Monthly Archives: January 2011

effable, ineffable

Posted on January 31, 2011 by lexiekahn

She:  Are you dumping me? What went wrong? He: I can’t explain. It’s ineffable. She: Are you saying I’m not f—able? That’s right. Ineffable, describing something ‘that cannot be expressed or described in language’ or is ‘too great for words; … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, words | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What’s fun about an ambulance?

Posted on January 25, 2011 by lexiekahn

A funambulist sounds like someone who cruises in a purple paisley ambulance with a disco ball replacing the flashing lights on top. I encountered the word in Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin (2009), a novel of that dances … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, words | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

laundry, lavender

Posted on January 19, 2011 by lexiekahn

Like “lava” and “lavatory,” “laundry” also comes from the Latin lavāre ‘to wash.’ In Middle English “v” and “u” were alternate ways of writing the same letter.   “Lavender” used to mean a ‘washerwoman or laundress,’ so it’s easy to … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, words | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

lava, lavatory, lave

Posted on January 16, 2011 by lexiekahn

Lava® soap, the gritty bar for heavy-duty hand cleaning, is well named. The grit is pumice, a form of volcanic rock or lava. And volcanic “lava” like the “lava-“ in “lavatory” comes from the Latin lavāre ‘to wash.’ Lave, an … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, words | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

impeccable, peccable, peccadillo

Posted on January 8, 2011 by lexiekahn

“Impeccable” seems to be another unattached negative with no positive partner. Nowadays “peccable” is used only facetiously, but it once was, if not common, at least not giggle-worthy. We now hear “impeccable” or “impeccably” in terms of good manners, discerning … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, words | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

deletible, indelible, delible

Posted on January 3, 2011 by lexiekahn

Political rants forwarded by your brother-in-law and ads for male enhancement devices can clutter your e-mailbox. But don’t worry; they’re deletible. Well, “deletible” may not be in the dictionary, but it’s a nonce-word thanks to that productive morpheme –ble. Hold … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, words | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment