persiflage | Word of the Day

May 31, 2019 persiflage [pur-suh-flahzh, pair-] noun 1. light, bantering talk or writing. Visual Word of the Day Watch the Visual Word of the Day word-trends The Most Surprisingly Serendipitous Words Of The Day What Is The Former Name Of Memorial Day? WORD OF THE DAY persiflage continued... QUOTES He was not an Italian, still less a Frenchman, in whose blood there runs the very spirit of persiflage and of gracious repartee. -- E. M. Forster, Howards End, 1910 ORIGIN The origin of persiflage all comes down to sound. English persiflage is borrowed from French persiflage, derived from persifler "to banter" and -age, a noun-forming suffix. Persifler combines per-, an intensive prefix meaning "thoroughly," and siffler "to whistle, hiss." Siffler in turn comes from Late Latin sīfilāre, from Latin sībilāre, also "to whistle, hiss." This perfectly expressive verb yields English sibilate "to hiss" and sibilant "hissing," which, in phonetics, characterizes such sounds as the -s- and -zh- in persiflage. We can well imagine how the teasing repartee, for example, of two sweethearts in a romantic comedy, sizzles with sibilant sounds, but for all the "hissing" of persiflage, its raillery is light and good-natured. Persiflage entered English in the mid-18th century. OTHERS ARE READING 1 The Most Surprisingly Serendipitous Words Of The Day In Part II of our lexical stroll down memory lane (see Part I (1999–2008) here), we will be examining word selections from 2009–2018, unearthing serendipitous synchronicities and offering perspicacious perspectives into notable events and trends of the last decade. 2 What Is The Former Name Of Memorial Day? Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May and marks the solemn time when Americans honor the soldiers that died in military service. 3 The 11 Worst Words And Phrases Your Boss Can Say Corporate-speak can really make the skin crawl or make us break out in a cold sweat. Here are 11 of the worst words and phrases you just don't want to hear your boss say. 4 Blond vs. Blonde: What's The Difference? You probably know blond as a hair color. But wait, haven't you seen the word blond spelled with an E too: blonde? Why?! 5 What Word Is Your State Looking Up On Mother's Day? Our Data Scientists analyzed what users looked up on Dictionary.com on Mother's Day in 2018 and found these as the top trends by state. © 2019 Dictionary.com, LLC. ABOUT CONTACT You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: matzom229@gmail.com Subscriber since: September 06, 2017 Unsubscribe Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 400 Oakland CA 94607 Manage your subscription Terms & Privacy