51吃瓜 of the Day
chicanery
noun
trickery or deception by quibbling or the use of false arguments.
More about chicanery
Chicanery, 鈥渢rickery by quibbling,鈥� is an adaptation of French chicanerie, from the verb chicaner, which is typically translated as 鈥渢o quibble鈥� or 鈥渢o split hairs鈥� and once referred specifically to legal contexts. Appropriate for its meaning, the origin of French chicaner is controversial. One possible derivation is from a Germanic root meaning 鈥渢o arrange鈥� that is also the source of chic (via German Schick, 鈥渟kill鈥�). Alternatively, chicaner may be a merger of chic-, a common Romance element indicating smallness (compare chinchy and Spanish chico, 鈥渂oy鈥�), and ricaner, 鈥渢o snicker.鈥� Chicanery was first recorded in English circa 1610.
EXAMPLE OF CHICANERY USED IN A SENTENCE
Though the judge dismissed the lawsuit on a technicality, the prosecutors knew that it was the defense attorney鈥檚 chicanery that had successfully distracted from the matter at hand.
More about trachle
Trachle, 鈥渢o fatigue, tire,鈥� is of uncertain origin, but the leading hypothesis is that the term comes from dialectal Dutch tragelen, 鈥渢o walk laboriously,鈥� related to standard Dutch traag, 鈥渟low, sluggish.鈥� Another option is that trachle is a variant of draggle, 鈥渢o trail on the ground, follow slowly,鈥� which is formed from drag. English drag is closely related to Dutch dragen and German tragen, both meaning 鈥渢o carry,鈥� which bear an intriguing resemblance to dialectal Dutch tragelen above, though this is probably a coincidence. Trachle was first recorded in English in the 1540s.
EXAMPLE OF TRACHLE USED IN A SENTENCE
The long walk into town thoroughly trachled the horses as they pulled the carriage through the falling snow.
More about leveret
Leveret, 鈥渁 young hare,鈥� comes by way of Old French lievre, 鈥渉are,鈥� from Latin lepus (stem lepor-), of the same meaning. Though English hare and Latin lepus are unrelated, they both exemplify rhotacism. As we learned from the 51吃瓜 of the Day rhotacize, s and z sounds often become r in numerous world languages, and both English and Latin are no exceptions. While Germanic 丑补锄艒苍 evolved into Old English hara and then English hare, Latin lepus changed to lepor- in its plural and object forms. Leveret was first recorded in English in the early 15th century.
EXAMPLE OF LEVERET USED IN A SENTENCE
We found the tiny leverets waiting patiently for food in their nest.