Rigmarole

No photo today. You have no idea how difficult it is to find a picture of "rigmarole".


I am not sure why this word popped into my head, but I thought it a good word for the week.I had trouble spelling it initially, since I was including another syllable between the "rig" and "ma". You'll see that there is another pronunciation containing this extra syllable, but it's only in America and it's not the preferred.


rig·ma·role (rgm-rl) also rig·a·ma·role (--m-rl); n.


1. Confused, rambling, or incoherent discourse; nonsense.
2. A complicated, petty set of procedures.


[Alteration of obsolete ragman roll, catalog, from Middle English ragmane rolle, scroll used in Ragman, a game of chance : perhaps from Anglo-Norman Ragemon le bon, Ragemon the Good, title of a set of verses about a character of this name + Middle English rolle, list (from Old French, from Latin rotula, wheel; see roll).]
 
Turns out, it's also a fishing lure. I guess a play on the first syllable, "rig". Fishermen can be wordsmiths, too!

Apoplectic

Jim and I were watching the old Ocean's 11 last night and in of the scenes, the character played by Peter Lawford was talking to the Akim Tamiroff character, and called him apoplectic! I made Jim rewind a bit so I could see if I was wrong. This is a word that I have recently learned, and it is so wonderfully descriptive for so many people I know that I have started using it more and more.

I'll bet the remake staring George Clooney doesn't use that word. They don't script like they used to!

Main Entry: ap·o·plec·tic



Pronunciation: \ˌa-pə-ˈplek-tik\
Function: adjective
Etymology: French or Late Latin; French apoplectique, from Late Latin apoplecticus, from Greek apoplēktikos, from apoplēssein; Date: 1611


1 : of, relating to, or causing stroke
2 : affected with, inclined to, or showing symptoms of stroke
3 : of a kind to cause or apparently cause stroke ; also : greatly excited or angered

Serendipity

Serendipity has long been a favorite word of mine. This morning, my friend and coworker, Jack, used it in a sentence. When I commented on his usage, he sent me the following:

ser'en•dip'i•tous adj., ser'en•dip'i•tous•ly adv.

From the characters in the Persian fairy tale “The Three Princes of Serendip”, who made such discoveries, from Persian Sarandīp, Sri Lanka, from Arabic sarandīb.

Word History: We are indebted to the English author Horace Walpole for the word serendipity, which he coined in one of the 3,000 or more letters on which his literary reputation primarily rests. In a letter of January 28, 1754, Walpole says that "this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word." Walpole formed the word on an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. He explained that this name was part of the title of "a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of...."

Isn't that a GREAT etymology? I love that story!!