Word

The >>Word of the Day<< today over at dictionary.com is >>oblation<<.

>>Oblation<< comes from the past participle form of the Latin verb* >>offerre<< meaning >>to bring<<.

So, an oblation is an offering or a gift.

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* A Latin verb is traditionally cited by giving four forms, in this case: offero, offerre, obtuli, oblatum.

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

(Mark Twain)

There is a purity in words that cannot be sullied by their use.

'Right again, quite right,' said Mr Swiveller, 'caution is the word, and caution is the act.'

»Therefore« is a word the poet must not know.

(Andre Gide)

Words derive their meaning from the surrounding words, just as human beings derive their meaning from interacting with other humans around them.

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Words like winter snowflakes.

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 – Homer (c. 700 B.C.)
 – The Iliad, bk. III, l. 222

The best way to discover new words is by reading a book.

mortar my words
with particles
prepositions
adverbs
and conjunctions

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We shall never understand one another until we reduce the language to seven words.

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 – Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
 – Sand and Foam [1926]

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Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled.

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 – Horace (65-8 B.C.)
 – Epistles, bk. I, epistle xviii, l. 71

The web of words wraps round the whole wide world, concealing the secret numbers underneath.

1001 1001 0110 1001 1010 1001

... words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe...

Have you ever noticed that the only difference between »word« and »weird« are the vowels?