Glossary of Colloquialisms
(Starting with "W")
By
Natalya Belinsky,
"Fluent English Educational Project"
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W
(chat) with
WAG
- galacticos
- galactico
- wife
and girlfriend
- WAGs
- wife
- girlfriend
Also: Wag
1. (Informal) The wife or girlfriend
of a famous professional footballer.
2. The international vehicle registration
for Gambia, the IATA airport code
for Wanganui, New Zealand.
3. An abbreviation for Welsh Assembly
Government.
4. (Internet-speak) An informal abbreviation
for "wild-assed guess".
Examples: 1) After a shaky
but victorious start to the World Cup, the players
and manager were limiting their emotions to quiet
satisfaction. But the WAGs (wives and girlfriends)
didn't feel the need for such reserve. Perhaps they
had convinced themselves the omens were right for
their menfolk to become worldbeaters. (Daily
Mail, 12th June 2006) 2) So, to
what paradigm shall we fit the Wags, the footballers'
wives and girlfriends, who are currently making
a better job of holding the nation's interest &
than are the lacklustre attempts by their menfolk
to represent the country's interests in the World
Cup? (The Guardian, 17th June 2006) History:
It's the 2006 World Cup, and football teams across
the nations are competing frantically as they play
that beautiful 'game of two halves'. However
it's not just the 'two halves' that are being
talked about, but also the 'other halves',
which are the persistent focus of the media as the
competition takes place. Press coverage of the event
has in recent weeks been peppered with the term
WAG, a reference to the wives and
girlfriends of the world's galacticos (top
players)<http://www.macmillandictionary.com/med-magazine/June2006/39-New-Word.htm>,
who anxiously endure the matches in the hope that
the next result won't put them on a plane back home.
WAG is of course an acronym of
"wife and girlfriend".
This slightly unfortunate-sounding (and therefore
instantly memorable) term has quickly caught on
in media coverage of the activities of these females
as they support, celebrate and commiserate with
their high-profile partners during the competition.
WAG is usually used with derogatory overtones,
showing a lack of respect for these women as intelligent
individuals with a life of their own. Epitomised
by celebrity icon Victoria Beckham and caricatured
in the UK in the ITV drama series "Footballer's
Wives", WAGs are beautifully
made-up women, typically wearing designer sunglasses
and carrying Gucci handbags as they smile
for the paparazzi. Their archetypal activities include
shopping (preferably at leading designer boutiques),
relaxing by hotel swimming pools, sipping champagne
and partying the night away at post-match celebrations.
WAG was initially used to describe
the partners of the England football players, but
is gradually filtering into journalistic coverage
of other teams, especially in describing a mock
competitiveness for the media spotlight. WAG
as an acronym of "wife and girlfriend",
seems to have made its debut in the media coverage
of the 2006 World Cup, with no significant
evidence of its use prior to recent weeks.
WAN2
(chat) want to
WAN2TLK
(chat) want to talk
WASP
- White
Anglo-Saxon Protestant
- White
- Anglo-Saxon
- Protestant
- wasp
- yellow
jacket
- yellow
- jacket
- Aculeata
1. The acronym for White Anglo-Saxon
Protestant; an American who is of northern
European heritage and belongs to the Protestant
Church (considered to be the privileged class
in the United States).
Example:
Don's a WASP and I'm a WASP, but we have different
beliefs.
History:
According to the American Heritage Dictionary,
it denotes "a white, usually Protestant member
of the American upper social class." Baltzell,
a University of Pennsylvania sociologist, popularized
the word. The Online Etymology Dictionary
claims that he also coined it. But other sources
state that it was coined in 1962 by Erdman Palmore.
2. wasp: social insect with
membranous wings and a slender body that tapers
to a point with a stinging organ at the end; any
stinging member (formerly called Aculeata)
of the insect suborder Apocrita (order Hymenoptera),
other than bees and ants, as well as certain nonstinging
insects of the suborder Symphyta: wood
wasps, cedarwood wasps, and parasitic
wood wasps; any one of numerous species of stinging
hymenopterous insects, esp. any of
the numerous species of the genus vespa, which includes
the true, or social, wasps, some of which are called
yellow jackets.
Example:
The social wasps make a complex series of combs,
of a substance like stiff paper, often of large
size, and protect them by a paperlike covering.
WBCC
(med.) white blood cells count
WOOFYS
- Well
Off Older Folks
- Well
Off Older Folk
- Well
Off
- Older
Folks
- Well
- Older
- folk
- Folks
- WOOFYs
- WOOFY
Short for "Well Off Older Folks".
