{"id":245,"date":"2021-05-01T06:56:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T11:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordofweek.com\/?p=245"},"modified":"2021-05-01T07:56:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-01T12:56:10","slug":"word-of-the-week-55-virago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/?p=245","title":{"rendered":"W<\/strong>ORD OF THE <\/strong>W<\/strong>EEK <\/strong>#55 \u2013 virago<\/a><\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cDemocrats, on the other hand, saw Jessie as a Republican <\/em>virago <\/em><\/strong>who planned to foist women\u2019s rights on the nation\u201d<\/em> from \u201cAbe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times\u201d by David Reynolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As promised, you will be seeing quotes from this book for quite some time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since these events occurred over 150 years ago, I feel somewhat safe in using Democrats and Republicans in the same sentence, although it is risky, and I may still offend someone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virago<\/strong> is a noun meaning a loud overbearing woman. Domineering, violent or bad tempered.

Know anyone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is pronounced vir AH go or ver AYE go.

The above sentence refers to Jessie Fremont, wife of the famous explorer and presidential candidate, John Fremont.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although woman suffrage did not become official nationwide until 1920, the movement actually began in earnest in 1848 when the world first women\u2019s rights convention rewrote the Declaration of Independence to assert that \u201call men and women are created equal\u201d.  Frightful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessie became a leader in that movement as she was unafraid to express her political opinions\u2026a rarity in that era.  A Jessie cult arose \u201cGive \u2018em Jessie\u201d, slang for \u201cGive \u2018em hell\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many clearly were not happy with her or this movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen women leave their quiet, happy home, neglect their domestic duties, and participate in public affairs, they become objects of pity, make the judicious grieve, and cause the virtuous to lament in their degradation.\u201d<\/em> A Pittsburgh journalist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about virago<\/strong>, and to hear it pronounced correctly go to the following link:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/virago<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Tech Changes My Life\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently one of my faithful readers put me on to a high-tech coffee mug that has changed my life.  I, like many of you, enjoy my morning cup of Joe.  This clever mug sits on a little charger platform.  When you are ready, you just lift it off the platform, and it keeps your coffee at your designated temperature for as long as you desire.  I bought the 14 oz black. It works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ember.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A previous \u201cWord of the Week\u201d revisited:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/nadir<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words submitted but rejected<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My faithful readers will, at times, submit words for the fabulous Word of the Week\u201d.   Although rejected, they can be quite clever, so I will give them a bit of credit. Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

fetchplex (fech’ pleks) – n. State of momentary confusion in a dog whose owner has faked throwing the ball and palmed it behind his back. From the dictionary of non-words that should be words. Sniglets. https:\/\/www.bertc.com\/subfour\/truth\/sniglets.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

doppelg\u00e4nger:\u00a0 Your double, a ghostly counterpart, someone that looks like you. That is a real word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

pooter:  You will have to look that one up for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quote of the Week:

<\/strong>\u201cOh, I\u2019m doing fine, just trying to stay relevant.  You<\/em>?
Retirement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safety First….<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Until next Saturday,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gramps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifty-five weeks of great words<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2-   assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – <\/a>optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent – habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –  ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 – truncate – <\/a>to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – <\/a>coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine.”
11 – b\u00e9chamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free b\u00e9chamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic – foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was, quite simply, foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge.  In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president\u2019s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. \u201cI have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.\u201d
30 \u2013 puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. \u201cHis puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews\u201d.
31 \u2013 regnant – having the greatest influence – \u201cThe regnant belief\u201d.
32 \u2013 roil \u2013 to be agitated or chaotic \u2013 \u201cthe politics of slavery was roiling the United States.”
33 \u2013 sonder – (perhaps a non-word, but a good word.) The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 \u2013 inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. \u201cThey will try to inculcate you with a respect for their political party.\u201d
35 \u2013 mendacity \u2013 untruthfulness, lying. \u201cHe blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.\u201d
36 \u2013 pejorative \u2013 Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   \u201cPermissiveness is often used as a pejorative term.”
37 \u2013 dystopian \u2013 A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. \u201cThe dystopian future of a society bereft of reason\u201d.
38 \u2013 Occam\u2019s razor \u2013 The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 \u2013 execrate or execrable \u2013 very bad \u2013 \u201cThe execrable hotel food.\u201d
40 \u2013 immutable \u2013 unchangeable \u2013 Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 \u2013 prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. \u201cShe\u2019d been the subject of much prurient curiosity\u201d.
42 \u2013 obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  \u201cWaiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.\u201d
43 \u2013 iconoclast –  a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions \u201cHe was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.\u201d
44 \u2013 oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line \u2013 slanting. \u201cWe sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace. Or something not done in a direct way such as \u201cHe issued an oblique attack on his opponent\u201d.
45 \u2013 profligate \u2013 wasteful \u2013 wildly extravagant.  \u201cHe has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.\u201d
46 – raconteur \u2013 a good teller of stories.  \u201cWe always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur\u201d.
47 \u2013 taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech\u2026saying little.  It usually connotes unsociability. \u201cNothing bothered the taciturn Hogan more that excessive praise.\u201d
48 \u2013 fungible – capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable.  Also non-fungible tokens (NFTs) \u201cThe court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded as fungible.\u201d
49 \u2013 filibuster – The use of tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly. This currently requires a 60 vote Senate majority. \u201cThey stopped the bill from coming to a vote by the use of a filibuster\u201d.
50 \u2013 hegemony – preponderant influence or authority over others: Domination. \u201cThey battled for hegemony in Asia.\u201d
51 \u2013 de facto – being such in effect though not formally recognized or contrary to established law \u201ca de facto state of war\u201d for a war that has not been officially declared.
52 \u2013 blockchain \u2013 an open, distributed leger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.
53 – b\u00eate noire – A person or thing one particularly dislikes or is strongly detested. \u201cThe abuse of women was a b\u00eate noire for Lincoln.\u201d
54 \u2013 evince -\u201cto constitute outward evidence of\u2026.to display clearly: reveal. \u201cDid he evince a depraved mind?\u201d
55 – virago – a loud overbearing woman. Domineering, violent or bad tempered. “They saw Jessie as a Republican virago.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDemocrats, on the other hand, saw Jessie as a Republican virago who planned to foist women\u2019s rights on the nation\u201d from \u201cAbe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times\u201d by David Reynolds. As promised, you will be seeing quotes from this book for quite some time.  Since these events occurred over 150 years ago, I feel somewhat … Continue reading W<\/strong>ORD OF THE <\/strong>W<\/strong>EEK <\/strong>#55 \u2013 virago<\/a><\/strong><\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=245"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}