A.Word.A.Day--Land of Oz

Wordsmith.org

The Magic of Words

May 14, 2010

This week's theme
Words derived after mythical places

This week's words
utopia
cockaigne
shangri-la
Garden of Eden
Land of Oz

Map of Oz

Illustration: John R. Neill

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Land of Oz

PRONUNCIATION:

(land ov oz)

MEANING:

noun: An unreal or magical place.

ETYMOLOGY:

A mythical and magical place, first introduced in the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919). The legend that Baum came up with the name when he saw a filing cabinet drawer labeled O-Z (below the drawers A-G and H-N) is disputed. See here.

USAGE:

"Perhaps you were living in the Land of Oz if you had been expecting anything but what we were handed by an Ontario Government up to its snoot in red ink."
Tayler Parnaby; Don't Peek Behind the Curtain; Caledon Enterprise (Canada); Mar 30, 2010.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The death of dogma is the birth of morality. -Immanuel Kant, philosopher (1724-1804)

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