WOW
- WAG
- WOWs
- WAGs
- Murraymania
- Murraymaniac
(Informal) The wife or girlfriend
of a professional tennis player competing at the
Wimbledon tennis championships. Examples:
1) Today, give a big, warm welcome
to the WOWs. The Wives Of Wimbledon are taking centre
stage as the famous tennis tournament enters its
second week. (The Mirror, 4th July 2006)
2) The climax of the Wimbledon tennis
championships is approaching, and as the men's final
is played, there'll be two individuals sitting anxiously
at the side of centre court, longing to hear the
words 'game, set and match' followed by the surname
of their beau. For them, it's not just a tennis
match, but a love match which is at stake, as they
belong to the WOWs, the female partners of
the top players competing in the men's singles championship.
History, homonyms, related words, more examples:
"WOW" is an acronym
of Wives of Wimbledon,
a tongue-in-cheek expression taking inspiration
from the rather more unfortunate-sounding term "WAG",
coined recently to refer to the Wives
and Girlfriends of famous professional
footballers during media coverage of the 2006 World
Cup. WOW might be a catchy homonym
of a word expressing surprise or admiration (for
example: "Wow, this guy can play!",
"He wowed audiences with his performance",
"The wow factor &"), but "WOW"
also has far more positive connotations than
"WAG". WOWs are
similar to WAGs in that they
are beautiful, fashion-conscious women, but rather
than having a reputation for regularly partying
the night away, they're portrayed as calm, sensible
and supportive. Hot on the heels of WAG
as an acronym of "wife and girlfriend",
WOW as an acronym of "Wives
of Wimbledon" has made its debut
in the 2006 championships. It's a great example
of how language propagates, especially in journalistic
contexts, but time will tell whether one or both
expressions turn out to be ephemeral. Fuelled by
British player Andy Murray's unexpected win
against American number 1 Andy Roddick, the terms
Murraymania and Murraymaniac
are rapidly gaining currency, and on the evidence
of Henmania and Henmaniac
before them (see: Murray
Mound), coupled with Murray's youth
and long-term potential, they could emerge as seasonal
features of English, for example:
1) With Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski
gone, Murraymania dominates for British fans after
his first-round dismissal of Chile's Nicolás
Massú on Tuesday. (The Guardian, 29th
June 2006) 2) More than 42,000
"Murraymaniacs" supporting their hero on Wimbledon's
"Henman Hill" sat in tears as he slumped to a straight
sets defeat. (The Sun, 4th July 2006)
WRT
(chat) with respect to
WTTW
(chat) word to the wise
WWW
- World
Wide Web
- web
- www
- @www
- World
Wide
- Worldwide
- World
- Wide
1. Computer network consisting of a collection of
internet sites that offer text and graphics and
sound and animation resources through the hypertext
transfer protocol; network of HTML documents which
are linked together and located all over the world
Synonyms: World Wide Web, web, www, @www
2. (chat, Internet) Wait Wait Wait :-)
3. (chat, Internet) While We Wait :-)
4. (chat, Internet) World Wide Wait :-)
5. (chat, Internet) World Wide Waste :-)
6. (chat, Internet) With Warm Wishes
7. Whole Wide World
WYSIWYG
(chat) what you see is what you get
Washington
read
The perusal of a book in a bookstore that consists
of checking the index for references to oneself
and reading only those parts of the book.
Examples:
1) MR. THOMPSON: Have you read this
book? MR. ARMITAGE: I'm the only honest person in
Washington. MR. THOMPSON: (Laughs.) MR. ARMITAGE:
I gave it the Washington read. MR. THOMPSON: You
looked in the index to see if your name was in it.
MR. ARMITAGE: And then what was said about me. (James
R. Thompson and Richard Armitage, "Panel IV
of Day Two of the Eighth Public Hearing of the National
Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States", Federal News Service, March 24, 2004)
2) [Primary Colors] should have been
just an insiders' guessing game fit for a "Washington
read" - check the blurb, go to the index to
see if you're mentioned. What a stunning trick,
to make a brilliant and reflective novel instead.
(John Goulter, "Brilliant novel shadows
the Clintons' rise", The Evening Post (Wellington,
New Zealand), March 22, 1996)
3) There was the usual jesting about
the "Washington read," which consists
of a flip through the index in search of one's name.
