Today’s word of the day, thanks to Merriam-Webster, is caveat. Caveat is a noun that means “an explanation or warning that should be remembered when you are doing or thinking about something. In legal contexts, caveat refers to a notice to a court or judicial officer to suspend a proceeding until the opposition can be heard (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day). It is pronounced, using the IPA, / ˈkæv iˌɑt / or / ˈkæv iˌæt / or / ˈkɑ viˌɑt / or / keɪ viˌɑt / (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/caveat ). Personally, I prefer the third pronunciation, / ˈkɑ viˌɑt /, and I cannot remember hearing it pronounced otherwise. The ɑ sound is more rounded, like “ah,” and the æ sound is flatter, as in ash. In fact, in Old English that letter, æ, is called “æsc, ‘ash tree’” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Æ).

M-W continues, “You may be familiar with the old saying caveat emptor, nowadays loosely translated as ‘let the buyer beware.’ In the 16th century, this adage was imparted as a safeguard for the seller: allow the buyer to examine the item (for example, a horse) before the sale is completed so that the seller can’t be blamed if the item turns out to be unsatisfactory. Caveat in Latin means  ‘let him beware’ and comes from the verb cavēre, meaning ‘to be on guard.’ Perhaps you’ve also heard the phrase caveat lector; translated as ‘let the reader beware,’ it’s a warning to take what one reads with a grain of salt. English retained caveat itself as a noun for something that serves to warn, explain, or caution. The word caution, by the way (no salt needed), is also a descendant of cavēre” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day). By the way, if you do buy a horse, you can, apparently, tell the age of the horse you are buying by looking at the teeth (https://www.wikihow.com/Tell-a-Horse%27s-Age-by-Its-Teeth). But if someone gives you a horse, don’t look that gift horse in the mouth.

The word first appears in English in “1550s, Latin, literally ‘let him beware,’ third person singular present subjunctive of cavere ‘to beware, take heed, watch, guard against’ (from PIE root *keu- ‘to see, observe, perceive’). The legal meaning ‘public warning preventing some action’ is attested from 1650s” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=caveat).

Of course, the relatively famous Latin expression that we sometimes hear is caveat emptor. It means, “Buyer beware!” The emptor part comes from the Latin verb emere (“to buy”). The –p– enters the Latin verb in the perfect tense, emptus sum (I have purchased), and the Latin -tor suffix, which is used in Latin to create an agent noun (a noun derived from an action verb denoting the person doing the action) completes the noun.

I just spent a few days on Kiawah Island, an island resort off the coast of South Carolina, about 30 minutes away from Charleston. It is a lovely spot. We used to take our kids there when they were tweeners and teens because, in addition to beaches, the island has a park in the center with playground, basketball court, soccer field, etc. The older ones would connect with other teens while they were there. The park also offers day-care-like activities for younger kids.

This time we went with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. The latter is 96, and since my father-in-law died a year and a half ago, we’ve been doing what we can to keep her entertained. She’s in very good health for 96, and she lives by herself in her home, but she has told us that she does get lonely. So this month it was Kiawah Island. Next month we’ll take her to Bluffton. After that? I don’t know.

But we had a lovely if quiet time on Kiawah. It was half deserted because, of course, the season has not started; the kids are still in school. We walked the beach and we walked to Night Heron Park. But Monday and Tuesday were overcast with occasional rain, so even when walking we had to careful not to stray too far from the villa we were in. Wednesday was better, and we actually were able to sit on the beach for a while, but it was quite windy, diminishing our enjoyment. This morning, as we were packing up to leave by the 10 a.m. check-out time, it was beautiful: calm, sunny, and not too hot.

I asked my sister-in-law why she had not chosen better days for our stay. She replied that she couldn’t know the weather in advance, which is true. My wife suggested that we return to Kiawah in September or October, after the season is over. Someone pointed out that September and October are the height of hurricane season. We would need to buy vacation insurance.

As the old Latin saying says, caveat ille qui reddituum (let him be careful who rents). Actually, I guess that is not an old Latin saying, or at least not one that anyone remembers.

Today’s image is a picture of the playground at Night Heron Park (https://kiawahresort.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/night-heron-park.jpg).