51吃瓜 of the Day
wampish
verb (used without object)
to wave about or flop to and fro.
More about wampish
Wampish,鈥渢o wave (one鈥檚 arms) about; flop to and fro,鈥� is an exclusively Scots word, first appearing in Sir Walter Scott鈥檚 The Antiquary, the third of his The Waverley Novels (1816). Wampish has no clear etymology and is probably of imitative or onomatopoeic origin.
how is wampish used?
But yet his gear was o’ the goude
As it waved and wampished in the wind; And the coal-black steed he rode upon,
It was fleeter than the bonny hind.
He “wampished” his arms over his head, and shouted “Habbocraws” at the pitch of his voice鈥攖he gravity of every one being completely upset by the occurrence.
wampish
au fond
adverb
at bottom or to the bottom; thoroughly; in reality; fundamentally.
More about au fond
The French adverb phrase au fond, 鈥渢horoughly; in reality; fundamentally,鈥� literally 鈥渁t the bottom, to the bottom,鈥� has been in English for more than 200 years; yet its French pronunciation in English shows that it is still unnaturalized. The French phrase is composed of au 鈥渁t the, to the,鈥� from Old French al, which is a contraction of a le, from Latin ad 鈥渢o鈥� and illum 鈥渢hat鈥� (illum and its relatives become the definite article in most Romance languages). The French noun fond 鈥渂ottom, floor, background (for lacework)鈥� comes from Latin fundus 鈥渂ottom, base, depths, farm, country estate.鈥� The Latin noun is the source of the verb 蹿耻苍诲腻谤别 鈥渢o lay a foundation,鈥� which becomes fonder in Old French, founden, fonden, funden in Middle English, and found, i.e., 鈥渆stablish firmly,鈥� in modern English. Au fond entered English toward the end of the 18th century.
how is au fond used?
Some days I see myself as the Recording Angel, collecting together all the sins of Gilead, including mine; on other days I shrug off this high moral tone. Am I not, au fond, merely a dealer in sordid gossip?
A diamond Cartier feather is,聽au fond, a fake feather, but I doubt that any severely pro-authenticity proprietress of one of those earnest, soulless spaces would throw one in the trash.
au fond
spangle
verb
to decorate with any small, bright drops, objects, spots, or the like.
More about spangle
The verb spangle, “to decorate with any small, bright drops, objects, spots, or the like,”聽comes from the noun spangle, 鈥渁 small, thin piece of glittering metal used for decorating cloths鈥� or 鈥渁 small, bright object or spot鈥� (such as one of the stars on the Star-Spangled Banner), which is formed from the noun spang 鈥渁 small, glittering ornament鈥� and the diminutive suffix –le, as in bramble or thimble. Spang may come either from Middle Dutch spange, spaenge 鈥渂rooch, clasp鈥� or from Old Norse 蝉辫谦苍驳 鈥渃lasp, buckle, spangle.鈥� Spangle entered English in the first half of the 15th century.
how is spangle used?
That night bright stars聽spangle聽the heavens. Orion, one of the few constellations I know well, appears upside down, a disconcerting habit it picks up below the equator.
An Iowa man digging through a junkyard in search of used car parts stumbled upon an unexpected find: a rare American flag spangled with only 45 stars.
spangle