7/1/10

New Word Day

Reading is awesome for so many different reasons.  One of my favorite reasons is that imagination grows and I get to spend some time in la la land.  It beats sitting in front of the tube for me.  However, reading is also great because your vocabulary expands.

Usually when I pick up a book and I come across a word I don't know my lazy self kicks in and just tries to make sense of the sentence after I see the whole thing.  A lot of times it ends up making sense.  Sometimes I scratch my head to figure it out and then just move on once I have a decent picture of the message.  But other times...I see that same word in a different book!  The twilight zone theme song then plays in my head and darn it...I actually go look that word up!

So my friends, let's learn this word together, shall we?

Aplomb

(Oh, I know some of you are smarty pants and probably laugh and point at me for how easy this silly two syllable word is to understand, but some of us are in need of constant edu-ma-cating:o)

The definition I retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/ is:

 a-plomb  [uh-plom, uh-pluhm]

–noun

1. imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance.

2. the perpendicular, or vertical, position.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Origin:

1820–30; < F à plomb according to the plummet, i.e., straight up and down, vertical position

—Synonyms

1. composure, equanimity, imperturbability.


—Antonyms

1. confusion, discomposure; doubt, uncertainty.

aplomb in a sentence:

His nonchalance and aplomb during hard times have always been his best character trait.
 
There you have it.  I dare you to use the new word today.  You can use it in conversation, on your social media page, or maybe even your blog!  Think you can pull it off?  I for one am full of aplomb in your excellent communication abilities!

4 comments:

  1. Interesting. Learn something new everyday.

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  2. I had heard it; but had no clue what it meant!
    Thanks for the edu-ma-cating!

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  3. I LOVE new words. And I love the way certain words sound. I like to take the 'vertical' straight definition of aplomb to help me remember its meaning, i.e. being able to stand straight and tall no matter what happens (kinda) - which helps me remember it. That probably made no sense to anyone but me. :-)

    And re. your comment on Cranberry Morning, do not give up on growing things. Eventually you'll find something that will work, and growing things is SO therapeutic. If all else fails, you can deliberately decide to grow weeds, and then think how successful you will be! :-)

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