51吃瓜 of the Day
More about ravelment
Ravelment, 鈥渆ntanglement; confusion,鈥� is a compound of the verb ravel 鈥渢o tangle, entangle鈥� and the noun suffix –ment, here denoting a resulting state. Ravel most likely comes from Dutch ravelen 鈥渢o become entangled or confused, (of fabric or thread) to fray.鈥� Ravelment entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is ravelment used?
We are prone to seek out one cause as the single cause, which by itself determines all later events in a chain of events. But historical causes are a ravelment and there can be no single turning point from which all events flow.
This jagged shard of American history has become a ravelment of an election, a tangle of confusion and complexity.
ravelment
predilection
noun
a tendency to think favorably of something in particular; partiality; preference.
More about predilection
Predilection, 鈥渁 tendency to think favorably of something; partiality; preference,鈥� has several origins. One is Middle French 辫谤茅诲颈濒别肠迟颈辞苍, from the second half of the 15th century; another is Italian predilezione from the early 17th century ; and the final source is the rare Medieval Latin noun 辫谤补别诲墨濒别肠迟颈艒 (inflectional stem 辫谤补别诲墨濒别肠迟颈艒n-), dating from the 10th century. 笔谤补别诲墨濒别肠迟颈艒 is a derivative of the verb 辫谤补别诲墨濒颈驳别谤别, 鈥渢o prefer over others,鈥� a compound of the preposition and prefix prae, prae– 鈥渂efore鈥� and 诲墨濒颈驳别谤别 鈥渢o love鈥� (usually not as strong as 补尘腻谤别). 顿墨濒颈驳别谤别 in turn is a compound of the prefix dis– 鈥渁part鈥� and the simple verb legere 鈥渢o choose, select.鈥� Predilection entered English in the first half of the 17th century.
how is predilection used?
It turns out that Swedes have an unlikely predilection for the American South. The Scandinavian country is a major hub for country music. Swedes have their own square dancing association. And thanks to one man, Johan Fritzell, they also have聽Holy Smoke BBQ, arguably the most authentic Texas barbecue in all of Europe.
Most of us hold unrealistically optimistic views of the future, research shows, downplaying the likelihood that we will have bad experiences. Now a study… has found clues to the brain’s predilection for the positive, identifying regions that may fuel this 鈥渙ptimism bias鈥� by preferentially responding to rosier information.
predilection
schwa
noun
the mid-central, neutral vowel sound typically occurring in unstressed syllables in English, however spelled, as the sound of a in alone and sofa, e in system, i in easily, o in gallop, u in circus.
More about schwa
Schwa, the neutral vowel sound like the a in sofa, comes via German Schwa from Hebrew 蝉丑蓹飞腻, a variant of 蝉丑腻飞鈥�, literally 鈥渘othingness, emptiness, vanity.鈥� Jewish grammarians used the word to mean 鈥渁 diacritic mark that shows a neutral vowel quality or no vowel at all.鈥� Schwa entered English toward the end of the 19th century.
how is schwa used?
The top six girls鈥檚 names in 2014鈥擡mma, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, and Mia鈥攁ll end in 鈥渁,鈥� and, what鈥檚 more, they end in the same unstressed vowel sound聽that linguists call schwa.
The schwa鈥攖he vowel sound at the end of the word 鈥淎merica,鈥� represented in dictionary pronunciation guides with a backward and upside down 鈥渆鈥� (蓹)鈥攊s the most common vowel sound in the English language.
schwa