51吃瓜 of the Day
diphthong
noun
an unsegmentable, gliding speech sound varying continuously in phonetic quality but held to be a single sound or phoneme, as the oi-sound of toy or boil.
More about diphthong
Diphthong is hard enough to spell and pronounce, let alone define. Diphthong ultimately comes from Greek 诲铆辫丑迟丑辞苍驳辞蝉, literally 鈥渨ith or having two sounds,鈥� a compound of the Greek prefix di- 鈥渢wo, twice, double鈥� and the noun 辫丑迟丑贸苍驳辞蝉 鈥渧oice, sound,鈥� a derivative of the euphonious verb 辫丑迟丑茅苍驳别蝉迟丑补颈 鈥渢o utter a sound, raise one鈥檚 voice, call, talk.鈥� 笔丑迟丑茅苍驳别蝉迟丑补颈 is also the root of the Greek verb apo辫丑迟丑茅苍驳别蝉迟丑补颈 鈥渢o speak one鈥檚 opinion plainly,鈥� whose derivative noun 补辫贸辫丑迟丑别驳尘补 鈥渁 brief, pointed saying鈥� comes into English as apothegm or apophthegm, even harder to spell and pronounce than diphthong. 笔丑迟丑茅苍驳别蝉迟丑补颈 has no convincing etymology, but some scholars point to 鈥減honetically convincing鈥� Lithuanian 啪惫茅苍驳迟颈 鈥渢o neigh鈥� and 蝉辫别帽驳迟颈 鈥�(in the ears) to resound, hum, drone.鈥� (The Lithuanian and Greek words derive from the Proto-Indo-European root ghwen-, ghwon- 鈥渢o sound.鈥�) Diphthong entered English in the second half of the 15th century.
how is diphthong used?
The best word ever鈥攁ccording to deep lexicographical research, science, taste, and common sense鈥攊s this: diphthong.
It [Atlas of North American English] is vast enough to include 139 color-coded maps and software that lets users click around the country to hear native speakers drop their r’s and overextend their diphthongs with abandon.
diphthong
axiomatic
adjective
self-evident; obvious.
More about axiomatic
Axiomatic ultimately comes from the Greek adjective 补虫颈艒尘补迟颈办贸蝉, which originally meant 鈥渄ignified (of persons or literary style); worthy, high in rank鈥�; as a technical term, 补虫颈艒尘补迟颈办贸蝉 in Stoic philosophy meant 鈥渆mploying logical propositions鈥� (not a cocktail party term!); its adverb 补虫颈艒尘补迟颈办么蝉 meant 鈥渟elf-evidently.鈥� 础虫颈艒尘补迟颈办贸蝉 is a derivative of the noun 补虫铆艒尘补, literally 鈥渟omething worthy of someone,鈥� hence 鈥渆steem, honor, reputation, rank.鈥� As a scientific term, 补虫铆艒尘补 meant 鈥渟omething assumed as the basis of a demonstration, a self-evident principle鈥� (Aristotle), and in geometry, 鈥渁xiom.鈥� Some people may remember axiom from high school geometry (Euclidean), e.g., 鈥淚f A is equal to B, and B is equal to C, then A is equal to C.鈥� 础虫铆艒尘补 is a derivative of the adjective 谩虫颈辞蝉 鈥渙f like value, worth as much as, worthy,鈥� literally 鈥渃ounterbalancing.鈥� 脕虫颈辞蝉 in its turn derives from the verb 谩驳别颈苍, one of whose dozens of meanings is 鈥渢o weigh on a scale, weigh.鈥� Axiomatic entered English in the late 18th century.
how is axiomatic used?
滨迟鈥檚 axiomatic: Reporters run to the story. They don鈥檛 sit it out.
Psychiatry, and society in general, had been subverted by the almost axiomatic belief that “hearing voices” spelled madness and never occurred except in the context of severe mental disturbance.
axiomatic
faux pas
noun
a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct; an embarrassing social blunder or indiscretion.
More about faux pas
Faux pas, from French and still unnaturalized in English, literally means 鈥渇alse step,鈥� nowadays referring to a breach in good manners, a social blunder. French faux comes from Old French fals, faus, from Latin falsus, past participle of the verb fallere 鈥渢o deceive, mislead.鈥� The French noun pas, source of English pace, comes from the Latin noun passus 鈥渁 step, stride, pace,鈥� a derivative of the verb pandere 鈥渢o spread (legs, arms, wings), spread out, open.鈥� Faux pas entered English in the second half of the 17th century.
how is faux pas used?
I sat for almost half an hour as they finished preparing, acutely aware of my social faux pas.
I accidentally exposed to them my entire desktop, which felt like a big faux pas despite the fact that there was nothing embarrassing on there at that moment.
faux pas