Spam[Fwd: A.Word.A.Day--archon]

[Katarina Karlgren]

--------------------------- Ursprungligt brev ----------------------------
Ärende: A.Word.A.Day--archon
Från:   "Wordsmith" <wsmith at wordsmith.org>
Datum:  Må, 2007-10-15, 06:02
Till:   linguaphile at wordsmith.org
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How would you describe someone who has risen up and become a manager?
Embossed!

The word boss has its origins in Dutch (from baas: master, foreman), but
there are several homonyms of the word. Is your boss a timid manager, or
a bungler, or ... ? Depending on how your boss runs the show, you apply
one of these alternative meanings:

1. boss : a calf or a cow. That's where Bossy, a familiar name for a cow,
   comes from. (From English dialect borse/boss/buss: a six-months-old calf)

2. boss: a protuberance or swelling on the body of an animal or plant
   This is where the word emboss comes from. (From Old French boce)

3. boss-eyed, adjective:  cross-eyed or squint-eyed. (origin uncertain)

4. boss, verb: to bungle. (origin uncertain)

Why refer to your supervisor just as a plain old boss? On National Boss Day
(Oct 16), why not use a more colorful word from this week's selection?


archon (AHR-kon) noun

   A high official or ruler.

[From Latin archon, from Greek arkhon (magistrate), from arkhein (to be
first, to rule).  An archon was one of the nine principal magistrates in
ancient Athens.]

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "Nick Sylvester, editor of The Harvard Lampoon calls James Murphy
   'The supreme eminent archon of dance.'"
   Tammy la Gorce; From Sulking Teenager to the King of Disco-Punk;
   The New York Times; May 22, 2005.

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............................................................................
It is said that a rogue does not look you in the face, neither does an
honest man look at you as if he had his reputation to establish. I have
seen some who did not know when to turn aside their eyes in meeting yours.
A truly confident and magnanimous spirit is wiser than to contend for the
mastery in such encounters. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author
(1817-1862)

Discuss this week's words on our bulletin board: http://wordsmith.org/board

Remove, change address, gift subs: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/archon.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/archon.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/archon.html

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