Word of the Day
copacetic
adjective
fine; completely satisfactory; OK.
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Why Dictionary.com chose copacetic
More about copacetic
- Copacetic is an Americanism that was first attested in Irving Bacheller’s 1919 book about Abraham Lincoln, A Man for the Ages.
- Copacetic is also spelled copasetic and is of obscure origin.
- Proposed languages of origin include Chinook, Italian, Louisiana French, and Hebrew, but none of the origin stories are particularly convincing.
- Copacetic further entered the public consciousness through the Prohibition-era song “At the New Jump Steady Ball,” whose lyrics include the line “Copasetic was the password for one and all, at the new jump steady ball.”
EXAMPLES OF COPACETIC
- The dinner party was a success, with delicious food, great company, and a copacetic atmosphere.
- Despite some initial concerns, the project’s progress has been copacetic and is moving forward smoothly.
zeitgeber
noun
an environmental cue, as the length of daylight or the degree of temperature, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism's biological clock.
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Why Dictionary.com chose zeitgeber
More about zeitgeber
- Zeitgeber was first recorded in English in 1970–75.
- Zeitgeber comes from German, in which it was coined by J. Aschoff in 1954.
- Zeitgeber means literally, “time-giver,” on the model of the German word Taktgeber, “electronic synchronization device, timer, metronome.”
EXAMPLES OF ZEITGEBER
- In the absence of external zeitgebers, such as clocks or natural light, some individuals may struggle to maintain regular sleep patterns.
- The sunrise served as a powerful zeitgeber for the birds, signaling the start of their daily singing rituals.
phub
verb
to ignore a person or one's surroundings when in a social situation by busying oneself with a phone or other mobile device.
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Why Dictionary.com chose phub
More about phub
- Phub was first recorded in 2010–15.
- Phub was a result of a linguistic experiment by a group of lexicographers, authors, and poets to coin a word to describe the behavior, and is a combination of the words phone and snub.
- Phone is a shortening of telephone, which combines the Greek forms Greek têle-, “far,” and – phōnḗ, “voice.”
- Snub, first recorded in the 14th century, comes from the Old Norse word snubba, “to scold, reprimand.”
EXAMPLES OF PHUB
- The couple’s romantic dinner was marred by their constant need to phub each other, diverting their attention to their phones rather than enjoying each other’s company.
- As the speaker passionately delivered his presentation, he noticed several audience members phubbing him, their focus shifted to their screens rather than paying attention.
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