nabob
[NAY-bahb]
1. a provincial governor of the Mogul empire
in India
2. a person of great wealth or prominence
Example sentence:
It's the haunt of international luminaries . .
. television pundits, industrial nabobs, visiting
royals, best-selling novelists, and anybody who
is anybody. (Jay Jacobs, "Gourmet",
January 1983)
History:
In India's Mogul Empire, founded by the Moslem
prince Babur in the 16th century, provincial governors
carried the title of "nawab" in the
Urdu language. In 1612, Captain Robert Coverte
(apparently unaware of earlier travel accounts)
published a report of his "discovery"
of "the Great Mogoll, a prince not till
now knowne to our English nation." The
Captain informed the English-speaking world that
"An earle is called a Nawbob," thereby
introducing the English version of the word to
the written page. "Nabob,"
as it thereafter came to be spelled, gained its
extended sense of "a prominent person"
in the late 18th century, when it was applied
sarcastically to British officials of the East
India Company who returned home after amassing
great wealth trading in Asia.
nadir
[NAY-dir; nay-DIR]
1. (Astronomy) The point of the
celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith
and directly below the observer.
2. The lowest point; the time of greatest
depression or adversity.
Examples:
1) Exploitation reached a nadir
in the 1920s, when high government officials were
implicated in a flourishing international slave
trade and domestic forced labor. (Bill Berkeley,
"The Graves Are Not Yet Full")
2) At the nadir of every recession,
business pages fill up with stories of belt-tightening
families who move to Vermont and buy their food
in bulk. (Peter T. Kilborn, "Splurge,"
New York Times, June 21, 1998)
Etymology:
"Nadir" is derived from
Arabic "nazir" ("opposite").
naif
[nah-EEF; ny-]
1. (adjective) Naive.
2. (noun) A naive or inexperienced
person.
Examples:
1) It is only very naif critics
who think that all one's influences must be contemporary.
(John Fowles, "Wormholes")
2) Their money-grubbing game: they
feign a tragic past and prey on the sympathies
of unsuspecting naifs, fishing for bank account
numbers or photocopies of passports. (Nathalie
Atkinson, "Con heir," Toronto Life,
September 1, 2003)
3) Believing nothing, the skeptic
is blind; believing everything, the naif is lame.
("We Are All Wayfarers On the Waves of Time,"
Hinduism Today, November 30, 1998)
4) But underneath their differences,
they're variations on a theme: one a naif, one
worldly-wise who learns from the naif. (Eleanor
Ringel Gillespie, "Torched Songs," Palm
Beach Post, September 15, 2000)
Etymology:
"Naif" comes from French,
from Old French "naif" ("naive,
natural, just born"), from Latin "nativus"
("native, rustic," literally "born,
inborn, natural"), from Latin "nativus"
("inborn, produced by birth"), from
"natus", past participle of "nasci"
("to be born").
nail
To find or catch someone doing something wrong.
Examples:
1) Jimmy's father nailed him smoking
cigarettes. 2) After three years
of counterfeiting treasury bonds, the FBI nailed
the crime ring.
Etymology, related expression:
A "nail" is a small piece
of metal that holds two pieces of wood together.
When you get nailed, you and the
thing you did wrong are attached together, for
everyone to see.
namby-pamby
(Adjective)
1. Excessively sentimental; affectedly
pretty.
2. Weak in willpower; lacking moral or
emotional strength.
(Noun) 3. An insipid weakling who
is foolishly sentimental.
Examples:
1) This story is too namby-pamby
2) He is too namby-pamby when it
comes to making up his mind.
3) He's a real namby-pamby guy.
4) Do you like these namby-pamby
madrigals of love?
History:
The word was coined to describe the poetry of
Ambrose Philips (died 1749) who wrote yuckilly,
sentimental pastoral poems that were ridiculed
by fellow poets Henry Carey and Alexander
Pope. The first OED citation for the
word is by Carey from his 1726 poem "Namby
Pamby" - "So the Nurses get by
Heart Namby Pamby's Little Rhimes." Note
that this poem was such a successful demolition
of Philips that Carey himself became
known as Namby Pamby Carey and Philips
became known as Namby Pamby.
name is mud
1. The name is bad, the name is not respected.
2. The person is in trouble, possibly doomed
and worthless.
Examples:
1) If you don't pay for the support
of your child, your name is mud.
2) Everyone knows that it was Joseph
who started the fight during the game. Now that
we're disqualified, his name is mud.
History:
In the 1700s "mud" was a slang
word for "fool" or "stupid person"
in England. Starting in the early 1800s, the saying
"His name is mud" was
used in the British Parliament to point
out any member of Parliament who had disgraced
himself.
nanopublishing
- nano-publishing
- nanopublisher
- Nano-
- Nano
- thin
media
- thin
- media
An online publishing model that uses a scaled-down,
inexpensive operation to reach a targeted audience,
especially by using blogging techniques.
Also: nano-publishing
nanopublisher - n.
Examples:
1) Unlike Kelly's site, Gizmodo
(gizmodo.com) is built for speed and the quick
hit, and it wants to be far more au courant than
"Cool Tools". It was launched by New
York-based Brit Nick Denton - who also started
the ultra-hip blog site Gawker.com, a mix of New
York party gossip and news. Denton's approach
to online publishing is part of trend that's been
dubbed "nanopublishing". (Stephen
Williams, "Two Grand Blogs For Geeks, Gadget
Freaks", Newsday (New York, NY), February
17, 2004)
2) One reason why hard-bitten Web
publishing veterans are so interested in emerging
nanopublishing models is that, after being hyped
for so long, community is finally coming true.
The fact that bloggers can easily link to material
they find interesting not only keeps them ranked
high on Google, it also means that communities
of shared interest emerge quickly online, as PaidContent
and Gawker have demonstrated. (Nic Howell,
"Blogging: Think thin", New Media Age,
July 24, 2003)
3) It was launched by New York-based
Brit Nick Denton - who also started the ultra-hip
blog site Gawker.com, a mix of New York party
gossip and news. Denton's approach to online publishing
is part of a trend that's been dubbed "nanopublishing."
("Newsday", 16 Feb. 2004)
4) In a final piece of nanopublishing
news, the pair behind Guardian blog award-winning
The Big Smoker have relaunched as the London outpost
of the blog network Gothamist. (The "Guardian",
18 Nov. 2004)
History, synonym:
"Nano-" (one billionth)
is the prefix-du-jour for describing in a figurative
sense of something extremely small-scale, having
in the past couple of years replaced "micro-"
(which had replaced "mini-" a
while back). A less trendy - but probably more
accurate - name for nanopublishing is
"thin media" (2003).
The word is a development of the blogging revolution.
Some bloggers have realised that the format allows
them to reach large numbers of people very quickly
and cheaply and that - through a mixture of sponsorship,
donations and targeted links to online marketing
sites such as Amazon - it is possible to make
money. The essence of the approach is to provide
a targeted audience with informed news and comment
on some specialist subject, whether it's political
gossip or the latest in electronic gadgets (or
even the English language).
narc
- nark
- narcotics
agent
- narcotics
- agent
1. A police informer; anyone who provides
information to the authorities about their friends
or associates.
Example:
Nobody likes a narc.
2. To inform or spy (for the police).
Etymology:
This sense of 'narc' is derived
from the Romany word 'nak' which means
'nose' - maybe from the idea that you shouldn't
put your nose where it doesn't belong.
3. A police officer who specializes in
drug crimes; an undercover agent who investigates
the drug world.
Example:
The dealer got busted after he sold drugs to a
narc.
Synonyms:
nark, narcotics agent
Etymology:
'Narc' is short for 'narcotics
agent' - a police officer who deals with narcotics
(drugs).
4. To cause annoyance in; disturb, esp.
by minor irritations.
Examples:
1) Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear
really bothers me.
2) It irritates me that she never
closes the door after she leaves.
Synonyms:
annoy, rag, get to, bother, get at , irritate,
rile, nettle, gravel, vex, chafe, devil.
5. (Australian usage) A bothersome
person, annoying person; whinger, wowser, spoilsport.
6. (Australian usage) To thwart;
upset someone's plans.
narrative medicine
Medicine that uses the story of a patient's illness
combined with traditional medical practices as
a way of understanding, diagnosing, and treating
the illness.
