READING UPDATE: The Dictionary, Part 4: Ascension Day – Betelgeuse

It’s been three weeks since my last post.  I’ve crossed the 150-page mark, which is both good and bad.  It’s good to see that kind of progress, but it also means that my progress is lagging in its pace.  I figured out that I need to read three pages a day in order to wrap this thing up by next March.  If you do the math, that still leaves me a few hundred pages from the end.  Some days will see more than three pages getting read (especially over the summer).  The last 200+ pages are also less laborious to read through (abbreviations, geographical names, and more full-sentence reference type stuff).

A funny thing happened after completing the letter A- reading the dictionary doesn’t seem as difficult now.  B-words seem to be more interesting than A-words.  Maybe that’s just a mental thing.  Perhaps my brain is just excited about a new starting letter.  Will I get as frustrated with B as I did with A?  Only time will tell.

Here are the interesting words I came across in the last three weeks:

ASPECT RATIO- MW dates this word’s popular usage to 1907, which surprised me.  The term has been thrown about very casually since flat-screen TVs rose to prominence last decade.  I’ve seen it used while reading about changes in motion pictures over the years but I never realized just how far back the term went.  Cool stuff.

ASSASSIN- The oldest usage of this term is for a Muslim group from the age of the Crusades who struck fear into their enemies (mostly Christians) via random secret murders.  Members of this group were prepared to commit suicide if caught or if necessary to carry out their kill.  Wow.

ASSAULT RIFLE- “Any of various automatic or semiautomatic rifles designed for military use with large capacity magazines.”  Please note just how vague this definition is, tuck it away in your brain and pull it back out the next time you hear someone harping about making these kinds of weapons illegal in America.  Lots of room for interpretation here folks.

ASSEMBLY LINE- This term is 100 years old.  No surprise, considering Henry Ford basically put this term and process on the map around that same time.  Still, happy centennial assembly line!

AUSCULATION- I love finding words like this that explain a process that is very routine but few could actually tell you the name of.  It’s the act of listening to body organs to help diagnose health problems.  Next time the doctor comes at you with a stethoscope, you’ll know just what’s going on.

AVANT- Literally, it means “culturally or stylistically advanced.”  This begs the question- according to whom?  Who gets to make that call?  Some of the avant-garde art that I’ve seen looks far from ‘art’ to me.  This is one of those horribly subjective terms that pseudo-intellectuals like to use to help set themselves apart.  Is the subject really advanced or just different?  Just because something is different from everything we’ve ever known doesn’t make it advanced.

AXEL-Not the car part (that’s spelled axle).  I’m talking about the axel jump in figure skating.  You know, double- or triple axel?  Did you know that it is named after the person who came up with it?  He was a Norwegian figure skater named Axel Paulsen and he first performed it in competition in 1882.

BACITRACIN- Another item that is actually named for someone. The –tracin part comes from Margaret Tracy, and American child in whom the root compounds were discovered.

BACK-SCRATCHING- My dictionary dates it to 1924.  MW online says 1904.  Either way, this term for less than scrupulous reciprocation celebrates an divisible-by-ten anniversary this year.

BANE-  I just wrote a review for The Dark Knight Rises recently (yes, movie reviews are in fact coming soon).  The main villain is named Bane and it is clear that DC Comics picked his name well.  Its various definitions include: killer, slayer, poison, death, and destruction.

BANJAX- This is the first word in the dictionary that I can recall coming across that does not have a known origin.  No traceable word roots?  I wonder if it was a gibberish word or a gross mispronunciation that found traction.  Names aren’t the only things people make up!

BASENJI-The word originally made me think of Benji.  Upon reading the definition, I learned that it is a breed of African dogs that do not bark.  The basenji breed, however, looks nothing like Benji from the movies.  That would have been pretty awesome.

BATTLESHIP- Did you know that it’s short for line-of-battle ship?  You do now!  Good thing it stuck too, because ‘You sunk my line-of-battle ship’ is a mouthful.

BEACH- Here is another word with an unknown origin, though this one is vastly more common than basenji.  Amazing how such a common word managed to come out of nowhere.

BELLY-UP- My dictionary dates this word’s documentation to 1939, which makes it 75 years old.  It is also as old as the films Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.

BEST BOY- I always thought this film crew member had a funny title.  They are an assistant to the equally strange sounding gaffer or key grip.