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51勛圖 of the Day

51勛圖 of the day

hugger-mugger

[ huhg-er-muhg-er ]

noun

secrecy; reticence.

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More about hugger-mugger

The noun hugger-mugger, disorder or confusion; secrecy; reticence, has the earlier spellings hucker-mucker, hukermoker, hoker moker, hocker-mocker, hugger mucker, and the Scots variants huggrie-muggrie and hudge-mudge. All of these variant forms share reduplication, similar sounds, and nearly identical meanings, but there is no secure origin or origins for them. The word or element mucker leads some scholars to see a connection with Middle English moker worldly possessions, wealth and mokeren, mokren to heap up (money); hoard. Hugger-mugger entered English in the first half of the 16th century.

how is hugger-mugger used?

Usually, Victor enjoyed hidden doors, secret passageways, and the hugger-mugger that was necessarily part of any scheme to destroy civilization.

Dan Koontz and Ed Gorman, City of Night, 2005

Newsom doesnt relish the rote functions of politics. His smile when he poses with voters is a rictus, he ducks fund-raising calls, and he lacks patience for the backroom hugger-mugger required to pass legislation.

Tad Friend, "Gavin Newsom, the Next Head of the California Resistance," The New Yorker, October 29, 2018

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perorate

[ per-uh-reyt ]

verb (used without object)

to speak at length; make a long, usually grandiloquent speech.

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More about perorate

The verb perorate, to speak at length; make a long, grandiloquent speech, comes from Latin 梯梗娶娶櫻喧喝莽, the past participle of 梯梗娶娶櫻娶梗 to plead, harangue, argue a case to the end; deliver the final part of a speech, wind up a case. 捩梗娶娶櫻娶梗 is a compound of the preposition and intensive prefix per, per– through, thoroughly and the simple verb 娶櫻娶梗 to beseech, supplicate; speak before a court, plead. 捩梗娶娶櫻娶梗 and its derivative noun 梯梗娶娶櫻喧勳 (inflectional stem 梯梗娶娶櫻喧勳n– peroration) in Latin imply grandiloquence and forcefulness, but not length, let alone long-windedness, which is a connotation that has always existed in English. Perorate entered English in the early 17th century.

how is perorate used?

And its simply impossible to exit a Zoom lecture gracefully. Believe me, Ive tried. After I painstakingly perorate on Plato, a virtual red-velvet curtain should fall with flourish at the designated moment and cue the applause. Instead, we mumble, thats it, and awkwardly fumble for the mouse before the screen freezes on our half-gaping mouths.

Shahidha Bari, "What We've Lost in a Year of Virtual Teaching," The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 17, 2021

She began to perorate. Her speech went on endlessly, as was always the case when Lily Young took the floor.

Antoine Volodine, Minor Angels, translated by Jordan Stump, 2004

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natant

[ neyt-nt ]

adjective

swimming; floating.

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More about natant

Natant, swimming; floating, began life in English in the mid-15th century as natand, a term in heraldry describing a swimming fish or dolphin. Natand is an Anglo-French derivative of the Latin participle natant– (the inflectional stem of 紳硃喧櫻紳莽), from 紳硃喧櫻娶梗 to swim, float. 捧硃喧櫻娶梗 is a frequentative verb formed from the simple verb 紳櫻娶梗 (a frequentative verb expresses repeated or frequent action). Latin 紳櫻娶梗 comes from the Proto-Indo-European root 莽紳櫻– (with several variants) to swim, float. The root appears in Sanskrit 莽紳櫻ti (he) bathes (himself) and Greek 紳梗簾紳, 紳廎c堯梗勳紳, 紳櫻釵堯梗勳紳 to swim. Irish writer Brian ONolan (1911-66), whose pen name was Flann OBrien, wrote a comic masterpiece entitled At Swim-Two-Birds (1939). This title is a literal English translation of Irish 釦紳獺鳥堯 D獺 an, the name of a ford on the River Shannon. 釦紳獺鳥堯 swim, swimming comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root 莽紳櫻– as the Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin words.

how is natant used?

It is said that theirs is a floating metropolis … The solemn ritual of extreme unction is performed by wet-suited priests on natant, paddle-powered funeral parlors wafting placidly along the Eel.

Michael Martone, The Blue Guide to Indiana, 2001

In the lamp glass coconut oil, because it was of the unrefined type, rested golden-hued on water, a natant disc.

Rohinton Mistry, "Condolence Visit," Tales from Firozsha Baag, 1987

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