Month: May 2018
Word of the Day: Swank
Paul Schleifer Swank, to English speakers in the US, means “fancy, elegant and showy.” In the UK, swank can also be a verb “to display one’s wealth, knowledge, or achievements […]
Word of the Day: Taciturn
Paul Schleifer According to the OED, taciturn means “Characterized by silence or disinclination to conversation; reserved in speech; saying little; uncommunicative.” The first recorded use is from the Tobias Smollett […]
Word of the Day: Evanescent
Paul Schleifer According to the OED, evanescent is an adjective describing something “That is on the point of vanishing or becoming imperceptible” or something “That quickly vanishes or passes away; […]
“Introduction to the Defendant”—Analysis of G.K. Chesterton’s Essay
Amanda Platz G.K. Chesterton argues that mankind has a growing tendency to devalue what is truly good in the world, and instead favor the things man thinks are ‘better’ than […]
Word of the Day: Adultescent
Paul Schleifer This is a new one for me. In fact, it is so new that it draws the red squiggly line under it in MicroSoft Word. Adultescent refers to […]
Word of the Day: Royal
Paul Schleifer Royal is an adjective that means “of or related to a king, queen, or other sovereign.” There are also noun forms of royal, but the chief one, royals, […]
Word of the Day: Egress
Paul Schleifer The noun egress means three different but similar things: “the act of going out,” “the place where one goes out,” or “the right to go out.” There is […]
Joseph Pearce visits the Carolina Institute for Faith and Culture
CIFC Staff Not long ago, writer and lecturer Joseph Pearce visited the editorial room of the Freedom’s Hill Primer website to discuss G.K. Chesterton with us. Pearce offered his insight […]
Word of the Day: Facile
Paul Schleifer Facile is primarily an adjective, but it has a variety of meanings, in part depending upon the type of noun that it is modifying. The OED lists its […]
Word of the Day: Ameliorate
Paul Schleifer Ameliorate means “to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve (www.dictionary.com). It can be used as a transitive (takes an object: The mediator could not […]
Word of the Day: Babble
Paul Schleifer Babble is a flexible word. As a verb, it can be intransitive (used without an object) or transitive (used with an object). It means “to utter sounds or […]
Word of the Day: Histrionic
Paul Schleifer Histrionic without a final –s is an adjective that means “overly dramatic.” If you add a final –s, you turn it into a noun meaning “melodramatic behavior designed […]