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From:wsmith@wordsmith.org
To:linguaphile@wordsmith.org
Subject:A.Word.A.Day--tantivy
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Date:Wed, 10 Oct 2001 21:03:51 -0700 (PDT)

tantivy (tan-TIV-ee) adverb

At full gallop; at full speed.

noun

A fast gallop; rush.

adjective

Swift.

interjection

A hunting cry by a hunter riding a horse at full speed.

[Of obscure origin, perhaps from the sound of a galloping horse's feet.]

"But both the book and the exhibit show clearly that along with these
changes in diet, sport and exercise had an early start and a long run
among the tangled tantivy of 19th-century cures, cons, leeches, preachers,
drugs, zaps, baths, diets, teetotaling, indoor plumbing, ventilation, and
`Spanish Nerve Grains' that stampeded Americans into our current obsession
with fitness."
Christina Robb, Exercists America's Longtime Pursuit of Fitness,
The Boston Globe, Mar 13, 1988.

This week's theme: unusual words.

............................................................................
Man's life does not commence in the womb and never ends in the grave.
-Charan Singh, mystic (1916-1990)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/tantivy.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/tantivy.ram