A.Word.A.Day--decolletage

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The Magic of Words

Aug 31, 2010

This week's theme
Terms from French

This week's words
agent provocateur
decolletage

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

decolletage or décolletage

PRONUNCIATION:

(day-kol-TAZH, -kol-uh-)

MEANING:

noun: A low neckline on a woman's dress.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French décolletage (low-cut), past participle of décolleter (to expose the neck), from de- (away) + collet (collar), diminutive of col (neck).

USAGE:

"If you order The Proposal [as an in-flight movie on Saudi Arabian Airlines], you get a blurry blob over Sandra Bullock's modest decolletage, and even her clavicles."
Maureen Dowd; A Girls' Guide to Saudi Arabia; Vanity Fair (New York); Aug 2010.

Explore "decolletage" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is to be educated. -Edith Hamilton, educator and writer (1867-1963)

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