Examples:
1) Narrative medicine imports terms
from literature to describe the doctor-patient
relationship. In describing his backache, Charon
said, the Dominican man was actually telling
an "illness narrative", which can be
interpreted just like a literary text: by examining
the presentation of character, the structure of
the tale and the plot of the disease. Regardless
of the outcome - the diagnosis or treatment -
what is central is the telling and receiving of
the tale. (Melanie Thernstrom, "The Writing
Cure", The New York Times, April 18, 2004)
2) The 45-year-old woman writhing in
pain from an abdominal illness groans and snaps
irritably at the medical student who is examining
her. Her grimaces and grumbling are not articulate,
but to a careful listener like Stephen Lee-Kong,
a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University,
they are part of a narrative that will explain
what's wrong with her. Teaching students how to
"read" patients and listen as their
stories unfold are goals of an innovative program
here in what has become known as "narrative
medicine". (Katherine S. Mangan, "Behind
Every Symptom, a Story", The Chronicle of
Higher Education, February 13, 2004)
3) Both Drs. Brody and Kleinman
seem to agree that the remedy for our chronic
inattention to the patient is a new emphasis in
both teaching and practice in ''medical humanities.''
To those who believe that medical humanities are
to the humanities as military music is to music,
Dr. Brody's eloquent book presents a formidable
challenge. He fully displays the virtues of his
new discipline as he shows us how literary criticism
and social sciences can be applied to the tales
of illness that doctors and patients tell one
other. (Gerald Weissmann, "Narrative medicine",
The New York Times, July 17, 1988)
nascent
[NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt]
Beginning to exist or having recently come
into existence; coming into being.
Examples:
1) But there are other nascent technologies
that are widely predicted to play a major part
in moving the world from a dependence on oil,
nuclear energy and coal. ("Out of thin
air," The Guardian, October 31, 2001)
2) By the time that John D. Rockefeller
was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities
of a small town. It had some nascent industries...
plus a schoolhouse and a church. (Ron Chernow,
"Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.")
3) This surprising success prompted
several other companies to enter this nascent
market. (Ted Gioia, "The History of Jazz")
Etymology, related words:
"Nascent" comes from Latin
"nascens" ("being born"),
present participle of "nasci"
("to be born"). It is a relative newcomer
to the collection of English words that derive
from that Latin verb. In fact, when the word "nascent"
was itself a newborn, in the first quarter of
the 17th century, other "nasci"
offspring were already respectably mature. "Nation,"
"native," and "nature"
had been around since the 1300s; "innate"
and "natal," since the 1400s.
More recently, some French descendants of "nasci"
were picked up: "nee" in the
1700s and "Renaissance" in the
1800s. The newest "nasci" word
may well be "perinatology," which
was first used in the late 1960s to name the specialized
branch of medicine concerned with childbirth.
nave
1. The center of a church; place of seating
in a church, the central area of a church.
2. The block in the center of a wheel,
from which the spokes radiate, and through which
the axle passes.
Synonyms: hub, hob. 3. (obs.)
A navel. Etymology:
1673, from Sp. or It. "nave",
from M.L. "navem" (nom. "navis")
- "nave of a church," from L. "navis"
- "ship", on some fancied resemblance
in shape.
There's no doubt that the word for the part of
a Christian church intended for the use of the
laity comes from the Latin "navis"
for a ship (as does "naval",
for example). Why this should be so isn't obvious,
especially as the word isn't known in English
until the naturalist John Ray included
it in his book "Observations Made in a
Journey through Part of the Low-countries"
in 1673. So it's definitely much too recent to
have been the term for a primitive church. It's
sometimes said that it's an allusion to the Christian
church being like a ship exposed to the buffeting
of the waves of the sea. It's much more likely
that the shape of the building suggested the simile,
because it's usually long and thin and often has
a pitched roof that fancifully looks a bit like
an upturned boat's keel.
A word with similar seafaring links is known in
several European languages, including Danish,
French and German (in this last, it's "Schiff",
literally "a ship"), and in these languages
is older than in English; the Latin word "navis",
its source, may have been influenced by the Classical
Greek word for a temple that was similar to its
word for a ship. Before "nave"
came into English, "navis" was
sometimes employed instead (for example, it's
in a book by Sir Christopher Wren, dated
1669: "The Ailes, from whence arise Bows
or Flying Buttresses to the Walls of the Navis").
There's an ancient metaphor that links the Church
with a ship and specifically Noah's Ark. A clerical
polemic of 1844 says of the word "government"
(from a Greek term that means "steersman"):
"A metaphor from mariners or pilots, that
steer and govern the ship: translated thence,
to signify the power and authority of church governors,
spiritual pilots, steering the ship or ark of
Christ's Church."
ne
(SMS) any
ne plus ultra
- ne
- plus
- ultra
- height
- zenith
- ultimate
- crown
- pinnacle
- peak
- summit
- crest
- high-water
mark
- high-water
- mark
[nee-plus-UL-truh; nay-]
1. The highest point, as of excellence
or achievement; the acme; the pinnacle; the ultimate.
2. The most profound degree of a quality
or condition.
Examples:
1) He also penned a number of supposedly
moral and improving books which... were the very
ne plus ultra of tedium. (Richard West, "A
life fuller than fiction," Irish Times, August
9, 1997)
2) If you were a graduate student in
the 80's and subject to the general delusion that
held literary criticism to be the ne plus ultra
of intellectual thrill, then you too probably
owned one of these: an oversize paperback with
an austere cover and small-type title that, grouped
with three or more of its kind on your bookshelf,
confirmed your status as an avatar of predoctoral
chic. (Judith Shulevitz, "Correction Appended,"
New York Times, October 29, 1995)
Etymology, synonyms:
It's the height, the zenith, the ultimate,
the crown, the pinnacle.
It's the peak, the summit,
the crest, the high-water
mark. All these expressions, of course,
mean "the highest point attainable."
But "ne plus ultra" may
top them all when it comes to expressing in a
sophisticated way that something is the pink of
perfection. It is said that the term's predecessor,
"non plus ultra," was inscribed
on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait
of Gibraltar, which marked the western end
of the classical world. The phrase served as a
warning: "(Let there) not (be) more (sailing)
beyond." The New Latin version "ne
plus ultra," meaning "(go) no
more beyond," found its way into English
in the 1630s.
nebbish
[NEB-ish]
A timid, meek, or ineffectual person.
Example:
Larry's character in the play was a nervous, awkward
nebbish of a man, utterly devoid of chutzpah.
Etymology, more examples:
"From what I read . . . it looks like
Pa isn't anything like the nebbish Ma is always
making him out to be . . . ." Sounds
like poor Pa got a bum rap, at least according
to a 1951 book review that appeared in "The
New York Times". The unfortunate Pa unwittingly
demonstrates much about the etymology of "nebbish,"
which derives from the Yiddish "nebekh,"
meaning "poor" or "unfortunate."
Used interjectionally in Yiddish - "poor
thing!" - the word was borrowed from Czech
"nebohy." The not-so-ineffectual-after-all
Pa also contributed something else - the 1951
reference is the first known written instance
of the word "nebbish"
with its modern English sense.
nebulous
1. of, relating to, or resembling a nebula
Synonym: nebular
2. indistinct, hazy
Synonym: vague
Example:
Tia's nebulous description of the novel led her
teacher to suspect that she hadn't read past the
book jacket.
Etymology, more examples:
"Nebulous" comes from
the Latin word "nebulosus", meaning
"misty", which in turn comes from "nebula",
meaning "mist", "fog", or
"cloud". In the 18th century, English
speakers borrowed "nebula"
and gave it a somewhat more specific meaning than
the Latin version. In English "nebula"
refers to a cloud of gas or dust in deep space,
or in less technical contexts, refers simply to
a galaxy. "Nebulous" itself,
when it doesn't have interstellar implications,
usually means "cloudy" or "foggy"
in a figurative sense. One's memory of a long-past
event, for example, will often be nebulous.
A teenager might give a nebulous recounting of
his evening upon coming home. Or a politician
might make a campaign promise but give only a
nebulous description of how he would fulfill it.
necessity is the mother
of invention
- necessity
- mother
- invention
Inventiveness or creativity is stimulated
by need or difficulty.
Example:
1) "Rosie, you should see Ted's
new bed. It's up on a platform," said Raymond.
"And he even built a desk and book shelves
underneath."
"What a good idea," replied Rosie. "The
last time I saw Ted he was complaining about how
small his room is. I guess necessity really is
the mother of invention."
2) He created shoes with stilts
so he could reach the ceiling. Necessity is the
mother of
invention.
Etymology:
People often come up with new ideas, new ways
of doing things, or new things because they need
to solve a problem.
A phrase similar to this was used by people in
ancient Greece, and today it is a proverb in Italian,
French, German, and some other languages. The
first use of it in English was in a British play
in 1672. It's very popular all over the world,
probably because it states a universal truth.
If you urgently need something that you don't
have, you will discover or invent it by using
your imagination and skill. In this expression,
"mother" means the creative source
that gives birth to the invention.
need smth. like a hole
in the head
- need smth.
- like a hole in the head
- need
- hole in the head
- hole
- head
To have no need for something at all.
Example:
Conchita needed a battery-operated, revolving-head
spaghetti fork like she needed a hole
in the head.