"I always thought what I'd do was list people
in the index but not put them in the book,"
said former Carter press secretary turned political
columnist Jody Powell. (Mary Battiata, "Reliving
the Campaign; Newsweek Fetes 'Quest for the Presidency'
", The Washington Post, June 12, 1985)
History:
When Richard Ben Cramer published his 1992
book, "What It Takes: The Way to the White
House", a blow-by-blow account of the 1988
U.S. presidential campaign, many people were surprised
that, despite its 1,000-page bulk, it contained
no index. In an interview with The New York Times,
Mr. Cramer explained why: "For years
I watched all these Washington jerks, all these
Capitol Hill, executive-branch, agency wise guys
and reporters go into, say, Trover bookstore, take
a political book off the shelf, look up their names,
glance at the page and put the book back. Washington reads by index, and I wanted those people to read the damn
thing". Did it work? Not exactly, at least
according to James D. Pinkerton, an advisor to the
1988 Bush-Quayle campaign. "The Times"
reported that Mr. Pinkerton "had his secretary
pre-read the book, combing it for any references
to him."
Webby
- Webbys
- Webbies
- web
- Grammy
- Emmy
- Sonys
- Sonies
- Sony
1. (Noun) An international award given
to people involved in web design and web-based media.
2. (Adjective) Resembling or
consisting of a web.
Examples: 1) Guardian Unlimited has
won the best online newspaper award for the second
year running at the 10th International Webby
Awards, widely regarded as the "Oscars" of the
internet. (The Guardian, 9th May 2006) 2)
The Webbies are dubbed the "Online Oscars"
by both "Time Magazine" and the "New
York Times". (Scoop.co.nz <http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0605/S00028.htm>,
10th May 2006) History, related words:
On June 12th 2006, the 10th annual Webby
Awards will be held in Manhattan. Presented by the
International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
<http://www.iadas.net>, an organisation
formed from a group of leading web experts aiming
to promote the development of the Internet, the
awards are presented to the world's 'best' websites.
The Webby is a way of honouring excellence
in web design, creativity, usability and functionality.
It is generally regarded as a sort of online Oscar
<http://www.oscar.com>" (a prestigious
award in the film industry presented since 1929
by the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).
The Webbys (plural form
also sometimes occurring as Webbies)
are handed out across 69 categories, including business,
consumer, culture and politics. In each category,
two awards are on offer: a Webby Award
selected by a panel of judges, and a People's
Voice Award selected by the votes of visitors
to the Webby Awards site. Among 2006
year's winners was photo-sharing website Flickr
<http://www.flickr.com>", which picks
up the Webby for best navigation and
structure. As well as website design, awards are
given to the most outstanding examples of web-based
media. In 2006, these included an award to National
Geographic <http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0606/index.html>
for best online magazine, Yahoo! Inc. <http://podcasts.yahoo.com>
for best podcast site, and an artist of the
year award for the virtual band Gorillaz <http://www.gorillaz.com>.
American musician Prince <http://www.npgmusicclub.com>
is also to be given a special achievement award
for his revolutionary use of the Internet to distribute
and promote his music. Prince was the first
major artist to release an entire album exclusively
on the web. The adjective form "webby"
is based on the literal sense of the noun
"web" as a network of fine
threads made by a spider. The capitalised version
"Webby" relates of
course to the Internet sense of "web"
(also often capitalised, dating from about 1994).
The expression "Webby"
was presumably inspired by the terms "Grammy",
an award for recorded music presented annually
by the US Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences,
and "Emmy", a television
industry award also presented annually by the US
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Over in the UK, the radio industry 'Oscars'
are described as the Sonys, presented
at the annual Sony Radio Academy Awards ceremony.
In May 2006, UK radio station Radio 1 won
a Sony for the first time in
the 24 year history of the awards.
Webzine
1. A zine hosted on the World Wide Web rather
than in print.
2. Some people also use the term to refer
to any magazine published on the Web.
Example:
Early Webzines included Chaos Control, Hotwired,
and The Virtual Journal.
Etymology:
"Web" = "zine"
(abr. of "magazine").
West Brit
- West
Briton
- West
- Brit
- Briton
- Anglophile
A term entrenched in the centuries of Irish attitudes
to Britain. In the Republic of Ireland today, it's
definitely derogatory. In its least insulting sense
it refers to an Irish person who has sympathies
for the UK or who takes his cultural and social
cues from Britain. If you were being polite, you
might instead call such a person an Anglophile.
The term is applied in particular to Protestant
Dubliners who have liberal attitudes to moral issues.
It's an abbreviation of "West Briton".
In that spelling, it has been around since the early
nineteenth century. It was borrowed from the equivalent
term applied by the English to a Scot, a "North
Briton" (the country being "North
Britain"), terms that are thankfully obsolete,
since Scots so often heard a patronising tone in
them. (At one time, "West Briton"
could also be used for a Welsh person, though this
is long since defunct.)
