Wednesday, November 12, 2008

WOTD

Word of the Day

Quagmire (noun)

Pronunciation:  ['quæg-mIr]

Definition: A quaking or quick bog, a squashy marsh, quicksand; (metaphorically) a complicated situation from which it is difficult if not impossible to extricate oneself.

Usage: The adjective is "quagmiry" and the noun itself may be verbed: "The steering committee had been quagmired in acrimonious discord for an hour before Harmon arrived and restored civility to the meeting."

Suggested Usage: In 1961, French President Charles DeGaulle told US President John Kennedy, "I predict you will sink step by step into a bottomless quagmire, however much you spend in men and money," as the latter assumed responsibility of pursuing the war in Vietnam from the French. The Middle East has also become a political and military quagmire with no foreseeable outlet.

Etymology: Probably from a confusion of "quickmire" and "quakemire." If so, it resulted from a process the opposite of folk etymology (folk alienation?) in which the first component of the compound has drifted away from a common English word. Since that time, the word has been clipped in many dialects to simply "quag." Other forms have emerged at various times in various dialects, to wit, "quadmire," "quavemire," "qualmire," "quamire," "wagmire," and others.

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

THE STATE OF THE USA'S ECONOMY IS IN A QUAGMIRE.

CLAUDIA

2 comments:

  1. Years ago there was a "puppet" thing on a Nickelodeon show and it's name was Quagmire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureeka's_Castle
    I can't tell you how often I endured this show. Truth be told, it wasn't too bad. Way sweeter and gentler than Spongebob.
    :)
    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved how you used this word in a sentence!

    betty

    ReplyDelete