A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg On my morning walk, I came across an old table and some chairs on the sidewalk. A sign was taped to the furniture: FREE LIBRE My Spanish vocabulary isnt as extensive as Id like to be, but something about the sign didnt sound right. LIBRE reminded me of liberty and I felt this wasnt the meaning the homeowner had intended. GRATIS might have worked better. But I believe we must give the other person the benefit of doubt, so my interpretation is that the furniture is not only FREE (as in free beer), but also FREE (as in freedom). Thats until someone else claims it and becomes its new owner. But you dont have to know Spanish to understand (some) Spanish. If you speak English, you already have many words from Spanish in your vocabulary. English has incorporated thousands of words from Spanish. From mosquito to peon to plaza -- theyre part of everyday English language. This week well see five other words borrowed from Spanish that may not be as common. camarilla PRONUNCIATION: (kam-uh-RIL-uh, Spanish: kah-mah-REE-yah) MEANING: noun: A group of confidential scheming advisers. ETYMOLOGY: From Spanish, diminutive of cámara (chamber), from Latin camera (room), from Greek kamara (an object with an arched cover). Earliest documented use: 1839. USAGE: In China ... successions to a bureaucratic collective leadership are managed by a tiny camarilla in a self-declared one-party state. Simon Sebag Montefiore; In Russia, Power Has No Heirs; The New York Times; Jan 11, 2009. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice. -Joyce Carol Oates, writer (b. 1938)
Posted on: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 13:00:01 +0000
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