Sunday, November 11, 2012

Pervicacious

Pervicacious is an adjective (Latin early 1600) used to describe someone as being obstinate, refractory and extremely willful.  A big fancy word to describe someone who is just plain stubborn. Not commonly used today, you will impress your family and friends with this one!  I prefer the word tenacious...  

Here are some examples of this word in a sentence:


In fact, I'm a word nerd. I get a kick out of tossing a few odd ones into my column, just to see if the pervicacious editors will weed them out. 
 Michael Hawley, "Things That Matter: Waiting for Linguistic Viagra", Technology Review, June, 2001


The language of the bureaucrats and administrators must needs be recognized as an outgrowth of legal parlance. There is no other way to explain its pervading, pervicacious and pernicious meanderings.  New York Law Journal, May 27, 1909

Now don’t you love this pervicacious face?  Enjoy your day!


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Copacetic

Copacetic, an adjective, means harmonious, in sync, satisfactory, and acceptable. The origin of the word is subject of debate, but many believe that the word originated in the early 1900’s in the Southern US in the form of African American slang.  It was used by Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and by Jazz musicians in Harlem.  Irving Bacheller also used the word in his 1919 biography of Abraham Lincoln titled -  A Man for the Ages.  Other suggested origins are Italian, French Creole and Latin.  

In a sentence: 

When the doctor entered the room, her smile told me that everything is copacetic.  

Here are a few more:  

“Now there’s the kind of a man! Stout as a buffalo an’ as to looks I’d call him, as ye might say, real copasetic.” Mrs. Lukins expressed this opinion solemnly and with a slight cough. Its last word stood for nothing more than an indefinite depth of meaning.   A Man for the Ages, by Irving Bacheller, 1919

The first stages of the flight of Apollo 10, like most of the flights that led up to it, have gone like clockwork. In the words of ground control at Houston, everything has been “copacetic” — a term of undetermined origin which means perfect.  Chicago Tribune, 20, May 1969