| Home |
 |
| Word of the Week |
|
| Links for Word Lovers |
|
| Crossword Solver |
|
| Help |
|
| Copyrights |
|
| Privacy |
|
| Webmasters |
|
| Link to Us |
|
| Contact Us |
|
| Bookstore |
English Dictionary - With Multi-Lingual Search
| April 8, 2009 |
|
| Word of the Week--"Cantankerous" |
|
Definition--Cantankerous- adj. 1. hostile, argumentative, irritable.
|
| Discussion--The word "cantankerous" comes from the Middle English word
conteckour, meaning troublemaker. A cantankerous person is one who is always upset about something
and looking for a fight. One of the most cantankerous fictional characters in the history of Literature
is Ebeneezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Most are familiar with the sour old man's famous expression
towards Christmas: "Bah, Humbug!" In contrast to the cantankerous Scrooge was Tiny Tim, a young man in the
story that wished well unto everyone.
We all have the potential to become cantankerous at times, whether due to a lack of sleep,
an illness, or whatever may cause us to slip into a bad mood. We have to be careful, however, not
to let this adjective become an everyday element of our personalities. No one likes a Scrooge!
|
| Etymology--Cantankerous- From the Middle English word
conteckour, meaning troublemaker, quarrelsome person.
Notice that none of the foreign translations appear to be close to the English spelling or pronuniciation. |
Foreign Translations |
| Dutch: | chagrijnig |
| French: | acariâtre |
| German: | streitsüchtig |
| Italian: | stizzoso |
| Spanish: | cascarrabias |
