51吃瓜 of the Day
macadamize
verb (used with object)
to pave by laying and compacting successive layers of broken stone, often with asphalt or hot tar.
More about macadamize
Macadamize 鈥渢o pave by compacting successive layers of broken stone鈥� is a verb based on the noun macadam, the word for a road paved in this way. Macadam is the namesake of John Loudon McAdam, the inventor of this technique, and the surname McAdam 鈥渟on of Adam鈥� is a compound of the Scottish patronymic element Mc- (also Mac-) and the Hebrew-origin name Adam. Mc- is anglicized from Scottish Gaelic mac 鈥渟on,鈥� while Adam comes from Hebrew 腻诲丑腻尘 鈥渕an,鈥� which may be related to any or all of the Hebrew words 腻诲丑辞尘 鈥渞别诲,鈥� 补诲丑腻尘腻丑 鈥渆arth,鈥� or dam 鈥渂lood鈥�; for a similar pattern, compare Latin 丑奴尘腻苍耻蝉 鈥渉uman鈥� and humus 鈥渆补谤迟丑.鈥� Macadamize was first recorded in English circa 1820.
how is macadamize used?
I noticed little matters, as usual. The road was filled in between the rails with cracked stones, such as are used for macadamizing streets. They keep the dust down, I suppose, for I could not think of any other use for them.
Broadway Alley is …. 265 feet long, 13 feet wide and one of the last unpaved streets on the macadamized island of Manhattan. As such, it is one of those forgotten parts of the city with a power to recall to New Yorkers that sometimes it really is the Earth beneath their feet.
vajra
noun
the thunderbolt of Indra, the Hindu god of rain and thunder.
More about vajra
Vajra 鈥渢he thunderbolt of Indra鈥� is a borrowing from Sanskrit 惫谩箩谤补- 鈥渢hunderbolt.鈥� The literal sense of 惫谩箩谤补 is anything hard or indestructible, which is why the term also means 鈥渄iamond.鈥� 痴谩箩谤补 comes from a root roughly meaning 鈥渟trong, lively鈥� that also appears in the Latin-origin terms vegetation, vigilant, and vigor. Because Sanskrit v often corresponds to w in English, this same root is visible in English waft, wait, wake, watch, and perhaps even wicked and witch. Vajra was first recorded in English in the 1780s.
how is vajra used?
Lotus is a beautiful flower that grows out of the muck. For us, the lotus translates into the human soul and then there鈥檚 the vajra, which means a thunderbolt, which in tantra is described as latent potential within every soul to attain emancipation.
Indra is a mighty giant, tawny of hair and beard and tawny of aspect …. He rides in a golden chariot drawn by two tawny horses, or many horses, even as many as eleven hundred, and he bears as his chief weapon the vajra, or thunderbolt, sometimes also a bow with arrows, a hook, or a net.
diphthongize
verb (used with object)
to change into or pronounce as one unsegmentable, gliding speech sound, as the oi sound of toy and boil.
More about diphthongize
Diphthongize 鈥渢o change into one gliding speech sound鈥� is a verb based on diphthong, a sound that comprises two vowels merged into one. A sound containing one vowel is a monophthong, containing two is a diphthong, and containing three is a triphthong. Diphthong is equivalent to Ancient Greek di- 鈥渢wo鈥� and 辫丑迟丑贸苍驳辞蝉 鈥渧oice, sound.鈥� The prefix di-, from 诲铆蝉 鈥渢wice, double,鈥� is a distant relative of English two as well as Latin duo 鈥渢wo鈥� and bis (earlier duis) 鈥渢wice,鈥� as in dual and bi-, respectively. 笔丑迟丑贸苍驳辞蝉 may come from a long-lost language that was spoken in Greece long before the Greek language swept in; the consonant cluster phth- is rare (yet not impossible) according to the sound laws of the Indo-European language family. Diphthongize was first recorded in English in the late 1860s.
how is diphthongize used?
Southern speech also has a tendency to 鈥�diphthongize鈥� sounds .鈥� Southern speech has tons of diphthongs, even some triphthongs (that鈥檚 a three-part vowel), way more than other dialects in North America, which is part of the reason why Southerners have a reputation for 鈥渄rawling鈥� or speaking slowly. It鈥檚 not actually slower, Southern vowels just have more stuff crammed into them.