Well, hello. Apologies for the monumental delay in finishing Write Right’s Alphabet Adventure. It’s a bit like getting to the end of the alphabet game—the one where you go on a trip and try to name an alphabetical list of animals or fruit or some other entity—and struggling to successfully complete, and win, the game. Alas, no prizes will be awarded to Write Right.
Perhaps some words will serve as a consolation prize, either for you, the reader, or me, in my role as Write Right. Perhaps not. The letters “x,” “y,” and “z” compose the fewest number of pages in the whole of the dictionary. The letters may be essential; one must always have an “exit strategy,” for example, but they initiate few words of their own, at least in comparison to letters like “a” and “i” and “s.”
On to the final stage of the Alphabet Adventure.
Xanadu
Noun. [Xanadu, locality in Kubla Khan (1798), poem by Samuel T. Coleridge] (1919): a place (as a town or village) of idyllic beauty.
(Whenever Alex opined about the lack of green spaces in the city, his friends teased, “What, do you think we live in Xanadu?”)
Xenophile
Noun. [International Scientific Vocabulary] (1948) One attracted to foreign things (as styles or people) — xenophilous, adjective.
(Xavier’s earnestness in welcoming international guests could be considered endearing, but he more often came across as a xenophile.)
Xylem
Noun. [From the German, from the Greek xylon] (1873) A complex tissue in the vascular system of higher plants that consists of vessels, tracheids, or both usually together with wood fibers and parenchyma cells, functions chiefly in conduction but also in support and storage, and typically constitutes the woody element (as of a plant stem) — compare PHLOEM.
(Rachel’s studies in botany and ecology led her to investigate xylem and its role in helping plants recover from wildfires.)
Yacht
Noun. [Obsolete Dutch jaght, from the Middle Low German jacht, short for jachtschiff, literally, hunting ship] (1557) Any of various relatively small sailing or mechanically driven ships that characteristically have a sharp prow and graceful lines and are ordinarily used for pleasure cruising or racing.
Yacht
Verb Intransitive. (1836) To race or cruise in a yacht.
(Jack proposed to sail his yacht around the world, in hopes of setting a new world record.)
Yap
Verb intransitive. yapped, yapping [Imitation] (1668) 1: To bark snappishly: YELP. 2: To talk in a shrill, insistent way: CHATTTER, SCOLD — yapper, noun.
Yap
Noun. (1826) 1a: A quick, sharp bark: YELP. 1b: Shrill, insistent talk: CHATTER. 2: An unsophisticated, ignorant, or uncouth person: BUMPKIN. 3: slang: MOUTH.
(“Yap” should not be confused with “yawp”; a “yap” belongs to the demesne of small dogs, whereas “yawp” is a roar, a bellow, like that of a lion.)
Yech or Yecch
Interjection. [Imitation] (1972) Used to express rejection or disgust.
(“Yech!” the girl cried, as her mother tried to convince her to eat some broccoli.)
Yenta
Noun. [Yiddish yenta, vulgar woman, probably from the name Yente] (1939) One that meddles; also: BLABBERMOUTH, GOSSIP.
(“Don’t say anything around Miranda,” Eloise warned Alice. “She can be a bit of a yenta.”)
Yes-Man
Noun. (1913) A person who agrees with everything that is said to him; especially, one who endorses or supports without criticism every opinion or proposal of an associate or superior.
(“Look, I know you like having Derick around the workplace, but you’ve got to get someone who’s not such a yes-man,” Caroline advised Adam.)
Yodel
Verb, Verb Intransitive. -deled or -delled, -deling or -delling [From the German jodeln] (1838) To sing by suddenly changing from a natural voice to a falsetto and back; also: to shout or call in a similar manner. ~ Verb Transitive. To sing (a tune) by yodeling — yodeler, noun.
Yodel
Noun. (1849) A song or refrain sung by yodeling; also: a yodeled shout or cry.
