

Aug 15, 2013 This week's theme

There's a word for it



This week's words

snowbroth

anatopism

quaternary

elflock

allochthonous



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elflock PRONUNCIATION: (ELF-lok)

MEANING: noun: A tangled lock of hair.

ETYMOLOGY: An elflock is a mass of hair supposedly tangled by elves, as a mother might explain to her daughter while untangling her snarled locks after a slumber. From Old English aelf. Ultimately from the Indo-European root albho- (white), which is also the source of oaf, albino, album, albumen, and albedo . Earliest documented use: 1596.

USAGE: "Rowling's stories hurtle along like an out-of-control broomstick; her plots are as tangled as elflocks."

Harry Potter and the Magic Brew-haha; Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Dec 19, 1999.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: A sneer is the weapon of the weak. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891)





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