A.Word.A.Day--kvetch

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The Magic of Words

Nov 30, 2010

This week's theme
Words with unusual initial consonants

This week's words
sforzando
kvetch

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

kvetch

PRONUNCIATION:

(kvech)

MEANING:

verb intr.: To complain habitually, whine; gripe.
noun: 1. A chronic complainer. 2. A complaint.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Yiddish kvetshn (squeeze, pinch, complain), from Middle High German quetschen (to squeeze). First recorded use: 1964.

USAGE:

"Perhaps one should emphasize here that V.S. Naipaul has gone out of his way, from time to time and far beyond the call of duty, to burnish his reputation as a cantankerous curmudgeon -- truly the Evelyn Waugh of our age, right down to his squirearchal residence in the west of England -- or even as a bigoted old barroom kvetch. Not long ago Naipaul anathematized Tony Blair as a 'pirate' at the head of 'a socialist revolution'."
Geoffrey Wheatcroft; A Terrifying Honesty; The Atlantic Monthly (Boston); Feb 2002.

Explore "kvetch" in the Visual Thesaurus.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Elitism is the slur directed at merit by mediocrity. -Sydney J. Harris, journalist (1917-1986)

MooT - the Etymology and Semantics Game A great Xmas present for logophiles. Click here to play MooT.

Revenge on Scrabble Nerds! Get it with WildWords. Win with long meaningful words. Forget geeky stuff. Sponsored links

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