- I’m pretty far from an animal rights wacko, but something about this test seems cruel to me. Maybe it’s because I had a pet rabbit once. Pouring a test substance on the eye of a bunny to see if it produces any negative side effects sounds like an antiquated product testing procedure but apparently the FDA says there is still no suitable alternative to replacing the Draize test.
DROIT DU SEIGNEUR- Medieval Europe was a pretty screwed up place for this term to even have been thought up. It’s the right of a nobleman to take the virginity of his serf’s daughters on their wedding night. Apparently it appears more in the literary world than it may have actually occurred in reality. But still- ick!
Page Count: 394/1600 (24.63%)
Countdown to the Letter E: 5 pages
