Curfew (noun | KER-fyoo) Curfew refers to a law or order that requires people to be indoors after a certain time at night, as well as to the period of time when such an order or law is in effect. Chiefly in the United States, curfew is also used to refer to the time set by a parent or caregiver at which a child has to be back home after going out.
// No one is allowed on the streets during the curfew.
// Lana has a 10 o’clock curfew, so we need to bring her home right after the movie.
Did You Know?
Curfews set by parents (and kept or broken by their offspring) do not echo the origins of the word curfew in any discernable way—if they did, they’d need to at least hint at the sound of a bell. When curfew was first used in the 14th century, it referred to the sounding of a bell at evening to alert people that they should cover their hearth fires for the night—a necessary warning, as many European houses in the Middle Ages were close enough to each other that fires could spread easily from one to the next. The word came to English from Anglo-French, in which the signal was called coverfeu, a compound of covrir, meaning “to cover,” and feu, “fire.” Even when hearth fires were no longer regulated, many towns had other rules that called for ringing an evening bell, including one that required people to be off the streets by a given time, a development that granted curfew permission to go out and about with a broader meaning.
Bamboozle (verb | bam-BOO-zul) To bamboozle someone is to deceive, trick, or confuse them.
// The salesperson bamboozled us into getting a more expensive item than we had planned to buy.
In 1710, Irish author Jonathan Swift wrote an article on "the continual Corruption of our English Tongue" in which he complained of "the Choice of certain Words invented by some pretty Fellows." (Note that pretty originally meant "artful, clever.") Among the inventions Swift disliked was bamboozle, which was used by contemporary criminals. Beyond those who favored the word, little is known of its early days, but the word has clearly defied Swift's assertion that "All new affected Modes of Speech ... are the first perishing Parts in any Language." With its first syllable like a sound effect, bamboozle hints at mystification or magic when it is used to mean "to confuse, frustrate, or perplex," as in "The batters were bamboozled by the pitcher's dazzling curveball.
Timbuktu (noun) / tim buhk too Ancient city in Mali, situated 20 Kilometers North of the Niger River.
//Tim and I a huntin went. Met three gals in a tent. They were three we were two. So I bucked one and Timbuktu.
Did you know?
Timbuktu, a city in modern Mali, gained fame as a major center of Islamic scholarship, trade and culture during 15th and 16th centuries, particularly under the Mali Empire, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Stratagem (noun | STRAT-uh-jum)
A stratagem is a trick or plan for deceiving an enemy or for achieving a goal.
// They devised various stratagems to get the cat into the carrier, but the feisty feline was wise to them all.
A stratagem is any clever scheme—sometimes one that's part of an overall strategy (i.e., a carefully prepared plan of action). The word stratagem entered English in the 15th century and was originally used in reference to some artifice, such as a military plan or maneuver, that was designed to deceive or outwit the enemy. This military sense can be traced back to the word's Greek ancestor stratēgein, meaning "to act as a general." Stratēgein, in turn, comes from stratēgos (meaning "general"), which comes from stratos ("camp" or "army") and agein ("to lead"). Stratēgos is an ancestor of strategy as well; that word arrived in English more than a century after stratagem
I remember the game Stratego. Like chess, but with a few interesting twists, such as a spy and not seeing what the enemy pieces are.
Stratego was my favorite game to play against my dad.
Askew (adjective | uh-SKYOO)
Askew means “not straight” ... can be used as both an adjective and an adverb.
Is he, ya know, flops hand at the wrist Askew? 🤣😂
I'm going to start describing myself as askew now.
And if you have any doubts about askew, I highly recommend searching it on google.
Rife (adjective | RYFE) Rife usually describes things that are very common and often—though not always—bad or unpleasant. Rife is also commonly used in the phrase “rife with” to mean “copiously supplied” or “having a large amount of; full of.” Unlike most adjectives, rife is not used before a noun.
