

Sep 23, 2015 This week’s theme

Words about words



This week’s words

kenning

mot juste

holophrasm

pochismo

antonomasia



Residents of the village of Harmondsworth, on expansion of Heathrow airport Photo: hacan2009 Words about words A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg



holophrasm PRONUNCIATION: (HOL-uh-fraz-um)

MEANING: noun:

1. A one-word sentence, for example, “Go.”

2. A complex idea conveyed in a single word, for example, “Howdy” for “How do you do?”

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek holos (whole) + phrasis (speech). Earliest documented use: 1862.

USAGE: “Holophrasms aren’t common in English, but any verb in command form can be holophrastic -- Go, Help, Run.”

Kathryn Schulz; What Part of ‘No, Totally’ Don’t You Understand?; The New Yorker; Apr 7, 2015.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Our conscience is not the vessel of eternal verities. It grows with our social life, and a new social condition means a radical change in conscience. -Walter Lippmann, journalist (23 Sep 1889-1974)





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