51吃瓜 of the Day
hoity-toity
adjective
assuming airs; pretentious; haughty.
More about hoity-toity
The adjective hoity-toity now means 鈥減retentious, haughty鈥�; formerly it meant 鈥渇rivolous, giddy.鈥� The phrase is probably an alteration and reduplication of hoit, an obsolete verb of obscure origin meaning 鈥渢o romp, play the fool.鈥� Hoit may also be the source of or akin to hoyden 鈥渂oisterous, carefree girl, tomboy,鈥� possibly a borrowing from Dutch heiden 鈥渞ustic, uncivilized person.鈥� Hoity-toity entered English in the 17th century.
how is hoity-toity used?
Always crowing about their kid with the straight A’s at that hoity-toity school.
The typeface used for the credits is the kind of hoity-toity cursive writing鈥攊n hot pink, no less鈥攐ne might see on a Tiffany & Co. shower invitation.
cheville
noun
Prosody. a word or expression whose only function is to fill a metrical gap in a verse or to balance a sentence.
More about cheville
Cheville represents the normal northern French phonetic development of Latin 肠濒腻惫墨肠耻濒补 鈥渒ey, tendril, pivot,鈥� a diminutive of 肠濒腻惫颈蝉 鈥渒ey, bar, hook.鈥� In French cheville means 鈥渁nkle, peg, dowel, pin, plug.鈥� It is this latter sense “plug” that gave rise to the English meaning of a filler word or phrase in a sentence or line of verse. 颁濒腻惫颈蝉 derives from the Proto-Indo-European root 办濒脓耻-, 办濒腻耻- 鈥渉ook, peg,鈥� the same source of the very many Greek forms, e.g., 办濒别铆蝉, 办濒脓墨虂蝉, 办濒腻墨虂蝉 (all from assumed 办濒腻飞颈蝉, identical to the Latin noun), Celtic (Old Irish) 肠濒艒 鈥渘ail,鈥� Baltic (Lithuanian) 办濒颈奴虂迟颈 鈥渢o hang, hang on,鈥� and Slavic (Polish) klucz 鈥渒别测.鈥� Cheville entered English in the 19th century.
how is cheville used?
The languages were by this time close enough to each other to make this easy, and when there was any difficulty it scarce required the wit of a Chaucer to supply such a cheville as “An emperesse or crowned queen” … (though it may be observed that “crowned” is a distinct improvement to the sound, if not to the sense of the line) …
But when we discover that … the word “Sparte” has been dragged in at any cost for the rhyme’s sake, we feel that a cheville, like some other concessions to the intractable nature of things, is least offensive when it asks for no admiration.
magisterial
adjective
authoritative; weighty; of importance or consequence; of, relating to, or befitting a master: a magisterial pronouncement by the director of the board.
More about magisterial
Magisterial comes directly from Late Latin 尘补驳颈蝉迟别谤颈腻濒颈蝉 鈥減ertaining to a teacher or magistrate,鈥� a development of Latin 尘补驳颈蝉迟谤腻濒颈蝉, a derivative of Latin magister 鈥渕agistrate, master, teacher.鈥� Magister is formed from the adverb magis 鈥渕ore鈥� and the Proto-Indo-European suffix -ter, used to form natural or opposing pairs, e.g., dexter 鈥渞ight-hand鈥� and sinister 鈥渓别蹿迟-丑补苍诲,鈥� noster 鈥渙ur鈥� and vester 鈥測our,鈥� and magister 鈥渕aster,鈥� literally 鈥渢he bigger guy,鈥� and minister 鈥渟ervant, assistant,鈥� literally 鈥渢he smaller guy鈥� (from the adverb minus 鈥渓别蝉蝉鈥�). Magisterial entered English in the 17th century.
how is magisterial used?
This is an impressive, magisterial book whose steady, earnest gaze also encompasses the lives of pickpockets and poets.
They heard a magisterial speech from A. Lawrence Lowell: “As wave after wave rolls landward from the ocean, breaks and fades away sighing down the shingle of the beach, so the generations of men follow one another, sometimes quietly, sometimes, after a storm, with noisy turbulence.”