Building a Better Vocabulary

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z 6RFNGRODJHU has also acquired a second sense of something or

someone outstanding or exceptional, as in: “Boy, that snowstorm

was a real sockdolager; we were hit with three feet at once!”

z 6RFNGRODJHU¶VHW\PRORJ\LVDELWXQFHUWDLQEXWLW¿UVWVKRZHGXS

around 1830 and may be a playful corruption of the word doxology,

which refers to a few lines of praise to God sung at the end of a

hymn. Originally, VRFNGRODJHU may have involved the humorous

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Peckish (adjective)

1. Somewhat hungry.


2. Irritable, touchy.

z 3HFNLVK brings to mind the feeling we all get around 11:15 a.m.,

when it has been some hours since breakfast, and we’re starting to

feel a bit hungry. It also carries a second sense of slightly irritable,

as in: “He’s usually good-natured, but his illness has caused him to

be peckish lately.”

z Peckish literally means “disposed to peck.” In your vocabulary

notebook, highlight SHFN and write down that a peckish person will

peck at food when feeling a bit hungry.

Evanescent (adjective)

1. Fleeting, of short duration, vanishing or likely to vanish.


2. Fragile, diaphanous, and unsubstantial.

z Evanescent refers to all things temporary, such as rainbows or

mirages. The word itself seems to have a delicate, almost ghostly

quality, as if it could be whisked away by the slightest breeze.

z Both vanish and evanescent are derived from the same Latin origin.

The e- in evanescentLVDQDVVLPLODWHGSUH¿[RIex-, meaning “out.”