51吃瓜 of the Day
ghost word
noun
a word that has come into existence by error rather than by normal linguistic transmission, as through the mistaken reading of a manuscript, a scribal error, or a misprint.
More about ghost word
Ghost word is a term coined by the great English philologist and lexicographer Walter Skeat in an address he delivered as president of the Philological Society in 1886. One amusing example that Skeat mentioned in his address comes from one of Sir Walter Scott鈥檚 novels, The Monastery (1820), 鈥�… dost thou so soon morse thoughts of slaughter?鈥� Morse is only a misprint of nurse,聽but two correspondents proposed their own etymologies for morse.聽One proposed that it meant 鈥渢o prime (as with a musket),” from Old French amorce 鈥減owder for the touchhole鈥� (a touchhole is the vent in the breech of an early firearm through which the charge was ignited). The other correspondent proposed that morse meant 鈥渢o bite鈥� (from Latin morsus, past participle of mordere), therefore “to indulge in biting, stinging, or gnawing thoughts of slaughter.” The matter was finally settled when Scott鈥檚 original manuscript was consulted, and it was found that he had plainly written nurse.
how is ghost word used?
Your true ghost word is a very rare beast indeed, a wild impossible chimera that never before entered into the heart of man to conceive.
Spookily enough, phantomnation itself is a “ghost word” originating in a 1725 translation of Homer’s Odyssey by Alexander Pope.
ghoulish
adjective
strangely diabolical or cruel; monstrous: a ghoulish and questionable sense of humor.
More about ghoulish
Ghoulish literally means 鈥渙f, relating to, or like a ghoul.鈥� If you know your folklore (and word origins), you won鈥檛 be surprised to learn why ghoulish evolved to mean 鈥渟trangely diabolical or cruel; monstrous.鈥� Recorded in the late 1700s, English ghoul is borrowed from the Arabic 驳丑奴濒 (based on a verb meaning 鈥渢o seize鈥�), a desert-dwelling demon in Arabic legend that robbed graves and preyed on human corpses. A 驳丑奴濒 was also believed to be able to change its shape鈥攅xcept for its telltale feet, which always took the form of donkey鈥檚 hooves. A 鈥渕onstrous鈥� creature, indeed. Ghoulish entered English in the 1800s.
how is ghoulish used?
… her dark humor and ghoulish sensibility are not for everyone.
… much of the story鈥檚 ghoulish humor derives from his habit of visualizing and communicating with murder victims, their ghosts intervening to help him solve each crime in trial-and-error fashion.
requiescat
noun
a wish or prayer for the repose of the dead.
More about requiescat
Requiescat, as any high school Latin student can tell you, is the third person singular present subjunctive active of the Latin verb 谤别辩耻颈脓蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o rest, be at rest, rest in death鈥� and means 鈥淢ay he/she/it rest.鈥� If the kid wants to show off, they may volunteer that requiescat is an optative subjunctive, that is, a subjunctive that expresses a wish, as opposed to a hortatory subjunctive, a subjunctive that exhorts, as in 谤别辩耻颈脓蝉肠腻尘耻蝉 鈥淟et鈥檚 take a rest,鈥� or a jussive subjunctive, which expresses a command, as in requiescant 鈥淟et them rest!鈥� (搁别辩耻颈脓蝉肠补苍迟 can also be an optative subjunctive, 鈥淢ay they rest.鈥�) Requiescat usually appears in the phrase Requiescat In Pace (abbreviated R.I.P.) “May he/she/it rest in peace,鈥� seen on tombstones. Requiescat entered English in the second half of the 1700s.
how is requiescat used?
In delivering its eulogy, perhaps I can beg a requiescat from its enemies as well.
That emotion. I bury it here by the sea … And a heart’s requiescat聽I write on that grave.