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Hello, Word Lovers!
Did you ever wonder where the word Hobbit came from?
In 1937, Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien introduced it to the world in a wonderfully ordinary sentence β βIn a hole in the ground there lived a hobbitβ β while correcting student papers. That little word became the title of his novel The Hobbit, and eventually led readers into the much larger world of The Lord of the Rings.
A curious little beginning for two of the most beloved works of fantasy literature and for a word that would eventually find its way into dictionaries and onto word-game boards.
π Weekly Word Wonder: Depone
Pronunciation: dee-POHN
Part of speech: Verb
Definition: To give evidence or testimony under oath; to make a formal statement, especially in a legal setting.
Origin: From Latin dΔpΕnere, meaning βto put downβ or βto lay aside.β The word entered English through legal usage.
Usage:
The witness was asked to depone about what he had seen that night.
Several experts were asked to depone about the circumstances surrounding the case.
π More Three Words
i. Smial β Tolkien created smial for a Hobbit's underground home, drawing on an old English dialect word meaning a burrow.
ii. Orc β Tolkien incorporated orc into his mythology, while drawing on older Germanic/Old English linguistic material rather than simply inventing the sound from nothing. His early invented languages already contained Elves, Orcs, trolls and other creatures.
iii. Mithril β Tolkien-created word for the precious silver-like metal found in Middle-earth. It became so recognizable that mithril is now used outside Tolkien's fiction as a fantasy term.
π Community Puzzle
Jumbled Letters: Unscramble these words.
LYOLERGA β
(Extended metaphor that conveys a deeper moral or political truth)
PALRABE β
(Short narrative illustrating a moral lesson through symbolic characters)
TONMEMY β
(Substitution of a related word or phrase for another concept)
UAEQTANYRR β
(Relating to the number four)
Last Week's Answers (Edition #39)
Jumbled Letters
TANOILE β ELATION
AUHPORIE β EUPHORIA
BNLITJUA β JUBILANT
PERUTAR β RAPTURE
COLIFR β FROLIC
