Word of the day: rum

The word of the day is rum:

rum²

—adjective Chiefly British.

1. odd, strange, or queer: a rum fellow.
2. problematic; difficult.

"excellent," 1567, from rome "fine" (1567), said to be from Romany rom "male, husband" (see Romany). A very common 16c. cant word, by 1774 it had come to mean "odd, strange, bad, spurious," perhaps because it had been so often used approvingly by rogues in ref. to one another. This was the main sense after c.1800.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rum)

"As he said to his wife over the dining table a few hours later, that half-clean swath of window was one of the rummest things he'd ever seen."

 - Laurie R. King, The Murder of Mary Russell

Word of the day: spall

The word of the day is spall:

—noun

1. a chip or splinter, as of stone or ore.

—verb (used with object)

2. to break into smaller pieces, as ore; split or chip.

—verb (used without object)

3. to break or split off in chips or bits.

"chip of stone," 1440, from M.E. verb spald "to split" (c.1400), from M.L.G. spalden, cognate with O.H.G. spaltan "to split" (see spill).

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spalled)

"The spalled paint around the door was scrubbed to the wood beneath, and the sash window — the constable had to walk over for a closer examination."

 - Laurie R. King, The Murder of Mary Russell

Word of the day: pastern

The word of the day is pastern:

1. the part of the foot of a horse, cow, etc., between the fetlock and the hoof.

2. either of the two bones of this part, the upper or first phalanx (great pastern bone) and the lower or second phalanx (small pastern bone)between which is a joint (pastern joint

1284, "shackle fixed on the foot of ahorse or other beast," from O.Fr.pasturon, dim. of pasture "shackle for ahorse in pasture," from V.L. *pastoria,noun use of fem. of L. pastorius "ofherdsmen," from pastor "shepherd" (seepastor). Metathesis of -r- and followingvowel occurred 1500s. Sense extended(1530) to part of the leg to which thetether was attached.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pastern)

"It turned out that Miss Sato was to some degree familiar with both horses and riding equipment, and amiably set about describing the differences between the traditional Japanese saddle and those of the English and Western schools.  However, when it came to details of the horses themselves, she regretfully shook her head and admitted that she knew nothing about the angle of pasterns."

 - Laurie R. King, Dreaming Spies (2015)

Word of the day: smut

The word of the day is smut:

1. a particle of soot; sooty matter.
2. a black or dirty mark; smudge.
3. indecent language or publications; obscenity.
4. Plant Pathology.
1. a disease of plants, especially cereal grasses, characterized by the conversion of affected parts into black, powdery masses of spores, caused by fungi of the order Ustilaginales.
2. a fungus causing this disease.

1664, "black mark, stain," from verbsmutten "debase, defile" (early 15c.),cognate with M.H.G. smotzen "makedirty," from W.Gmc. *smutt- (cf. M.H.G.smuz "grease, dirt," Ger. Schmutz "dirt,"Ger. schmutzen "to make dirty"). Themeaning "indecent or obscenelanguage" is first attested 1668 (impliedin smutty).

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/smut)

"Between smuts, sticky salt air, and the occasional burning ember from the stacks, the experienced traveller locked away the bulk of her wardrobe."

 - Laurie R. King, Dreaming Spies (2015)

Word of the day: tout

The word of the day is tout:

a person who solicits business, employment, support, or the like, importunately 

1700, thieves' cant, "to act as a lookout, spy on," from M.E. tuten "to peep, peer," probably from a variant of O.E. totian "to stick out, peep, peer," from P.Gmc. *tut- "project" (cf. Du. tuit "sprout, snout," M.Du. tute "nipple, pap," M.L.G. tute "horn, funnel," O.N. tota "teat, toe of a shoe"). The sense developed to "look out for jobs, votes, etc., to try to get them" (1731), then "praise highly" (1920).  (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tout)

"And having just left India, where to be a foreigner is to become a magnet for every beggar, cab-driver, and tout for miles, I had no wish to repeat the rôle."

 - Laurie R. King, Dreaming Spies (2015)