Podcasts about merriam webster

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 23, 2026 is: frenetic • frih-NET-ik • adjective Something described as frenetic is filled with excitement, activity, or confusion. The word is a synonym of frantic. // The event was noisy and frenetic, which prompted us to leave early. See the entry > Examples: “As Marty Mauser, a wannabe table tennis champion who dreams and deceives his way through his shamble of a life ... [Timothée Chalamet] injects his scenes with enough nervous energy to fuel a plane. Nowhere will you see a performance more frenetic or impressive.” — Ralph Jones, Vanity Fair, 9 Feb. 2026 Did you know? In modern use, frenetic can describe a focused and intense effort to meet a deadline, or dancing among a hyped-up crowd, but the word's Middle English predecessor, frenetik, had a narrower use: it was used to describe those exhibiting a severely disordered state of mind. If you trace frenetic back far enough, you'll find that it comes from Greek phrenîtis, a term referring to an inflammation of the brain. As for frenzied and frantic, they're not only synonyms of frenetic but relatives as well. Frantic comes from frenetik, and frenzied traces back to phrenîtis.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 22, 2026 is: apotheosis • uh-pah-thee-OH-sis • noun Apotheosis refers to the perfect form or example of something, or to the highest or best part of something. It can also mean “elevation to divine status; deification.” It is usually singular, but the plural form is apotheoses. // Some consider (however ironically) french fries to be the apotheosis of U.S. cuisine. // Their music reached its creative apotheosis in the late 2010s, which is also when they won two Grammys. See the entry > Examples: “At its simplest level, Canada appears in American literature as a wilderness escape from a more urbanized United States. ... The apotheosis of this view of Canada as a wilderness getaway might be Sylvia Plath's poem ‘Two Campers in Cloud Country,' subtitled ‘Rock Lake, Canada' and written about a camping trip she and her husband Ted Hughes took through Canada and the northeastern US in 1959.” — Brooke Clark, LitHub.com, 17 Apr. 2025 Did you know? Among the ancient Greeks, it was sometimes thought fitting to grant someone “god” status. Hence the word apothéōsis, from the verb apotheóō or apotheoûn, meaning “to deify.” (All are rooted in the Greek word theós, meaning “god,” which we can also thank for such religion-related terms as theology and atheism.) There's not a lot of literal apotheosizing to be had in modern English, but apotheosis is thriving in the 21st century. It can refer to the highest or best part of something, as in “the celebration reaches its apotheosis in an elaborate feast,” or to a perfect example or ultimate form, as in “a movie that is the apotheosis of the sci-fi genre.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 21, 2026 is: scrutinize • SKROO-tuh-nyze • verb To scrutinize something is to examine it carefully especially in a critical way. // I closely scrutinized my opponent's moves before making my own. See the entry > Examples: "The governor proposes a balanced budget, and the General Assembly scrutinizes every line." — J.B. Jennings, The Baltimore Sun, 5 Feb. 2026 Did you know? Scrutinize the history of scrutinize far back enough and you wind up sifting through trash: the word comes from Latin scrutari, which means "to search, to examine," and scrutari likely comes from scruta, meaning "trash." The etymology evokes one who searches through trash for anything of value. The noun scrutiny preceded scrutinize in English, and in its earliest 15th century use referred to a formal vote, and later to an official examination of votes. Scrutinize was established in the 17th century with its familiar "to examine closely" meaning, but retained reference to voting with the specific meaning "to examine votes" at least into the 18th century. (Votes are still commonly said to be scrutinized in the general sense of the word.) And while the term scrutineer can be a general term referring to someone who examines something, it is also sometimes used in British English specifically as a term for someone who takes or counts votes.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 20, 2026 is: eureka • yoo-REE-kuh • adjective As an interjection, eureka is used to express excitement when a discovery has been made. When used as an adjective, eureka describes something (typically a moment) that is characterized by a usually sudden triumphant discovery.  // After years of trying to piece together a concrete business idea, I had a eureka moment and everything made sense.   See the entry >  Examples: “Back in 2020, Trautmann and fellow college student Max Steitz were lamenting the unrelenting loss of Louisiana wetlands, while sharing a bottle of wine. It was a eureka moment, as Trautmann and Steitz realized that by crushing wine bottles and other disposable glass into sand, they could relieve pressure on landfills and simultaneously help fend off coastal erosion.” — Doug MacCash, nola.com (New Orleans, Louisiana), 5 Dec. 2025  Did you know? When people exclaim “Eureka!” they are harking back to a legendary event in the life of the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes. While wrestling with the problem of how to determine the purity of gold, he had the sudden realization that the buoyancy of an object placed in water is equal in magnitude to the weight of the water the object displaces. According to one popular version of the legend, he made his discovery at a public bathhouse, whereupon he leapt out of his bath, exclaiming in Greek “Heurēka! Heurēka!” (“I have found it!”), and ran home naked through the streets. The absence of a contemporary source for this anecdote has done nothing to diminish its popularity over the centuries. The English word eureka, which of course hails from heurēka, has also retained its popularity; its use as an interjection dates to the early 17th century, and it gained a brand-new use in the early 20th century as an adjective describing moments of discovery or epiphany.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 19, 2026 is: nadir • NAY-deer • noun Nadir refers to the lowest or worst point of something. When used in astronomy, nadir describes the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer. // Only once the novel's protagonist reaches her nadir does she arouse the reader's empathy, and we root for her to climb back to respectability. See the entry > Examples: “Sacrament dives right into the nadir of the 2020 health crisis, following a group of nurses who have moved into makeshift housing near a California hospital, to isolate from their families during the height of the case surge.” — James Folta, LitHub.com, 1 July 2025 Did you know? Nadir is part of the galaxy of scientific words that have come to us from Arabic, a language that has made important contributions to the English lexicon especially in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry. The source of nadir is naḍhīr, meaning “opposite”—the opposite, that is, of the zenith, the highest point of the celestial sphere which is positioned vertically above the observer. (The word zenith itself is a modification of another Arabic word that means “the way over one's head.”) Though born of the heavens, both words are called upon to refer to earthy things too, especially a significant point or period of time, be it a high point or low one.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 18, 2026 is: jejune • jih-JOON • adjective Jejune is a formal word that means "uninteresting" or "boring." It is also used as a synonym of juvenile to describe things (such as behaviors, attitudes, etc.) that are immature, childish, or simplistic. // The movie adaptation employed surreal visual effects to tell the story, making the plot, jejune in the novel, archetypal rather than artless. // The professor made rude and jejune remarks about the students' artwork. See the entry > Examples: "While [author Helen] Garner has journaled most of her life, she burned her early diaries in a bonfire having deemed them too embarrassing or jejune." — The Irish Times, 29 Mar. 2025 Did you know? Starved for excitement? You won't get it from something jejune. The term comes to us from the Latin word jejunus, which means "empty of food," "hungry," or "meager." When English speakers first used jejune back in the 1600s, they applied it in ways that mirrored the meaning of its Latin parent, lamenting "jejune appetites" and "jejune morsels." Something that is meager rarely satisfies, and before long jejune was being used not only for meager meals or hunger, but also for things lacking in intellectual or emotional substance. It's possible that the word gained its now-popular "juvenile" or "childish" sense when people confused it with the look-alike French word jeune, which means "young."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 17, 2026 is: Erin go bragh • air-un-guh-BRAW • phrase Erin go bragh is an Irish phrase that means “Ireland forever.” // They proudly waved the Irish flag during the parade, shouting “Erin go bragh!” See the entry > Examples: “Dressed in full Irish regalia, Fitzgerald rode his horse, Jack, through the streets of Clinton every St. Patrick's Day. Jack was also dressed for the occasion, with green ribbons on his mane and a green blanket with gold lettering, ‘Erin Go Bragh.'” — Craig S. Semon, The Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & Gazette, 22 Dec. 2025 Did you know? March 17th is the feast day of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. In the United States, it is also the day of shamrocks, leprechauns, and green beer (and green everything else). Blue was once the color traditionally associated with St. Patrick, but the color green has several links to Ireland, including its use on Ireland's flag in the form of a stripe, its symbolism of Irish nationalism and the country's religious history, and its connection to Ireland's nickname, The Emerald Isle. On St. Patrick's Day, people turn to their dictionary to look up Erin go bragh, which means “Ireland forever.” The original Irish phrase was Erin go brách (or go bráth), which translates literally as “Ireland till doomsday.” It's an expression of loyalty and devotion that first appeared in English during the late 18th-century Irish rebellion against the British.

