

Mar 7, 2019 This week’s theme

Words from previous years



This week’s words

mondegreen

resistentialism

spoonerism

petrichor

omphaloskepsis



Image: patrice-photographiste Words from previous years A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg



petrichor PRONUNCIATION: (PET-ri-kuhr)

MEANING: noun: The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell.

ETYMOLOGY: Coined by researchers I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas in 1964, from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that supposedly flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). Earliest documented use: 1964.

USAGE: “Verity could smell the heavenly scent of petrichor rising up from the damp, hot summer pavement.”

Annie Darling; True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop; HarperCollins; 2018.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weeds. -Luther Burbank, horticulturist (7 Mar 1849-1926)



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