Posted on 07/24/2014 4:57:43 AM PDT by secret garden
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
mot juste \ moh ZHYST \ , noun
French . the exact, appropriate word.
Example sentences:
I felt very bad because here was the man I liked and trusted the most as a critic then, the man who believed in the mot juste —the one and only correct word to use—the man who had taught me to distrust adjectives as I would later learn to distrust certain people in certain given situations...
-- Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast , 1964
I felt that something might be learned of what I wanted from Flaubert and the mot juste so admired by Ford and Pound.
-- A. S. Byatt, "Still Life/nature morte," Passions of the Mind , 1991
Etymology:
Mot juste is a borrowing from the French word of thesame spelling and meaning. It entered English in the late 1800s.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
Review Thread One: Word For The Day, Thursday 11/14/02: Raffish
Review Thread Two: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/14/03: Roister
Review Thread Three: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/28/03: Obdurate
WFB's attempt to emulate us ; ) No pushing at the door please!
oops, meant to ping you two.
Guineas are fairly smart, too-they are wary of predators, probably because they aren’t as domesticated as chickens-or peacocks. And that vocalization they start when they are disturbed is loud and distinctive...
No matter what time you get to go, you will enjoy it!!
Classroom opening soon.
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