Example:
"Perhaps he ought not to have answered her
like that. But she had no right to call him a West
Briton before people, even in joke." (James
Joyce, Dubliners, 1914)
Etymology:
The term "West Briton" evolved
in meaning in the period of the partition struggles
of the early 20th cent. that led to the creation
of the Irish Republic. A West Briton then was a
person who favoured the retention of a close association
with Great Britain and was against the establishment
of the Republic. "West Briton"
remains a favourite insult of members of the Republican
movement, who sometimes use it for somebody who
is seen as retaining a subservient attitude to the
UK.
What will be
- will
be
- What
will be - will be
- What
will be
- what
- will
be
- be
This saying means that some things are beyond our
control.
Example:
"I'm so worried about the game tomorrow. We
have to win!" Cleo said.
"Well, both baseball teams are good,"
Gordon said, "so it'll be a close game. But
it doesn't pay to worry. What will be, will be."
When in Rome
- do
as the Romans do
- When
in Rome do as the Romans do
- When
- Rome
- the
Romans
- Romans
- Roman
- do
This saying means that when you are in an familiar
situation or place, it's a good idea to follow the
customs of the people around you. This can apply
to visiting foreign countries, or simply to being
in a situation where everyone but you seems to know
how to act.
Example:
Martha, an exchange student from Brazil, looked
worried. "Oh, please," she said to her
friend Beth, "what do I do? I've never been
to a pep rally before, and I don't know how to act."
"Don't worry. Just do what everyone else is
doing, cheering. We have an expression here, 'When
in Rome, do as the Romans do,' and that about covers
it," said Beth.
When it rains it pours
- When
it rains
- it
pours
- When
- it
rains
- it
pours
- rains
- pours
- rain
- pour
When people say this, they mean that something that
starts out as a little bit of bad luck can
turn into a disaster.
Example:
Keith limped into the kitchen and plopped down on
a chair. "What happened, Keith?"
his brother asked. Keith grimaced. "What
a rotten day. First I missed the bus and had to
walk to school. When I got there, I got in trouble
for being late. Then I messed up on my math
test. I found out that I left my lunch at home this
morning, I turned my ankle in gym class, and
now I think I'm getting a cold. When it rains
it pours."
When the cat's away
- the
mice will play
- When
the cat is away
- the
mice will play
- When
- cat
- away
- be
awat
- mice
- mouse
- play
Without supervision, people misbehave.
Winterval
A period of festivities which take place in the
middle of winter, including Christmas and other
religious or secular festivals.
Example:
& Time for Australia to fall in line with places
such as the UK, where councils have renamed Christmas
"Winterval" and replaced references to Christmas
on signage with the words "Festive" and "Winter".
(Queensland Sunday Mail, 4th December 2005)
History, more examples:
This festive season, you'll no doubt be sending
Winterval cards, decorating your Winterval
tree and tucking into Winterval pudding
and Winterval cake. If all this sounds
a bit odd, consider that the word Christmas
is rather biased towards one particular faith. In
an effort to embrace all religions, not just Christianity,
during the festive season, the term Winterval
has been suggested as a politically-correct
alternative which potentially encompasses Jewish
Hanukkah, Afro-Caribbean Kwanzaa, Hindu
Diwali and pagan festivals such as Yule
or the Winter Solstice. The word Christmas
is derived from Old English "Cristes
mass", meaning literally, 'mass of Christ'.
Conventional dictionary definitions of Christmas
define it as 'an annual Christian festival celebrating
Christ's birth, held on 25th December'. However,
we all know that, in reality, the word Christmas
represents a period from early December to New
Year's Eve, during which people party, eat special
food, give presents and, just maybe, set foot in
a Christian place of worship. With less than ten
per cent of the British population going to church,
an established multi-cultural society, and secular
rather than religious traditions dominating the
festive period, some would argue that there is a
convincing case for British English to drop Christmas
and adopt Winterval. Winterval
is a blend of the words Winter and festival,
which first hit the headlines in 1998 when it was
used by Birmingham City Council in the UK.
In an effort to create a more multi-cultural atmosphere
in keeping with the city's mix of ethnic groups,
the council introduced the term to describe a three-month
period of multi-faith and secular events running
from October to January. Not surprisingly, the term
was the subject of some controversy, prompting a
reaction from the then Bishop of Birmingham, the
Rt Rev Mark Santer (similarity to
the name of the man in the red hat purely coincidental!).
In response, the council stated that they wanted
people to celebrate Christmas, claiming that "Christmas
is the very heart of Winterval." Given that
fierce arguments still persist between those who
want to 'include all' and those who want to preserve
the Christian roots of the festive season, formal
recognition of the word Winterval in
published dictionaries still seems some way off.
Wknd
(chat) weekend
World Famous in New Zealand
- World Famous
- New Zealand
- World
- Famous
- Zealand
The phrase has long been the humorous slogan advertising
a drink called "Lemon & Paeroa"
- "L&P" for short, and has
been taken up by many other NZ firms in affectionate
and patriotic tribute.
