wistful (adjective)

• A Word to the Wise

  Cozen (verb)

  April 1, 2019 · 1 min read

  Cozen (verb) – To cozen (KUH-zuhn) is to cheat, deceive, trick. As used by William Bolitho: “The shortest way out of Manchester is notoriously a bottle of Gordon’s gin; out of any businessman’s life there is…

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• A Word to the Wise

  parsimonious (adjective)

  November 6, 2019 · 1 min read

  Parsimonious (par-sih-MOH-nee-us) means stingy or frugal; restrained. As I used it today: “So that was something else to think about – the fact that we are each parsimonious with the one thing we want for…

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• A Word to the Wise

  civility (noun)

  August 12, 2020 · 1 min read

  Civility (suh-VIL-uh-dee) is formal politeness and courtesy. As I used it today: “Instead of relying on a traffic light to direct their stop-and-go decisions, [drivers] were using common sense and civility…

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  Today’s Word: tergiversation (noun)

  February 14, 2019 · 1 min read

  Today’s Word: tergiversation (noun) –Tergiversation(tur-jih-ver-SAY-shun) is equivocation; the act of being deliberately ambiguous. As used by Tobias Smollett in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker: “I must tell…

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• A Word to the Wise

  Temporize (verb)

  May 10, 2019 · 1 min read

  Temporize (verb) – To temporize (TEM-puh-rize) is to be evasive in order to gain time or delay acting. As used by Washington Post columnist Lloyd Grove: “I am still temporizing and twiddling on that [where he…

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