Encyclopedia Brittanica and Merriam-Webster are suing OpenAI for making their websites obsolete. Do they have a legit case, or is it just Darwinism?Watch the podcast episodes on YouTube and all major podcast hosts including Spotify.CLOWNFISH TV is an independent, opinionated news and commentary podcast that covers Entertainment and Tech from a consumer's point of view. We talk about Gaming, Comics, Anime, TV, Movies, Animation and more. Hosted by Kneon and Geeky Sparkles.Get more news, views and reviews on Clownfish TV News - https://more.clownfishtv.com/On YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/ClownfishTVOn Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4Tu83D1NcCmh7K1zHIedvgOn Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clownfish-tv-audio-edition/id1726838629

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 16, 2026 is: putative • PYOO-tuh-tiv • adjective Putative is a formal word used to describe something that is generally believed, supposed, or assumed to be something specified. It is always used before a noun. // The group's putative leader was conspicuously absent from the meeting. See the entry > Examples: "... the painting is swept up in questions of identity, provenance, authenticity and putative value." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025 Did you know? There's no need to make assumptions about the root behind putative—we know it comes from a form of the Latin verb putare, which means "to consider" or "to think." Putative is a rather formal word that has been part of English since the 15th century. Like apparent, presumed, and ostensible, it leaves room for a smidgen of doubt: a putative ally will very probably be there for you, and a putative successor is very likely to be the next one in charge, but life offers no guarantees in either case.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 15, 2026 is: tranche • TRAHNSH • noun Tranche refers to a division or portion of a whole. // A tranche of leaked documents was delivered to the newspaper anonymously, with more promised to come. See the entry > Examples: “Congress approved an initial tranche of funding legislation in November as the longest shutdown in history came to an end.” — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 16 Dec. 2025 Did you know? In French, tranche means “slice.” Cutting deeper into the word's etymology, we find the Old French word trenchier, meaning “to cut,” which has its likely origin in a Latin word meaning “to cut in three,” from Latin trini meaning “three each.” Tranche emerged in the English language in the late 19th century to refer to a division or portion of a larger pool or whole, and later developed a finance-specific meaning referring to an offering for sale of typically a set of bonds “cut” from a larger group of bonds, the tranche being differentiated by such factors as maturity or rate of return.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 14, 2026 is: rash • RASH • adjective Rash describes something done or made quickly and without thought about what will happen as a result. It can also describe someone who is doing something rash. // I later regretted having made such a rash promise in a moment of chaos. // Don't be rash about this decision. Take your time. See the entry > Examples: “The climactic scenes toy with the blurred lines between hallucination and reality, but the logic falls apart; threads like Hana's rash decision to undertake a dangerous surgical fix virtually evaporate without much payoff.” — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2026 Did you know? Is it possible that the origins of the noun rash (referring to a group of red spots on the skin that is caused by an illness or a reaction to something) and the adjective rash (meaning “overly hasty”) are the same? Not so fast! Like many homonyms—“two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning”—the two rashes have distinct sources. The noun rash, which first appeared in English in the late 17th century, probably comes ultimately from the Latin verb rādere, meaning “to scrape, scratch, shave.” The adjective rash appears to be about two centuries older, and comes from a Middle English word rasch meaning “active, quick, eager.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 13, 2026 is: immure • ih-MYOOR • verb To immure something is to enclose it within or as if within walls. Immure is also sometimes used synonymously with imprison. // Scientists at the research station in Antarctica are immured by the frozen wild that surrounds them. See the entry > Examples: "The Torlonia collection, which Alessandro Torlonia moved into a private museum in Rome in 1875, went into hiding in the early 1940s. ... Disputes among family members and with the government left the marbles hidden away, gathering dust and grime. For all those years scholars had to beg and bribe to get in. One government official, desperate to see what gems the Torlonia prince had immured, resorted to dressing up as a cleaner." — Jason Farago, The New York Times, 16 Apr. 2025 Did you know? Like mural, immure comes from murus, a Latin noun meaning "wall." Immure came to English by way of the Medieval Latin verb immurare, formed from murus and the prefix in- (meaning "in" or "within"). Immure, which first appeared in English in the late 16th century, literally means "to wall in" or "to enclose with a wall," but it has extended meanings as well. In addition to senses meaning "to imprison" and "to entomb," the word sometimes has broader applications, essentially meaning "to shut in" or "to confine." One might remark, for example, that a very studious acquaintance spends most of her time "immured in the library."