Example:
"World Famous in New Zealand: How New Zealand
Firms became World-Class Competitors" by C.
Campbell-Hunt, J. Brocklesby, S. Chetty, L. Corbett,
S. Davenport, D.Jones and P. Walsh is the story
of how 10 of New Zealand's finest companies became
world-class competitors.
wag
[WAG] A humorous person; a wit; a joker.
Examples:
1) The master of ceremonies was
one Boston, a noted wag, and the occasion seemed to promise the greatest
facetiousness. (Francis Bret Harte, "The
Luck of Roaring Camp")
2) Yet the fate of all three reformers
was more or less the same. Washington
remained much as it had been before. ("Only
more so," a wag might add.) (Jonathan
Rauch, "Government's End")
3) Some wag has summed up the three
laws of thermodynamics in everyday terms: 1. You
can't win. 2. You can't even break even. 3. You
can't get out of the game. (John Gribbin with
Mary Gribbin, "Almost Everyone's Guide to
Science")
Etymology:
"Wag" in this sense perhaps
comes from the obsolete "wag-halter"
("a rogue; one likely to be hanged").
waggish
[WAG-ish]
1. Resembling or characteristic
of a wag.
2. Done or made in waggery or
for sport; humorous.
Example:
Lisa listens to the same waggish DJ every morning,
never tiring of his prank phone calls and irreverent
impressions of local politicians.
History, related words, more examples:
One who is waggish acts like a wag.
What, then, is a wag? Etymologists
think "wag" probably came
from "waghalter," a word that
was once used for a "gallows bird" (that
is, a person who was going to be, or deserved
to be, hanged). "Waghalter" was
apparently shortened to "wag"
and used jokingly or affectionately for mischievous
pranksters or youths. Hence a wag
is a joker, and waggery is merriment
or practical joking. "Waggish"
can describe the prank itself as well as the prankster
type; the class clown might be said to be prone
to "waggish antics" or even to
have a "waggish disposition."
wait
and see
Wait and find out; wait patiently; no hurry; let
us wait for the result.
Example:
I don't know what to do. Wait and see.
walk
on eggshells
- be walking on eggshells
- walking on eggshells
- walking on
- eggshells
- walk on
- eggshell
- walking
- walk
- walking on thin ice
- be walking on thin ice
- walk on thin ice
- thin ice
- thin
- ice
To be in a delicate situation; to be on the edge
of danger or ruin.
Examples:
1) Ever since I smashed their car,
I've been walking on eggshells with my parents.
2) We're walking on eggshells with
our landlord - she told us that if we have one
more loud party, she's going to kick us out of
our apartment.
Etymology:
An 'eggshell' is the thin, white outer
coating of an egg. The shell is very thin and
breaks easily. So if you are 'walking on
eggshells' you are in a situation where
you could break something (or get in trouble or
ruin everything) very easily. Synonym:
walking on thin ice
walk
the talk
- walk
- talk
- do what you preach
- preach
- practise what you preach
- practise
- do
To do what you talk about doing, to practice what
you preach.
Example:
If we advise people to be honest, we should be
honest ourselves. We have to walk the talk.
Synonyms:
do what you preach, practise what you preach.
walk
with a limp
be crippled
walkout
A strike; a unified employee protest against an
employer.
Example: The steel plant has been shut
down by a walkout.
Etymology: This term came into use in the
late 1880s, when labor unions began to organize
mass protests against low wages and inhuman working
conditions.
walleyed
[WAWL-eyed]
1. Having walleyes or affected with
walleye.
2. Marked by a wild irrational staring
of the eyes.
Example:
Being refused service at the restaurant left Trent
so angry that he could only manage a walleyed
stare.
History, related words:
The noun "walleye" has
several meanings. It can refer to an eye
with a whitish or bluish-white iris or to one
with an opaque white cornea. It can also refer
to a condition in which the eye turns outward
away from the nose. The extended second sense
of the adjective "walleyed"
came from the appearance of eyes affected with
the condition of walleye. You might
guess that "walleyed"
has an etymological connection with "wall,"
but that's not the case. Rather, it is derived
from "wawil-eghed" - a Middle
English translation of the Old Norse word "vagl-eygr,"
from "vagl" ("beam")
and "eygr" ("eyed").
wan
1. Having a pale or sickly hue.
Synonyms: pale; pallid.
2. Lacking vitality, as from weariness,
illness, or unhappiness.
Synonym: feeble.
3. Lacking in intensity or brightness;
Synonyms: dim, feeble.
Examples:
1) She was concerned about her grandson's
wan appearance. "So skinny," she would
say in Yiddish, "such a plucked little owl."
