I Just Learned This Word: Defenestration

Definition of DEFENESTRATION

1

: a throwing of a person or thing out of a window

2

: a usually swift dismissal or expulsion (as from a political party or office)

— de·fen·es·trate transitive verb

Origin of DEFENESTRATION

de- + Latin fenestra window

First Known Use: 1620

via Radio Lab: Falling (the portion about the cats falling out of windows) and Merriam-Webster

Re: I Just Learned This Word: Germane

To clarify, I knew the word. I was just incredibly wrong about the definition.

I Just Learned This Word: Germane

Main Entry: ger·mane

Pronunciation: \(ˌ)jər-ˈmān\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English germain, literally, having the same parents, from Anglo-French

Date: 14th century

1 obsolete : closely akin
2 : being at once relevant and appropriate : fitting

synonyms see relevant

— ger·mane·ly adverb

via Jesse who used the word and Merriam-Webster

Peripatetic

Main Entry: ¹peri·pa·tet·ic

Pronunciation: \ˌper-ə-pə-ˈte-tik\

Function: noun

Date: 15th century

1 capitalized : a follower of Aristotle or adherent of Aristotelianism

2 : pedestrian, itinerant

3 plural : movement or journeys hither and thither

Interesting: "peripatetic" showed up at the end of How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers and at the beginning of Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost.

via Merriam-Webster

Contrariwise

I am a real word nerd and grammar geek and I really appreciate profound literary quotes so I was really excited when I found Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos. Here are some of my favorites:

Catcher in the Rye

"Ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row."
-Holden Caufield in Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Falling Up

All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' 'bout the things
They coulda shoulda done....
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
From one little Did.
-"Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda" from Falling Up by Shel Silverstein

Henry Rollins

To Kill a Mockingbird

"Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts."
-To Kil a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

via Omnivoracious