Word of the Week
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A nice way to remember

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Word of the Week--"bone"




Definition--the hard dense tissue that forms the skeleton of vertebrates, providing structural support for the body and serving as an attachment for muscles.


Discussion--Bones in English has many informal and idiomatic meanings. The end man in a minstrel show was called "Mr. Bones". Dr. McCoy on the original Star Trek was called "Bones". Bones is also a slang term for dice. One can "feel it their bones", "make no bones about it", or "have a bone to pick with you". It's not surprising that our body's support structure has engendered so many unusual usages.


Etymology--bone is derived from the Middle English ban, and bon, which was derived from the Old English ban. Of similar origin is the Old High German bien, which in modern German means leg.
In the Romance languages below, you can see translations based on the Latin root for bone, os. The Dutch translation is more likely based on the Old English roots.



Foreign Translations
French: os (m), Italian: osso, Spanish: hueso , Dutch: bot het

Word of the Week--"foreword"

Definition--
an introduction to a book, often by a writer other than the author; preface.

Discussion--The foreword to a book often provides useful insights and a different perspective on the material than offered by the author. I prefer to read the foreword last, after I've read and interpreted the book myself. As you'll see below, foreword means what it sounds like it means--the word that comes before. This meaning is quite different from its homophone forward, which has nothing to do with writing and books and prefaces.

Etymology--foreword is a translation of the German Vorwort, which means the earlier word. The Latin for preface is praefatio, which may be the model from which the German word is derived.
In all the translations below, you can see the equivalent of the meaning first or early word, although Italian appears not to have a direct equivalent, although Italian does include an equivalent for preface.

Foreign Translations
German: Vorwort (nt)
Dutch: voorwoord (het)
French: avant-propos
Italian: introduzione
Spanish: prólogo

thanx for these words, and for your interest

Word of the Week--"algebra"
Definition--the branch of mathematics that uses letters and symbols to represent variable quantities and numbers, and are related by various operations.

Discussion--if you are not mathematically inclined, algebra can leave you trembling. If you already understand it, it's easy; if you don't, it's hard to learn. You can think of algebra as the process of solving a puzzle. For example, if someone tells you the sum of 4 days that form a square on a calendar, you can tell that friend what the four days are. How? Using algebra as described below: Suppose that your friend tells you the sum is 56. You call then quickly say the days were - 10, 11, 17, and 18. You solve the puzzle by subtracting 16 and dividing by 4. The algebra to reach this conclusion is as follows, call the first number x. Then you know that the next number would be x+ 1 and the next number would be x+ 7 and the next number would be x + 8. So:
x + x + 1 + x + 7 + x + 8 = 56
Simplify our equation by adding like terms:
4x + 16 = 56
Then subtract 16 from both sides:
4x = 40
Divide both sides by 4:
x = 10
Subtract 16 and divide by 4. That's exactly how you solve the puzzle. When your friend tells you the sum, you subtract 16 then divide by 4. This gives you the first number x. (Then add 1 and 7 and 8 for the other numbers).

Etymology--In English the term algebra means the science of equations. It comes from the title of Arab mathematician Al-Khwarizmi's treatises. He was the first to establish rules for adding subtracting, multiplying, and dviding with the new Arabic numbers around A.D. 825.
The languages below all show the same early Greek roots.

Foreign Translations
German: Algebra (f)
Dutch: algebra (de)
French: algèbre (f)
Spanish: álgebra

Word of the Week--"minute"

Definition: Minute- geom (symbol') a unit of angular measurement equal to one sixtieth of a degree; 60 seconds

Discussion-- We live in a society that places tremendous importance on time. Although time is an abstract concept, it has become an institution that exerts significant control on our lives. Our experiences are broken down and assigned to manageable segments of time. We recall major life events in terms of our age or specific days, months or years. Our typical workday is nine to five, the "dinner hour" is generally around six or seven o'clock in the evening, and our favorite television show comes on at eight, seven central. Indeed, time is a concept so ingrained in our culture that we rarely step back and think about it objectively.
The minute is one of our most basic units of time. We know that there are sixty of them in an hour, and fans of "Rent" may also know that there are 525,600 of them in a year.


Etymology--Minute is derived from the Latin minutus for a small detail
The languages below show similar terms also derived from minutus.

Foreign Translations

German: minute (f)

Dutch: minuut (de)

French: minute (f)

Italian: minuto

Spanish: minuto

Word of the Week--"biscuit"

Definition----a small cake of bread leavened with baking powder or soda.
British, a small crisp sweet cake; the North American equivalent of a .......

Discussion--What a biscuit is depends on where you live. For the U.S. and most English-speaking North American countries, a biscuit is often a dinner roll, made primarily of flour, water, and shortening. The test of a cook is whether his or her biscuits are light, airy, and flaky as desired or are the consistency of the proverbial hockey puck. In Great Britan, biscuit refers to a sweetened, crisp cake; what U.S. residents call ......s or shortbread. Apparently, the British lack an equivalent term for the U.S. biscuit. I suspect they just use the more general term roll.

Etymology--Biscuit comes from the Medieval Latin biscoctus, which means twice baked.
The terms for biscuit in other languages mostly come this Latin root or from the term for cake

Foreign Translations
German: Keks (m) D
utch: koekje (het)
French: biscuit (m)
Italian: biscotto
Spanish: galleta

reference:http://www.allwords.com

thanks alot