51吃瓜 of the Day
minatory
adjective
menacing; threatening.
More about minatory
Despite the similar sound, minatory isn鈥檛 related to the name of the Minotaur, a human-bull hybrid in Greek mythology. Though the Minotaur was certainly a minatory creature, Minotaur is a compound of Minos, a king of Crete, and the Ancient Greek word for 鈥渂ull,鈥� while minatory ultimately derives from a Latin verb meaning “to threaten” and that was used in terms related to driving cattle with threats. This same Latin verb is the ultimate source of menace “a threat” and promenade “a stroll or walk,” both derived ultimately from the 鈥渃attle driving鈥� sense.
how is minatory used?
When I woke up in the sleeping balcony and looked out the small casement window beside the bed at the bare branches nodding outside in the grey morning, tapping on the walls in an indecipherable but all too obviously minatory code, … I found it impossible to imagine how, in a month or so, they鈥檇 be green again, covered in the lushness of leaves and lifted by warmer breezes.
Since her father鈥檚 imprisonment, Minou handles the business, and she is in the shop when a mysterious envelope appears, addressed to her and bearing a terse, minatory message: 鈥淪he knows that you live.鈥�
minatory
zugzwang
noun
in chess, a situation in which a player is limited to moves that cost pieces or have a damaging positional effect.
More about zugzwang
Zugzwang means 鈥渃ompulsion to move鈥� in German, and the first element of the word is cognate to the English word tug 鈥渁 forceful pull.鈥� Zugzwang is one of several terms that we Anglophones have borrowed to describe moves, people, and actions related to chess. Also from German, we鈥檝e adopted patzer, a casual, amateurish chess player. Meanwhile, Italian gives us fianchetto, a move that involves developing the bishop by moving a pawn out of the way, and French gives us en prise, which describes when a piece is likely to be captured. With a game as universally beloved as chess is, it鈥檚 not surprising that terms related to the game have crossed, recrossed, and criss-crossed linguistic divides.
how is zugzwang used?
In chess, there鈥檚 a position called zugzwang, like being forced to hurt yourself. Being put in zugzwang means a player is obliged to move even though moving means losing a piece. If the player didn鈥檛 have to move, the situation wouldn鈥檛 be so dire. It always takes place at the endgame; it鈥檚 a position that seals the truth, which is that losing is inevitable.
As in debates over the budget at the federal level, there is an element of what chess players call zugzwang: since any specific solution over deficit reduction is likely to be fairly unpopular, the first mover or perceived aggressor is often at a disadvantage.
zugzwang
saltigrade
adjective
moving by leaping.
More about saltigrade
Saltigrade means “moving by leaping” and refers to a family of jumping spiders. The first element, salti-, derives from Latin 蝉补濒迟腻谤别 “to jump about; dance,” frequentative of 蝉补濒墨谤别 “to jump.” The second element, –grade, meaning “walking; moving,” derives from Latin 驳谤补诲墨 “to walk, step, go.” Saltigrade first appears in English in the early part of the 19th century.
how is saltigrade used?
It paused momentarily for one final examination of its surroundings. It felt no signals and sensed no activity within its range of perception. It felt secure in moving. It moved its saltigrade legs slowly at first, being very alert to possible detection. [鈥 It was fully aware of each movement of its legs. It had the flexibility to move easily over the jagged landscape, and it could balance its entire body on any leg.
Manic existence is at the mercy of a sequence of jumps over reality, constituting a saltigrade present marked by flitting restlessness.
saltigrade