Thursday, August 25, 2005

Word of the Day for Thursday August 25, 2005 peccadillo \peck-uh-DIL-oh\, noun: A slight offense; a petty fault. No peccadillo is too trivial: we learn that the mogul once blew his top because his laundry came back starched ("'Fluff and fold!' he screamed"). --Eric P. Nash, "High Concept," [1]New York Times, May 10, 1998 And besides, "what do they say? 'Don't judge lest you be judged.' Everybody has their peccadilloes." -- "Tyson has a friend in his corner," [2]Irish Times, October 21,1999 Child of a dominant mother, victim of a guilt-ridden conscience, [St. Augustine] wrote bewilderingly haunted 'Confessions,' in which infantile peccadilloes like stealing apples and adolescent fumblings with instinctive sexuality are bewailed with all the anguish of a frustrated perfectionist. --Geoffrey Parker, "True Believers," [3]New York Times, June 29, 1997 _________________________________________________________ Peccadillo comes from Spanish pecadillo, "little sin," diminutive of pecado, "sin," from Latin peccatum, from peccare, "to make a mistake, to err, to sin." It is related to impeccable, "without flaw or fault." References 1. http://www.nytimes.com/ 2. http://www.ireland.com/ 3. http://www.nytimes.com/ Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=peccadillo

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