How do you define what blue is? What even IS colour? Turns out, the quest to define colours was happening along with a standardisation crisis and a dictionary crisis at the venerable Merriam-Webster. Lexicographer and author Kory Stamper tells us all about it, and about her new book True Color. Timestamps Start: 0:00 Intros: 1:17 News: 12:40 Related or Not: 33:34 Chat with Kory Stamper, author of True Color: 50:43 Words of the Week: 1:41:58 Comment from Lauretta: 2:04:57 The Reads: 2:08:14 Outtakes: 2:16:48

According to Merriam-Webster, the word "conversation" has 36 synonyms, ranging from the alliterative ("confabulation") to the arcane ("persiflage"). Why the linguistic profusion? Because conversing is a fundamental part — maybe the fundamental part — of being human. We chat with our families, friends, strangers, and co-workers, and we communicate in phone calls, text messages, emails, and (occasionally) postcards. When these tête-à-têtes go well, it is oddly thrilling; we become better versions of ourselves — warmer and wiser, funnier, and consistently insightful. Best of all, a good dialogue is a direct route to connection. "The bond of all companionship," wrote Oscar Wilde, "whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation." But when a conversation goes poorly, when it stays on the surface ("what do you do for a living?") or devolves into a sputtering mess of misunderstanding ("you're overreacting!"), we don't feel the invigorating pulse of connection. What we feel, instead, is the emotional equivalent of a busy signal. So, this hour, we're asking: How can we have better conversations? And to help answer that question, we're joined by Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and the bestselling author of "The Power of Habit" and now Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. Charles, as you'll hear, is something of supercommunicator himself — a lithe storyteller who is as well-versed in evolutionary biology as he is in the latest psychology — and after studying the art and science of communication for the last few years, he's concluded that anyone can become a great conversationalist. You just have to master a few simple skills. Tune in to find out what they are. (This episode first aired in February 2024.) Watch The Next Big Idea on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠podcast@nextbigideaclub.com⁠. We love getting fan mail.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 12, 2026 is: gambit • GAM-bit • noun A gambit is something done or said in order to gain an advantage or to produce a desired effect. // The workers' opening gambit in the negotiations was to demand a wage hike. See the entry > Examples: “Now the book publishing industry has sent a message to all A.I. companies: Our intellectual property isn't yours for the taking, and you cannot act with impunity. This settlement is an opening gambit in a critical battle that will be waged for years to come.” — Andrea Bartz, The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Don't let the similarities of sound and general flavor between gambit and gamble trip you up; the two words are unrelated. Gambit first appeared in English in a 1656 chess handbook that was said to feature almost a hundred illustrated gambetts. Gambett traces back first to the Spanish word gambito, and before that to the Italian gambetto, from gamba meaning “leg.” Gambetto referred to the act of tripping someone, as in wrestling, in order to gain an advantage. In chess, gambit (or gambett, as it was once spelled) originally referred to a chess opening whereby the bishop's pawn is intentionally sacrificed—or tripped—to gain an advantage in position. Gambit is now applied to many other chess openings, but after being pinned down for years, it also finally broke free of chess's hold and is used generally to refer to any “move,” whether literal or rhetorical, done to get a leg up, so to speak. While such moves can be risky, gambit is not synonymous with gamble, which likely comes from Old English gamen, meaning “amusement, jest, pastime”—source too of game.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 11, 2026 is: besotted • bih-SAH-tud • adjective Someone described as besotted is so in love that they are unable to think clearly; they are utterly infatuated. Besotted can also be used as a synonym of drunk. // The opening scene of the movie follows a besotted couple at a party, the camera's focus emphasizing their ignorance of all that's around them. See the entry > Examples: “Kathrin [tour guide] is endearingly besotted with her adopted country and spoke about it with the reverence of a convert. Some more things I heard from her that contribute to people in Finland being happy included: sauna culture discouraging fatphobia; emphasis on design—that means even very basic, cheap things are beautiful and robust; and, of course, nature.” — Imogen West-Knights, Slate, 27 Aug. 2025 Did you know? Stumble on the word sot and you will likely find it attached to a person who tends to over-imbibe. The word has referred to a habitual drunkard since the late 16th century, and before that—from the days of Old English—it referred to a fool generally. The now-archaic verb sot followed a similar trajectory, its original meaning of “to cause to appear foolish” being joined later by its “to drink alcohol excessively” meaning. The earliest known recorded use of the related adjective besotted (in the late 16th century, from the the verb besot), however, described a state of figurative intoxication: one besotted was stupefied by love rather than liquor. The still-current sense of besotted meaning “drunk” didn't show up until the early 19th century. In fact, evidence of the “infatuated” sense of besotted also predates the tipple-related senses of the noun sot, verb sot, and verb besot, suggesting perhaps that love may be the strongest intoxicant of all.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 10, 2026 is: mea culpa • may-uh-KOOL-puh • noun The noun mea culpa is used for a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error. // The podcast host's mea culpa did little to satisfy those who found the episode deeply offensive. See the entry > Examples: "... his apology was the best public mea culpa of this century. ... It was delivered without hesitation, qualification or blame shifting." — John Mosig, The Age (Melbourne, Australia), 24 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Mea culpa means "through my fault" in Latin. Said by itself, it's an exclamation of apology or remorse that is used to mean "It was my fault" or "I apologize." Mea culpa is also a noun, however. A newspaper might issue a mea culpa for printing inaccurate information, or a politician might give a speech making mea culpas for past wrongdoings. Mea culpa is one of many English terms that come from the Latin culpa, meaning "guilt." Some other examples are culpable ("meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful"), culprit ("one guilty of a crime or a fault"), and exculpate ("to clear from alleged fault or guilt").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 9, 2026 is: hector • HEK-ter • verb To hector someone is to criticize or question them in a threatening way. // The judge ordered the attorney to stop hectoring the witness. See the entry > Examples: “He continued to hector Neal about his inattention to business (‘I have been waiting to hear from you,' again, and again, and again), without any tangible results.” — Jem Aswad, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025 Did you know? In Homer's Iliad, Hector, the eldest son of King Priam of Troy, was a model soldier, son, father, and friend, the champion of the Trojan army until he was killed by the Greek hero Achilles. So how did his name become a verb meaning “to intimidate or harass”? That use was likely influenced by gangs of rowdy street toughs who roamed London in the 17th century and called themselves “Hectors.” They may have thought themselves gallant young blades (that's sense 3b(3)), but to the general populace they were swaggering bullies who intimidated passersby and vandalized property.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 8, 2026 is: crepuscular • krih-PUHSS-kyuh-ler • adjective Crepuscular means “of, relating to, or resembling twilight.” It is used in zoological contexts to describe creatures that are active during twilight, or the activities of such creatures. // As evening came on, fireflies began to appear in the crepuscular gloaming. See the entry > Examples: “To gaze upon a platypus is to witness a jumble of contradictions. … Even when you see one with your own eyes—say, paddling underwater, absorbed in her crepuscular rooting—the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) remains hard to believe.” — Kathleen Yale, Orion, Winter 2025/2026 Did you know? The early Romans had two words for the twilight. Crepusculum was favored by Roman writers for the half-light of evening, just after the sun sets; diluculum was reserved for morning twilight, just before the sun rises—it is related to lūcidus, meaning “bright.” (Crepusculum was likely modeled on diluculum, from the assumed root krepos-, meaning “twilight.”) English speakers didn't embrace either of these Latin nouns as substitutes for the word twilight, but they did form the adjective crepuscular in the 17th century. The word's zoological sense, relating to animals that are most active at twilight, developed in the 19th century.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 7, 2026 is: libertine • LIB-er-teen • noun A libertine is in broad terms a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality. More narrowly, the word describes someone who leads an immoral life. // The legend of Don Juan depicts him as a playboy and libertine. See the entry > Examples: "As horrifying as some of the sins of Victorian scholarship may have been, it would have been anathema to these students of classical philosophy to simply throw out Plato. But that's what some of their modern inheritors have tried to do. … It's worth noting that we might not have Plato's work at all, were it not carefully studied and preserved by the Islamic scholars (hardly libertines themselves) of the medieval period." — R. Bruce Anderson, The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida), 1 Feb. 2026 Did you know? "I only ask to be free," says Mr. Skimpole in Charles Dickens' Bleak House. His words would undoubtedly have appealed to the world's first libertines. The word libertine comes from the Latin lībertīnus, a word used in early writings of Roman antiquity to describe a formerly enslaved person who had been set free (the Roman term for an emancipated person was the Latin lībertus). Middle English speakers used libertine to refer to a freedman, but by the late 1500s its meaning was extended to freethinkers, both religious and secular, and it later came to imply that an individual was a little too unrestrained, especially in moral affairs. The likely Latin root of libertine is līber, the ultimate source of our word liberty.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 6, 2026 is: vaunted • VAWN-tud • adjective Vaunted describes someone or something that is often spoken of or described as very good or great. // The team's vaunted defense faltered in the second half of the game. See the entry > Examples: “After much initial hype, the much vaunted new production partnership fizzled out after just two seasons, leaving the franchise scrambling for a new direction and without a lead actor in its signature role.” — Lacy Baugher, Den of Geek, 22 Jan. 2026 Did you know? The verb vaunt has been used since the 15th century with the meaning “to make a vain display of one's own worth or attainments”—in other words, “to brag or boast.” Over time, vaunt developed the meaning “to boast of (a particular thing),” as in “the promotional flier vaunts the natural beauty of the area,” and that use gave rise to the adjectival form vaunted. The history of vaunt and vaunted leads back to the Latin word vānus, with the meanings “lacking content, empty, illusory, marked by foolish or empty pride.” The word vain itself is also a descendant of vānus.

