51吃瓜 of the Day
comeuppance
noun
deserved reward or just deserts, usually unpleasant.
More about comeuppance
Comeuppance 鈥渏ust deserts, usually unpleasant,鈥� is an Americanism that first appeared in Harper鈥檚 Magazine in 1859. The word derives from the phrasal verb come up, as a case for judgment at a trial, and the common suffix –ance, which forms nouns from verbs, such as acceptance from accept, or appearance from appear.
how is comeuppance used?
He is such a convincing villain, in fact, that we are all very pleased that he meets his comeuppance when a falling telephone pole impales him while he’s searching for his cell phone.
The narrative is clear: humans get their comeuppance, Nature fights back, multiple cinematic disasters happen in the space of two hours.
comeuppance
verbicide
noun
the willful distortion or depreciation of the original meaning of a word.
More about verbicide
Verbicide, 鈥渢he willful distortion of the original meaning of a word; a person who willfully distorts the meaning of a word,鈥� comes from Latin verbum 鈥渨ord鈥� and the English suffix –cide, a borrowing of the Latin suffixes –肠墨诲补 鈥渒iller鈥� and –肠墨诲颈耻尘 鈥渁ct of killing,鈥� derivatives of the verb caedere 鈥渢o cut down, strike, kill.鈥� The willful distortion is usually something as harmless as a pun, or the weakening of the meanings of words like awful, awesome, divine, and ghastly (which occurs in all languages), as opposed to the perversion of language, especially political language, condemned by everyone from Thucydides in the 5th century b.c., to George Orwell in the mid-20th century. Verbicide entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is verbicide used?
“If the minister were not guilty of so much verbicide, if he were not so diffuse in everything he says, he would be able to give some information to Parliament.”
It illustrates not merely how the lazy use of phrases leads to foggy meanings, but how the deliberately lazy use of words can lead to a whole new sloppy concept, and, at worst, to deliberate verbicide.
verbicide
perdure
verb (used without object)
to continue or last permanently; endure.
More about perdure
The verb perdure, 鈥渢o continue or last permanently; endure to the end,鈥� comes via Middle English perduren 鈥渢o continue, persist鈥� and Old French perdurer, pardurer 鈥渢o last to the end,鈥� from Latin 辫别谤诲奴谤腻谤别 鈥渢o persist, survive, carry on, hold out, endure to the end.鈥� 笔别谤诲奴谤腻谤别 is a compound of the prefix per-, here used as an intensive, and the simple verb 诲奴谤腻谤别 鈥渢o make or become hard, harden, steel oneself,鈥� a derivative of the adjective 诲奴谤耻蝉 鈥渉ard, firm; harsh, (taste) strong (taste); stubborn.鈥� Perdure entered English in the 15th century.
how is perdure used?
He hadn’t yet observed anything resembling a grove of baobabs. They seemed to thrive in isolation, although perdure would be a better term for what they did.
Yet for all that, the Gospel has always required an institutional apparatus, without which it simply won鈥檛 be able to perdure throughout history.
perdure