History:
This bit of American slang comes from the 1940s.
It is similar to older sayings that used the idea
of not needing something that is totally
unnecessary or harmful, such as "I need
this like I need a disease/a cough/a toad"
and so on. The words "hole in the
head" come from a Yiddish expression,
"loch in kop".
needle in a haystack
- needle
in a hay-stack
- needle
- haystack
- hay-stack
- hay
- stack
Something that is very hard to find, or
is unlikely to be found; anything hopeless (in
a search).
Examples:
1) Getting a good, cheap meal in
New York is like finding a needle in a haystack.
2) The movie theater was so crowded
that getting a seat was like finding a needle
in a haystack.
3) Looking for your contact lens
in this shaggy rug will be like looking for a
needle in a
haystack.
History:
Finding anything in a haystack is hard.
A 'needle' is a very small tool used to
sew cloth, and if a needle were sitting in a stack
of 'hay' (cut grass), it would be almost
impossible to find.
Since the early 1500s there have been similar
expressions to describe things difficult to find:
"like finding a needle in a meadow of
hay" and "like finding a pin's
head in a cartload of hay." In the mid-1800s
the expression became "needle in a
haystack."
Sayings like these are popular in other languages,
too.
nefarious
[nih-FAIR-ee-us]
Flagrantly wicked; wicked in the extreme; iniquitous;
impious.
Synonym: evil
Examples:
1) The sheriff vowed to avenge the
nefarious deeds of the bandits who robbed the
bank and kidnapped his daughter.
2) Despite involvement in protection,
narcotics, strong-arm debt collecting, strikebreaking,
and blackmail, among other nefarious activities,
all of them professed to be a cut above mobsters
in other lands. (Robert Whiting, "Tokyo
Underworld")
3) The liar, however, can become
a truly subversive and scandalous figure, whose
nefarious influence may extend far more widely
than her own individual actions. (John Forrester,
"Truth Games")
Etymology, more synonyms:
"Nefarious" is from Latin
"nefarius", from "nefas"
("that which is contrary to divine command;
a crime, transgression, sin"), from "ne-"
("not") + "fas" ("divine
command or law").
"Vicious" and "villainous"
are two wicked synonyms of "nefarious,"
and, like "nefarious,"
both mean "highly reprehensible or offensive
in character, nature, or conduct." But these
synonyms are not used in exactly the same way
in all situations. "Vicious"
may imply moral depravity or it may connote malignancy,
cruelty, or destructive violence. "Villainous"
applies to any evil, depraved, or vile conduct
or characteristic, while "nefarious"
suggests flagrant breaching of time-honored laws
and traditions of conduct. While "nefarious"
first appeared in English in the early 17th century,
"vicious" and "villainous"
preceded "nefarious" by
about two hundred years.
negative revenue growth
- negative
- revenue
growth
- negative
growth
- revenue
- growth
Financial losses of a company.
Example:
Some executives think it doesn't sound as bad
to say "negative revenue growth".
nemesis
[NEM-uh-siss]
1. One that inflicts retribution or
vengeance.
2. A formidable and usually victorious
rival or opponent.
3. An act or effect of retribution.
4. A source of harm or ruin; curse.
Example:
The team will be facing their longtime nemesis
in the very first round of the playoffs.
History:
Nemesis was the Greek goddess of
vengeance, a deity who doled out rewards for noble
acts and punishment for evil ones. The Greeks
believed that Nemesis didn't always
punish an offender immediately but might wait
generations to avenge a crime. In English, "nemesis"
originally referred to someone who brought a just
retribution, but nowadays people are more likely
to see animosity than justice in the actions of
a nemesis.
neologism
- neologist
- Neologistic
- Neologistical
- Neology
- neologize
- neologization
[nee-OL-uh-jiz-um]
1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression.
3. The use or creation of new words or
expressions.
4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless
word used by a person with a psychiatric disorder.
5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation
of a scripture.
Examples:
1) The word "civilization"
was just coming into use in the 18th century,
in French and in English, and conservative men
of letters preferred to avoid it as a newfangled
neologism. (Larry Wolff, "'If I Were Younger
I Would Make Myself Russian': Voltaire's Encounter
With the Czars", New York Times, November
13, 1994)
2) If the work is really a holding
operation, this will show in a closed or flat
quality in the prose and in the scheme of the
thing, a logiclessness, if you will pardon the
neologism, in the writing. (Harold Brodkey,
"Reading, the Most Dangerous Game",
New York Times, November 24, 1985)
3) The word popularizing was a relative
neologism (the Review boasted five years later,
"Why should we be afraid of introducing new
words into the language which it is our mission
to spread over a new world?"). (Edward
L. Widmer, "Young America")
Etymology, relative words:
The French word "neologisme",
from which the English is borrowed, is made up
of the elements "neo-" ("new")
+ "log-" ("word") +
"-isme" ("-ism") (all
of which are derived from Greek). A neologist
is one who introduces new words or new senses
of old words into a language. Neologistic,
or neologistical, describes that
which pertains to neology, "the
introduction of a new word, or of words or significations,
into a language". "To neologize"
is to coin or use neologisms, and
neologization is the act or process
of doing so.
neophilia
[nee-uh-FILL-ee-uh]
love of or enthusiasm for what is new or novel
Example:
The home entertainment industry indulges the neophilia
of its customers with a steady line of new products,
each with more flashy automated features than
the one before.
History, antonym:
The early form of "neophilia,"
"neophily," was first
found in print in 1932, appropriately enough,
describing an interest in new terminology. It
wasn't until about 1947, however, that it began
appearing in its present form, as a combination
of the Greek-derived combining forms "neo-,"
meaning "new," and "- philia,"
meaning "liking for." The opposite of
"neophilia" is "neophobia,"
meaning "a dread of or aversion to novelty."
It has been around even longer than "neophilia,"
having first appeared in 1886.
neophyte
- novice
- beginner
- rookie
- tyro
[NEE-uh-fyt]
1. A new convert or proselyte.
2. A novice; a beginner in anything.
Synonyms: novice, beginner, rookie, tyro.
Examples:
1) I was a complete neophyte and
knew nothing about the choreographic process,
but seeing the steps pour out of this man was
a revelation. (Edward Villella, "Remembering
Balanchine as the Boss," New York Times,
January 26, 1992)
2) She, the neophyte, with as yet
no experience of this, had settled eagerly to
the task. (Anita Brookner, "Falling Slowly")
3) As a neophyte in politics, I
didn't understand that ducking the issues was
the goal of most campaigns. (Pat Schroeder,
"24 Years of House Work... and the Place
Is Still a Mess")
Etymology:
"Neophyte" comes from
Late Latin "neophytus", from
Greek "neophutos" ("newly
planted"), from "neo-" ("new")
+ "phutos" ("planted"),
from "phuein" ("to grow,
to bring forth").
neoteric
[nee-uh-TER-ik] Recent in origin; modern;
new.
Examples:
1) Electronic books, they say, are
asking them to make a mental transition - to veer
from their ingrained appreciation for the printed
books that fill our nation's more than 120,000
public, academic and special interest libraries
- to depend on a neoteric gizmo that disrupts
the sacred union between man and book. (Charlotte
Moore, "Bedtime for binderies?", Austin
American Statesman, July 28, 2000)
2) His new label specializes in
alternative country or Americana - music with
a sense of tradition and a neoteric edge. (Christopher
John Farley, "Back To Country's Roots",
Time, June 11, 2001)
Etymology:
"Neoteric" derives from
Greek "neoterikos", from "neoteros"
("younger"), comparative of "neos"
("young, new").
nepenthe
1. a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness
of pain or sorrow;
2. something capable of causing oblivion of grief
or suffering.
Example:
Ed threw himself into his art and used painting
as a nepenthe to numb the pain of his broken heart.
Etymology:
"Nepenthe" and its ancestors
have long been popular with poets. Homer used
the Greek grandparent of "nepenthe"
in a way many believe is a reference to opium.
The term was a tonic to Edmund Spenser,
who wrote, "In her other hand a cup she hild,
The which was this Nepenthe to the brim upfild".
Edgar Allan Poe sought to "Quaff,
oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost
Lenore." The term is an alteration of the
Latin "nepenthes," which is itself
descended from the Greek prefix "ne-,"
meaning "not," plus "penthos,"
meaning "grief" or "sorrow."
English writers have been plying the word "nepenthe"
since the 16th century.
nepotism
[NEP-uh-tiz-um]
Favoritism based on kinship, i.e. shown
to members of one's family, as in
business, or in appointment to a job; bestowal
of patronage in consideration of relationship,
rather than of merit or of legal claim.
Examples:
1) I got a job there as a result
of my grandfather being on the board of directors
- a lesson in loyalty here, or, should I say,
just plain old nepotism. (James Carville, "Stickin':
The Case for Loyalty")
2) The staff was recruited by unabashed
nepotism. --Noel Annan, [2]Changing Enemies Some
custodians have worked their way around more recent
nepotism rules by hiring each other's relatives.
