{"id":7108,"date":"2025-07-26T23:02:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T23:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=7108"},"modified":"2025-07-26T23:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T23:07:11","slug":"word-of-the-day-prodigious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2025\/07\/26\/word-of-the-day-prodigious\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Prodigious"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary<\/a>), is prodigious<\/em>. Dictionary.com says it is pronounced \/ pr\u0259\u02c8d\u026ad\u0292 \u0259s \/ (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/prodigious<\/a>), though I think I have heard it pronounced \/ pro \/ instead. The adjective means \u201cextraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.,\u201d \u201cwonderful or marvelous,\u201d \u201cabnormal; monstrous,\u201d or \u201cObsolete. ominous\u201d (ibid.). In his 1755 Dictionary, Samuel Johnson described it as \u201cAmazing; astonishing; such as may seem a prodigy; portentous; enormous; monstrous; amazingly great\u201d (https:\/\/johnsonsdictionaryonline.com\/views\/search.php?term=prodigious<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merriam-Webster compares a variety of similar terms: \u201cProdigious<\/em>, monstrous<\/em>, tremendous<\/em>, and stupendous<\/em> all mean extremely impressive. Prodigious<\/em> suggests marvelousness exceeding belief, usually in something that is felt as going far beyond a previous maximum of goodness, greatness, intensity, or size (\u2018acrobats performing prodigious aerial feats\u2019). Monstrous<\/a> implies a departure from the normal in size, form, or character (\u2018a monstrous billboard\u2019); it can also suggest that someone or something is ugly, cruel, or vicious (\u2018a monstrous criminal\u2019; \u2018a monstrous crime\u2019). Tremendous<\/a> and stupendous<\/a> both imply a power, the former to terrify or awe (\u2018the singer has tremendous talent\u2019), the latter to stun or astound (\u2018the young cast gave a stupendous performance\u2019). Prodigious<\/em> and the related noun prodigy<\/em> derive from the Latin prodigium<\/em>, meaning \u2018omen\u2019 or \u2018monster\u2019; at one time, both words were used in English to refer to portents, or omens, but these senses are now considered obsolete\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/prodigious<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etymonline.com says that the word entered the language in the \u201c1550s, \u2018ominous, portentous\u2019 (a sense now obsolete), from French prodigieux<\/em> and directly from Latin prodigiosus<\/em> \u2018strange, wonderful, marvelous, unnatural,\u2019 from prodigium<\/em> \u2018an omen, portent, monster\u2019 (see prodigy<\/strong><\/a>). From 1560s as \u2018causing wonder or amazement;\u2019 1570s as \u2018unnatural, abnormal.\u2019 The meaning \u2018vast, enormous, wonderfully large\u2019 is from c. 1600. As a pseudo-adverb, \u2018exceedingly,\u2019 by 1670s\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=prodigious<\/a>). The related noun prodigy<\/em> is from the \u201cmid-15c., prodige<\/em>, \u2018a sign, portent, something extraordinary from which omens are drawn,\u2019 from Old French prodige<\/em> and directly from Latin prodigium<\/em> \u2018prophetic sign, omen, portent, prodigy,\u2019 from pro<\/em> \u2018forth, before\u2019 (see pro-<\/strong><\/a>) + -igium<\/em>, a suffix or word of unknown origin, perhaps from the same source as aio<\/em> \u2018I say\u2019 (see adage<\/strong><\/a>) or agree<\/em> \u2018to drive\u2019 (de Vaan), from PIE root *ag-<\/strong><\/a> \u2018to drive, draw out or forth, move\u2019). Meaning \u2018person or thing so extraordinary as to excite wonder or astonishment\u2019 is from 1620s; the specific meaning \u2018child with exceptional abilities\u2019 is by 1650s\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this date in 1988, \u201cMike Schmidt sets an NL record by appearing in 2,155 games at third base as the Phillies and NY Mets end the game at 2:13 am\u201d (https:\/\/www.onthisday.com\/events\/july\/26<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Jack Schmidt (b. 1947) grew up in Ohio where he played three sports in high school (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mike_Schmidt<\/a>). He played gridiron football, basketball, and baseball, like the All-American kid that he was. But he gave up football and basketball because of knee trouble. He went to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he played shortstop on the baseball team and led the team to the 1970 College World Series where they lost in the semifinals. He was also named to the All-American team as the shortstop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1971 Major League draft, Schmidt was drafted in the second round, 30th<\/sup> overall. He signed a contract with the Phillies and joined their AA farm club in Reading, PA. He spent most of the 1972 season with the Phillies\u2019 AAA franchise in Oregon. Then, when the major league rosters expanded in September, as they always do, Schmitty joined the Phils and \u201cmade his major league debut against the New York Mets on September 12.[9] Four days later, in Philadelphia on September 16, Schmidt ended Montreal Expos pitcher Balor Moore’s streak of 25 scoreless innings pitched with his first career home run\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing the 1972 season, the Phillies dealt third baseman Don Money to the Milwaukee Brewers to open a spot for Schmidt in their infield. While he batted only .196 with 136 strikeouts during his first full season in 1973, Schmidt demonstrated his power potential by hitting 18 home runs\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I won\u2019t go over all the details of Mike Schmidt\u2019s 18-year career because it\u2019s too much and you can look it up if you want to. But he was probably the best third baseman ever to play the game. He finished his career with a .267 batting average, 548 home runs, and 1,595 runs batter in, a World Series ring, three National League MVP awards, and 12 All-Star-Game appearances. He led the National League in home runs 8 times. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot (ibid.). .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But since his baseball career ended, he hasn\u2019t stopped. \u201cIn 2001, Schmidt began sponsoring an annual fishing tournament in Grand Bahama Island. It has raised a total of over $2.5 million for charities including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, American Cancer Society, and Cleveland Clinic. In 2008, Schmidt released a wine called Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, a reference to his 548 career home runs, with proceeds also going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn June 10, [1974], in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Schmidt hit a ball off Houston Astros’ pitcher Claude Osteen that looked like a sure home run. The ball hit a public address speaker suspended 117 feet above and 329 feet away from home plate, falling into center field. By the ground rules, it remained in play and Schmidt was held to just a single, with the runners on first and second each advancing just one base. It is believed that had the ball not hit the speaker, it would have traveled beyond 500 feet\u201d (ibid.). It was a prodigious shot, and it portended the career to come. But his influence in the Philadelphia and baseball communities has been even more prodigious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philadelphia fans can be pretty tough, and in 1985, with the Phillies in fifth place in the National League\u2019s Eastern Division, and with Mike Schmidt hitting a lowly .237, Schmitty made some disparaging comments about the fan base. The club was on a trip, but a few days later, they returned to play the Cubs at home. Schmidt, who was considered to be cool, unemotional, maybe even detached by a lot of fans and commentators, realized that he was in a bit of trouble. So he completely broke character and wore a disguise\u2014a long, curly wig and sunglasses\u2014when he took the field before the game. It broke the ice and calmed everything down (https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/throwback-thursday-mike-schmidt-wigs-out-in-philadelphia\/). And it became an iconic moment in Phillies history, which is why that is the image I am using today (https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/340795896775832287\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary), is prodigious. Dictionary.com says it is pronounced \/ pr\u0259\u02c8d\u026ad\u0292 \u0259s \/ (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/prodigious), though I think I have heard it pronounced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,52],"tags":[238,395,284,862,861],"class_list":["post-7108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editors","category-word-of-the-day","tag-dictionary","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","tag-mike-schmidt","tag-prodigious","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108","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=7108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7110,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7108\/revisions\/7110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}