51吃瓜 of the Day
evanescent
adjective
vanishing; fading away; fleeting.
More about evanescent
The adjective evanescent, 鈥渧anishing, fading,鈥� comes via the French adjective 茅惫补苍别蝉肠别苍迟, from Latin 脓惫腻苍脓蝉肠脓苍蝉 (inflectional stem 脓惫腻苍脓蝉肠别苍迟-), the present participle of the verb 脓惫腻苍脓蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o disappear, vanish, fade away,鈥� whose root word is the adjective 惫腻苍耻蝉 鈥渆mpty, hollow, illusory,鈥� source of English vain (via Old French). 膾惫腻苍脓蝉肠别谤别 is a compound of the preposition and prefix ex-, 脓- 鈥渙ut, out of, utterly, completely鈥� and the verb 惫腻苍脓蝉肠别谤别 鈥渢o melt into nothing, vanish.鈥� 膾惫腻苍脓蝉肠别谤别 becomes esvanir, evanir in Old French, with a present stem esvaniss-, evaniss-, the source of Middle English vanis(s)hen, “to disappear, disappear suddenly,鈥� English vanish. Evanescent entered English in the early 18th century.
how is evanescent used?
Readers, after enjoying a book, are desperate not to let go of the characters, the evanescent feeling of being in the text.
The pantomime of head-butting and jabbing, with moments when his whole body crumples as if in grief, lasts mere seconds. Every gesture is sharp but evanescent, vanishing as quickly as it takes shape.
evanescent
whinge
verb (used without object)
British and Australian Informal.
to complain; whine.
More about whinge
The verb whinge, 鈥渢o complain, whine,鈥� occurs in just about every national variety of English鈥擝ritish, Irish (James Joyce, Samuel Beckett), Scottish (Robert Burns), Australian, New Zealand鈥攂ut remains lesser known in US English. Indeed, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer鈥檚 Stone, Harry鈥檚 address at the Dursleys (4 Privet Drive / Little Whinging / Surrey), Whinging had to be glossed for American readers. Whinge comes from Scots and northern England dialect quhynge (these varieties of Middle English often use qu- for standard English wh-, as in quat for what, quere for where); hence quhynge is pronounced whinge. Quhynge comes from Old English hwinsian 鈥渢o complain鈥� and is related to whine, whisper, and whistle, all of which come from a Germanic root hwei– 鈥渢o whistle, whisper.鈥� Whinge entered English in the mid-12th century.
how is whinge used?
When an Ohio second grader joins in to whinge about achy pen-holding fingers, handwriting … becomes as hot a topic as in Erasmus鈥檚 day.
I wrote in my diary: ‘Here I am in Paris with dreams fulfilled and I whinge because my back hurts! But it bloody does.’
whinge
More about verecund
The uncommon adjective verecund, 鈥渂ashful, modest,鈥� comes straight from Latin 惫别谤脓肠耻苍诲耻蝉 鈥渞estrained by or sensitive to scruples or feelings of modesty, shame, or self-respect.鈥� 痴别谤脓肠耻苍诲耻蝉 is a compound of the verb 惫别谤脓谤墨 鈥渢o fear, show reverence for, be in awe of鈥� and the adjective suffix –cundus, which indicates inclination or capacity. 痴别谤脓谤墨 is the root in the very common verb revere (and its derivatives reverent, reverend, and reverence). Verecund entered English in the second half of the 16th century.
how is verecund used?
Our politics is speckled with men who are so diffident and verecund they never say a word about themselves or their achievements.
If there is any perceptible shift between early and later Dickens, then that transition seems to be one where the verecund persona gives way to a performance imbued with Pancksian relish in the double face of wonder and monstrosity.
verecund