Words are wordy sometimes
Today I want to focus on some new words and with that the importance of knowing a lot of them! I often underestimate the value different words hold.
A series of new words
I encountered a few of the words in an excellent book written by Thomas Erikson called Surrounded by idiots. It has in fact taught me everyone is indeed idiots. But more on this in a completely different post!
Minutiae
What a wonderful word. This is a word I have never seen before in my life. Some of the others in this series I have encountered in the wild and lacked understanding thereof, but this was a new beautiful vocabulary-extender! The word refers to the small, precise or trivial details of something. What a description! As I’m researching about the word I see it’s also often used as the plural of minute (my-newt). I wonder what the minutiae of this post is.
Au courant
We are getting a bit fancy here so get your baguettes out!1 This word originates from France and was first used in 1762. The French to English translation using Google translate says it’s “aware”. This is quite suiting, but the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as fully informed or up-to-date. And using it in a sentence is as easy as admitting that I’m au courant with my blog.
Penchant
Second word of the day I have never experienced in my life!2 This is a word I hope to start using on the regular. It’s definition states that it is a strong or habitual liking for something. Or the tendency to do something. Now stay with me and watch this beautiful usage of the word. I have a penchant for “penchant”.
Unremittingly
The first negative word of the day, kind of… The “un” refers to the negation of “remittingly” and “remittingly” is from “remit”. Remit means to cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting. Thus “unremittingly” means continuously or uninterruptedly or constantly. It’s quite confusing as a direct negation, but it still does make sense in this senseless yet beautiful world!3
Red herring
A red herring is a dried smoke herring. Interestingly it’s turned red by the smoke. It seems like this fish wants the smoke… But more importantly, the second definition of this beautiful fish is a clue or piece of information that is misleading or distracting. An example would be if you ask someone for directions to the movies and they mention the roads to the other mall is quite dangerous.
Pigheaded
This is exactly what you think it means. The definition is short and sweet, just like a pig! It is “stupidly” or “obstinate”. What a delightful word to insult someone!4 Some of these descriptions are written with a sense of Pigheadedness.
Obstinate
This word might seem very familiar to all the Dory’s out there! We just saw it in the previous paragraph. I too first encountered this word for the first time in the previous paragraph. I am stubbornly refusing to change my opinion or chosen course of action about my liking for writing these blogs! But where’s the definition you may ask. Let me show you: “It is my obstinate determination to write this blog”. If still doesn’t make sense: “stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so” is the definition.
Very interestingly can it also be used to describe and unwelcome situation which is very difficult to change or overcome. The obstinate problem of forgiveness is an example.
How my brain works
I started this blog wanting to write about the different words I had learned over the last few weeks and focus on the interesting world of linguistics. Halfway through I recalled that TIWIL’s purpose is quick and short reads which is why I will not be diving into the world of languages. That is saved for another blog. So how does this show how my brain works? Let me tell you!
I first realised the blog is getting hefty when I had to scroll. Then I realised it’s quite late which made me think of the tasks I have ahead for me. Thereafter I thought of how I could write this blog in such a manner that I can automate the extraction of ideas. By this I mean a method to find everywhere I mention “that’s for another post/blog etc.” and automate my to-do list for the future blogs!
But for now that’s enough of how I think. That is a blog for another day 😉.5
I’m sorry if you’re French and offended. It’s just to keep the readers entertained! ↩
My home language is Afrikaans and I hated anything language or right-brain oriented until quite recently. ↩
Dramatic effect added. I know the world makes sense, don’t be too harsh now. ↩
I do not condone violence, but when my friends are being pigheaded it’s my obligation to tell them. You know, as a good friend! ↩
I thoroughly dislike this variant of this emoji. I prefer the look on Apple iOS 16.4. ↩