(Diane Ravitch and Joseph P. Viteritti, "New
Schools for a New Century")
3) Being the son of the CEO, Jamie
knew he got his position as marketing director
partly through nepotism, but he nevertheless felt
confident that he had the know-how and imagination
to improve sales.
Etymology:
"Nepotism" derives from
Latin "nepot-, nepos" ("grandson,
nephew"). It is related to "nephew",
which comes from the Latin via Old French "neveu".
During his papacy from 1471-1484, Sixtus IV granted
many special favors to members of his own family,
in particular his nephews. This practice of papal
favoritism was carried on by his successors, and
in 1667 it was the subject of Gregorio Leti's
book "Il Nipotismo di Roma" -
a history of the popes' nephews. (In Italian,
"nepote" means "nephew.")
Shortly after the book's appearance, "nepotism"
began to be used in English for the showing of
special favor or unfair preference to a relative
by someone in any position of power, be it ecclesiastical
or not.
nescience
[NESH-ee-unss]
Lack of knowledge or awareness.
Synonym: ignorance
Examples:
1) The ancients understood that
too much knowledge could actually impede human
functioning - this at a time when the encroachments
on global nescience were comparatively few.
(Cullen Murphy, "DNA Fatigue", The Atlantic,
November 1997)
2) He fought on our behalf in the
war that finally matters: against nescience, against
inadvertence, against the supposition that anything
is anything else. (Hugh Kenner, "On the
Centenary of James Joyce", New York Times,
January 31, 1982)
3) The notion has taken hold that
every barometric fluctuation must demonstrate
climate change. This anecdotal case for global
warming is mostly nonsense, driven by nescience
of a basic point, from statistics and probability,
that the weather is always weird somewhere. (Gregg
Easterbrook, "Warming Up", The New Republic,
November 8, 1999)
4) As the conversation among the
group turned to movies, Rob feared that his silence
might betray his nescience toward all things related
to the cinema.
History, related words:
Eighteenth-century British poet, essayist, and
lexicographer Samuel Johnson once said,
"There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable
that I would not rather know it than not know
it." He undoubtedly knew a thing or two
about the history of the word "nescience,"
which evolved from Latin "nescire"
("not to know"), a combination of the
Latin prefix "ne-," meaning "not,"
and "scire," a verb meaning "to
know," and which first appeared in English
in the early 17th century. "Nescient"
is the adjective form. And Johnson probably
also knew that "scire" is also
an ancestor of "science," a word
whose original meaning in English was "knowledge."
From that point, it takes no stretch of the imagination
to see that "scire" also gave
us other words relating to the mind, including
"conscience," "conscious,"
and "prescience."
neurodiversity
- neuro-diversity
- neurodiverse
The variety of non-debilitating neurological behaviors
and abilities exhibited by the human race.
Also: neuro-diversity.
neurodiverse - adj.
Examples:
1) For me, the key significance
of the 'autistic spectrum' lies in its call for
and anticipation of a politics of neurological
diversity, or neurodiversity. The 'neurologically
different' represent a new addition to the familiar
political categories of class/gender/race and
will augment the insights of the social model
of disability. The rise of neurodiversity takes
postmodern fragmentation one step further. Just
as the postmodern era sees every once too solid
belief melt into air, even our most taken-for-granted
assumptions - that we all more or less see, feel,
touch, hear, smell, and sort information, in more
or less the same way (unless visibly disabled)
- are being dissolved. (Judy Singer, "'Why
can't you be normal for once in your life?'"
in "Disability Discourse", Mairian Corker
ed., Open University Press, February 1, 1999)
2) But in a new kind of disabilities
movement, many of those who deviate from the shrinking
subset of neurologically ''normal'' want tolerance,
not just of their diagnoses, but of their behavioral
quirks. They say brain differences, like body
differences, should be embraced, and argue for
an acceptance of ''neurodiversity'". (Amy
Harmon, "The Disability Movement Turns to
Brains", The New York Times, May 9, 2004)
3) Neurodiversity is a word that
has been around since autistic people started
putting sites on the internet. It has since been
expanded to include not just people who are known
as "autistics and cousins", but to express
the idea that a diversity of ways of human thinking
is a good thing, and dyslexic, autistic, ADHD,
dyspraxic and tourettes people to name but a few
all have some element in common not being neurotypical
in the way our brains work.
("What Is Neurodiversity?", Coventry
Neurodiversity Group, <http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7138/rights/neurodiversity.htm>)
History:
"Neuro-" - Gk. "neuro-",
comb. form of "neuron" ("nerve"),
originally "sinew, tendon, cord, bowstring",
also "strength, vigor";
cf. L. "nervus". "Diverse"
- 1297, spelling variant of "divers"
(q.v.), perhaps by analogy with "converse",
"traverse", etc. More associated
with L. "diversus", and
since c.1700 restricted to the meaning "different
in character or quality". "Diversity"
is c.1340.
The neurodiversity movement is based
on the belief that there is no such thing as "normal"
when it comes to the human mental landscape. The
"neurotypical" (1996)
person simply does not exist. Together we display
a wide variety of neurological behaviors and abilities,
and most of us exhibit some form of mental "disorder"
from time to time, albeit in non-debilitating
- or "subclinical" - form: mild depression,
temporary anxiety, and so on. We accept that the
world is populated with people who are tall and
small; who are big-boned and bird-boned; who are
ecto-, meso-, and endomorphic. So, as the theory
goes, doesn't it make sense to also accept that
the world is populated with people who exhibit
at least as wide a variety of neurological traits?
neuroeconomics
investigations the goal of which is to observe
and measure whats happening in the brain when
people are making decisions.
Examples:
1) One definition of neuroeconomics
might be animal spirits explained. ("Minneapolis
Star Tribune", 17 Nov. 2002)
2) Zak is a leading protagonist
in the relatively new field of neuroeconomics,
which aims to understand human social interactions
through every level from synapse to society.
("New Scientist", 10 May 2003)
Etymology, history:
Neuro+ economics.
"Neuro-" - Gk. "neuro-",
comb. form of "neuron" - "nerve",
originally "sinew, tendon, cord, bowstring,"
also "strength, vigor," from PIE "(s)neurom"
(cf. L. "nervus").
"Economics" - from "economy"
("household management"), from L. "oeconomia",
from Gk. "oikonomia", from "oikonomos"
("manager, steward"), from "oikos"
- "house" (cognate with L. vicus
"district," vicinus "near;"
O.E. wic "dwelling, village")
+ "nomos" ("managing"),
from "nemein" ("manage").
The sense of "manage the resources of
a country" (short for political economy)
is from 1651.
The proponent of neuroeconomics
is Paul Zak, Associate Professor of Economics
at Claremont Graduate University in California.
His team uses magnetic resonance imaging and blood
sampling to observe the way a persons brain works
during the process, for example during a game
of trust with other players. Its starting to
look as though there may be biochemical underpinnings
to our willingness to be co-operative and generous
in economic negotiations, perhaps associated with
a hormone called oxytocin. The field is expanding:
the University of Minnesota held the first conference
on neuroeconomics in October 2002.
neuromarketing
- neuroscientist
- neuroeconomics
- functional
magnetic resonance imaging
- functional
- magnetic
- fMRI
- FMRI
- resonance
- imaging
the technique to show companies what people think
of their products and television commercials.
Examples:
1) Neuromarketing could be useful
in finding out how a consumer experiences a product.
For instance, does the brain respond first to
the crunching sound of a candy bar, or to its
flavor? Neuromarketers are still exploring exactly
what kind of information they can tease out of
test subjects with questionnaires and fMRI scans.
("Newsweek International", 22 Mar.
2004)
2) Gary Ruskin, of Commercial Alert,
doesn't buy the pitch that neuromarketing will
help people. "I think they're spinning faster
than a drill bit," he said. "It's plain
old market research taken to a new and potentially
more damaging level." ("Atlanta Journal
and Constitution", 1 Feb. 2004)
Etymology, history:
Neuro + marketing
"Neuro-" - Gk. "neuro-",
comb. form of "neuron" - "nerve",
originally "sinew, tendon, cord, bowstring,"
also "strength, vigor," from PIE "(s)neurom"
(cf. L. "nervus").
"Marketing" - from "market"
- c.1154, "a meeting at a fixed time for
buying and selling livestock and provisions",
from O.N.Fr. "market" (O.Fr.
"marchiet", Fr. "march?"),
from L. mercatus "trading, trade,
market" (cf. It. mercato, Sp. mercado),
from pp. of "mercari" ("to
trade, deal in, buy"), from "merx"
(gen. mercis) - "wares, merchandise",
from Italic root *merk-, possibly from
Etruscan, referring to various aspects of economics.