(Herbert G. Goldman, "Banjo Eyes")
2) Her pale, pinched lips, sunken
eyes and wan, haggard cheeks presented a mournful
contrast to her former self. (Wilkie Collins,
"Iolani")
3) ...Some wan heroine in a Gothic
romance, keening over a faithless lover, trembling
before a murderous stalker, falling into the arms
of her rescuers. (Marilyn Stasio, review of
"Final Jeopardy, by Linda Fairstein",
New York Times, July 28, 1996)
4) Through the frayed curtain at
my window, a wan glow announces the break of day.
(Jean-Dominique Bauby, "The Diving Bell
and the Butterfly")
Etymology:
"Wan" is from Old English
"wann" ("gloomy, dark").
wanderlust
[WAHN-der-lust]
Strong longing for or impulse towards wandering.
Example:
Less than a year after Bob moved to New England,
wanderlust set in again, and he decided to pack
up his things and head out to the Southwest.
Etymology:
"Wanderlust" is lust
(or "desire") for wandering.
The word comes from German, in which "wandern"
means "to wander," and "Lust"
means "desire."
warp
speed
[WORP-SPEED]
The highest possible speed.
Example:
When Mario saw Helen enter the elevator, he grabbed
his laptop and vaulted down the stairs at warp
speed to get to the meeting room ahead of her.
History:
"Warp speed" is an example
of a phrase that entered the public consciousness
through science fiction and eventually gained
enough popularity to end up in the dictionary.
The expression was popularized on the science-fiction
show "Star Trek" in the 1960s.
On the show, "warp speed"
referred to a specific concept, namely the idea
of faster-than-light travel. Within a relatively
short period of time, "Star Trek"
gained a devoted and intense following. Fans were
soon discussing the fictional concepts of the
show, including warp speed, with great enthusiasm.
Eventually, the term "warp speed"
was adopted by the general population. In the
process, however, it lost its specific fictional
meaning and came to mean simply "the highest
possible speed."
wassail
1. To indulge in riotous drinking.
Synonym: carouse.
2. (dialect England) To sing carols
from house to house at Christmas.
3. To drink to the health or thriving of.
Example:
The farmer and his revelers wassailed the apple
orchard, hoping for another fruitful season, and
then merrily poured cider around the trees.
4. A festive occasion on which toasts are
drunk.
5. The ale or wine in which toasts for
a festive occasion are made.
Etymology:
The salutation "wassail,"
from the Old Norse toast "ves heill"
("be well"), has accompanied English
toast-making since the 12th century. By that time,
it had become the salutation you offered as a
toast, to which the standard reply was "drinc
hail" - drink good health. ("Hail"
is an older form of the modern word "hale"
- health; well-being and is also closely connected
with the word "hail" meaning
to salute, greet, welcome.) The toast seems
to have come over with the Danes; by the twelfth
century the Norman conquerors of Britain regarded
it as one of the most characteristic sayings of
the country. By the 13th century, "wassail"
was being used for the drink itself, and it eventually
came to be used especially of a hot drink (of
wine, beer, or cider with spices, sugar, and usually
baked apples) drunk around Christmastime - on
Christmas Eve or Twelfth Night. This beverage
warmed the stomachs and hearts of many Christmas
revelers and was often shared with Christmas carolers.
In the western counties of Britain, the tradition
grew up on Twelfth Night of toasting the good
health of the apple trees that would bear the
crop from which next years cider would be made.
Pieces of bread soaked in cider were placed in
the crooks of trees, guns were fired to ward off
evil spirits, and special songs were sung:
Let every man take off his hat And shout out
to th'old apple tree Old apple tree we wassail
thee And hoping thou will bear.
Ceremonies like these have almost entirely died
out, though one or two are self-consciously kept
alive in Somerset.
The verb "wassail" was
first used in the 14th century to describe the
carousing associated with indulgence in the drink;
later, it was used of other activities associated
with wassail and the holiday season,
like caroling. Seventeenth-century farmers added
cattle and trees to the wassail tradition
by drinking to their health or thriving during
wintertime festivities.
wasted
- waste
- plastered
- blasted
- plaster
- blast
Drunk, stoned, high; what happens to you if you
drink too much or take drugs.
Examples:
1) Sam spent eight hours at the
bar, and by the end of the night he was wasted.
2) We were really wasted at the
concert. Black Sabbath rules!
Etymology:
This word comes from 1950s hipster talk. "Waste"
is trash or something that is ruined or lifeless.
The idea is that if you drink a lot of liquor
or take a lot of drugs, your body and mind become
lifeless.
Synonyms: plastered, blasted
wastrel
[WAY-struhl]
1. A person who wastes, especially one
who squanders money; a spendthrift.
