word of the day

schadenfreude: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others

the word comes  from the german words for "damage" and "joy"

last night's mavericks win gave america one more night to 

revel in lebron james schadenfreude. - new york magazine

word of the day

pyrophile: one enthusiastic over fire or fireworks

the prefix pyro- has an ancestor in the greek pyrmeaning "fire". pyro-appears in dozens of terms, ranging frompyrotechnics (fireworks) topyromania (an irresistible impulse to start fires)

word of the day

legerdemain: sleight of hand; trickery

drawings by jonathan zawada

"by the way, this is one of those words that can seem reasonable
when written but pretentious when spoken." -thank you, merriam webster

"political leaders point to schools that have achieved stunning results in only a few years despite the 

poverty around them. But the accounts of miracle schools demand closer scrutiny. usually, they are 

the result of statistical legerdemain." – diane ravitch, new york times

word of the day

semaphore: a system of visual signaling by two flags held one in each hand

photo essay entitled little adults by anna skladmann

sema comes from the greek word for "sign" or "signal."
in international scientific vocabulary, phore means "carrier."

after their radios failed, the sailors were glad they 

knew the semaphore system and could signal for help.