That’s not to say you’ll have any real use for every tidbit of information you pick up from day to day — or, for that matter, retain it for very long — but it can be fun. Like today’s word from worddaily.com.

Now, as every online shopper knows, once you’ve bought something, or transacted any sort of business on the internet, you’re fair game for every online vendor, every huckster, and every whack job out there. When I settled in and opened my email today, I found 133 messages. And by the time I had deleted the junk, I had — by actual count — seven left that I wanted or needed to read. And most of those were my daily news reports.

But there was one that caught my eye — from “Word Daily” — that I don’t always bother to check because I think I already have a fairly decent vocabulary. But for some reason, today’s word aroused my curiosity:

“Quidnunc“

I like to try to figure things out for myself whenever possible, so I gave it some thought before reading the definition. “Quid” — besides being another name for the British monetary pound — was first a Latin word meaning “something.” And “nunc” is also Latin, meaning “now.”

Well, that didn’t add up to anything useful, unless you’re the demanding sort who wants something, and wants it NOW. So I took a peek at the definition, and it turns out that a “quidnunc” is . . . or in the 18th Century was . . .

“An inquisitive and gossipy person.”

See what you can learn with a minimal expenditure of time and effort? Not that I’ll be likely ever to use it, because there is already a perfect term for that sort of person. I mean, who needs to remember “quidnunc” when we already have:

“Yenta”!

Still, it could come in handy in a roomful of, say, English teachers, or literary snobs . . . just to show off a little.

Right? Of course, right.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/15/24