Monday, August 5, 2019

2019 - Day 217/148 - Monday...Soi-Disant...

As you can see, the morning sunrise from the rear view mirror showed great promise, but I am totally fatigued by the incessant news (not really news) of the tragedies sustained yet again in our country by persons obviously unhappy with the current state-of affairs. Or should it be states-of-affairs? Not sure, but there is no sense in quibbling about the details. SO, this journal entry will be brief so you can all spend less time on this, and more time telling those you care about that you care about them.

Soi-Disant -- Adjective. self proclaimed, so called. The mechanic was a soi-disant "expert" on European cars, but he still couldn't figure out why my Swedish sedan was leaking oil.

Did You Know? Soi-disant, which in French literally means "saying oneself," is one of hundreds of French terms that entered English in the 18th century, during the period known as the Enlightenment. Even as political antipathies between France and England were being played out on battlefields in Europe and America, English speakers were peppering their speech and writing with French. Soi-disant first began appearing in English texts in the mid-18th century as a disparaging term for someone who styles or fancies himself or herself in some role. Crepe, vis-a-vis, etiquette, and sang-froid are a few of the other French terms that became naturalized in English at that time.

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