[email protected]

I get a "word-a-day" each weekday. Most weeks there is a theme. Some
are snoozers, but most are fun. And this week's words look pretty cool.

I just thought I'd pass it on to those who may have never heard of it
but who would be interested.

It's free to join---and you get a word each week day, but they do ask
for donations if you like it. <g>

Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org

-----Original Message-----
From: wsmith@...
To: linguaphile@...
Sent: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:02 AM
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--tocsin

It's a phonic (and phony) world out there. We have megaphones and
microphones. Megaphones magnify our voice, so why doesn't a microphone
miniaturize it? We have phonograms but they are not the opposite of
gramophones.

Human languages, like humans, are never too logical. Homophones have
nothing to do with homo sapiens. The former prefix is from Greek homo
meaning "same" while the other is from Latin homo meaning "man".

This week we'll feature five terms that are homophones of everyday
words:
toxin, analyst, beaut, bowl, and seed.


tocsin (TOK-sin) noun

An alarm bell or a warning signal.

[From Middle French toquassen, from Provençal tocasenh, from tocar
(to touch) + senh (bell).]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=tocsin

-Anu Garg (garg wordsmith.org)

"In an unprecedented collaboration to sound the tocsin, Nature and
Foreign Affairs have recently devoted special issues to the
'plausible scenario' of a pandemic that kills millions and wrecks
the global economy."
Mike Davis; Avian Flu: A State of Unreadiness; The Nation (New York);
Jul 18, 2005.

Sponsors' Messages:

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Subscribe to http://delanceyplace.com -- a carefully selected
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excerpt free to your email each day. It's the thinking person's daily
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.........................................................................
...
I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or
a
bean leaf, or sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a bumblebee. I am no more
lonely
than the Mill Brook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south
wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a
new
house. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

Discuss this week's words on our bulletin board:
http://wordsmith.org/board

Remove, change address, gift subs:
http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/tocsin.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/tocsin.ram

Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/tocsin.html

This message was sent to "kbcdlovejo@...".


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