51吃瓜 of the Day
cackleberry
noun
a hen's egg used for food.
More about cackleberry
Cackleberry, 鈥渁n egg, a hen鈥檚 egg,鈥� is a piece of facetious American slang. The word is a compound of the verb cackle 鈥渢o utter a shrill, broken cry such as a hen makes鈥� and the common noun berry 鈥渟mall fruit without a pit,鈥� also used often in compounds such as strawberry or gooseberry.
how is cackleberry used?
“Cackleberries,鈥� said Gately, picking up one of the eggs and examining it as though it were an emerald. 鈥淎 genuine cackleberry.鈥�
Klock had played swell ball all week, scampering around station one like a hare鈥攖he March variety, of course鈥攂ut he wasn’t hitting hard enough to imperil the shell of a cackleberry.
cackleberry
passe-partout
noun
something that passes everywhere or provides a universal means of passage.
More about passe-partout
Passe-partout, 鈥渟omething that provides a universal means of passage; a master key, skeleton key,鈥� comes from the French compound passe-partout, whose literal meaning is 鈥�(it) passes everywhere.鈥� In French the phrase originally meant 鈥渁 person who can go anywhere,鈥� and slightly later 鈥渁 master key.鈥� The French verb passer 鈥渢o pass鈥� comes from Vulgar Latin 辫补蝉蝉腻谤别 鈥渢o walk, step, pass,鈥� from the Latin noun passus 鈥減ace, step.鈥� Partout is a compound of par 鈥渢hrough鈥� and tout 鈥渁ll.鈥� Par comes from the Latin preposition per 鈥渢丑谤辞耻驳丑鈥�; tout comes from Latin 迟艒迟耻蝉 鈥渁ll, the whole of, complete.鈥� Passe-partout entered English in the 17th century.
how is passe-partout used?
Journalists have an invisible passe-partout that allows them to roam the world and ask consequential people impertinent questions.
I conducted my own furtive tour of the French intelligence community and found that de Villiers鈥檚 name was a very effective聽passe-partout,聽even among people who found the subject mildly embarrassing.
passe-partout
jocular
adjective
given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or jesting.
More about jocular
The English adjective jocular 鈥済iven to or suited to joking or jesting; facetious鈥� comes straight from the Latin adjective 箩辞肠耻濒腻谤颈蝉 鈥渉umorous, laughable, facetious,鈥� which, used as the neuter plural noun 箩辞肠耻濒腻谤颈补, means 鈥渏ests, jokes.鈥� 闯辞肠耻濒腻谤颈蝉, a derivative of the noun jocus 鈥渁 jest, joke,鈥� comes from the widespread Proto-Indo-European root yek-, yok– 鈥渢o speak, speak solemnly, pray.鈥� In other ancient Italic languages, such as Umbrian (spoken north and east of Rome), iuka means 鈥減rayers鈥�; in Oscan (spoken around Naples), 颈煤办濒别铆 means 鈥�(in) consecration.鈥� The root variant yek– appears in Old Saxon and Old High German gehan, jehan 鈥渢o speak, acknowledge, confess.鈥� The suffixed variant yekti– yields Middle Welsh ieith and Breton iez 鈥減rayers,鈥� and in far-off Turkestan, both Tocharian languages, A and B, have the root yask– 鈥渢o demand, beg.鈥� Jocular entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is jocular used?
She said to us, “Good morning, class,” half in a way that someone must have told her was the proper way to speak to us and half in a jocular way, as if we secretly amused her.
The voice will be instantly recognizable as Saundersesque to anyone familiar with his fiction: jocular and often stand-up-comic funny, with a focus on providing joyful surprises with every turn of phrase.
jocular