lout: M-W's Word of the Day (forwarded)

[Greg A. Woods]

Lout (verb):  to bow in respect.

Let's hear it for Olde English!

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Subject:      lout: M-W's Word of the Day
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The Word of the Day for February 19 is:

lout  \LOUT (rhymes with "out")\  (noun)
     : an awkward brutish person

Example sentence:
     Kim reluctantly accepted the invitation to her friend's wedding,
knowing she'd have to spend the entire day masking her opinion that the
groom was a lout.

Did you know?
     "Lout" belongs to the large group of words we use to indicate an
undesirable person, a boor, a bumpkin, an oaf, a dolt, a clod. We've used
"lout" in this way since the mid-1500s. As early as the 800s, however,
"lout" functioned as a verb with the meaning "to bow in respect." No one is
quite sure how the verb sense developed into a noun meaning "a brutish
person." Perhaps the awkward posture of one bowing down led over time to the
idea that the person was personally low and awkward as well.

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-- 
                                                        Greg A. Woods

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