2. An idler; a loafer; a good-for-nothing.
Etymology:
1) Horace Liveright, the book publisher
of the 1920's, is usually recalled in literary
memoirs as a charming wastrel, a gambler who always
saw a winning bet as a chance to raise his stake
in whatever game he was losing at. (Christopher
Lehmann-Haupt, "Disastrous Life of a Pioneer
in Hype," New York Times, July 27, 1995)
2) Thad risked everything, including
his farm, to set Abner up in the grocery business
in the town of Hargrave, only to have Abner turn
wastrel and lose everything. (John Kenny Crane,
"Good Fellers," New York Times, November
15, 1992)
3) Was her father ... the brilliant,
glamorous figure she remembered, or the alcoholic
wastrel his own brother described? (Jean Strouse,
"Making the Facts Obey," New York Times,
May 24, 1992)
Etymology:
"Wastrel" is from "waste"
+ "-rel" (as in
"scoundrel").
watered
down
- water down
- watered
- down
- water
Weakened or diluted; something that has been made
less powerful or potent.
Examples:
1) The movie is a watered down version of the
book. 2) Tipsy McStagger's is a pretty good pub.
The only problem is that the bartender waters
down the drinks.
Etymology: If you want to dilute the concentrate
of a solution, you add water to it.
waylay
- ambush
- assail
- bushwhack
- set
- set upon
[WAY-lay]
1. To lie in wait for and attack from ambush.
2. To approach or stop (someone)
unexpectedly.
Synonyms: ambush, assail, bushwhack, set
upon.
Examples:
1) When his mother praised certain
well-behaved and neatly dressed boys in the village,
Jung was filled with hate for them, and would
waylay and beat them up. (Frank McLynn, "Carl
Gustav Jung")
2) He returned to her night after
night, until his brother, Frank, waylaid him one
evening outside Harriet's cabin and beat him bloody.
(Lynne Olson, "Freedom's Daughters")
3) Furious and humiliated, the boy
waylaid Martha after school. (Julian Barnes,
"England, England")
4) The women, who hold wicker baskets
filled with flowers and incense, are out to waylay
tourists and to entice them into buying the blooms
and scents. (Jacob Heilbrunn, "Mao More
Than Ever," New Republic, April 21, 1997)
Etymology:
"Waylay" comes from "way"
(from Old English "weg") + "lay"
(from Old English "lecgan").
wayworn
[WAY-worn]
Wearied by traveling.
Examples:
1) The wayworn Battalions halt in
the Avenue: they have, for the present, no wish
so pressing as that of shelter and rest. (Thomas
Carlyle, "The French Revolution")
2) These beautiful and verdant recesses,
running through and softening the rugged mountains,
were cheering and refreshing to the wayworn travellers.
(Washington Irving, "Astoria")
Etymology:
"Wayworn" is "way"
(from Old English "weg") + "worn"
(from Old English "werian").
weal
- well-being
- well
- being
- commonweal
- commonwealth
- wealth
[WEEL]
A sound, healthy, or prosperous state.
Synonym: well-being
Example:
During his two years as county judge, other qualities
... became apparent. One was an unusual ability
to persuade men to sacrifice for a common weal.
(Robert Caro, "The New Yorker", January
15, 1990)
History, more exaples, related words:
"Weal" is most often used
in contexts referring to the general good. One
reads, for example, of the "public
weal" or the "common weal."
The latter of these led to the formation of the
noun "commonweal," a word
that once referred to an organized political entity,
such as a nation or state, but today usually means
"the general welfare." The word "commonwealth"
shares these meanings, but its situation is reversed;
the "political entity" sense of "commonwealth"
is still current, whereas the "general welfare"
sense has become archaic. At one time, "weal"
and "wealth" were also
synonyms; both meant "riches"
("all his worldy weal") and "well-being."
Both stem from "wela," the Old
English word for "well-being," and are
closely related to the Old English word for "well."
weaponize
1. To make into or use as a weapon or a
potential weapon.
Example:
Will modern physicists weaponize String Theory?
2. To attach a weapon to a missile or other
delivery mechanism.
Example:
India and Pakistan have begun weaponizing the
nuclear devices they first tested in 1998, senior
Clinton administration officials now believe.
Pakistan has already placed a nuclear warhead
on some of its missiles, and India is responding
in kind, they say. ("A New Threat in South
Asia", Newsweek, October 18, 1999)
Etymology:
From "weapon", from O.E. "wæpen"
("instrument of fighting and defense"),
from P.Gmc. "wæpnan", from
"webno-m", of unknown origin
with no cognates outside Gmc.
webster
1. (archaic) weaver
Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English "webbestre"
("female weaver"), from "webbian"
("to weave"); akin to Old English
"wefan" ("to weave");
"-ster" is a feminine suffix in
English, as in "spinster".