How do you define success? Being promoted? Achieving a certain number of social media followers? Reaching a particular income level? Well, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines it simply as, "a favorable or desired outcome." Take a moment today and consider how God's desired outcome looks different than the world's. In Matthew 22, Jesus tells a lawyer there are two main things we should desire in life… and they have nothing to do with financial status, power, or position! He said, "you shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… and shall love your neighbor as yourself." What kind of desired outcome are you pursuing at work: the world's version of success that centers on personal gain? Or God's, which is about honoring Him and loving those around you? 

“Is it true the ribs can tell the kick of a beast from a lover's fist?” In this week's episode, we dissect Poetic Justice, a film released on July 23, 1993, starring Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur. Join us as we discuss "women's movies", beauty shop experiences, judgmental aunties, dirty nails, sad montages, mail trucks, family reunions, and more!Notable Mentions + References in This Episode:Poetic justice definition (Merriam Webster)janet. Anytime, Anyplace - Janet JacksonJohn Singleton's Next Episode (The Village Voice)Bebe's Kids - Straight Jackin'Regina King Reacts to Her Iconic Role in Poetic Justice JuiceMadea's Family Reunion (Episode 088)Connect with us:Instagram: @in_hindsight_podTwitter: @in_hindsightpod Thanks for listening!

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 5, 2026 is: deem • DEEM • verb Deem is a somewhat formal word used when someone comes to think something or to have something as an opinion after some consideration. // The covered bridge was closed to automobile traffic for the winter because town officials deemed it a hazard to motorists. See the entry > Examples: “bbno$ is an artist who has certainly taken some flak over the years for his style. Some find it to be a gimmick, while others deem it corny. Despite this, he does have a pretty sizable fanbase.” — Alexander Cole, HotNewHipHop.com, 10 Jan. 2026 Did you know? If you feel a sense of doom when asked to define deem, we're here with some details for your dome (sense 7). While today deem is used generally as a synonym of consider (as in “a movie deemed appropriate for all ages”), its origins are more formal, coming specifically from the realm of law. The oldest meaning of deem, which comes from the Old English verb dēman (relative of dōm, meaning “doom”) is “to sit in judgment upon,” as employed by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queen: “... at th'one side six Judges were dispos'd, / To view and deem the deeds of arms that day.” This sense was obsolete by the early 17th century, and other senses including “to expect or hope” have come and gone, but deem's use overall has never dimmed. In fact, today's most common meaning of “to come to think or judge something; to consider” has also been in use since Old English and is still deemed quite common.

This week, hosts of N2K CyberWire ⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ alongside ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are discussing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. For our follow up this week we get an update Merriam-Webster dictionary for Joe, and listener Michael Amezquita suggested that customizable ChatGPT personality settings may explain why Joe and Dave received different responses on Hacking Humans. Dave shares reporting on a Binary Defense case where attackers used social engineering and a help desk reset to hijack a physician's identity and reroute payroll deposits through a trusted internal system without triggering security alerts. Maria highlights a surge in AI-powered publishing scams targeting authors, where fraudsters use flattery and impersonate legitimate organizations to charge bogus marketing and promotion fees. Joe covers multi-state raids tied to a massive gold bar scam that stole tens of millions from seniors, with stolen gold allegedly melted down through cooperating jewelry stores. In our Catch of the Day, a Reddit scambaiter shared a bizarre ongoing conversation with someone claiming to be “Keanu Reeves from Brokeback Mountain” who reached out to non‑fans in Norway. Resources and links to stories: Payroll pirates are conning help desks to steal workers' identities and redirect paychecks What is it like to attend a predatory conference? Hungry for Affirmation, Vulnerable to Scams: As a Writer, I Know the Feeling Third North Texas jewelry store raided over alleged connections to $74 million gold scam targeting seniors Federal and state authorities raid jewelry stores in multi-state $50 million gold bar scam Jewelry store raids in Irving, Frisco linked to $55 million gold scam targeting seniors, officials say Keanu Reeves from Brokeback Mountain reaches out to non-fans in Norway! - Part 1 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hackinghumans@n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Send a textCzym jest spokój? Dlaczego tak ważne jest, aby mieć spokój?W słowniku Merriam-Webster jedna z definicji pokoju brzmi: „jest to stan spokoju lub ciszy”.Słownik Oxfordu definiuje pokój bardzo podobnie jako „spokój i cisza; wolność od zmartwień lub irytacji”.Pokój pojawia się w różnych kontekstach – np. gdy państwa podpisują pakt i pozostają w pokoju po wojnach albo gdy w rodzinie lub wśród przyjaciół występują konflikty lub różnice zdań, i szukamy konsolidacji. Spokój dotyczy także wewnętrznego niepokoju wywołanego troskami i stresem wynikającymi z podejmowania własnych decyzji. Jednak w Piśmie Świętym pojęcie spokoju jest nieco inne. Aby stworzyć poczucie spokoju, jak opisano w Biblii, najpierw trzeba pragnąć, a następnie poprzez modlitwę, medytację i pracę można je osiągnąć.„Pokój jest owocem Ducha. I w rozdziale piątym Listu do Galacjan czytamy: „Owocem Ducha są: miłość, radość, spokój, cierpliwość, uprzejmość, dobroć, wiara, łagodność i powściągliwość.” – Galacjan 5:22–23.W Izajaszu 9:6 czytamy, że Jezus jest „Księciem Pokoju”.– Izajasz 9:6.1. Jak odkryć wyciszenie w Bogu?Poprzez Chrystusa możemy mieć wyciszenie i pokój z Bogiem, a Jego łaska dodajenam sił, przynosząc nadzieję i radość w Bożej chwale.W Liście do Rzymian 5:1-5 jest napisane“Dlatego, mając usprawiedliwienie przez wiarę, pokój z Bogiem, którego otrzymujemy przez naszego Pana Jezusa Chrystusa, a który także przez wiarę w Jego zmartwychwstanie otwiera nam dostęp do łaski, w której cieszymy się nadzieją chwały Bożej. A nie tylko to, ale i w uciskach chlubimy się, wiedząc, że ucisk wywołuje cierpliwość, a cierpliwość, doświadczenie, a doświadczenie – nadzieję. A nadzieja nie zawstydza, bo miłość Boża rozlewa się w naszych sercach przez Ducha Świętego, który został nam dany.(Rz 5:1‑5)2. Jak kultywować spokój w sobie?Kultywowanie spokoju w sercu stanowi fundament, na którym opierają się wszystkie nasze relacje i osiągnięcia. Gdy odczuwam spokój w Chrystusie, otrzymuję siłę, która jest źródłem mojej wewnętrznej stabilizacji.Słowa z 1 Tesaloniczan 5:21‑23 pouczają, jak odczuwać spokój:„…trwajcie mocno w tym, co dobre. Powstrzymajcie się od wszelkich pozorówzła. A sam Bóg pokoju niech was całkowicie uświęci.” (1 Tes 5:21–23)3. Jak znaleźć spokój z innymi?Zbawiciel napełnia mnie Duchem, abym dzieliła się spokojem wobec wszystkich, nawet tych, którzy sprawiają przykrość czy krzywdę. DLatego podzielę się słowami samego Chrystusa, który mial odpowiedz na to pytanie: Z Ewangelii Mateusza czytamy„Błogosławieni pokój czyniący, albowiem oni będą nazwani synami Bożymi.” (Mt 5:9)Na zakończenie podzielę się piosenką którą często śpiewamy w kościele, która ma piękna lirykę; nosi tytuł „Gdzie znajdę spokój swój”. To piękna pieśń i postanowiłam zakończyć swój odcinek tą piosenką, która była nagrana wiele lat temu.Tekst napisała Emma Lou Thayne: oto tłumaczenie,„Gdzie mogę zwrócić się po spokój?Gdzie znajdę ukojenie?Gdy inne źródła przestają mnie uszczęśliwiać?Gdy mam zranione serce, gniew lub wrogość,wyciszam się wewnętrznie,Szukając w duszy odpowiedzi.”www.kasiasmusic.comwww.kasiasfaithjourney.comhttps://www.facebook.com/kasiasfaithjourney/

