{"id":6655,"date":"2024-03-28T03:51:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T03:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=6655"},"modified":"2024-03-28T03:52:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T03:52:48","slug":"word-of-the-day-auxiliary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2024\/03\/28\/word-of-the-day-auxiliary\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Auxiliary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to Merriam-Webster, is auxiliary<\/em>. Auxiliary<\/em> can be either an adjective or a noun. As an adjective, it can mean \u201cadditional; supplementary; reserve\u201d or \u201cused as a substitute or reserve in case of need\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/auxiliary<\/a>). As a noun, it can mean \u201ca person or thing that gives aid of any kind; helper\u201d or \u201can organization allied with, but subsidiary to, a main body of restricted membership, especially one composed of members’ relatives\u201d (ibid.). M-W says, \u201cIn general use, auxiliary describes someone or something available to provide extra help, power, etc., when it is needed. In linguistics, an auxiliary verb (also called a \u201chelping verb\u201d) is used with another verb to do things like show a verb\u2019s tense or form a question. In nautical contexts, auxiliary can describe a sailboat equipped with a supplementary inboard engine, or a vessel that provides supplementary assistance to other ships\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/word-of-the-day<\/a>). Of course, in contemporary English grammar, people now refer to auxiliary verbs as helping verbs more and more, perhaps because auxiliary<\/em> is hard to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The adjective form of the word entered the English language \u201cc. 1600, from Latin auxiliaris<\/em> \u2018helpful, aiding,\u2019 from auxilium<\/em> \u2018aid, help, support,\u2019 related to auctus<\/em>, past participle of augere<\/em> \u2018to increase\u2019 (from PIE root *aug<\/em>– \u2018to increase\u2019)\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=auxiliary<\/a>). The noun form also appeared \u201cc. 1600, “foreign troops in service of a nation at war,” from auxiliary<\/em> (adj.). The Latin adjective also was used as a noun in this sense. In grammar, \u2018a verb used in forming phrases with other verbs and indicating mode or tense,\u2019 1762, from the adjective in this sense (1670s)\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s also interesting to look at that PIE root: \u201c*aug-<\/em>: Proto-Indo-European root meaning \u2018to increase.\u2019 It forms all or part of: auction<\/em>; augment<\/em>; augmentative<\/em>; augur<\/em>; August<\/em>; august<\/em>; Augustus<\/em>; author<\/em>; authoritarian<\/em>; authorize<\/em>; auxiliary<\/em>; auxin<\/em>; eke<\/em> (v.); inaugurate<\/em>; nickname<\/em>; waist<\/em>; wax<\/em> (v.1) \u2018grow bigger or greater.
\u201cIt is the hypothetical source of\/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit ojas<\/em>– \u2018strength,\u2019 vaksayati<\/em> \u2018cause to grow;\u2019 Lithuanian augu<\/em>, augti<\/em> \u2018to grow,\u2019 auk\u0161tas<\/em> \u2018high, of superior rank;\u2019 Greek auxo<\/em> \u2018increase,\u2019 auxein<\/em> \u2018to increase;\u2019 Gothic aukan<\/em> \u2018to grow, increase;\u2019 Latin augmentum<\/em> \u2018an increase, growth,\u2019 augere<\/em> \u2018to increase, make big, enlarge, enrich;\u2019 Old English eacien<\/em> \u2018to increase,\u2019 German wachsen<\/em>, Gothic wahsjan<\/em> \u2018to grow, increase\u2019\u201d (ibid.). You can definitely see wax<\/em> (meaning \u2018to grow bigger\u2019) in German wachsen<\/em> and Gothic wahsjan<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this date in 1952, Singing in the Rain<\/em>, a musical comedy movie directed by, choreographed by, and starring Gene Kelly, premiered at Radio City Music Hall. Stanley Donnen also received credit as director, and the movie also starred Debbie Reynolds and Donald O\u2019Connor, and it featured Cyd Charisse, Jean Hagen, and Millard Mitchell (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Singin%27_in_the_Rain<\/a>). The film was well received by the critics, was nominated for a number of awards, and actually won a few, though it did not win any Academy Awards. Donald O\u2019Connor won a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pauline Kael, movie reviewer for the New Yorker, said, “This exuberant and malicious satire of Hollywood in the late twenties is perhaps the most enjoyable of movie musicals \u2013 just about the best Hollywood musical of all time.” Roger Ebert called it “a transcendent experience, and no one who loves movies can afford to miss it.” Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100% on 64 reviews. Metacritic gave it 99%. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked it #10 on their list of the top 100 films from the industries first 100 years. And “aesthetically significant,” Singing in the Rain<\/em> was among the first 25 chosen (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a summary of the plot: \u201cThe plot of the film is actually an autobiography of Hollywood itself at the dawn of the talkies. The story is about a dashing, smug but romantic silent film star and swashbuckling matinee idol (Don Lockwood) and his glamorous blonde screen partner\/diva (Lina Lamont) who are expected, by studio heads, to pretend to be romantically involved with each other. They are also pressured by the studio boss R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) to change their silent romantic drama (The Duelling Cavalier) and make their first sound picture, renamed as the musical The Dancing Cavalier. There’s one serious problem, however – the temperamental, narcissistic star has a shrill, screechy New York accent. The star’s ex-song-and-dance partner (Cosmo) proposes to turn the doomed film into a musical, and suggests that Don’s aspiring actress and ingenue dancer-girlfriend (Kathy Selden) dub in her singing voice behind the scenes for lip-synching Lina. The results of their scheming to expose the jealous Lina and put Kathy in a revealing limelight provide the film’s expected happy resolution\u201d (https:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/sing.html<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Kathy Selden starts out as the auxiliary for Lina Lamont before getting the opportunity to become a star herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fun part of this for me is that the movie script has been turned into a stage musical, and Southern Wesleyan University, the place where I taught for almost three decades, just did it. It was a lot of fun, especially because my son and daughter-in-law were in it. They had a great time doing it. The dancing wasn\u2019t up to the level of Gene Kelly and Donald O\u2019Connor, but who has ever reached their level (other than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is \u201cGene Kelly as Don Lockwood during the number \u2018Broadway Rhythm Ballet\u2019 in Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em>. (Warner Bros. Entertainment)\u201d (https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/movies\/2022\/04\/27\/singin-in-the-rain-4k\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to Merriam-Webster, is auxiliary. Auxiliary can be either an adjective or a noun. As an adjective, it can mean \u201cadditional; supplementary; reserve\u201d or \u201cused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[639,238,395,284,640],"class_list":["post-6655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-auxiliary","tag-dictionary","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","tag-singin-in-the-rain","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6657,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6655\/revisions\/6657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}