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Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 17:29:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: wsmith@wordsmith.org
To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--excelsior
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excelsior (ik-SEL-see-uhr) noun

   Slender, curved wood shavings used especially for packing.

[Originally a trade name.]

   "In a glint of needle light, of grass seeds, dew flecks, a friend is
   throwing her voice
   While far inside a grainy heaven a butcher's apron ripples its dried
   blood in the wind.
   The bark strippings, excelsior, the panicles of the garden. In the midst
   of summer a friend cuts greens and places them in a bowl as if they were
   fronds.
   A friend is a vinegar - and now, pearl-shaped, in clusters, faces among
   her face,
   A globes rise on the lawn, each above a root of recriminations."
   Garden solstice. (poem), The Antioch Review, 1 Jun 1996.

This week's theme: brand names that have entered the dictionary.

.............................................................................
Adults are obsolete children. -Dr. Seuss, humorist, illustrator, and author
(1904-1991)

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