perfervid (adjective)
Something that’s perfervid (per-FUR-vid) is intense and impassioned; marked by overwrought or exaggerated emotion. As I used it today: “After a good five minutes of perfervid shouting, it turned into an argument about how dangerous the virus really is.”
peremptory (adjective)
Something that’s peremptory (puh-REMP-tuh-ree) insists on immediate attention or obedience, especially in a brusquely imperious way. As used by George Eliot: “There is something sustaining in the very agitation that accompanies the first shocks of trouble, just as an acute pain is often a stimulus, and produces an excitement which is transient strength. It is in the slow, changed life that follows – in the time when sorrow has become stale, and has no longer an emotive intensity that counteracts its pain – in the time when day follows day in dull unexpectant sameness, and trial is a dreary routine – it is then that despair threatens; it is then that the peremptory hunger of the soul is felt, and eye and ear are strained after some unlearned secret of our existence, which shall give to endurance the nature of satisfaction.”
verbing (noun)
I’d like to interrupt all this Corona Crisis coverage to raise an objection to something bothersome that has been accelerating during this time of stress. I’m talking about the soon-to-become ubiquitous “verbing” (the practice of using a noun as a verb) of pivot – e.g., “We may have to pivot here and change our marketing strategy.”
I’m not crazy about impact or medal as verbs, either. But pivot is an odious development. Please join me in resisting the temptation to use it. If we can keep a good social distance from it for at least until the Corona Crisis has passed, perhaps it will die out naturally.
furlough (noun)
A furlough (FUR-low) is a leave of absence. It usually refers to a leave granted to a member of the armed services, but lately we’ve been hearing it in a different context – employees being furloughed instead of being laid off. Here’s the difference. While laid off workers are sometimes rehired, there is no expectation that they will be. Furloughed employees, on the other hand, are expected to return to work. Importantly, they usually retain any benefits (e.g., health/life insurance) they may have through their employer. As I used it today: “In the April 1 blog, I talked about how, despite my instincts and objections, I agreed with some of my partners – particularly in restaurant, hotel, and apartment businesses – to slash every dollar of unnecessary expense and to put some non-essential employees on furlough.”
morbidity vs. mortality
According to Dictionary.com, “These two nouns are similar in the sense that they are dark and often deal with sickness or death. However, they have distinct meanings within this heavier topic, and they can’t be interchanged.”
Click here for a detailed explanation of the difference.
Words in the News From Dictionary.com
* Sedentation (seh-den-TAY-shun) – defined as “the adoption of a sedentary mode of life” – has been in use since the first half of the 20thcentury… but never the way we’re using it today.
* Supplicant (SUH-plih-kunt) – “humbly imploring, entreating” – had a rare moment in the sun after President Trump declared that the US would never merit this adjective.
* Cordon sanitaire (kor-dohn sah-nee-TARE) – “a protective barrier” – is a term that is usually applied to situations in which a state wishes to repel a dangerous influence, but is often found in reference to infectious diseases.
* Scourge (SKURJ) – “a cause of affliction or calamity” – had a spike in lookups on Dictionary.com after President Trump rhymed it with “gorge” and people rushed to see if they’d been saying it wrong all this time.
“Antibiotic” vs. “Antibody” vs. “Antigen”: What’s the difference?
An antibioticis a medicine used to fight bacterial infections. It does not work against viruses. Antibodies are special proteins that the immune system produces in response to antigens. And antigens are substances that can stimulate the body’s production of antibodies.
Click here to read a full explanation of how these things work in your body to help you fight off disease.
protean (adjective)
Protean (PROH-dee-un) refers to the ability to change frequently or easily. As used by Paul Johnson: “Indeed it is the protean ability of Western civilization to be self-critical and self-correcting – not only in producing wealth but over the whole range of human activities – that constitutes its most decisive superiority over any of its rivals.”
quarantine (verb, noun)
To quarantine (KWOR-un-teen) is to place people or animals in isolation to prevent the spread of disease or pests. The term comes from medieval efforts to fight the black death. Read about it here.
moratorium (noun)
A moratorium (mor-uh-TOR-ee-um) is a temporary suspension of an activity or obligation. As I used it today: “We also have to prepare for the possibility of a rent moratorium. That would be zero income coming in. And that would mean no cash to pay the people that maintain those properties and no cash to pay the utilities, and so on.”