Word of the Day
lagom
noun
the principle of living a balanced, moderately paced, low-fuss life.
More about lagom
The uncommon English noun lagom 鈥渢he principle of living a balanced, moderate life鈥� comes from Swedish lagom, a fossil noun form in the dative plural used as an adverb meaning 鈥渏ust right, just the thing,鈥� literally 鈥渁ccording to custom or common sense.鈥� Lagom comes from an unattested Old Norse plural neuter noun lagu 鈥渨hat is laid down,鈥� which in Old Icelandic becomes 濒谦驳 鈥渓aw, laws.鈥� The Old Norse neuter plural noun lagu was taken into late Old English as a feminine singular noun lagu by the year 1000, becoming lawe in Middle English, and law in English. Lagom entered English in the mid-1930s.
how is lagom used?
In the bigger picture, the balance of lagom goes way beyond emotional wellbeing and interior design to become all about belonging and shared responsibility鈥攏ot just fitting in, but being part of a greater entity.
Many of the rituals, recipes and decoration ideas that filled out last year鈥檚 mountain of hygge books would fall outside the听lagom听threshold. To Swedes, they鈥檇 seem fussy, a bit much.
lagom
bounteous
adjective
freely bestowed; plentiful; abundant.
More about bounteous
Bounteous听comes from Middle English听bountevous, bounteuous, bontivous听(and other variant spellings) 鈥済ood, worthy, virtuous; knightly, valiant; generous, liberal,鈥� from Old French听bontieus, bontif听(masculine),听bontive听(feminine) 鈥渂enevolent, full of goodness, from Old French听bont茅, bontet听(source of Middle English听bounte, English听bounty听鈥済enerosity, generous gift鈥�), from Latin听bonit膩s听(stem听产辞苍颈迟腻迟-) 鈥済oodness, excellence.鈥� The spelling听bounteous听arose in the early 15th century as if the etymology were听bounte听plus the adjective suffix –ous.听Bounteous听entered English in the second half of the 14th century.
how is bounteous used?
Let鈥檚 not give up on pies. Usually, there鈥檚 a lush and sweet array鈥攁 loud hurrah to end the bounteous feast.
Mesmerized by the bounteous displays of freshly harvested produce, artisanal breads, and locally raised meats, I salivated with greedy glee, thinking of the market-inspired menus I could prepare if I moved here.
bounteous
ambrosial
adjective
exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; especially delicious or fragrant.
More about ambrosial
The English adjective ambrosial comes from the Greek noun 补尘产谤辞蝉铆补 鈥渋mmortality; elixir of life, food of the gods.” (狈茅办迟补谤 is 鈥渢he drink of the gods, nectar鈥�). The initial a– of 补尘产谤辞蝉铆补 is a variant of the prefix an– meaning 鈥渘ot, without, lacking,鈥� as in atheist or anarchy. The b in 补尘产谤辞蝉铆补 is a glide consonant between the m and the r. The mro is a derivative of 尘艞-, a variant of the very common Proto-Indo-European root mer-, mor-, 尘艞– 鈥渢o die.鈥� The variant 尘艞– is also the source of Latin mors (stem mort-) 鈥渄eath,鈥� Morta 鈥済oddess of death,鈥� and 尘辞谤墨 鈥渢o die,鈥� Armenian mard 鈥渕an,鈥� Sanskrit 尘艞t谩– 鈥渄ead,鈥� and Slavic (Polish) martwy 鈥渄ead.鈥� The root variant 尘艞– regularly becomes mur– in the Germanic languages, yielding murder in English and Mord 鈥渕urder鈥� in German. The root variant mor– is the source of Greek 尘辞谤迟贸蝉 and Sanskrit 尘谩谤迟补– 鈥渉uman (being), mortal,鈥� and Old Persian martiya– 鈥渕ortal, man.鈥� The root variant mer– is the source of Hittite mert 鈥渄颈别诲.鈥� Ambrosial entered English in the second half of the 16th century.
how is ambrosial used?
Her dishes were threaded through with the islands鈥� smoke and spice and with the ambrosial sweetness of tropical fruit …
He quickly sautes the preserved duck with wild onions, bathes it with a buttery white wine sauce, and tosses in the parboiled, bite-sized pasta and the glistening green fiddleheads. After a few ambrosial bites, I call it investigative journalism.
ambrosial