2. John Webster
- English playwright (1580?-1652?)
3. Daniel Webster - United
States politician and orator (1782-1817)
4. town and lake resort in Worcester County,
in south central Massachusetts. 5. Noah
Webster - American lexicographer (1758-1843)
6. Webster's - dictionary
Example:
To appreciate this fine title, it is useful to
know that Webster's is the authoritative dictionary
in the US, and is called after the patriotic scholar
Noah Webster; but that the name Webster itself
means "woman weaver". ("Feminism
and linguistic theory". Cameron, Deborah.
Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 1992)
History:
The name Webster's was the subject
of a bitter dispute in the early 20th century
with the courts ruling that G. & C. Merriam,
the lineal publishing descendants of Noah
Webster's dictionaries, did not have exclusive
rights to the name. Webster's in
everyday English has been synonymous with
dictionary since Noah Webster hit
it big in 1828, but perhaps because they don't
want to get embroiled in further litigation, dictionaries
don't record that generic meaning of the name."
(Dennis Baron, "McLanguage Meets the Dictionary")
7. Margaret Webster - American
actress, producer, and director, b. New York City
(1905-1972)
websurfer
(comp.)
1. A person who wanders around the World
Wide Web.
Example:
The browsing tree deal with the way the websurfer
get to the information.
2. A client application for the World Wide
Web.
Example:
"WebSurfer" supports manual proxy configuration
and exclusion lists for hosts or domains that
should not be fetched via proxy
websurfing
In a computer context, wandering around
the World Wide Web.
Example:
Once started, the program will follow you in your
websurfing.
welch
To fail to pay a debt; to fail to do something
you promise to do.
Example: I won the pool game, but the guy
I was playing welched on the bet. Etymology:
Although the origins of this word are unknown,
it might be an old slur againt people from Wales
in Great Britain, implying that people from that
region (the Welsh) don't pay their debts.
welkin
[WEL-kun]
1. The vault of the sky; firmament.
2. The celestial abode of God or the gods;
heaven.
3. The upper atmosphere.
Example:
The pink sky at sunset brought to mind a quote
from Shakespeare's "King John": "The
sun of heaven, methought, was loath to set / But
stay'd and made the western welkin blush."
History, related expression, more examples:
When it comes to "welkin,"
the sky's the limit. This heavenly word has been
used in English to refer to the vault of the sky
since at least the 12th century, and it derives
from an earlier word from Old English that meant
"cloud." In modern English, "welkin"
is still flying high, and it is often teamed with
the verb "ring" to suggest a
loud noise or an exuberant expression of emotion,
as in "the welkin rang with the sound
of the orchestra" or "her hearty
laugh made the welkin ring." These contemporary
phrases echo an older use - the original words
of a carol that once began "Hark, how
all the welkin ring," which we now know
as "Hark! The herald angels sing."
well
begun is half done
- good begun is half done
- well
- begun
- half done
- half
- done
- good
- do
- begin
This saying means that if you start something
off well, it will be easier to finish.
Example:
Thomas cracked three eggs into the bowl without
dropping any shell into the omelet mixture. "This
sure is a good start!" he said to himself.
"And if well begun is half done, then this
is going to be one excellent omelet!"
welter
[WEL-ter]
1. To writhe, toss; wallow.
2. To rise and fall or toss about
in or with waves.
Example:
The ship tossed and weltered upon the waves in
the ocean.
3. To become deeply sunk, soaked, or
involved.
4. To be in turmoil.
History, more meanings and examples:
"Welter" can be used both
as a noun (meaning "turmoil"
or "chaos") and a verb.
Which part of speech is older? The verb.
It has been part of English since at least the
1300s, while the earliest uses of the noun date
from the late 1590s. Both noun and
verb have roots related to Dutch
and Germanic terms meaning "to roll,"
and both have found a place in English literature.
The verb helps demonstrate extreme
despair in the early Arthurian legend "Morte
Arthure" ("He welterys, he wristeles,
he wrynges hys handes!"), and in 1837
Thomas Carlyle used the noun in "The
French Revolution" ("I leave
the whole business in a frightful welter: ...
not one of them understands anything of government").
wet
blanket
- party pooper
- wet
- blanket
- party
- pooper
A person who discourages others from having fun;
a pessimistic, no-nonsense individual.
Example:
Don't be such a wet blanket! Let me have the car
keys - we're going for a spin. Synonym:
party pooper
wet
day centre
- wet day center
- wet centre
- wet center
- wet day
- centre
- wet
- day
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