51吃瓜 of the Day
camion
noun
a truck, as for military supplies.
More about camion
Camion is a borrowing from French, but its ultimate origin is obscure. Hypotheses include a connection to Late Latin chamulcus 鈥渃hariot, cart, machine鈥� (from Ancient Greek) or to French chemin 鈥渨ay鈥� (via Vulgar Latin 肠补尘尘颈虅苍耻蝉 from Gaulish). While we normally associate Celtic languages with the British Isles, Gaulish is a long-extinct Celtic language once spoken in what is now France that proved heavily influential to Late Latin and Vulgar Latin, the ancestor of all Romance languages. Camion entered English in the late 1800s.
how is camion used?
When the police inspector approached the camion, he accused the driver of off-loading the extra passengers who were now walking ahead of the camion. But the driver vehemently denied the allegation, and the subinspector, who could see the passengers walking ahead but had not seen them getting off the camion, could not technically substantiate the accusation that they had been off-loaded from the camion.
There was space left about big enough for a baby carriage to squeeze by, and “dauntless Harry,” seeing an opening, tried to see if his truck would fit said opening. It didn’t, and the first thing we knew the camion had crashed through the railing and the front wheels were dangling in space. The drop wasn’t a great distance, but if we had taken the fall no doubt we would have been found with the camion resting on the back of our necks.
camion
testudinate
adjective
formed like the carapace of a tortoise; arched; vaulted.
More about testudinate
Testudinate derives from the Latin adjective 迟别蝉迟奴诲颈苍腻迟耻蝉, of the same meaning, from the noun 迟别蝉迟奴诲艒 鈥渢辞谤迟辞颈蝉别.鈥� 罢别蝉迟奴诲艒, in turn, derives from testa 鈥渆arthenware vessel; shard of baked clay; shell of a crustacean.鈥� It is possible that testa comes from the Proto-Indo-European root ters- 鈥渄ry,鈥� which would make testa cognate to the words thirst (from Old English thurst 鈥渄谤测苍别蝉蝉鈥�), terrain and terrestrial (from Latin terra 鈥�(dry) land鈥�), and toast and torrid (from Latin 迟辞谤谤脓谤别 鈥渢o burn鈥�). In Late Latin, testa gained the additional sense of 鈥渟kull鈥� and developed into the word for 鈥渉ead鈥� in several Romance languages (such as French 迟锚迟别 and Italian testa). Testudinate entered English in the early 1700s.
how is testudinate used?
At every little clearing through the thorny path great horseflies flew Like aces taking bits and bites of me as I futilely swiped Then low tunnels testudinate respite from those winged furies gave Only to find that those ruelles I tread were rife with walking shells
testudinate
spelunk
verb (used without object)
to explore caves, especially as a hobby.
More about spelunk
Spelunk comes via Latin 蝉辫脓濒耻苍肠补 from Ancient Greek 蝉辫锚濒耻苍虫, one of several similar words for 鈥渃ave鈥� (along with 蝉辫茅辞蝉 and 蝉辫岣条补颈辞苍) a term that is likely of Pre-Greek origin. While Ancient Greek is an Indo-European language and inherits its grammar and most of its vocabulary from Proto-Indo-European, Ancient Greek contains over a hundred words and names that linguists hypothesize to have once been loanwords from a pre-Greek substrate, a lost language spoken in the Aegean Sea prior to the arrival of the Greeks that influenced the development of Ancient Greek. Spelunk first entered English in the 20th century.
how is spelunk used?
Confined to a narrow metal walkway 鈥� and limited to using nonprofessional cameras, Herzog and a few scientists cheerfully spelunk through the Stone Age. While the geologists marvel at the rocks and the historians assess cave-bear footprints and abandoned skulls, Herzog鈥檚 steady stream of typically bizarre observations ensure that the claustrophobia and gloominess don鈥檛 send us to sleep.
On the Travel Channel, we spelunk the caverns of Callao, explore the garish catacombs of the Great Barrier Reef, learn about the medicinal benefits of turmeric.
spelunk