Carolina Institute for Faith & Culture

Paul Schleifer According to etymonline.com, progeny comes into English in the 14th century from Latin through French, but in a pretty unadulterated way. The 13th century French is progenie, and […]

Paul Schleifer Jocularity is a noun derived (using a derivational suffix) from the adjective jocular. Jocular, in turn, means “given to, characterized by, intended for, or suited to joking or […]

Paul Schleifer Pied is an adjective meaning “having patches of two or more colors, as various birds and other animals.” According to etymonline.com, the adjective enters the language in the […]

Paul Schleifer The dictionary.com definition of calico is “a plain-woven cotton cloth printed with a figured pattern, usually on one side.” That’s in America. In Britain, it is a plain […]

Paul Schleifer Credulous means “willing to believe or trust too readily, especially without proper or adequate evidence,” gullible or trusting or easily tricked or fooled. Also, “disposed to believe.” According […]

Paul Schleifer Word of the Day: Captious According to Dictionary.com, definitions for captious include 1. apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please. […]

Paul Schleifer February 27 2018 Word of the Day: Voluble We’re on a run of words that have to do with talking. Voluble means “chatty, gabby, mouthy, talkative, characterized by […]

Paul Schleifer February 26 2018 Word of the Day: Garrulous Garrulous means “excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters,” according to dictionary.com. Synonyms include prating, babbling, […]

Paul Schleifer February 25 2018 Word of the Day: Jabber Jabber is both a noun and a verb. As a verb, it means “to talk or utter rapidly, indistinctly, incoherently, […]

Paul Schleifer, SWU Professor February 24 2018 Word of the Day: idiosyncrasy The first definition of idiosyncrasy that one finds in the dictionary is usually “a tendency, type of behaviour, mannerism, […]

Paul Schleifer February 23 2018 Word of the Day: vacillate Vacillate: 1. to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute; 2. to sway unsteadily; waver; totter; stagger; 3. […]