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catachresis ka-tuh-KREE-suhs noun mistaken use of words; an out of context or mixed metaphor; the change in a word's meaning over time 1840Captain Frederick MarryatOlla PodridaI was going to say that he could not call his soul his own; but that would be a Catachresis, and I hate and abominate every thing which begins with CAT.1842Caroline Matilda KirklandForest LifeIn vain is the far-sounding bell strapped round the neck of the master ox or cow, (for we say master-cow by catachresis I suppose.)1957John Wyndham The Midwich Cuckoos I wonder if a sillier and more ignorant catachresis than 'Mother Nature' was ever perpetrated? 1990Bill BrysonThe Mother TongueThis drift in meaning, technically called catachresis, is as widespread as it is curious.Labels: Bill Bryson, Captain Frederick Marryat, Caroline Matilda Kirkland, John Wyndham
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peregrination paer-uh-gruh-NAY-shuhn noun travel; a journey by foot 1831Michael RussellPalestineFrom his infancy he had been distinguished by a sage and pious disposition; and, on emerging from boyhood, he was seized with an anxious desire to 'try the unknown ways of peregrination—to pass over the huge wastes of ocean to the ends of the earth.'1893Mungo ParkLife and Travels of Mungo Park in Central AfricaDuring a wearisome peregrination of more than five hundred British miles, exposed to the burning rays of a tropical sun, these poor slaves, amidst their own infinitely greater sufferings, would commiserate mine; and frequently of their own accord bring water to quench my thirst, and at night collect branches and leaves to prepare me a bed in the Wilderness.1905Booth TarkingtonThe Beautiful LadyThe peregrination of the American trousers suddenly stopped as they caught sight of me, and that precious skirt paused, precisely in opposition to my little table.1908Gordon HomeYorkshireThe many interests that this singularly remote neighbourhood contains can be realized by making such a peregrination as we made through the Wolds.1919James Oliver CurwoodNomads of the NorthThen came the day, when Neewa was eleven weeks old, that she turned her nose toward the distant black forests and began the summer's peregrination.1998Bill BrysonA Walk in the WoodsI can't find one [friend] that will bear the fatigue to accompany me in my paregrinations.Labels: Bill Bryson, Booth Tarkington, Gordon Home, James Oliver Curwood, Michael Russell, Mungo Park
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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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shibboleth SHI-buh-leth noun a common-place belief; use of a language unique to a particular group; a code word (usually a common place word with a secret meaning) used by members of a group; 1908E. M. ForsterA Room With a ViewLife is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice, and we welcome 'nerves' or any other shibboleth that will cloak our personal desire.1918Ian HayThe First Hundred ThousandThe word 'fatigue' is a shibboleth with, the British private. Persuade him that a task is part of his duty as a soldier, and he will perform it with tolerable cheerfulness; but once allow him to regard that task as a 'fatigue,' and he will shirk it whenever possible, and regard himself as a deeply injured individual when called upon to undertake it.1990Bill BrysonThe Mother TongueDialects are sometimes said to be used as a shibboleth.Labels: Bill Bryson, E. M. Forster, Ian Hay
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prima facie PRAI-muh FAY-shee adjective valid; self-evident; a legally valid fact 1850Various Notes & Queries (7 September 1850)...I have prima facie proof that Sir Miles left no son. 1968John Le CarreA Small Town In Germany'A prima facie case,' Bradfield remarked, examining his notes once more. 'Grounds for reinvestigation, I grant you. At best, a public prosecutor might be persuaded to make an initial examination.'1971Hunter S. ThompsonFear and Loathing In Las VegasThe idea that two heroin pushers in a white Cadillac convertible would be dragging up and down the Strip, abusing total strangers at stoplights, was prima facie absurd.1996Bill BrysonNotes from a Small Island...there is a prima facie case to presume that they perform unnatural acts…Labels: Bill Bryson, Hunter S. Thompson, John Le Carre, Various
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ideolect ai-dee-uh-LEKT noun the speech of an individual or group that constitutes a distinct linguistic pattern in relation to other speakers of the language or dialect 1995Kim Stanley RobinsonBlue Mars...Earth seemed to Nirgal an explosion of idiolects, no two persons employing the same tongue.1999Bill BrysonI'm A Stranger Here Myself...noting a steady and seemingly terminal decline in the fragile idiolect.Labels: Bill Bryson, Kim Stanley Robinson
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