As some of you know, in addition to working in the Admissions Office, I also teach Latin at Saint Ignatius and am something of a "word nerd." Thus, every other week, I’ll sneak a vocabulary word (sometimes derived from Latin, sometimes not). Here, then, is this week’s edition of the
Etymology Word of the Week.
Eliminate - "to get rid of; to omit or leave out; to eradicate; to remove from further consideration, especially by defeating in a contest.” From the Latin
eliminare, eliminatus meaning “to thrust out of doors; expel,” which combines the Latin preposition
e, ex meaning “from, out of” and the Latin noun
limen, liminis meaning “threshold (and perhaps by
synecdoche, the entire house).” (All information is from
www.wikipedia.org,
www.etymonline.com and/or
www.dictionary.com).
RELATED WORDS/PHRASES – liminal (hot new word in journalism), subliminal, preliminary, limit; also
threshold (the raised lip around an old farmhouse floor that kept the straw/thresh from blowing away)
Sample sentence – Lou Holtz, the former Notre Dame football coach, once quipped in regard to getting his players ready to play, “Motivation is simple - eliminate those who aren’t motivated.”
Bonus sentence - “Prince Harry carried Meghan Markle over the threshold as they entered their new home together for the first time.”
GUESS THE APHORISM: Penny-wise... (scroll for the answer)
...
Pound-foolish
i.e. judicious, perhaps overly so, with small purchases; carefree and lax with major purchases.