The Words of the Week - Jul. 31
Dictionary lookups from law, rodents, and ninepins
Photo: Daniel Knighton
‘Marmot’
News of an unusual fundraising strategy for a study involving marmots led to marmot becoming a Top Lookup.
For years, Blumstein has overseen one of the longest-running studies of free-living mammals in the world, focused on yellow-bellied marmots in central Colorado. … Fearing that a lack of funding might terminate the program, Blumstein recently got his lab together and they came up with a creative, if highly unorthodox solution: They started an OnlyFans account.
—Amanda Heidt, The San Francisco Chronicle, 27 July 2026
The word marmot refers to any of a genus (Marmota) of stout-bodied short-legged chiefly herbivorous burrowing rodents of the squirrel family that have coarse fur, a short bushy tail, and very small ears and that hibernate during the winter. Some marmota species have marmot as part of their common name while others, like the woodchuck, do not. Marmot comes from the French marmotte.
‘Affray’
Affray was looked up more than usual this week in the wake of legal news concerning a popular musician.
The singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of affray in a London courtroom on Friday, three years after he was accused of hitting a music producer with a tequila bottle at a nightclub in the city.
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We define the relevant sense of the noun affray, a chiefly British term, as “a fight in a public place that disturbs the peace.” The word traces back (via Middle English) to an Anglo-French verb meaning “to frighten, startle.”
‘Cosplay’
Cosplay was trending this week, possibly in connection to any number of conventions taking place around the country.
One Valley couple known for their love of cosplay … love attending Comic Con and similar types of conventions.
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We define the noun cosplay as “the activity or practice of dressing up as a character from a work of fiction (such as a comic book, video game, or television show).” Cosplay is also used as a verb meaning “to engage in cosplay” or “to dress up as (a fictional character) in cosplay.” The word comes from the Japanese kosuchūmupurē, or kosupure for short, which in turn comes from the English words costume and play (as in role-play). English reborrowed the word as cosplay.
‘Narcissist’
Lookups for narcissist increased over the weekend following news involving the word’s use by a Pentagon official.
A top Pentagon official who was secretly filmed criticizing President Donald Trump is no longer working at the Department of the Navy, according to the civilian head of the department. Brandon Newsom was placed on administrative leave earlier this week after footage emerged appearing to show Newsom calling Trump a “narcissist”…
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Narcissist refers to an individual showing symptoms of or affected by narcissism, such as an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance, a person who is overly concerned with their physical appearance, or a person affected with narcissistic personality disorder, defined as “a personality disorder characterized especially by an exaggerated sense of self-importance, persistent need for admiration, lack of empathy for others, excessive pride in achievements, and snobbish, disdainful, or patronizing attitudes.”
Word Worth Knowing: ‘Beer and skittles’
We define beer and skittles as “a situation of agreeable ease.” The expression has been in use since the mid-1800s, while the first commercially made Skittles (that popular rainbow confection) came out in 1974. So then what are the “skittles” in beer and skittles? This skittles refers to a game of English ninepins played with a wooden disk or ball Beer and skittles is often used in negative constructions, that is, to say something is not all fun and games. But it need not be.
Tom Jeff is a human fellow, fond of the beer and skittles of life, partial to the movies and occasional evenings of loud-laughing, back-slapping partying.
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