Meaning "public building or space where markets
are held" first attested c.1250. Sense of
"sales, as controlled by supply and demand"
is from 1689. The verb is 1635, from the noun.
The neuroscientists - sciences of
the brain - have made vast advances in the past
two decades. A new generation of scanners has
made it possible to see what's happening inside
it while it's working. The most potent of these
new technologies is "functional magnetic
resonance imaging", "fMRI"
for short, which takes a series of snapshots of
brain activity; it's capable of showing moment
by moment what thoughts are going on in the brain
when a person undertakes some task, perhaps looking
at a picture or listening to an audio soundtrack.
The fMRI technique is a valuable
research tool, but it's creating ethical issues
for some neuroscientists, who worry
that it may be possible to use it to unlock private
thoughts and emotions. It is suggested that the
technique might provide insights into what people
think about when they are considering buying some
product, a close relative of "neuroeconomics"
(see).
nexus
[NEK-sus]
1. A connection, a link; a causal link.
Example:
The scientific study uncovered a nexus between
unhealthy eating habits and certain forms of heart
disease.
2. A connected group or series.
3. A center, a focus.
Example:
They are born into a nexus of interactions and
relationships that shape the expression of their
own needs from the very beginning.
Etymology, related words:
1663, "bond, link, means of communication,"
from Latin "nexus", pp. of "nectere"
- "to bind."
"Nexus" is all about connections.
A number of other English words are related to
"nectere". The most obvious is
"connect," but "annex"
(meaning "to attach as an addition,"
or more specifically "to incorporate into
a political domain") is related as well.
When "nexus" came into English
in the 17th century, it meant "connection."
Eventually, it took on the additional meaning
"connected series" (as in "a
nexus of relationships"). In the past
few decades it has taken a third meaning: "center"
(as in "the trade nexus of the
region"), perhaps from the notion that
a point in the center of an arrangement serves
to join together the objects that surround it.
nickel-and-dime
- nickel
- dime
- penny-pinch
- penny
- pinch
- small-time
- small
- time
- big
bucks
- big
buck
- big
- buck
- bucks
(Verb)
1. To spend money frugally; spend as little
as possible Synonym: penny-pinch 2.
To accumulate gradually.
(Adjective)
3. Of minor importance; unimportant, small-time,
trivial, petty. Synonym: small-time 4.
Low-paying.
Examples:
1) She nickeled-and-dimed together
a small house for her family. 2)
He has not a real job, but a nickel-and-dime one
only.
3) A nickel-and-dime operation run
out of a single rented room.
4) Even a small-time actor wants
to play a part of Hamlet.
5) He said he worked for a big corporation,
but it was really only a nickel-and-dime company.
History, antonym, more examples:
In this 20th-century African-American saying,
"nickel-and-dime" refers
to two of the smallest units of United States
money. Anything that's "nickel-and-dime"
is the opposite of "big bucks."
Note: This expression can
also be used as a verb meaning to act in a cheap
manner, as in "He never takes her to fancy
restaurants. He always nickels and dimes her."
nictitate
- nictate
- nictitating
membrane
- nictitating
- membrane
To wink.
Example:
Some flecks of dust had fluttered into Myron's
eye, causing him to nictitate uncontrollably.
History, synonym, related words:
"Nictitate" didn't just
happen in the blink of an eye; it developed over
time as an alteration of the older verb
"nictate," which also
means "to wink." Both verbs trace to
the Latin word for winking, "nictare."
The addition of the extra syllable was apparently
influenced by Latin verbs ending in "-itare,"
such as "palpitare" and "agitare"
(which gave us "palpitate" and
"agitate," respectively). Today,
"nictitate" has a special
use in the animal world. Since the early 18th
century, scientists have used "nictitating
membrane" to describe the so-called
"third eyelid": the thin, usually transparent
membrane in the eyes of birds, fishes, and other
vertebrates that helps keep the eyeball moist
and clean.
nidus
- nidification
- nidicolous
- nest
[NYE-dus]
1. A nest or breeding place; especially:
a place or substance in an animal or
plant where bacteria or other organisms
lodge and multiply.
2. A place where something originates,
develops, or is located.
Example:
The college, with its focus on human ecology,
is widely known as a nidus of environmental activism.
History, related words:
The sciences use "nidus"
to refer to a breeding ground, often a place where
bacteria lodge and multiply. Thus, although it
literally means "nest" in Latin, the
word carries none of the positive connotations
that "nest" has in English
(such as "home"). Rather, a nidus
is usually a source of infection or undesirable
opinions or habits. But that hasn't kept other
"nidus"-related words
in English from referring to homier places, such
as the nests where animals rear their
young. We have "nidification,"
for the process of building a nest, and "nidicolous,"
meaning "reared in a nest."
nimbus
[NIM-buhs]
1. (Fine Arts) A circle, or disk,
or any indication of radiant light around the
heads of divinities, saints, and sovereigns, upon
medals, pictures, etc.
Synonym: a halo.
2. A cloud or atmosphere (as of romance
or glamour) that surrounds a person or thing.
3. (Meteorology) A rain cloud.
Examples:
1) Sometimes when she stood in front
of a lamp, the highlights on her hair made a nimbus.
(James Morgan, "The Distance to the Moon")
2) The two lights over the front
steps were haloed with a hazy nimbus of mist,
and strange insects fluttered up against the screen,
fragile, wing-thin and blinded, dazed, numbed
by the brilliance. (Karen V. Kukil (Editor),
"The Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950-1962")
3) Mara felt she could practically
see a nimbus of light around her, like the biblical
Esther before she becomes queen. (Anna Shapiro,
"The Scourge")
4) Decorated in royal green and
gold with crystal chandeliers and plush furniture,
the office featured a lighted full-length portrait
of Johnson leaning against a bookcase and two
overhead lamps projecting "an impressive
nimbus of golden light" as Lyndon sat at
his desk. (Robert Dallek, "Flawed Giant")
Etymology:
"Nimbus" is from the Latin
"nimbus" - "a rain cloud,
a rain storm."
nimiety
[nih-MY-uh-tee]
The state of being too much; excess.
Examples:
1) What a nimiety of ... riches
have we here! I am quite undone. (James J.
Kilpatrick, "Buckley: The Right Word,"
National Review, December 23, 1996)
2) Just as daily life contains all
the comforts of what one owns, there is also a
natural shedding or forgetting and a natural dulling,
otherwise one becomes burdened with a sense of
nimiety, a sense (as Kenneth Clark put it in his
autobiography) of the "too-muchness"
of life. (Nicholas Poburko, "Poetry, Past
And Present: F. T. Prince's Walks in Rome,"
Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, January
1, 1999)
Etymology:
"Nimiety" is from Late
Latin "nimietas", from Latin
"nimius" ("very much, too
much"), from "nimis" ("excessively").
nineteen to the dozen
- twenty
to the dozen
- 20
to the dozen
- ninety
to the dozen
- 90
to the dozen
- ninety
to dozen
- 90
to dozen
- ninety
- nineteen
- twenty
- dozen
- going
ninety to nothing
- ninety
to nothing
- ten
to the dozen
- 10
to the dozen
- 19
to the dozen
- ten
- nothing
at a great rate, very fast.
Example:
If we now are going to inform you about Johns
life then we are going to talk nineteen to the
dozen from a forged scripture.
Synonyms:
twenty to the dozen; ninety to (the) dozen; ten
to the dozen
History:
This goes back to the times of the Cornish tin
and copper mines. These mines were often hit by
floods. In the 18th century, coal-powered, steam-driven
pumps were installed to clear the water. When
working maximally the pumps could clear nineteen
thousand gallons of water for every twelve
bushels of coal. This, quite clearly, was very
fast compared to the rate at which the earlier
hand-powered pumps had cleared water. On the other
hand, some sources say that it was the amount
of water a steam engine could pump out of a coal
mine when burning a specific amount of coal (19,000
gallons and 12 bushels, respectively). Recently,
it most often refers to speed of speaking, as
in this instance from the "Daily Mail"
of 23 October 2003: "Talking nineteen to
the dozen, her conversation is still peppered
with outrageous references and bawdy asides."
The idea is that the rate of talking is so great
that when other people say merely a dozen words,
the speaker gets in 19. It's also sometimes used
to describe rapid heartbeat in times of danger,
and to refer to other fast-moving or fast-changing
things.
There are examples of "ninety to (the)
dozen" to be found in various places,
dating back to the late 1940s. But it's uncommon
and seems to be a relatively modern variation
on the older phrase. It may be linked to a characteristically
North American expression, "going ninety
to nothing", which the Dictionary
of American Regional English records from 1950.
ninja
[NIN-juh]
A person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts
and employed especially for espionage and assassinations.
