Each morning the omnipresent email nag delivers the “Word for the Day.” Since the pursuit of learning is a lifelong endeavor and to preserve cognitive function, with a coffee cleared head, I read the word, commit it to memory, and use in a sentence to ensure it remains in my central brain-data repository. Today’s word was verdant. The proffered definitions were “green due to lushness” and “inexperienced or fresh.”
Having never heard verdant used to describe “inexperienced,” I began a search to see if it really meant this fresh take on the familiar definition. Apparently, my genome sensory knowledge is older than I was aware since according to Merriam-Webster, English speakers have been using verdant as a synonym for “green” since the later 16th century. Since the 1820s it has also been used as a descriptive term for inexperienced or naive. Who knew? It is derived from an Old French word for “green” – vert. Of course, this particular etymological discussion goes on and on.
Life Gets Better 