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May 30, 2019
This week’s themeWords originating in shoes
This week’s words
sabotage
roughshod
old shoe
vamp
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargvamp
PRONUNCIATION:
(vamp) 
MEANING:
| noun: | 1. The front upper part of a shoe. |
| 2. Something patched up or improvised. | |
| 3. A short, introductory musical passage, usually improvised, repeated several times. | |
| verb tr.: | 1. To provide a shoe with a new vamp. |
| 2. To piece together; to improvise. | |
| verb intr.: | To play a short, introductory musical passage several times. |
| noun: | A woman who uses her charm to exploit men. |
| verb tr.: | To seduce or exploit. |
| verb intr.: | To behave like a vamp. |
ETYMOLOGY:
For the 1st group: From Old French avanpié, from avant (fore) + pié (foot), from Latin pes (foot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ped- (foot), which gave us pedal, impeccable, podium, octopus, impeach, peccadillo (alluding to a stumble or fall), antipodes, expediency, and impeccable. Earliest documented use: 1225.
For the 2nd group: Short for vampire, from French, from Hungarian vampir, from a Slavic language. Earliest documented use: 1904.
For the 2nd group: Short for vampire, from French, from Hungarian vampir, from a Slavic language. Earliest documented use: 1904.
USAGE:
“Stilettos with flattering wraparounds and pointed vamps redefine the workaday pump.”
Ankle Straps; Marie Claire (New York); Oct 2011.
“The band vamps for long stretches.”
John Richardson; “I Should Have Been There to Protect Him???”; Esquire (New York); Jan 2015.
“The much-loved salon just vamped up its 10-year-old space with a bright, modern makeover.”
Chop Chop; That’s Shanghai (Beijing, China); Mar 2012.
“Jeanie seems efficient and crisp and respectful but in reality she is a vamp with strong powers of seduction and a wild side.”
New York Tristate; Back Stage (New York); Jan 22, 2015.
See more usage examples of vamp in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
Ankle Straps; Marie Claire (New York); Oct 2011.
“The band vamps for long stretches.”
John Richardson; “I Should Have Been There to Protect Him???”; Esquire (New York); Jan 2015.
“The much-loved salon just vamped up its 10-year-old space with a bright, modern makeover.”
Chop Chop; That’s Shanghai (Beijing, China); Mar 2012.
“Jeanie seems efficient and crisp and respectful but in reality she is a vamp with strong powers of seduction and a wild side.”
New York Tristate; Back Stage (New York); Jan 22, 2015.
See more usage examples of vamp in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Speculation is perfectly all right, but if you stay there you've only founded a superstition. If you test it, you've started a science. -Hal Clement, science fiction author (30 May 1922-2003) Join the discussion about today's posting here.
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