(The tourists yodeled—of course they did—upon summitting the mountain.)
Yo-Yo
Noun. Yo-yos, noun plural. [From the native name in the Philippines] (1916) 1: A thick, grooved double disk with a string attached to its center which is made to fall and rise to the hand by unwinding and rewinding on the string. 2: One that resembles a yo-yo, especially in moving up and down unexpected or repeatedly. 3: A stupid or foolish person.
Yo-Yo
Adjective. (1947) Shifting back and forth or up and down uncertainly or unexpectedly.
Yo-Yo
Verb Intransitive. yo-yoed, yo-yoing (1967) To move from one position to another repeatedly: FLUCTUATE.
(The girl was irritable after her glucose levels yo-yoed all night.)
Yurt
Noun. [From the Russian yurta, of Turkic origin; akin to Turk yurt dwelling] (ca. 1890) A circular domed tent of skins or felt stretched over a collapsible lattice framework and used by the Kirghiz and other Mongol nomads of Siberia; also: a structure that resembles a yurt usually in size and design.
(The popularity of glamping has produced a corollary interest in yurts.)
Zabaglione
Noun. [From the Italian] (1924) A frothy sauce of whipped egg yoks, sugar, and usually Marsala wine that is often served on fruit.
(Marcella frowned in concentration as she attempted to follow her grandmother’s recipe for zabaglione.)
Zeal
Noun. [From the Middle English zele, from the Late Latin zelus, from the Greek zelos] (1400s) Eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something: FERVOR. Synonym: see PASSION.
(Eric’s zeal could overcome many things, but exhaustion wasn’t one of them.)
Zephyr
Noun. [From the Middle English zephirus, west wind (personified), from the Latin Zephyrus, god of the west wind (from the Greek Zephyros, from zephyros), and zephyrus, west wind, zephyr, from the Greek zephyros, west wind, zephyr] (before 1100) 1a: A breeze from the west. 1b: A gentle breeze. 2: Any of various lightweight fabrics and articles of clothing.
(The zephyr offered relief from the persistent humidity.)
Zero-Sum
Adjective. (1949) Of, relating to, or being a situation (as a game or relationship) in which a gain for one side entails a corresponding loss for the other side.
(“You’ve got to stop this,” Clark told Marie. “This is a zero-sum game you’re playing.”)
Ziti
Noun. [From the Italian, literally, boys, plural of zito, boy; modification of citto, boy, youth] (ca. 1845) Medium-sized tubular pasta.
(The mother couldn’t make enough ziti to satisfy her five boys, who ranged from nine years of age to sixteen.)
Zombie
Noun. Also: zombi. [Of Niger-Congo origin; akin to Kongo nzambi, god] (ca. 1871) 1: Usually zombi. 1a: the voodoo snake deity. 1b: the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body. 1c: a will-less and speechless human in the West Indies capable only of automatic movement who is held to have died and been reanimated but often believed to have been drugged into a catalepsy for the hours of interment. 2a: a person held to resemble the so-called walking dead; especially, AUTOMATON. 2b: A person markedly strange in appearance or behavior. 3: A mixed drink make of several kinds of rum, liqueur, and fruit juice — zombielike, adjective.
(“So the doctor actually said you looked like a zombie?” Ross asked Michelle.)
Zooks
Interjection. [Short for gadzooks] archaic (1634) Used as a mild oath.
(“Zooks,” the boy cried, almost tumbling into the deep hole.)
Zwieback
Noun. [From the Greek, literally, twice baked, from zwie-, twice (from the Old High German zwi-) + backen, to bake, from the Old High German bahhan — more at TWI-, BAKE] (1894) A usually sweetened bread enriched with eggs that is baked and then sliced and toasted until dry and crisp.
(“I don’t know if I can make zwieback,” Ariel said. “It’s sounds kind of complicated.”)
What are your favorite “x,” “y,” or “z” words? Share them in a comment.
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