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 4, 2026 is: ad hoc • AD-HOCK • adjective Ad hoc describes something that is formed or used for a special purpose, or that is made or done without planning because of an immediate need. // An ad hoc committee was formed to investigate the matter. // The company will hire more staff on an ad hoc basis. See the entry > Examples: "At the centre of the plan were tools designed to help governments and councils move beyond ad hoc responses to extreme weather." — Kirsty Johnston, The New Zealand Herald, 31 Jan. 2026 Did you know? In Latin ad hoc literally means "for this," and in English the term describes anything that can be thought of as existing "for this purpose only." For example, an ad hoc committee is generally authorized to look into a single matter of limited scope, not to broadly pursue any issue of interest. Ad hoc can also be used as an adverb meaning "for the particular end or case at hand without consideration of wider application," as in "decisions were made ad hoc."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 3, 2026 is: spiel • SPEEL • noun A spiel is a fast speech that someone has often said before and that is usually intended to persuade people to buy something or to agree to something. // The founder gave us a long spiel about the benefits of joining the running club. See the entry > Examples: “We were in a hotel and when he and his publicist exited one door of the suite, I slipped out the other to meet him at the elevator. I gave him my spiel about the film and handed him a rough cut on VHS. He said, ‘Alright, we'll take a look.'” — Ed Burns, quoted in The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Jan. 2026 Did you know? Here's our spiel on spiel: it's well-known as a noun, and you may also be aware that spiel can be used as a verb meaning “to talk extravagantly,” but did you know that the verb can also mean “to play music”? That, in fact, is the word's original meaning, and one it shares with its German root, spielen. Spiel is also found in glockenspiel, the name of a musical instrument similar to the xylophone.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 2, 2026 is: exhilarate • ig-ZIL-uh-rayt • verb Exhilarate means "to cause (someone) to feel very happy and excited." It is usually used in the passive voice as (be) exhilarated. // She was exhilarated by the prospect of attending her dream school. See the entry > Examples: "I'll say it: winter is my favorite season for jazz in Chicago. Summer may be busier and splashier, but there's nothing quite like nestling into a darkened club, cheeks flushed from the cold, for a singular and inventive night of music. It does more than thaw frozen fingers: It exhilarates, inspires and inflames, in the best way." — Hannah Edgar, The Chicago Tribune, 11 Jan. 2026 Did you know? Many people find exhilarate a difficult word to spell. It's easy to forget that silent "h" in there, and is it an "er" or "ar" after the "l"? It may be easier to remember the spelling if you know that exhilarate ultimately comes from the Latin adjective hilarus, meaning "cheerful." (This also explains why the earliest meaning of exhilarate is "to make cheerful.") Exhilarate comes from exhilaratus, a form of exhilarare, which combines ex- and hilarare, a verb from hilarus that means "to cheer or gladden." If hilarus looks familiar, that may be because it's also the source of hilarious and hilarity (as well as hilariously and hilariousness, of course).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 1, 2026 is: paean • PEE-un • noun Paean is a literary word that refers to a song of joy, praise, or victory. It can also be used as a synonym of tribute for a work that praises or honors its subject. // Her retirement party featured many paeans for her long years of service to the company. // Critics considered the movie both a thrilling Western and a paean to the natural beauty of the Rockies. See the entry > Examples: “The show is a tender study of people struggling to do right by themselves and others. It's also a paean to Chicago, my hometown ...” — Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2025 Did you know? In ancient Greece, Paiā́n (or Paiṓn) was a name used for the god Apollo when in the guise of physician to the gods (Paiā́n/Paiṓn comes from the name of an older Mycenaean healer god). Paiā́n and paiṓn were also used to refer to hymns of thanksgiving and praise sung especially to Apollo, as was their Latin descendant, paean. When paean first appeared in English in the late 16th century, it was used both in the context of Greek history and in general for a joyous song or hymn of praise, tribute, thanksgiving, or triumph. Over time, the word became even more generalized, and it is now used for any kind of tribute.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 28, 2026 is: congruous • KAHNG-groo-us • adjective Something described as congruous is in agreement, harmony, or correspondence with something else. Congruous can also describe something that is appropriate for a particular circumstance or requirement, or a thing that is marked or enhanced by harmonious agreement among its constituent elements. // Their professional achievements were congruous with their academic abilities. // The low bookshelf forms a congruous barrier between the spaces. // It is a congruous, plausible story, consistent in all its details. See the entry > Examples: “Hannah is a sustainability consultant and climate impact manager, which is congruous with an outdoor ethos and the culture around bike guiding ...” — Wendy Altschuler, Forbes, 3 Sept. 2024 Did you know? Congruous had only been part of the English language for a few decades in 1615, when a book about the Church of Rome referred to “teaching most congruous to reason.” The word has remained more or less true to its Latin roots: it comes from Latin congruus, an adjective that comes from the verb congruere, meaning “to come together” or “to agree.” (Its more common antonym, incongruous is about the same age.) Another familiar congruere descendant in English is congruent, which first appeared at least a century earlier with the same meaning as congruous. English also acquired congrue, a verb meaning “to be in harmony” or “to agree,” from congruere, but it has since become obsolete.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 27, 2026 is: nettle • NET-ul • verb To nettle someone is to make them angry or annoyed. // Though he tried to maintain a friendly tone, the town official was clearly nettled by the reporter's suggestion that the town was at fault. See the entry > Examples: "I can't help but be reminded of an idiom that irked me no end during times of familial stress ... : 'Use it or lose it.' The message being that if a skill or resource is not regularly utilised, over time, we will lose it. As nettled as I was by it, I now feel obliged to acknowledge the obvious truth behind the catchphrase." — Gwen Loughman, The Journal (Ireland), 21 Aug. 2025 Did you know? If you've ever brushed against nettles, you know those plants have sharp bristles that can leave you smarting and itching. The painful and irritating rash that nettles cause can last for days, but at least it is a rash with a linguistic silver lining. The discomfort caused by nettles can serve to remind one that the verb nettle is a synonym of irritate. Nettle originated as a plant name that we can trace to the Old English word netel. Eventually, people likened the persistent stinging itch caused by the plant to the nagging aggravation of being annoyed, and nettle joined the likes of vex, peeve, and irk in describing such little miseries.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 26, 2026 is: knackered • NAK-erd • adjective Knackered is an adjective mostly used informally in British English to mean “very tired or exhausted.” // Unfortunately, I was too knackered after work to join them for dinner. See the entry > Examples: “‘How are you doing?' ‘Yeah, good thanks... just tired.' I don't know about you, but it feels like I'm having a version of this exchange at least once a day. It seems that everyone I know is genuinely and profoundly knackered. My friends say it. My postman says it. My teenage son says it. Even my partner, who usually has the energy levels of a Duracell-powered soft toy, grudgingly admits his batteries are drained.” — Sara Robinson, The Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), 22 Nov. 2025 Did you know? An apt synonym for knackered might be the phrase “dead tired” for more than one reason. Knackered is a 20th century coinage that comes from the past participle of knacker, a slang term meaning “to kill,” as well as “to tire, exhaust, or wear out.” This verb knacker likely comes from an older noun knacker, which first referred to a harness-maker or saddlemaker, and later to a buyer of animals no longer able to do farmwork (or their carcasses). Knackered is used on both sides of the Atlantic but is more common among British speakers.