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Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 02:07:00 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: A.Word.A.Day--punctilious
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punctilious (pungk-TIL-ee-uhs) adjective

   1. Extremely attentive to minute details of action of behavior.

[From Italian punctiglio, from Spanish puntillo, diminutive of punto,
point, from Latin punctum, point.]

   "However earnest his aims and punctilious his language, Fowler had
   not found his genius in schoolteaching, and he did not find it in his
   essays."
   I. Shenker, For the King's English, Fighting the Good Fight,
   Smithsonian, Nov 1990.

This week's theme: words to describe people.

............................................................................
One's age should be tranquil, as childhood should be playful. Hard work at
either extremity of life seems out of place. At midday the sun may burn,
and men labor under it; but the morning and evening should be alike calm
and cheerful. -Thomas Arnold, educator (1795-1842)

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Language is a city to the building of which
every human being brought a stone." Invite your friends and family to join
in the quest by sending a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day. It is free!
http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html

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