51吃瓜 of the Day
leporine
adjective
of, relating to, or resembling a rabbit or hare.
More about leporine
Leporine, 鈥減ertaining to or resembling a rabbit or hare,鈥� a technical term in zoology, comes straight from the Latin adjective 濒别辫辞谤墨苍耻蝉, a derivative of the noun lepus (inflectional stem lepor-) 鈥渉are.鈥� The etymology of lepus is obscure, but it may be related to Greek dialect 濒茅辫辞谤颈蝉 (Sicily) and 濒别产脓谤铆蝉 (Marseille). Leporine entered English in the mid-17th century.
how is leporine used?
Of course, the Easter Bunny isn鈥檛 our only leporine hero. There is a general fascination with hares, bunnies, and rabbits in children鈥檚 literature and other aspects of popular and folk culture around the world.
His face looked naked, his teeth big and leporine.
leporine
cackleberry
noun
a hen's egg used for food.
More about cackleberry
Cackleberry, 鈥渁n egg, a hen鈥檚 egg,鈥� is a piece of facetious American slang. The word is a compound of the verb cackle 鈥渢o utter a shrill, broken cry such as a hen makes鈥� and the common noun berry 鈥渟mall fruit without a pit,鈥� also used often in compounds such as strawberry or gooseberry.
how is cackleberry used?
“Cackleberries,鈥� said Gately, picking up one of the eggs and examining it as though it were an emerald. 鈥淎 genuine cackleberry.鈥�
Klock had played swell ball all week, scampering around station one like a hare鈥攖he March variety, of course鈥攂ut he wasn’t hitting hard enough to imperil the shell of a cackleberry.
cackleberry
passe-partout
noun
something that passes everywhere or provides a universal means of passage.
More about passe-partout
Passe-partout, 鈥渟omething that provides a universal means of passage; a master key, skeleton key,鈥� comes from the French compound passe-partout, whose literal meaning is 鈥�(it) passes everywhere.鈥� In French the phrase originally meant 鈥渁 person who can go anywhere,鈥� and slightly later 鈥渁 master key.鈥� The French verb passer 鈥渢o pass鈥� comes from Vulgar Latin 辫补蝉蝉腻谤别 鈥渢o walk, step, pass,鈥� from the Latin noun passus 鈥減ace, step.鈥� Partout is a compound of par 鈥渢hrough鈥� and tout 鈥渁ll.鈥� Par comes from the Latin preposition per 鈥渢丑谤辞耻驳丑鈥�; tout comes from Latin 迟艒迟耻蝉 鈥渁ll, the whole of, complete.鈥� Passe-partout entered English in the 17th century.
how is passe-partout used?
Journalists have an invisible passe-partout that allows them to roam the world and ask consequential people impertinent questions.
I conducted my own furtive tour of the French intelligence community and found that de Villiers鈥檚 name was a very effective聽passe-partout,聽even among people who found the subject mildly embarrassing.
passe-partout