Word of the Day
… courtesy of Merriam Webster, with slight modifications by me:
The Word of the Day for August 04, 2009 is:
tantivy • \tan-TIV-ee\ • adverb
: in a headlong dash : at a gallop
Felix’s Example Sentence:
Picnickers who had looked on the first Civil War battle at Bull Run as a novel outing, fled tantivy for Washington as real bullets, artillery and advancing troops introduced the civilians to war.
Did you know?
“Tantivy” is also a noun meaning “a rapid gallop” or “an impetuous rush.” Although its precise origin isn’t known, one theory has it that “tantivy” represents the sound of a galloping horse’s hooves. The noun does double duty as a word meaning “the blare of a trumpet or horn.” The second use probably evolved from confusion with “tantara,” a word for the sound of a trumpet that came about as an imitation of that sound. Both “tantivy” and “tantara” were used during foxhunts; in the heat of the chase people may have jumbled the two.
