51吃瓜 of the Day
ylem
noun
the hypothetical initial substance of the universe from which all matter is derived.
Why we chose ylem
Today's word was submitted by one of our readers as part of our 51吃瓜 of the Day Giveaway Sweepstakes! The winner, Matthew Winter, told us: "It makes me think about how everything is connected. All living and inanimate things originate from the same source; we are all ylem." Congrats, Matthew!
More about ylem
The modern definition of ylem is 鈥渢he hypothetical initial substance of the universe from which all matter is derived, originally conceived as composed of neutrons at high temperature and density.鈥� The spelling of ylem comes from John Gower鈥檚 33,000-line poem Confessio Amantis (A Lover鈥檚 Confession) finished in 1390: 鈥淭hat matere universall / Which hight Ylem in speciall鈥� (“That universal matter which is called Ylem in particular鈥�). Gower鈥檚 ylem is one of several Middle English spellings (also ile, ilem, ylem) from Medieval Latin 丑测虅濒脓尘 or 测虅濒脓尘, the accusative singular of 丑测虅濒脓 or 测虅濒脓, from Greek 丑测虅虂濒脓 鈥渇orest, woodland, wood, firewood鈥�; Aristotle uses the phrase pr峁搕膿 丑测虅虂濒脓 鈥減rimary stuff, matter, material.鈥� In 1948 Robert Herman and Ralph Asher Alpher, associates of Russia-born U.S. nuclear physicist George Gamow, adopted the medieval word because, as Alpher said,鈥� it seems highly desirable that a word of so appropriate a meaning be resurrected.鈥�
how is ylem used?
One can call the mixture of particles ylem ( pronounced eelem ) -the name that Aristotle gave to primordial matter.
The Ylem is the primordial鈥攖he Ur-stuff鈥攐ut of which everything else is made.
ylem
More about iwis
Iwis is an obsolete, archaic adverb meaning 鈥渃ertainly, surely.鈥� The very many Middle English spellings of the adverb include wisse, iwise, jwis(se), gwisse, ewis, awis, iwesse鈥�, all of which come from the Old English adverb gewis 鈥渃ertainly, indeed, truly.鈥� Old English gewis shows its close kinship with German 驳别飞颈脽 (also spelled gewiss) 鈥渃ertainly, surely鈥� (as in Ja, 驳别飞颈脽! 鈥淵es, certainly!鈥� in lesson 3 of German 101). During the 14th century the spellings i-wis, i-wisse (with other variants) began appearing in manuscripts, and in the second half of the 15th century, I wise appears as well, which shows that the writers or scribes no longer knew exactly what iwis meant, but thought it was a subject pronoun followed by the聽 (nonexistent) verb wis 鈥渒now鈥�; thus I wis was misinterpreted to mean 鈥淚 know.鈥� Iwis entered English before 900.
how is iwis used?
There be fools alive, iwis, / Silver’d o’er; and so was this.
For there by magic skill, iwis, / Form of each thing that living is / Was limned in proper dye.
iwis
soi-disant
adjective
French.
calling oneself thus; self-styled.
More about soi-disant
The adjective soi-disant 鈥渃alling oneself, self-styled, would-be鈥� usually has a whiff of pretense or deception. The phrase is French, pure and simple, formed from the third person reflexive pronoun soi 鈥渙neself, him-, her-, itself,鈥� and disant 鈥渟aying,鈥� the present participle of the verb dire 鈥渢o say.鈥� The pronoun soi comes from Latin 蝉脓, the accusative of the third person singular and plural reflexive pronoun; dire comes from Latin 诲墨肠别谤别 鈥渢o say.鈥� Soi-disant entered English in the mid-18th century.
how is soi-disant used?
Franzen is railing against is not mere tech obsession but, rather, the intellectual and spiritual poverty, the weakness and the obedience, of soi-disant 鈥渃reatives鈥� who buy what they鈥檙e told rather than rage against the machine, who are too infatuated with their wonderful little toys even to look up from them while the world burns.
I know of plenty of聽soi disant聽progressives who don’t really think we have a serious problem here, or else who think it’s a problem that can and should be solved almost entirely through the levers of education policy.
soi-disant