Example:
Ninjas are thought to be able to run faster than
ordinary men, scale impossible walls, and endure
the severest of pain.
Etymology, related words:
Ninjas may seem mysterious, but
the origin of their name is not. The word "ninja"
derives from the Japanese characters "nin"
and "ja." "Nin"
initially meant "persevere," but over
time it developed the extended meanings "conceal"
and "move stealthily." In Japanese,
"ja" means "person."
Ninjas originated in the mountains
of Japan over 800 years ago as practitioners of
ninjutsu, a martial art sometimes
called "the art of stealth" or "the
art of invisibility." They often served as
military spies and were trained in disguise, concealment,
geography, meteorology, medicine, and also other
martial arts. Popular legends still associate
them with espionage and assassinations, but modern
ninjas are most likely to study
ninjutsu to improve their physical
fitness and self-defense skills.
nitnoid
1. The capital city of Nokwood.
(American slang)
2. A niggling small matter of no consequence;
a small mechanical device of little importance.
Example:
That nitnoid keeps the belt tight.
3. Something that's nit-pickingly frustrating.
4. A pedantic person intent on squashing
the life out of some subject by considering every
detail.
History, more examples:
The meanings of the word suggest a derivation
from "nit" plus the suffix "-oid"
to indicate something of a given nature (plus,
to be nitnoid about the matter,
an interpolated "n" to make it
easier to say, and perhaps a trace more humorous).
Examples include "he has written a book
chock full of nitnoid detail", and "this
man is a nitnoid perfectionist". A rare
example in print appeared in the "Atlanta
Constitution" in September 2001: "We
need to appreciate every moment we have with each
other and just be nicer and not get lost in the
nitnoid frustrations of life."
Another suggestion is that the word derived from
the Thai "nit noi", meaning "just
a little"; it might have been brought back
to the USA by servicemen returning from the Vietnam
war.
nitty-gritty
- the
nitty-gritty
- nitty
- gritty
Basic elements, fundamental parts, important elements
(of a specific issue or problem); very important
matters; the choicest or most essential
or most vital part of some idea or
experience; the specific heart of the matter;
the practical details; the fundamental core of
something. Synonyms:
kernel, substance, core, center, crunch, essence,
gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow,
meat, nub, pith, sum.
Examples:
1) The nitty-gritty of an election
is the vote itself - the numbers!
2) When you write your report, stick
to the nitty-gritty.
History:
"Grit" means tiny, rough granules
of stone or sand. Imagine you're trying to examine
or explain something. Instead of wasting time
on unimportant subjects, you concentrate on the
grit, the small but basic and necessary
points. "Nitty-gritty,"
a 20th-century African-American phrase, is a rhyming
extension of the word "grit."
"Grit" was stretched to "gritty"
and was rhymed with "nitty" to
make a colorful, fun phrase.
no dice
- dice
- futile
- all
bets are off
- all
- bet
- be
off
- bets
- no
action
- action
- off
1. Of no avail; no use.
Synonym: futile
2. No; not so; certainly not; a refusal
to accept a proposition.
3. A power pop album by Badfinger, released
on November 9, 1970 (see 1970 in music). Their
second album, "No Dice"
significantly expanded Badfinger's popularity,
especially abroad.
Examples:
1) I will never lend you that much
money. No dice!
2) The No Dice album cover shows
a picture of a woman with big hair wearing a bra
and pointing her finger.
3) I asked my father for a raise
in my allowance, but he said, "No dice!"
Etymology, synonyms:
This 20th-century American saying must come from
gambling games that use dice. If
there are no dice, there's no game,
which should explain how this phrase came to mean
"no!" "Dice"
is from the Middle English "de"
("gaming die"), from Old French, from
Latin "datum" ("given"),
from neuter past participle of "dare"
("to give"). In dice games
a throw that results in the dice
not lying flat or piled on top of each other is
invalid and considered 'no dice'.
On the other hand, in a legitimate casino, "no
dice" is called by a supervisor or
a floor boss when he suspects the dice
in play were not handled in a correct or above-board
manner by the shooter. This could mean he suspected
a controlled shot (controlling the dice
so that only certain numbers would have a higher
probability of appearing on the
roll), or that the dice did not
travel properly. (In North American casinos, at
least one of the dice thrown must
hit the opposite wall of the layout before coming
to rest.) "No Dice" is
proclaimed most often when one or both of the
dice actually bounce off of the
table. Actually, the dice can hit
stacks of chips on the layout and that is perfectly
acceptable - that is not reason enough to call
"no dice". If one or both
of the dice are "cocked"
(i.e. it is resting tilted on an
edge, not resting on a face), it is up to the
supervisor or management to inspect the die in
question and to make a determination which face
is the uppermost. There are some stories that
depending on how the money was being bet, the
supervisor tended to rule on the side where the
house lost the least... But stories like that
seem to be urban legends.
Therefore the phrase "no dice"
means no decision has been made or could possibly
have been made due to other circumstances,
similar to "all bets are off"
and "no action".
no skin off one's nose
- skin off one's nose
- skin off your nose
- no skin off your nose
- skin off
- skin
- nose
- no skin off one's back
- skin off one's back
- back
No matter of interest, concern or trouble
to one; of totally no concern to smb. whatsoever;
it doesn't matter to smb. one way or the other.
Examples:
1) He doesn't care if I make the
football team or not. It's no skin off his nose.
2) It is no skin off my nose whether
or not she comes to the party.
3) Go to Jake's party if you wish.
It's no skin off my nose.
4) Grace didn't pay any attention
to our argument. It wasn't any skin off her nose.
5) You could at least say hello
to our visitor. - It's no skin off your nose.
History:
This American idiom dates to the 1920s. Originally,
the expression was "no skin off my back".
"Nose" is more suitable because
if you stick your nose into somebody's business,
you can get it hurt.
no spring chicken
- spring
chicken
- spring
- chicken
(Slang) Not young anymore; not a baby chick;
not a young girl/boy.
Examples:
1) Grandma can't run and play the
ball the way she used to. She's no spring chicken.
2) I don`t know how old she is but
she is definitely no spring chicken.
History:
This saying has been around since the early 1800s,
and, as a rule, it is applied to women, although
there's no reason it couldn't refer to men, too.
A spring chicken is a really young
chick, like a baby. The expression began as "now
past a chicken", and the saying today
is a variation of the original.
no strings attached
- no
- strings
- attached
- string
- attach
Free of extra terms or limitations; without conditions
or limits on use.
Examples:
1) Kim's parents pay for college
education with no strings attached. She can go
anywhere she wants to and study any subject she
likes. 2) Peter gave Mary his pickup
truck for free, no strings attached.
Etymology: A 'string' is a small rope.
You can tie a string to something and thereby
control it. If there are no strings attached to
something, then it is free and without control
or restrictions.
no-brainer
Something that is perfectly obvious; a problem
that is easy to solve, requiring very little effort.
Examples:
1) Closing our store in Dallas was a no-brainer
- it was losing a lot of money. 2) What's one
plus two? That's a no-brainer!
Etymology: Your 'brain' is what you use
to think, and some questions are so easy that
you don't even have to think to get the right
answer - 'no brain' is required.
noel
[noh-EL]
1. A Christmas carol.
Example:
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, sheet music
publishers printed noels that often paired a semireligious
text with a familiar Christmas melody.
2. Noel - Christmas.
Noels were being sung for centuries before the
word found its way into our language in the 1800s.
English speakers borrowed "noel" from
French. But French speakers didn't coin the term;
they borrowed it from the Latin "natalis,"
meaning "birthday" or "natal."
(That's also a relative of the English word "natal,"
meaning "relating to birth.") "Natalis"
in turn traces to "nasci" ("to
be born"), which is an ancestor of various
English words, including "nation," "native,"
and "nature."
noggling
(South Yorkshire dialect) An (indescribable
chronic) pain.
noisome
[NOY-sum]
1. Noxious, harmful.
2. Offensive to the senses and especially
to the sense of smell.
3. Highly obnoxious or objectionable.
Example:
The streets were narrow and very dirty, the air
smoky and noisome, the people mostly wretched.
( Ken Follett, "The Man from St. Petersburg")
History, more examples:
Consider the two following sentences: "The
babysitter tried to quiet the noisome children";
"My son works at a fish market, and his clothes
bring a noisome stench into the house when he
comes home." Which sentence uses "noisome"
correctly? If you picked the second one, you chose
correctly. Though "noisome"
sounds like it might be a synonym of "noisy,"
it's not. Something noisome is disgusting,
like that fishy stench, or harmful, the way toxic
fumes or waste can be. "Noisome"
does not come from "noise," but
from the Middle English word "noysome,"
which has the same meaning as "noisome."