// Speculation about who would be sent to the new office had been rife for weeks.
// The writer's history was rife with scandal.
English is rife with words that have been handed down to us from Old English—among them, rife. It comes from the Old English adjective rȳfe and first appeared in written form in the 12th century. Its oldest meaning, still in use today, is synonymous with widespread and prevalent; it's more likely, however, than either of those to describe negative things, as in “corruption and greed were rife in City Hall.” Most often, rife is used alongside with to mean “abounding.” Although rife can be appropriately used for good or neutral things in this sense (and all senses), as in the first sentence of this paragraph, like its synonym and fellow Old English descendant lousy (from the Old English noun lūs, meaning “louse”), it tends to describe things one wishes weren’t in such copious supply.
The almost unconscious language conventions that we use endlessly fascinate me.
Limerick (noun | LIM-uh-rik) A limerick is a humorous rhyming poem of five lines.
// My limerick received a prize for the funniest poem at the open mic night.
A limerick is a short, humorous (and frequently bawdy) five-line poem with a rhyme scheme of aabba. While the origins of this type of verse are unknown, some believe that the poem owes its name to a group of poets from Limerick, a port city in west-central Ireland, who wrote such verses. Others point to a parlor game in which players sang the chorus of an old soldiers' song with the phrase "will you come up to Limerick?" and then added impromptu verses. Regardless, a limerick’s characteristic rhythm comes from its uses of anapests, metrical feet consisting of two short syllables followed by one long syllable or two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (as in "unaware"). To wit: "There once was a song from old Éire / Sung by the soldiers living there, / 'Will You Come Up to Limerick?' / Quite possibly did the trick / In naming the limericks we share."
There once was a lady named Drew Whose limericks stopped at line two
Admonish (verb | ad-MAH-nish) To admonish someone is to express warning or disapproval towards them, or to urge them to do something.
// We were admonished for arriving late to the meeting.
// They were admonished to take advantage of the opportunity.
We won't admonish you if you don't know the origins of admonish. This word, along with its archaic synonym monish, likely traces back to the Latin verb monēre, meaning "to bring to the notice of," "to remind," and "to warn." Among monēre's other English descendants are monitor, premonition, monument, and (gulp) monster. Admonishing someone (for, say, being late) hardly risks being labeled a monster, however. While a word like rebuke suggests sternness and severity, admonish usually suggests friendly, gentle, or earnest criticizing done in the spirit of counselling and instructing.
So others chimed in And said with a grin It's all just a little askew
⬆️That is awesome 😄😂
I have to admit, I always thought admonish was the opposite of what it actually is 😳 ... definitions matter 🙂.
@GuyverGordon It already means the opposite of what it means. What did you think it means?
@Adragayle Well played!
@IronLemon I was thinking admonish was about expressing approval (not disapproval)
Juggernaut (noun | JUG-er-nawt) A juggernaut is something (such as a force, campaign, or movement) that is extremely large and powerful and cannot be stopped.
// The team is a juggernaut this year, winning more games than any team before it has.
Did you know
In the early 14th century, Franciscan missionary Friar Odoric brought to Europe the story of an enormous carriage that carried an image of the Hindu god Vishnu (whose title was Jagannāth, literally, "lord of the world") through the streets of India in religious processions. Odoric reported that some worshippers deliberately allowed themselves to be crushed beneath the vehicle's wheels as a sacrifice to Vishnu. That story was likely an exaggeration or misinterpretation of actual events, but it spread throughout Europe. The tale caught the imagination of English listeners, and they began using juggernaut to refer to any massive vehicle (such as a steam locomotive) and to any other enormous entity with powerful crushing capabilities. While the word is still used sometimes in British English to refer to a very large, heavy truck (also called a "juggernaut lorry"), juggernaut is more commonly used figuratively for a relentless force, entity, campaign, or movement, as in "a political/economic/cultural juggernaut."