Fw: Wordsmith (4/17/2025): A.Word.A.Day -- Applejohn
|
The world's toughest language game gets even tougher.
Apr 17, 2025
This week¡¯s theme
Insults
This week¡¯s words
Illustration: Anu Garg + AI
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
applejohn or apple-john
PRONUNCIATION:
(AP-uhl-jon)
MEANING:
noun: One with a shriveled body and/or mind.
ETYMOLOGY:
After apple-john, a kind of apple that was said to keep for two years
and then reached a shriveled state. It was apparently named after St.
John¡¯s Day (Jun 24) around the time it ripened. Earliest documented use:
1572.
NOTES:
Not every apple ages into wisdom -- some just prune. The apple-john
was prized for its long shelf life... until it overstayed its welcome and
looked like it had been through several centuries of soliloquies.
In Henry IV, Shakespeare has recite:
¡°Why my skin hangs about me like an like an old lady¡¯s loose gown;
I am withered like an old apple-john.¡±
USAGE:
¡°Washington Irving called James Madison, ¡®a little withered applejohn¡¯.¡±
Gary Knepp; 2016 Election Could Be One of the Dirtiest in History;
Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio); Sep 15, 2016.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears, or the sea. -Isak
Dinesen (pen name of Karen Blixen), author (17 Apr 1885-1962)
Or email us at words@...
|
|
|
This newsletter would not have been possible without our readers' support
? 1994-2025 Wordsmith.org
|