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 25, 2026 is: onomatopoeia • ah-nuh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh • noun Onomatopoeia refers to the creation of words that imitate natural sounds. It can also refer to the words themselves, such as buzz and hiss. // The author's clever use of onomatopoeia delights children especially. See the entry > Examples: “As they began to slurp, columns of noodles steadily streamed upward into their open jaws. The jazz soundtrack of Hiromi's Sonicwonder playing ‘Yes! Ramen!!' was punctuated by a gurgling roar reminiscent of shop vacs inhaling shallow pools. ‘We call it ‘hitting the zu's,'' says Steigerwald, noting the reference to zuru zuru, the onomatopoeia for slurping ramen in Japanese comics.” — Craig LaBan, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 18 Jan. 2026 Did you know? English speakers have only used the word onomatopoeia since the 1500s, but people have been creating words that imitate the sounds heard around them for much longer; chatter, for example, dates to the 1200s. Some onomatopes (as onomatopoeic words are sometimes called) are obvious—fizz, jingle, toot, and pop do not surprise. But did you know that other onomatopes include bounce, tinker, and blimp? Boom! Now you do. In fact, the presence of so many imitative words in language spawned the linguistic bowwow theory, which hypothesizes that language originated in the imitating of natural sounds. While it's highly unlikely that onomatopoeia is the sole impetus for human language, it certainly made a mark, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 24, 2026 is: umpteen • UMP-teen • adjective Umpteen is an informal adjective meaning "very many" or "indefinitely numerous." // The artist has painted the same subject umpteen times, yet each piece has its own unique quality. See the entry > Examples: "The life of a showgirl often includes umpteen costume changes, elaborate props and copious amounts of hairspray." – The Economist, 4 Oct. 2025 Did you know? There may not be a gazillion ways in English to refer to a large, indefinite number, but there are definitely more than a soupçon. Many of these, such as zillion, bazillion, kazillion, jillion, and bajillion, start with -illion (as in million) and add a satisfying consonant or syllable in front for some extra oomph. The adjective umpteen does the same for -teen, with the oomph provided by the ump in umpty. Umpty, an adjective meaning "such and such" (as in "umpty percent" or "umpty-four") arose, like umpteen, in the latter half of the 1800s. We only occasionally use umpty these days, but you're bound to hear or read umpteen and umpteenth ("latest or last in an indefinitely numerous series") any number of times.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 23, 2026 is: culminate • KUL-muh-nayt • verb To culminate is to reach the end or the final result of something. Culminate is usually used with in or with. // Their efforts have culminated in the discovery of a new treatment. See the entry > Examples: “The grand emotions of these cartoons-come-to-life culminate in huge song and dance numbers, the songs sung by the voices you know and love from the movies and the dances enhanced by the grace of topflight figure skating.” — Christopher Arnott, The Hartford Courant, 11 Jan. 2026 Did you know? When a star or other heavenly body culminates, it reaches its highest point above the horizon from the vantage point of an observer on the ground. The English verb culminate was drawn (via Medieval Latin) from the Late Latin verb culminare, meaning “to crown,” specifically for this astronomical application. Its ultimate root is the Latin noun culmen, meaning “top.” Today, the word's typical context is less lofty: it can mean “to reach a climactic point,” as in “a long career culminating in a prestigious award,” but it can also simply mean “to reach the end of something,” as in “a sentence culminating in a period.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 22, 2026 is: foray • FOR-ay • noun A foray is an initial and often hesitant attempt to do something in a new or different field or area of activity, as in “the novelist's foray into nonfiction.” In martial contexts, foray means “a sudden or irregular invasion or attack for war or spoils.” // The professional wrestler's surprise foray into ballet was at first met with skepticism, but he eventually proved himself a dancer of grace and poise. See the entry > Examples: “Bryan Escareño's foray into fashion was the result of happenstance. In 2018, the designer, who was born and raised in Venice, California, bought a green vintage Singer sewing machine at a garage sale determined to learn to make the perfect pair of denim pants. … He began honing his sewing skills, eventually crafting cut-and-sew flannel shirts that caught the eye of his colleagues at LA's Wasteland, a high-end resale boutique.” — Celia San Miguel, USA Today, 3 Dec. 2025 Did you know? For centuries, foray referred only to a sudden or irregular invasion or attack, but in the late 19th century it began to venture into gentler semantic territory. While the newer sense of foray still involves a trek into a foreign territory, the travel is figurative: when you make this kind of foray, you dabble in an area, occupation, or pastime that's new to you. Take the particularly apt example (stay tuned) of mushroom hunting. The likely ancestor of foray is an Anglo-French word referring to the violent sort who do invasion forays, but that word could also refer to a forager—that is, one who wanders in search of food. (Forage has the same etymological source.) Interestingly, foray has seen a resurgence of use connected to its foraging roots, as evidenced by the growing popularity of mycophile-led mushroom “forays” that have been lately popping up like toadstools.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 21, 2026 is: laconic • luh-KAH-nik • adjective Laconic describes someone or something communicating with few words. Laconic can more narrowly mean "concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious." // The stand-up comedian is known for his laconic wit and mastery of the one-liner. See the entry > Examples: "Elijah did not enjoy all my choices. ... But my son listened closely to every selection. He remembered plot points better than I did and assessed historical figures concisely. 'Mean,' he said of Voltaire. 'Creepy,' summed up Alexander Hamilton. ... Most surprising, my laconic teenager shared my love of Austen. Those hours listening to Pride and Prejudice were some of the happiest of my parenting life." — Allegra Goodman, LitHub.com, 4 Feb. 2025 Did you know? We'll keep it brief. Laconia was once an ancient province in southern Greece. Its capital city was Sparta, and the Spartans were famous for their terseness of speech. Laconic comes to us by way of the Latin word laconicus ("Spartan") from the Greek word lakōnikos. In current use, laconic means "terse" or "concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious," and thus recalls the Spartans' tight-lipped taciturnity.