Word of the Day
Monday, April 9, 2007
abecedarian \ay-bee-see-DAIR-ee-uhn\, noun:
1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a beginner.
2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet.
3. Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet.
4. Arranged alphabetically.
5. Rudimentary; elementary.

Abecedarian derives from Latin abecedarius, from the first four letters of the alphabet.

I'd never heard this word before and just thought it was so cool! Then I caught up on the words I'd missed over the weekend when I didn't check my e-mail and found:

Saturday, April 7, 2007
toper \TOH-puhr\, noun:
One who drinks frequently or to excess.

Toper is formed from the verb tope, "to drink," originally an interjection used in proposing a toast, from French tope!, "agreed!" from toper, "to cover a stake in playing at dice, to accept an offer, to agree."

I was then forced to consider the fact that perhaps "toper" was more appropriate....