51吃瓜 of the Day
More about vespine
English vespine is a straightforward borrowing from the Latin noun vespa 鈥渨asp鈥� plus the adjective suffix -ine, from Latin -墨苍耻蝉, and one could reasonably–but wrongly–conclude that 飞别蝉辫腻 was the original Proto-Indo-European word for wasp. The original form was 飞别辫蝉腻, 飞辞辫蝉腻, and Latin and English (among other languages) simply metathesized (or transposed) the consonants. Old English has many different forms for the insect: 飞忙蹿蝉, 飞忙辫蝉, 飞忙蝉辫, etc. The other Germanic languages also display the -ps- and -sp- forms. Outside Germanic, the extremely conservative Baltic languages have 惫补辫蝉惫脿 (Lithuanian) and wobse (Old Prussian), both meaning 鈥渨asp.鈥� The Baltic forms, especially the Old Prussian, also show more clearly the Proto-Indo-European root behind wasp and vespa: webh-, wobh- 鈥渢o weave鈥� (from the nests that wasps construct). Vespine entered English in the 19th century.
how is vespine used?
From above the cubicles looked like a magnified insect battery, a nest uncovered by mistake, a glimpse of geometrically precise rows of pods, lines of tiny vespine heads, shining with black Sony ovals, trembling with larval energy on T-shirt thoraces.
The trees had turned a vespine yellow, as if trying to terrify what would eat them.
More about squiz
The noun squiz is a piece of slang used in Australian and New Zealand. Most slang terms are of uncertain origin, and squiz is no exception: it is possibly a blend of quiz and squint. Squiz entered English in the 20th century.
how is squiz used?
He’d been at me for months to come in and have a squiz at the work he’d done, but I really didn’t care that much, and kept putting him off.
She shrugged–which sort of annoyed me too–and I led her clomping to the front room where the sun was streaming in, and I had another squiz.
arctophile
noun
a person who is very fond of and is usually a collector of teddy bears.
More about arctophile
Arctophile means just 鈥渂ear loving, bear lover,鈥� but in modern English specifically a lover of teddy bears, not grizzlies. The suffix -phile 鈥渓over of, enthusiast for鈥� is completely naturalized in English, as in cinephile, audiophile. The element arcto- comes from Greek 谩谤办迟辞蝉 鈥渂ear,鈥� the Greek result of a very widespread (and complicated in its development) Proto-Indo-European noun 峁浱乼办辞- (earlier 贬鈧傖箾虂t办辞-) 鈥渂ear鈥� (the 贬鈧� was possibly pronounced as in German Bach). Greek transposed the -tk- to -kt-. In Hittite the original 贬鈧傖箾虂tkos (spelled 岣玜谤迟补驳驳补拧 in the clumsy Hittite cuneiform) was probably pronounced hartkas, which is very close to the hypothetical form but is of uncertain meaning: the name of a predatory animal (?), a cult official (?). In the Indo-Iranian languages, Sanskrit 峁沰峁- and Avestan 补谤拧补- are regular developments from 峁浱乼办辞-. Italic (Latin) ursus has two problems: u- instead of o-, and the exact source of the first s. Celtic artos becomes art in Middle Irish, and arth in Welsh (Arthur in Welsh means 鈥渂ear man鈥�). Arctophile entered English in the 20th century.
how is arctophile used?
Unless you’re an arctophile, which is just a fancy way of saying a teddy bear devotee, the name likely doesn’t mean much, but it means a lot to collectors.
I am a past president of the American Society of Teddy Bear Collectors and have contributed dozens of articles to Teddy Bear Review and other arctophile journals.