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 20, 2026 is: encapsulate • in-KAP-suh-layt • verb Encapsulate literally means “to enclose in or as if in a capsule,” but the word is more often used figuratively as a synonym of summarize, to talk about showing or expressing a main idea or quality in a brief way. // Can you encapsulate the speech in a single paragraph? // The first song encapsulates the mood of the whole album. // The contaminated material should be encapsulated and removed. See the entry > Examples: “While choosing a single film to encapsulate a quarter-century of cinema is an impossible task, Bong Joon Ho's dark comedy certainly belongs in the conversation. A scathing satire that links two families of vastly different means, the film's stars thinly smile through the indignities and social faux pas before a climactic and inevitable eruption of violence.” — Kevin Slane, Boston.com, 2 Jan. 2026 Did you know? We'll keep it brief by encapsulating the history of this word in just a few sentences. Encapsulate and its related noun, capsule, come to English (via French) from capsula, a diminutive form of the Latin noun capsa, meaning “box.” (Capsa also gave English the word case as it refers to a container or box—not to be confused with the case in “just in case,” which is a separate case.) The earliest examples of encapsulate are for its literal use, “to enclose something in a capsule,” and they date to the late 19th century. Its extended meaning, “to give a summary or synopsis of something,” plays on the notion of a capsule being something compact, self-contained, and often easily digestible.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 19, 2026 is: syllogism • SIL-uh-jiz-um • noun Syllogism refers to a formal argument in logic that is formed by two statements and a conclusion which must be true if the two statements are true. // An example of a syllogism is “All men are mortal; no gods are mortal; therefore no men are gods.” See the entry > Examples: “The Dallas area was a hotbed of competitive debate, and, at first, the oratorical polish of [Rebecca F.] Kuang's teammates was intimidating. She spent months being coached on the art of the syllogism, a kind of logical argument in which one deduces a conclusion from a set of premises. ‘The idea that you could take something that seemed up to personal charisma or rhetorical choice and map it to this very rigid, argumentative structure was mind-blowing,' she said.” — Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025 Did you know? For those trained in formal argument, the syllogism is a classical form of deduction, specifically an argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion. One example is the inference that “kindness is praiseworthy” from the premises “every virtue is praiseworthy” and “kindness is a virtue.” Syllogism came to English through Anglo-French from the Latin noun syllogismus, which in turn can be traced back to the Greek verb syllogizesthai, which combines logizesthai (meaning “to calculate,” and coming from logos, meaning “word” or “reckoning”) with syl-, which comes from syn-, meaning “with” or “together.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 18, 2026 is: Goldilocks • GOHL-dee-lahks • adjective Goldilocks describes something that has or produces an optimal balance usually between two extremes. In astronomy, it specifically designates an area of planetary orbit neither too hot nor too cold to support life. // The couple, undecided between country and city living, took the Goldilocks option and moved to a bustling college town surrounded by nature. See the entry > Examples: "It's a well-known fact that the time between 3 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon is a liminal space. ... It's too late for lunch, too early for dinner. But it's the Goldilocks hour for a little treat." — Nikita Richardson, The New York Times, 8 May 2025 Did you know? English has always drawn inspiration from fables and fairy tales, stories bursting with metaphors that help users get their verbiage just right: one may fall down a rabbit hole (thank you, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), cry wolf (we see you, Aesop's Fables), or hope one day to meet one's Prince Charming (brava, Cinderella). The adjective Goldilocks is borrowed, of course, from Goldilocks and the Three Bears, a perennial favorite in which a little girl so-named for her golden hair finds the perfect balance between hot and cold, soft and hard, small and large—all in the home of unknowing strangers. Since the mid-1960s, English speakers have applied Goldilocks to all things regarded as perfectly balanced or happily medium. The word has specific applications in astronomy, with the phrase "Goldilocks zone" designating an area of planetary orbit in which temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold to support life.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 17, 2026 is: abdicate • AB-dih-kayt • verb Abdicate usually means “to renounce a position of power, such as a throne, high office, dignity, or function.” It can also mean “to fail to do what is required by (a duty or responsibility).” // I know many challenges lie ahead, but I take this role on willingly, and will not abdicate my responsibility. See the entry > Examples: “The story revolves around a plan by dark forces to kidnap the royal heirs and force the prince to abdicate his throne to an evil wizard.” — Screen Daily, 5 Jan. 2026 Did you know? Give it up for abdicate, a word powerful enough to undo a coronation. If you need a term to describe formally throwing in the towel, this one should prove—perhaps ironically—a royal success. Coming from the Latin verb abdicāre, “to resign, renounce, withdraw,” (which traces back to the verb dīcere, meaning “to speak, state”), abdicate is used primarily for those who give up sovereign power or who evade a very serious responsibility. English has dīcere to thank for a variety of other words, among them dictate, contradict, prediction, and the crown jewel of them all: dictionary.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 16, 2026 is: prerogative • prih-RAH-guh-tiv • noun Prerogative means "right or privilege," and especially refers to a special right or privilege that some people have. // If you'd rather sell the tickets than use them, that's your prerogative. // Education was once only the prerogative of the wealthy. See the entry > Examples: "Successfully arguing an insanity defense, the prerogative of any defendant, is a difficult hurdle." — Cristóbal Reyes, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2026 Did you know? In ancient Rome, voting at legal assemblies was done by group, with the majority in a group determining the vote. The word for the group chosen to vote first on an issue was praerogātīva, a noun rooted in the Latin verb rogāre, "to ask; to ask an assembly for a decision." When English adopted prerogative from Latin, via Anglo-French, in the 15th century, it took only the idea of the privilege the ancient Roman voting group enjoyed; the English word referred then, as it also does now, to an exclusive or special right, power, or privilege. Often such a prerogative is tied to an office, official body, or nation, but as Bobby Brown reminded us in his 1988 song "My Prerogative," the right to live as you like can also be referred to as a prerogative.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 15, 2026 is: vertiginous • ver-TIJ-uh-nus • adjective Vertiginous is a formal adjective used to describe something that causes or is likely to cause a feeling of dizziness especially because of great height. // As a window washer for some of the city's tallest skyscrapers, Victor had to quickly master working at vertiginous heights. See the entry > Examples: “The climb is infamous for its heart-pumping switchbacks and vertiginous jaunt along a narrow sliver of crag. Those who fear heights, like me, typically avoid it.” — Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 9 Nov. 2025 Did you know? The climactic scene of Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Vertigo features, appropriately, a dramatic climb—and fall—from a vertiginous bell tower. Vertiginous, which describes things that cause vertigo (a sensation of motion in which an individual or their surroundings seem to whirl dizzily) comes from the Latin adjective vertiginosus, which in turn comes from the Latin noun vertigo, meaning “a turning or whirling action.” Both words descend from the Latin verb vertere, meaning “to turn.” Vertiginous and vertigo are just two of an almost dizzying array of vertere offspring, from adverse to vortex. The “dizzying” sense of vertiginous is often used figuratively, as in “the vertiginous heights of cinematic legend.