The "noy" of "noysome"
means "annoyance," and comes from Anglo-French
"anui," which also means "annoyance."
noisy withdrawal
- noisy
- withdrawal
- noisily
withdraw
- noisily
- withdraw
The public withdrawal of legal representation
in which the departing lawyer, having knowledge
of the client's existing or potential improprieties,
disavows work done for the client and notifies
the proper authorites of the withdrawal.
(v.) noisily withdraw
Examples:
1) Over objections from much of
the legal profession, the SEC is preparing to
approve a new rule this spring requiring attorneys
like Emerson to blow the whistle when confronted
with wrongdoing, sources close to the commission
say. The two-part rule, likely to be adopted as
soon as March or April, would put the burden on
corporate directors to disclose to the SEC when
a lawyer withdraws because of illicit activity.
If the board fails to act, the lawyer would be
required to step away from the client and report
the wrongdoing--a measure known as a "noisy
withdrawal." (Greg Burns, "Rule is
readied on duties of lawyer", Chicago Tribune,
February 1, 2004)
2) SEC regulations have now introduced
a couple of new phrases into the US legal lexicon
such as "up-the-ladder" reporting -
where lawyers are required to bypass general counsel
if there is no appropriate response to concerns
and report directly to the audit committee or
the board - and "noisy withdrawal" -
where lawyers are required if necessary to resign
with notice to the SEC where there has been a
serious breach of securities law. (Jon Robins,
"Let me in, I'm a lawyer", The Independent
(London, England), May 10, 2004)
3) Permissible whistle-blowing on
client fraud was abandoned in favor of noisy withdrawal
from the representation; lawyers who do so may
notify others only of the fact they are dropping
a client or withdrawing an opinion. (Mary Morgan
Stuart, "Ethical Dilemma? Dial H-A-Z-A-R-D",
The American Lawyer, March, 1987)
nolens volens
[NO-lenz-VO-lenz]
Whether unwilling or willing.
Examples:
1) Beneath the surface, little-noticed
but fundamental changes are taking place that
must compel both sides, nolens volens, sooner
or later to reconfigure their tortured but inseparable
relationship. (Bernard Wasserstein, "Israelis
and Palestinians")
2) Events have put NATO in a position
where it is the policeman of Europe and beyond,
nolens volens. ("NATO then, Nato now,"
Daily Telegraph, April 23, 1999)
3) After all, I'm not sure that
I'm so angry with them, for it means that now
you've got to remain here indefinitely - nolens
volens. (Mina McDonald, "True Stories
Of The Great War: Some Experiences In Hungary,"
History of the World, January 1, 1992)
Etymology:
"Nolens volens" is from
the Latin, from "nolle" ("to
be unwilling") + "velle"
("to wish, to be willing").
nonpareil
[non-puh-REL]
1. Having no equal; peerless.
2. Something of unequaled excellence; a
peerless thing or person.
3. A flat disk of chocolate covered with
beads of colored sugar.
Examples:
1) It's not often that Mike Emrick,
the nonpareil hockey voice, errs. His play by
play is peerless. (Richard Sandomir, "Later
Post Ensures That Derby Is Alone for Hammond's
Dream Call," New York Times, May 4, 2001)
2) Some birds make and use tools
and show evidence of culture, and many are vocalists
nonpareil. (Bernd Heinrich, "So, This
Parrot Comes Into a Bar and Says...," New
York Times, January 30, 2000)
3) But when it comes to his profession,
he is a nonpareil. (Peter Andrews, "A
Jazzy Murder Case," New York Times, October
30, 1983)
4) Steve Redgrave won his third gold
medal at his third successive Olympic Games and
we hymned the man as if he were the greatest athlete
we had ever seen: a superman, a nonpareil, a demigod
walking the earth. (Simon Barnes, "Honour
and praise to three athletes who graced the sporting
arena," Times (London), December 27, 2000)
Etymology:
"Nonpareil" comes from
Old French, from "non" ("not")
+ "pareil" ("equal"),
from (assumed) Vulgar Latin "pariculus",
diminutive of Latin "par" ("equal").
nose out of joint
Someone's nose is out of joint (that is, not in
its normal position) if he or she is annoyed.
Example:
Ian and Chung Ho were playing the backgammon.
"Hold on, you can't take all of those pieces,"
said Chung Ho irritably.
"Don't get your nose out of joint,"
Ian said. "I'm just separating the red pieces
from the
black pieces."
nosegay
[NOHZ-gay]
A bunch of odorous and showy flowers; a bouquet;
a posy.
Examples:
1) There was the glamour of George
Pollexfen's horses, racing under his colours of
primrose and violet: the children went to Lissadell
races with four horses and postilions, nosegays
of primroses and violets pinned to their coats.
(R. F. Foster, "W.B. Yeats: A Life",vol.
1)
2) "Fussing about in black smalls,
silks, buckles, cocked hat, and always with a
prodigious nosegay," Lowther could not conceivably
have been a less romantic character. (Kenneth
R. Johnston, "The Hidden Wordsworth")
3) The country is one big nosegay,
the scents wonderful. (W. Morris)
Etymology:
"Nosegay" is nose
and gay joined together to mean "something
bright and showy that one holds to the nose."
nosocomial
acquired or occurring in a hospital.
Example:
The appendectomy itself went well, but the patient
contracted a nosocomial infection afterward and
wound up staying in the hospital longer than anticipated.
Etymology:
"Nosocomial" is a word
that usually occurs in formal medical contexts;
specifically, in reference to hospital- acquired
sickness. The term descends from "nosocomium,"
the Late Latin word for "hospital."
"Nosocomium" in turn traces to the Greek
"nosos," meaning "disease."
That root has given English other words as well,
including "zoonosis" ("a
disease communicable from animals to humans under
natural conditions") and "nosology"
("a classification or list of diseases"
or "a branch of medical science that deals
with classification of diseases").
nostrum
[NOS-truhm]
1. A medicine of secret composition and
unproven or dubious effectiveness; a quack
medicine.
2. A usually questionable remedy or
scheme; a cure-all.
Examples:
1) James is put to work at country
fairs, promoting a quack nostrum for pain relief.
(Patrick McGrath, "Heart of Ice,"
New York Times, April 13, 1997)
2) His hopeful message attracted
an audience eager to believe he had found the
nostrum for all of society's ills. (Warren
Sloat, "Looking Back at 'Looking Backward':
We Have Seen the Future and It Didn't Work,"
New York Times, January 17, 1988)
3) Old ladies were always offering
her their advice, recommending this or that nostrum.
(Charlotte Bront?, "Shirley: A Tale")
Etymology:
"Nostrum" comes from Latin
"nostrum (remedium)" - "our
(remedy)," from "nos" ("we").
not by a long chalk
- by
a long chalk
- long
chalk
- long
- not
by a long shot
- by
a long shot
- long
shot
- shot
- chalk
(Mainly British) Not by any means; not
at all.
Example:
They weren't beaten yet, not by a long chalk.
History, synonym:
It goes back to the days in which a count or score
of almost any kind was marked up on a convenient
surface using chalk. At a pub or ale house
this might be a note of the amount of credit you
had been given (often called "the chalk"
in the early 19th century), which Charles Dickens
refers to in "Great Expectations":
"There was a bar at the Jolly Bargemen,
with some alarmingly long chalk scores in it on
the wall at the side of the door, which seemed
to me to be never paid off". But the
expression almost certainly comes from the habit
of using chalk in such establishments to
mark the score in a game, a habit which now survives
in British pubs mainly in the game of darts. A
"chalk" was the name given a
single mark or score, so that a person might explain
that somebody or other had lost a game of skittles
by four chalks or you needed 31 chalks to finish.
If your opponent had a "long chalk",
a big score, he was doing well. The expression
indicates a determined intention to continue,
though the game is going against you. Your opponent
may have a long chalk, but you're not done
for yet. For the earliest example, we must turn
yet again to Thomas Chandler Haliburton
of Nova Scotia, who included it several times
in his book "The Clockmaker" of
1835: "Depend on it, Sir, said he, with
a most philosophical air, this Province is much
behind the intelligence of the age. But if it
is behind us in that respect, it is a long chalk
ahead on us in others". A related
expression is "not by a long shot".
However, this is originally a military idiom,
based on the difficulty of hitting a target at
long range, hence an outside chance.
not one's cup of tea
- not my cup of tea
- one's cup of tea
- my cup of tea
- cup of tea
- cup
- tea
Something not to your liking; something you don't
like to do; not what one likes or prefers; not
suitable; not to one's taste.
Examples:
1) Some people love football, but
it's not my cup of tea. I prefer bowling. 2)
Do I like Brittany Spears? No, that kind of music
isn't my cup of tea.
3) Please show me another hat. This
one's not my cup of tea.
