eschew

[Bailey]

• eschew •
Printable Version Pronunciation: es-choo • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Verb, transitive
Meaning: To avoid, shun, shy away from; to reject.
Notes: Perhaps the shortest one-liner in English is "Eschew obfuscation", funny to some because both eschew and obfuscation are thought to contribute to obfuscation. However, both these words have now been established as alphaDictionary Good Words, making them simply citizens of a literate vocabulary. One instance of eschewing is an eschewal while the process itself is eschewance; someone who eschews is an eschewer.
In Play: Do not eschew the use of this word wherever you are. It is a very handy term around the workplace: "Gladys Friday tends to eschew work on warm, sunny days." This word also offers a lovely way of expressing your wishes indirectly without resorting to such expressions as gimme: "I get an allergic reaction to flowers but I would not eschew a box of truly excellent chocolates."
Word History: Believe it or not, eschew is English shy in French clothing. Eschew originated in the ancient ancestor of English, Proto-Germanic, as skiva- "to avoid, dodge". This word was borrowed by Old French before it went on directly to become English shy. English borrowed the word back from Old French eschiv(er) "(to) dodge, avoid" as escheuen (before the Old French verb became Modern French esquiver). When Old English gave up the infinitive ending -en, the result quickly became Modern English eschew.
~Dr. Goodword

[Perry]

Love the new portrait Bailey! Don't eschew the chimp; he has soul.

[engineer27]

Perhaps the shortest one-liner in English is "Eschew obfuscation", funny to some because both eschew and obfuscation are thought to contribute to obfuscation. However, both these words have now been established as alphaDictionary Good Words, making them simply citizens of a literate vocabulary.

~Dr. Goodword

I am not sure how citizenship in the State of Literacy would be bequeathed. Perhaps "denizens" would be a better term for describing those words which live and work in a literate vocabulary?

[Perry]

Good idea! I love the word denizen.

Said one zen monk to another, "Are you not thinking, what I'm not thinking?". (appeared in a New Yorker cartoon)

[Bailey]

Love the new portrait Bailey! Don't eschew the chimp; he has soul.

I 'lost' the old picture, it was no longer hosted, so I had to get a new one. I like this one I'd like a 'thinker' posed one better but it might be immodest.

mark hmmmmm? Bailey

[engineer27]

Good idea! I love the word denizen.

Then denizen it is.

Perhaps a word that is used very infrequently but that is pleasantly surprising could be a sojourner.

Any more suggestions?

[gailr]

I like BaileyChimp v2.0 as well. I can imagine him thinking,
Alas, poor Australopithecus! I knew him, Horatio...

[skinem]

Good idea! I love the word denizen.

Then denizen it is.

Perhaps a word that is used very infrequently but that is pleasantly surprising could be a sojourner.

Any more suggestions?

I've always been partial to cosmopolite and countrymen.

Or, perhaps as someone frequently in the news may say, "I am the resider."

[Bailey]

I'll go for wayfarer. It gives that keep-on-truckin' feel.

mark viajero Bailey

[Bailey]

I dunno the pic just tickled me, so unlike who I really am, eh?

mark pensive-who-uses-that-word-anymore? Bailey

[sluggo]

• eschew •
Printable Version Pronunciation: es-choo • Hear it!

Gesundheit!

mark pensive-who-uses-that-word-anymore? Bailey

Does that make those people ex-pensive?

Bail, the new 'tar is da bomb. Good Rodin material.

Right, let's have a song to celebrate.

[Bailey]

my relatives, see Bubba is there on the left,
I'm in the middle and Seymour is on the piano.

mark no-musician-me Bailey

[sluggo]

my relatives, see Bubba is there on the left,
I'm in the middle and Seymour is on the piano.

mark no-musician-me Bailey

You made a good choice then. The middle one would be Ernie. I believe it's Edie Adams on the piano.

[sluggo]

Ah, here's that old nod to the Nairobi Trio!
I just discovered (37 years later) this derivative.

Especially for Bailey- enjoy.