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 14, 2026 is: canoodle • kuh-NOO-dul • verb To canoodle with someone is to hug and kiss them in a romantic way. // Two lovers were canoodling on a park bench. See the entry > Examples: “In one dining room, ruby-colored tufted banquettes sit under vintage-inspired chandeliers. In a private room, purple-colored walls give way to cocktail tables where couples might canoodle, sipping martinis.” — Sarah Blaskovich, The Dallas Morning News, 28 Mar. 2025 Did you know? The origins of canoodle are uncertain, but may have their genesis in an English dialect noun of the same spelling meaning “donkey,” “fool,” or “foolish lover.” That canoodle may itself be an alteration of the word noodle, used to mean “a foolish person.” (The fool noodle likely comes from noddle, a word for the head.) The guess seems reasonable given that, since its appearance in the language around the mid-19th century, canoodle has been most often used lightheartedly for playful public displays of affection by couples who are head over heels in love.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 13, 2026 is: rapscallion • rap-SKAL-yun • noun The word rapscallion refers to someone who causes trouble, often in a mischievous way. It appears in the same sorts of contexts as rascal and scamp. // The movie follows the story of a rambunctious young rapscallion who can't seem to stay out of trouble. See the entry > Examples: “Charlie Brown evolved into a world-class underdog. ‘Originally, Charlie Brown was a bit of a rapscallion, a bit of a wiseass,' [Chris] Mautner said. ‘There is a certain point, after a year or two, when he starts to become the butt of jokes, when he starts being a lonely kid. Once [Charles] Schulz hit upon that, Charlie Brown got it pretty bad for a long time.'” — Jim Beckerman, The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey), 9 Oct. 2025 Did you know? The word rascal has been part of English since the 15th century, but it apparently failed to fully capture the disagreeable nature of the wily knaves of yore: by the 16th century, English speakers had expanded rascal to rascallion. But it seems that even that term didn't sound quite mischievous enough. Eventually, rascallion was further altered, resulting in the snappier, plosive-enhanced rapscallion. And although rapscallion has zero connection with scallion, it does add a figuratively spicy kick to one's speech, not unlike chawbacon and other cheeky insults that may be of interest and use.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 12, 2026 is: endemic • en-DEM-ik • adjective When used for a plant or animal species, endemic describes something that grows or exists in a certain place or area, and often specifically something restricted to a particular locality or region. Endemic is also used to describe diseases that persist over time in a particular region or population. It can also mean “common in a particular area or field.” // Our children were excited to finally see wild giant pandas—endemic to just three provinces in south-central China—during our family vacation. // He eventually learned that low wages were endemic to his line of work, but he continued nevertheless to pursue his passion. See the entry > Examples: “Though less charismatic than the improbably pastel pink birds, unique endemic plants have achieved impressive feats of resourcefulness and endurance. Indeed, scientists have called the region an ‘unparalleled natural laboratory' to understand how plants adapt to ‘extreme environmental conditions.'” — Thea Riofrancos, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, 2025 Did you know? Ever wonder how endemic ended up in the English language? It arrived via French and New Latin, with its ultimate origin likely in the Greek adjective éndēmos, which describes (among other things) a disease confined to one area. Éndēmos was formed from en- ( “in”) and a form of the noun dêmos, meaning “district, country, people.” That word was also key to the formation of the earlier word on which éndēmos was modeled: epidēmia, meaning “disease affecting a large number of individuals.” English adopted epidemic (also via French) in the early 17th century, but endemic didn't become, uh, endemic until a century and a half later. (The familiar relation pandemic slipped into the language in the mid 17th.) In current use, endemic characterizes diseases that are generally found in a particular area—malaria, for example, is said to be endemic to tropical and subtropical regions—while epidemic indicates a sudden, severe outbreak within a region or group. Endemic is also used by biologists to characterize plant and animal species that are found only in a given area.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 11, 2026 is: tabula rasa • TAB-yuh-luh-RAH-zuh • noun In general use, tabula rasa refers to something existing in an original pristine state. In philosophy, tabula rasa refers to the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before receiving outside impressions. // The apartment was only just renovated, and everything is clean and white; it's a tabula rasa, ready for a new occupant. See the entry > Examples: “Bella, née Victoria, is a living breathing tabula rasa unfettered by societal pressures, propriety, or niceties.” — Ryan Lattanzio, Indie Wire, 16 June 2025 Did you know? Philosophers have been arguing that babies are born with minds that are essentially blank slates since the days of Aristotle. (Later, some psychologists took up the position as well.) English speakers have called that initial state of mental emptiness tabula rasa (a term taken from a Latin phrase that translates as “smooth or erased tablet”) since the 16th century, but it wasn't until British philosopher John Locke championed the concept in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1690 that the term gained widespread popularity in our language. In later years, a figurative sense of the term emerged, referring to something that exists in an original state and has yet to be altered by outside forces.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 10, 2026 is: besmirch • bih-SMERCH • verb To besmirch the reputation, name, honor, etc. of someone or something is to cause harm or damage to it. // The allegations have besmirched the company's reputation. See the entry > Examples: "... in 1895, a ruthless public smear campaign hinging on [Oscar] Wilde's queerness led to the author's imprisonment, outing, and eventual exile. ... Famously, the British press conspired to draw the dramatist's name through the mud, besmirching his literary legacy for generations to follow." — Brittany Allen, LitHub.com, 20 Oct. 2025 Did you know? The prefix be- has several applications in English; in the case of besmirch, it means "to make or cause to be." But what does smirch itself mean? Since the 1400s, smirch has been used as a verb meaning "to make dirty, stained, or discolored." Besmirch joined English in the early 1600s, and today smirch and besmirch are both used when something—and especially something abstract, like a reputation—is being figuratively sullied, i.e., damaged or harmed. Besmirch isn't unique in its journey; English has a history of attaching be- to existing verbs to form synonyms. For example, befriend combines be- in its "to make or cause to be" sense with the verb friend, meaning "to act as the friend of." Befuddle combines be- in its "thoroughly" sense with fuddle, meaning "to stupefy with or as if with drink." And befog combines be- in its "to provide or cover with" sense with fog, meaning "to cover with or as if with fog."

This week we're breaking down The Deposition. When Jan sues Dunder Mifflin, she brings in Michael as a witness which to no surprise, doesn't go well. Back at the office, Kelly smack talks Pam when Jim loses to Darryl at ping pong. Angela shares how her kitchen table has been turned into a ping pong table, Jenna looks up the difference between “trash talk” and “smack talk” in the Merriam Webster dictionary and the ladies discuss a missed storyline simply labeled “Dwight gets stuck in the wall”. So grab your paddle Seemiller style ‘cause we're serving up all the spin serves with this episode. Check out actress Valeri Ross' bio: https://www.valeriross.com/bio Office Ladies Website - Submit a fan question: https://officeladies.com/submitaquestion  Follow Us on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod Follow Us on YouTube Follow Us on TikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices