Word of the Week
Created | Updated May 28, 2003
In the dim dark recesses of h2g2 history before we moved lock, stock and barrel to our new BBC home there used to be a front page feature The h2g2 Word of the Day. It was a way to highlight some of the lesser occurring or largely obscurer words in the English language. Sadly this feature was discontinued.
Until now...
Word for the Week
As I also write the post column 45 words I trust I can never be accused of this weeks' word. However it was a popular choice being nominated by Isabelle on 28 July 2000 , Thinker on 26 November and later by Q*bert on 2 December.
pleonasm
n. 1. The use of more words than are
necessary to express an idea; ie 'I saw it with my own eyes'
2. An instance or example of pleonasm.
3. A superflous word or expression.
It appears to have been the cause of some debate at The Pennsylvania Dutch Meet of August 2002 as it crops up in no less than eight postings about the event. But then when you have a prolific writer like Jimi X attending maybe you need to use words like this to confuse them.
From the Archive
This weeks' delve into the archives keeps on the wordy theme only with more sinister rather than redundant overtones.
It was suggested whilst I was a mere youth, in my very late 20s, ok the last day of my 20s, on the 18 September 1999 by spectre de Fatum.
Samizdat
n. The clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned by the state, especially formerly in the communist countries of Eastern Europe.
A search through h2g2 brings up one entry by samvak, one of Isreali researchers, mentioned it in his unedited entry on Intellectual Property. He mentions the word in terms of samizdat entrepreneurs - an interesting juxtaposition of these two terms.
How can you contribute?
- Go and check out words in the archive to
avoid duplication. - Check out the discussion threads and nominate a word that you feel was
overlooked before discontinuation. - Suggest a new word or your forgotten word in the word of the week archive
conversation.
