A “farrago” (fuh-RAH-goh) - from the Latin for a mixed crop of feed grains - is a hodgepodge.

Example (as used by Virginia Heffernan in a New York Times review of The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell): “[Sarah Vowell] delivers a farrago of free-floating pedantry… having evidently made it her job to enlighten slacker Gen-Xers with a remedial history of our own nation.”

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Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

• Apotheosize - To “apotheosize” (uh-POTH-ee-uh-size) - from the Latin - is to deify or glorify. Example (as used by
• Coruscate - To “coruscate” (KOR-uh-skate) - from the Latin for “to move quickly” - is to sparkle, to give off or
• Exilic - “Exilic” (eg-ZIL-ik) - from the Latin for “wanderer” - pertains to exile or
• Apposite - Something that’s “apposite” (AP-uh-zit) - from the Latin for “to set or put near” - is very appropri
• Acuity - “Acuity” (uh-KYOO-uh-tee) - from the Latin for “to sharpen” - is sharpness o
• A Cacophony of Confusables - An ETR reader writes: “Could your language columnist look into the correct usage of ‘complimentary’
• Immolate - To “immolate” (IM-uh-late) - from the Latin for “sacrifice” - is to kill or