51吃瓜 of the Day
riposte
noun
a quick, sharp return in speech or action; counterstroke: a brilliant riposte to an insult.
More about riposte
Riposte, earlier risposte, in its 鈥渟ocial鈥� sense 鈥渁 quick, sharp return in speech or action鈥� and its fencing sense 鈥渁 quick thrust given after parrying a lunge,鈥� comes via French from Old Italian risposta 鈥渞esponse, reply鈥� (13th century), which by the mid-16th century had developed its fencing sense. Risposta is a (feminine) noun use of the past participle of the verb rispondere 鈥渢o answer,鈥� from an unattested Vulgar Latin verb respondere, from Latin 谤别蝉辫辞苍诲脓谤别 鈥渢o speak in answer to, answer, answer back鈥� (the Latin verb has no 鈥渢ouch茅鈥� sense associated with it). Risposte entered English in the early 18th century, riposte a century later.
how is riposte used?
George stands humiliated as laughter fills the room, his mind searching frantically for the perfect riposte.
Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, in an annual letter to shareholders, argued that Amazon鈥檚 growth has benefited its third-party merchants鈥攁 veiled riposte to calls to break up the company.
flinty
adjective
unyielding; unmerciful; obdurate: a flinty heart.
More about flinty
Flinty is an obvious combination of the noun flint 鈥渁 hard stone, a type of silica鈥� and the adjective suffix –y, from Old English –ig, cognate with German –ig, and related to Greek –ikos and Latin –icus. One odd element here is that the derived, metaphorical sense 鈥渦nyielding, unmerciful, obdurate鈥� appears in the first half of the 16th century, about 75 years before the literal sense 鈥渃onsisting of flint stone鈥� (in Shakespeare鈥檚 Henry VI, Part 1). A second oddity is that the noun flint, which comes from Old English flint, has impeccable cognates with other Germanic languages (Middle Dutch vlint, Old High German flins, Danish flint, Swedish flinta), from a Proto-Indo-European root (s)plei– 鈥渢o split, splice.鈥� But flint may be related to Greek 辫濒铆苍迟丑辞蝉 鈥渂rick, air-dried brick, squared building stone,鈥� except that a non-Greek language is the usual source of Greek terms associated with building and architecture and nouns with the suffix –inthos, such as 补蝉谩尘颈苍迟丑辞蝉 鈥渂补迟丑迟耻产,鈥� 迟别谤茅产颈苍迟丑辞蝉 鈥渢erebinth tree, turpentine tree鈥濃�攖he ultimate source of English turpentine. Flinty entered English in the first half of the 16th century.
how is flinty used?
The section鈥檚 editor, Seymour Peck, a flinty New Yorker, had me write columns on movies, theatre, rock music, and television as well as on art, extending my capacities, while cracking down on my flakiness.
I opened my mouth to deny it, and he forestalled me with one lifted finger, his gaze flinty.
More about trangam
Trangam, also spelled trangame, trangram, and trankum, is a rare noun with no obvious etymology. Sir Walter Scott (1771鈥�1832) helped revive trangam in The Abbot (1820), one of the earlier Waverley Novels. Trangam entered English in the 17th century.
how is trangam used?
And meet time it was, when yon usher, vinegar-faced rogue that he is, began to enquire what popish trangam you were wearing …
Go, go your ways, get you gone, and finefy your Knacks and Tranghams …