Word of the Day: salient

Word of the Day: salient

Salient Features
Source: huemarcom.com

Salient (adjective) SAIL-yunt

Definition

1 : moving by leaps or springs : jumping

2 : jetting upward

3 : standing out conspicuously : prominent; especially : of notable significance

Examples

The speech was filled with so much twisted rhetoric that it was hard to identify any salient points.

“Among the projects: … an $18 million makeover of Freedom Hall, substantial new meeting and storage space, a new ballroom and a new $70 million exhibit hall…. Those were the salient recommendations of a new master plan for the Kentucky Exposition Center….” — Sheldon Shafer, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), 28 Oct. 2016

Did You Know?

Salient first popped up in English in the 16th century as a term of heraldry meaning “rampant but leaning forward as if leaping.” By the mid-17th century, it had leaped into more general use in the senses of “moving by leaps or springs” or “spouting forth.” Those senses aren’t too much of a jump from the word’s parent, the Latin verb salire, which means “to leap.” Salire also occurs in the etymologies of some other English words, including somersault and sally, as well as Salientia, the name for an order of amphibians that includes frogs, toads, and other notable jumpers. Today, salient is usually used to describe things that are physically prominent (such as a salient nose) or that stand out figuratively (such as the salient features of a painting or the salient points in an argument).

My Take

Salient outside battle
Source: http://taralen.deviantart.com/

When I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I admit it. I am wrong. I thought I knew the meaning to today’s word. I’ve known the term for many years, but I guess I never understood it. I must have heard it used in conversation somewhere and distorted its meaning in my head.

So, to fix my brain, I need to use it frequently, in the correct context. Let’s begin.

In sports, be it American Football, Futbol (or Soccer as it is known in the U.S.), Rugby, Field Hockey, Water Polo–you get the idea, the team moving the ball, down the field for a score is the salient team. In checkers, the act of jumping or leaping over your opponent’s checker is performing the salient move, removing a piece in the process. A monochrome holiday decoration that has a single brightly colored ornament contrasting the rest is a salient adornment. The person standing out in the crowd is salient.

Am I getting it right? Basically, as I understand the word, it’s akin to a brain teaser “What is different from all the rest?” or “Who or what is advancing better than another?”

I believe in uniqueness, conspicuousness, prominence, and difference. I write stories different from all the rest. Most of them are dark revelations of the human condition. They are meant to make one think, to question. “Could this really happen to the human race?” and “Could this happen to me?” and “OMG, this could happen to my child or me?”

Yes, I tend to write what many call ‘Dark Erotica.’ I don’t see my Mona Bendarova books that way but for certain, ‘Her Client’ and ‘The Breakup’ are.

Trafficking In Women
Source: epthinktank.eu

My new one, coming out in the next few weeks is also in that category. The title is tentatively called ‘Trafficking Consortium’ though that is likely to change in the next couple of weeks when the book goes to publication. The premise being that just by going to your doctor for an annual physical, brings you to the attention of an international human trafficking ring and puts into motion a plan to sell you into human slavery. Sure, there are many stories, real and fiction, over the centuries of stealing people and selling them into bondage. Mine is a new take, and if you like reading these kinds of stories, I believe you will enjoy this one.

Barbie with human proportions
Source: slideshare.net/artista33

As usual, I found many images related to today’s term. Products and companies love the concept of trying to stand out from the crowd. Why not? I try to get my books to stand out among the plethora of books out there. Frequent followers of the Word of the Day will know that I look for unique images. Today, I found artwork and a digital representation of what needs to change to make the Barbie doll, ™Mattel, more realistic and proportional to a real human being.

Today’s bonus picture, available if you tweet from my page on Twitter is an image pertinent to the theme of the day. I hope you like it.

I love learning the different contexts of these words of the day. Do you? Please share your comments. I’m sure we would all like to read them.

Have a great day and a better tomorrow.

Merriam-WebsterBrought to you by Merriam-Webster, Word of the Day.

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Word of the Day: imbue

Imbue
Source: omnilexica.com

Word of the Day: imbue

imbue (verb) im-BYOO

Definition

1 : to permeate or influence as if by dyeing

2 : to tinge or dye deeply

3 : to provide with something freely or naturally : endow

Synonyms

endow, inculcate, ingrain, instill, leaven, permeate, pervade, saturate, steep, suffuse

Examples

The children were imbued with a passion for nature by their parents, both biologists.

“For a 23-year-old newly imbued with national fame, Jacoby Brissett is a man of few vices. One of them is chocolate chip cookies, which in college he baked for his offensive linemen.” — Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post, 22 Sept. 2016

IMBUE - Not So White
Artist: Imbue (source: retrome.bigcartel.com)

My Take

It never ceases to amaze me. No matter how obscure, how removed a word is from common day language, I can find hundreds or thousands of images on the net related to the term. What surprises me even more, are the number of companies use the word in their name or marketing for products. While I strive hard to avoid promoting products in my take on the Word of the Day, I sometimes find it hard to do so.

Imbue is one such term. I found it hard to filter out a couple of images that to me, represent the word, while at the same time did not promote a product.

I do have an exception to that rule. Being an artist as well as a writer, if I find painting, drawing or sketch done by an artist that represents the word, I’ll be happy to use it. The image of the girl in this post is one such image. My Twitter sharing link will give you an even more risque image related to the word, one not suitable for Facebook, LinkedIn or my other social media sites.

Please share your comments. I’m sure we would all enjoy reading them.

If you share this post by clicking one of the twitter buttons, I will treat you with a sexier image related to the word. My gift to you.

mw_logoBrought to you by Merrian-Webster, Word of the Day.

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