Etymology: This is a 19th century British
phrase. In Britain, tea has been an extremely
popular drink since the mid-1700s. Even now many
English people have a cup of tea every mid-afternoon,
and there are many different flavors to choose
from. In the late 1800s, people in England started
saying that something they liked was their "cup
of tea." Later, probably in the 1920s,
the expression took on its present meaning.
nothing to sneeze at
- nothing
to sneeze
- nothing
to
- sneeze
- nothing
Something you should take seriously; not small
or unimportant; something to be taken seriously.
Examples:
1) His new salary is nothing to
sneeze at.
2) He won the silver medal, not
the gold. That's nothing to sneeze at.
History:
In the early 1800s people were already using this
saying. Perhaps it comes from the idea of turning
your nose up at something or someone to
express scorn or contempt. Since sneezes come
from your nose, something that's "not
to be sneezed at" should be treated
as important and worthy.
nugatory
[NOO-guh-tor-ee; NYOO-]
1. Trifling; insignificant; inconsequential.
2. Having no force; inoperative; ineffectual.
Examples:
1) Tygiel's forte as a historian
is his eye for what may appear nugatory or marginal
but, when focused upon, illuminates the temper
of a given moment. (Roberto Gonzlez Echevarria,
"From Ruth to Rotisserie," New York
Times, July 2, 2000)
2) Jacoby's offense was no offense
- or an error so nugatory as to demand no more
than a one-sentence explanation. (Lance Morrow,
"In Boston, a Foolish Consistency of Little
Minds," Time, July 19, 2000)
3) Socialism no longer restrains; trade
unions do so much less than they did; moral inhibitions
over the acquisition and display of wealth are
nugatory. (John Lloyd, "If not socialism,
what will persuade the rich willingly to pay more
taxes to help the poor and preserve a decent society?"
New Statesman, August 2, 1996)
Etymology:
"Nugatory" comes from
Latin "nugatorius", from "nugari"
("to trifle"), from "nugae"
("jests, trifles").
nuke
1. To cook or re-heat food in a microwave oven.
Example: Frozen food is so easy - just
nuke it for two minutes and you're ready to eat!
Etymology: Refers to the powerful and possibly
deadly effects of 'nuclear' devices, such as reactors
and bombs.
2. A nuclear warhead or missile, or the act of
using a nuclear warhead or missile.
Examples:
1) The United States and Russia control most of
the nukes in the world.
2) Although the Cold War is over, there is still
a threat that terrorists might nuke us all back
to the Stone Age.
numen
[NOO-mun]
A spiritual force or influence often identified
with a natural object, phenomenon, or place.
Example:
We were in a village that had hardly changed in
a thousand years, and we felt a numen that transcended
earthly religions and human histories.
History:
How did "numen," a Latin
term meaning "nod of the head," come
to be associated with spiritual power? The answer
lies in the fact that the ancient Romans saw divine
force and power operating in the inanimate objects
and nonhuman phenomena around them. They believed
that the gods had the power to command events
and to consent to actions, and the idea of a god
nodding suggested his or her awesome abilities
- divine power. Eventually, Latin speakers began
using "numen" to describe
the special divine force of any object, place,
or phenomenon that inspired awe (a mystical-seeming
wooded grove, for example, or the
movement of the sun), and "numen"
made the semantic leap from "nod"
to "divine will or power." English
speakers adopted the word during the 1600s.
numinous
[NOO-min-uhs; NYOO]
1. Of or pertaining to a numen;
supernatural, mysterious
2. Indicating or suggesting
the presence of a god; filled with a sense of
the presence of divinity
Synonym: divine; holy
3. Inspiring awe and reverence;
spiritual; appealing to the higher emotions
or to the aesthetic sense
Synonym: spiritual
Examples:
1) Manifold forms of eucalyptus
and acacia gave the . . . Australian bush its
numinous and magical beauty. (Jill Ker Conway,
"The New York Times Book Review", March
10, 1991)
2) Smoking is a ritual, and it has
all the numinous force of a ritual. (Thomas
W. Laqueur, "The New Republic", September
18, 1995)
3) All Quests are concerned with some
numinous Object, the Waters of Life, the Grail,
buried treasure, etc. (W. H. Auden, "Secular
Hobbitism" review of "The Fellowship
of the Ring", by J. R. R. Tolkien, New York
Times)
4) Our culture is not much concerned
with the numinous, but in language we preserve
many of the marks of a culture that is. (Richard
Mitchell, "Less Than Words Can Say")
5) My sense of the numinous is generally
keenest upstate, in the fields and forest that
surround my old schoolhouse. (Winifred Gallagher,
"Working on God")
Etymology, relates words:
"Numinous" is from Latin
"numen", literally a "nod
of the head" (as in giving a command), hence
"divine power." English speakers have
been using "numen", with
the meaning "a spiritual force or influence",
since the early 1600s. Although Latin users didn't
feel the need of a related adjective, English
speakers apparently did. We began using "numinous"
in the mid-1600s, subsequently endowing it with
several senses: "supernatural" or "mysterious"
(as in "possessed of a numinous energy force"),
"holy" (as in "the numinous atmosphere
of the catacombs"), and "appealing to
the aesthetic sense" (as in "the numinous
nuances of her art").
Related nouns are numinousness,
numinosity.
numismatic
[noo-miz-MAT-ik]
1. Of or relating to the study or
collection of coins, tokens, and money.
2. Of or relating to currency; monetary.
Example:
Jason was disappointed to learn that the 1936
buffalo nickel he owned had virtually no numismatic
value.
History, related words:
The first metal coins are believed to have been
used as currency by the Lydians, a people of Asia
Minor, during the 7th century BC, and it is likely
that folks began collecting coins not long after
that. The name that we give to the collection
of coins today is "numismatics,"
a word that also encompasses the collection of
paper money and of medals. The noun "numismatics"
and the adjective "numismatic"
came to English (via French "numismatique")
from Latin and Greek "nomisma,"
meaning "coin." "Nomisma"
in turn derives from the Greek verb "nomizein"
("to use") and ultimately from the noun
"nomos" ("custom" or
"usage"). From these roots we also get
"numismatist," referring
to a person who collects coins, medals, or paper
money.
nurture
[NER-cher]
1. To supply with nourishment.
2. To educate.
3. To further the development of; to foster.
Example:
Karen carefully nurtured the tomato seedlings,
providing them with optimum water and sunlight.
History, synonyms, related words:
It's no coincidence that "nurture"
is a synonym of "nourish"
- both are derived from the Latin verb "nutrire,"
meaning "to suckle" or "to nourish."
The noun "nurture"
first appeared in English in the 14th century,
but the verb didn't arrive until the 15th
century. Originally, the verb "nurture"
meant "to feed or nourish." The
sense meaning "to promote the development
of" didn't come into being until the end
of the 18th century. Mary Wollstonecraft,
mother of "Frankenstein"-author Mary
Shelley, is credited with first giving life to
that sense in her "Vindication of the
Rights of Woman" (1792): "Public
spirit must be nurtured by private virtue."
Other "nutrire" descendants
in English include "nutrient,"
"nutritious," "nutriment,"
"nutrition," and, of course,
"nourishment."
nutri-washing
- nutriwashing
- washing
- nutri-wash
- nutriwash
- greenwashing
The same type of public-relations puffery as greenwashing,
but done by major food companies (collectively
and pejoratively called Big Food, in imitation
of Big Pharma, a term for the pharmaceuticals
industry) to offset current criticism about the
high salt, fat, and sugar levels in their products.
Examples:
1) It's hardly surprising, then
that nutri-washing, the adolescent cousin of greenwashing,
is taking off in the food industry. Nutri-washing
uses corporate spin to pass greasy foodstuffs
off as healthy necessities, making it increasingly
difficult for consumers to tell the meat from
the gristle. (Brendan Themes)
2) Years ago, the environmental
movement coined the term "greenwashing"
to describe how corporations use public relations
to make themselves appear environmentally friendly.
Now, nutrition advocates need their own moniker
for a similar trend among major food companies
- call it "nutri-washing." (Michele
Simon, "You Are What You Eat: Get rid of
those empty calories with 'nutri-wash'")
History:
The word appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle
in September 2004, and has been widely copied
in newsletters online. It's based on "greenwashing",
the name that environmentalists give to disinformation
from big businesses who falsely try to present
an environmentally responsible public image.
nutty as a fruitcake
- as
nutty as a fruitcake
- nutty
- fruitcake
Very crazy; crazy or extremely strange
in behavior or dress.
Examples:
1) The woman who lives next door
to us is as nutty as a fruitcake.
2) I was convinced that Brian's
uncle was as nutty as a fruitcake.
History:
This widely used saying originated in America
in the 1920s. "Nutty" was slang
for crazy; a "nut" was an eccentric
person who seemed abnormal in the way he or she
appeared or dressed. Fruitcakes are made with
plenty of nuts, so if a person is as "nutty
as a fruitcake", he or she is really
strange.