There is the desire to read and the will to read. While I am still full of desire to read (who wouldn’t desire completing the task I was silly enough to take on first in my reading mission?), the first half of 2016 saw very little will to read.I finally passed the 1,000 page mark but it feels like a hollow victory considering how little I’ve read since then. With fewer than 600 pages to go, I want to really rev up the page count per day but we’ll see if that becomes a reality. Summer should be a good time to crank out the pages but I’ve been wrong about my ability to get through the dictionary so many times before now. We’ll see where I’m at by the end of July.
Interesting words from March, April, May, and June:
PRESTIGE- I’ve been fascinated several times by words like this, where they have or had opposite meanings throughout their history. Prestige can mean either a trick or honor. Context in using this word makes all the difference.
PRETEND- How many of you pronounce this word with a hard E from time to time? If you do, you’re wrong. I was expecting to see two pronunciations listed for this word but there was just one: pri-tend. I even checked MW online just to make sure the hard E hadn’t become acceptable in the 20 years since my dictionary was published. Nope.
PROTON- In only four more years, this word will turn 100. I thought it should be older than that but I guess microscopes and chemists hadn’t gone that far yet to discuss the building blocks of matter.
PROVOST- I’m most familiar with this word meaning an administrator at a college or university. I was amused to learn that it also means a prison keeper. I’m sure plenty of college students would argue that they their provosts have the mindset of the latter.
PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM- This is an evolutionary theory that I will have to read more about in the future. Rather than slow, incremental change, this evolutionary theory sees rapid periods of change coming after long periods of stability marked by little to no change whatsoever. I wonder if it can explain the evolution of the woodpecker better than Darwin.
PUNK- It’s origin is unknown, making it one of the cooler words classified as such. It is much older than I would have thought. First appearing in 1596 as another term for a prostitute, the word ‘punk’ has evolved quite a bit over the centuries.
PUNK ROCK- What’s interesting about this term is that it’s earliest use is dated to 1971, a few years before the bands that would be most famous for their contributions to punk rock hit the big time.
QUANDARY- As few words begin with Q, I’m surprised that there are any of unknown origins. Shouldn’t most Q-words be traceable? It’s origin is unknown but it hit the scene in 1579. Maybe quandary gets together with punk every now and again to ponder why they both apparently are made-up words.
QUARANTINE- This word comes from French and is a derivative of the Old French word for forty. It’s use came about because ships suspected of carrying contagious passengers were held in isolation for 40 days until the disease was believed to have passed. If you are ever held in quarantine and get out before the 40-day mark, you can at least take comfort in knowing you beat the original detention duration.
QUESTION MARK and QUOTATION MARK- These terms are traced back to 1869 and 1859 respectively. I’ve pondered this before with other punctuation marks but I have to ask again. What were these symbols called before these terms came about? This symbol was refined into what we know over the course of centuries. Why did modern English fail to come up with a name for it until the mid-19th Century?
QUICK- You can bash Scandinavia all you like for whatever reasons you like but the region has produced some cool and unexpected words. This one stems from a 12th Century Old Norse word meaning alive. That helps the line in the Apostle’s Creed about Jesus judging the quick and the dead make more sense doesn’t it?
RAMJET- I don’t know much about airplanes but this type of jet engine sounds fascinating. Words like these get noted in these posts so I can come back later for interesting concepts to read about.
RAPSCALLION- This most excellent name for a rascal or troublemaker is also aged quite nicely. Dating back to 1699, this word is due for a comeback.
RASTAFARIAN- Here is another word I never knew was rooted in a person’s name. Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 was born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael. Before becoming Emperor, he held a rank akin to duke called a ras. So he was officially known as Ras Tafari. See it now? A few Jamaicans viewed him as a deity who fulfilled biblical prophesies and a religious movement was born.
Page Count: 1010/1600 (63.13%)
Countdown to the Letter S: 55 pages
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