Word of the day: omertà

The word of the day is omertà:
< Italian omertà (1865 or earlier), further origin uncertain and disputed.

The Italian word is probably not of Sicilian origin, as shown by its phonology (unstressed e and o do not normally occur in Sicilian dialects). Most scholars interpret it as an alteration of Spanish hombredad manliness (13th cent., now rare; < hombre man (see hombre n.) + -edad-ity suffix) after Italian regional (Sicily) omu man (see homo n.¹). The alternative explanation as a regional variant (compare Italian regional (Naples) umertà) of Italian umiltàhumility n. (with allusion to the Mafia code which enjoins submission of the group to the leader as well as silence on all Mafia concerns) is not well supported by the geographical distribution of the word.
 
1. A Mafia code of honour which demands absolute loyalty to the organization and silence about its activities, esp. refusal to give evidence of criminal activity to the police.
2. In extended use: a code of silence, esp. about clandestine or criminal activity; a refusal to talk openly about something. (OED)


"Bryant continued to flout the omertà... He made a largely ignored speech about phonehacking in 2010. In March, he called upon a nearly deserted Commons chamber to investigate the allegations."

 - Lauren Collins, "Early birds", 25 July 2011 The New Yorker

Words of the day: pants, bumptious, and berk

The words of the day are pants, bumptious, and berk:

pants.  Shortened < pantaloons, plural of pantaloon n.

orig. U.S. 

4. Brit. slang. Rubbish; nonsense. Freq. in pile (also load) of pants .The use of the noun in this sense is often difficult to distinguish from a predicative adjectival use. (OED)

bumptious.  A humorous formation, suggested perhaps by bump n.¹ or bump v.¹, and words in -tious, like fractious. (Not in Craig 1847, nor in any earlier Dict.)

Offensively self-conceited; self-assertive. (colloq. and undignified.) (OED)

berk.  Abbrev. of Berkeley (or Berkshire) Hunt, rhyming slang for [an obscenity].

slang.

A fool. (OED)

"The Times (also Murdoch-owned) published a profile of Bryant titled 'BLAIR’S ATTACK POODLE SAYS PANTS TO THE LOT OF YOU,' which included a blind quote calling Bryant a 'bumptious little berk.'"

 - Lauren Collins, "Early birds", 25 July 2011 The New Yorker


Firstly, I'm not convinced that the use of the word pants here is quite the same as in the dictionary.  Secondly, given berk's etymology, I wonder if it doesn't have a bit more bite and mysogyny to it than merely "fool".

Word of the day: roger

The word of the day is roger:

coarse slang (chiefly Brit.).

 trans. Usually of a man: to have sexual intercourse with (a person, esp. a woman). Also intr. (OED)

"Over the years, the tabloids continued to give Bryant hell: 'VOTERS MUST GIVE CHRIS BRYANT A RHONDDA ROGERING,' read a typical headline in Murdoch’s Sun."

 - Lauren Collins, "Early birds", 25 July 2011 The New Yorker

Word of the day: complected

The word of the day is complected:

apparently < complexion n. (complect-ion) + -ed suffix¹.

U.S. dial. or colloq.

= complexioned adj. (OED)

"'I think David Cameron is in much bigger doo-doo than he's owning up to,' Chris Bryant, the strawberry-complected Labour M.P. for the district of Rhondda, was saying last week, as he sat on a bench under the soaring hammer-beam roof of Westminster Hall."

 - Lauren Collins, "Early birds", 25 July 2011 The New Yorker