51吃瓜 of the Day
backstairs
adjective
secret, underhanded, or scandalous: backstairs gossip.
More about backstairs
Backstairs was first recorded in 1635-45. It鈥檚 the adjectival extension of the noun back stairs.
how is backstairs used?
I say to Lord Hartington before you all, not by any backstairs intrigue and not by any secret negotiations, but in the face of this great meeting held in this great town and before all of England … “Come over and help us!”
He would never believe it–it was a nasty piece of backstairs gossip!
pellucid
adjective
clear in meaning, expression, or style: a pellucid way of writing.
More about pellucid
English pellucid comes from the Latin adjective 辫别濒濒奴肠颈诲耻蝉 (the usual Latin spelling is 辫别谤濒奴肠颈诲耻蝉) 鈥渧ery clear, transparent.鈥� The Latin adjective 濒奴肠颈诲耻蝉 is thoroughly naturalized in English lucid, but the Latin prefix and preposition per- is worth explanation. In Latin per- is used to intensify adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, e.g., perbonus 鈥渧ery good, excellent,鈥� perbrevis 鈥渧ery short,鈥� perbene 鈥渧ery well,鈥� 辫别谤产别濒濒脓 鈥渧ery charmingly,鈥� and 辫别谤肠别濒别产谤腻谤别 鈥渢o make thoroughly known.鈥� The Greek prefix and preposition 辫别谤铆- serves the same purpose, as in Perikl锚s (c495-429 b.c.), the Athenian statesman, from the adjective 辫别谤颈办濒别锚蝉 鈥渧ery famous.鈥� Pellucid entered English in the 17th century.
how is pellucid used?
His art is highly complex, but its expression is so pellucid, so simple, that we can see only its body, never the mechanism of its body.
Trump鈥檚 ramblings about Vladi颅mir Putin were positively pellucid in their clarity compared with his March 29 comments on the U.S.-South Korea trade deal …
summerize
verb
to prepare (a house, car, etc.) so as to counteract the hot weather of summer: to summerize a house by adding air conditioning.
More about summerize
In the late 18th century, summerize meant 鈥渢o spend the summer,鈥� a sense rarely used nowadays. In the mid-19th century in the U.S. in colloquial usage, summerize acquired its usual meaning 鈥渢o prepare for summer.鈥�
how is summerize used?
Swap out the stiff white shirt for button-downs in mellower colors. “If you鈥檙e in finance, it鈥檚 hard to make a big fashion statement, but this is a good way to summerize your wardrobe,” says Coats.
The spark plugs don’t need to be changed for three years, and the motor can 鈥�summerize鈥� itself by fogging the cylinders with oil when you put your machine away in the spring.