I found some amazing chairs on craigslist today. But they’re far and too far for me to retrieve them. I wrote to the person who posted it to see I could pick them up tomorrow. As of 7pm when I’m writing this, I haven’t heard back. They’re the kind I’d been looking for to put on our wedding registry because they fit so well with the table, but I can only hope tomorrow will work out. I guess tune in tomorrow to find out if I got them.
Yesterday I missed ARDOR, RAND, RONDO, RUNAROUND, and UNDO.
Meatier Miss
ROOD: A crucifix, especially one positioned above the rood screen of a church or on a beam over the entrance to the chancel.
From Etymonline:
rood (n.)
Old English rod “pole,” varying from 6 to 8 yards; also “cross,” especially that upon which Christ suffered; “crucifix,” especially a large one; also a measure of land, properly 40 square poles or perches, from Proto-Germanic *rod- (source also of Old Saxon ruoda “stake, pile, cross,” Old Frisian rode, Middle Dutch roede, Old High German ruota, German Rute “rod”), perhaps from PIE *ret- “post” (source also of Latin ratis “raft,” retae “trees standing on the bank of a stream;” Old Church Slavonic ratiste “spear, staff;” Lithuanian reklės “scaffolding”). Probably not connected with rod.
Sooooo rood means rod but doesn’t come from rod? Where does rod come from?
rod (n.)
Old English rodd “a rod, pole,” which is probably cognate with Old Norse rudda “club,” from Proto-Germanic *rudd- “stick, club,” from PIE *reudh- “to clear land.”
As a long, tapering elastic pole for fishing, from mid-15c. Figurative sense of “offshoot” (mid-15c.) led to Biblical meaning “scion, tribe.” As an instrument of punishment, attested from mid-12c.; also used figuratively for “any sort of correction or punishment,” but the basic notion is of beating someone with a stick.
As a unit of measure (5½ yards or 16½ feet, also called perch or pole) first attested mid-15c., from the stick used to measure it off. As a measure of area, “a square perch,” from late 15c., the usual measure in brickwork. Meaning “light-sensitive cell in a retina” is from 1866, so-called for its shape. Slang meaning “penis” is recorded from 1902; that of “gun, revolver” is from 1903.
So rood means rod but doesn’t come from rod because rod comes from rodd. I guess it’s like how I feel when people ask me if I’m related to people whose last name is Rabb. But my last name is Raab. I jokingly ask if the people they know have money. So far, I’ve not received even a single laugh in return. So I’m quick to end that awkwardness and say that it’s exceedingly unlikely because the spellings aren’t the same. But they are similar in that they both count as last names.
Today’s summary
Letters: MABCNOT
Final score: 29 words for 124 points.
Genius minimum: 122 points.
First word: COMBATANT.
Pangram: COMBATANT.
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