Weekend Words Of The Day

Word of the Day for Saturday July 2, 2005

acumen \uh-KYOO-muhn; AK-yuh-muhn\, noun:
Quickness of perception or discernment; shrewdness shown by keen insight.

With Leo's rare combination of editorial acumen and business know-how, he might have become a publishing giant had he not permitted his drinking and gambling to hold him
back.
--Ellis Amburn, Subterranean Kerouac: The Hidden Life of Jack Kerouac

The family store gave him a sharp business acumen -- acquired, he would say, by manning the cash register -- that few of his rivals possessed.
--David Schiff, "Who Was That Masked Composer?" The Atlantic, January 2000

Acumen comes from Latin acumen, "the sharp point of something; sharpness of understanding; cunning," from acuere, "to sharpen."

Synonyms: Sharpness, sagacity, perspicacity.

Word of the Day for Sunday July 3, 2005

sentient \SEN-shee-uhnt; -tee-; -shuhnt\, adjective:
1. Capable of perceiving by the senses; conscious.
2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.

I can remember very vividly the first time I became aware of my existence; how for the first time I realised that I was a sentient human being in a perceptible world.
--Lord Berners, First Childhood

Answers to such profound questions as whether we are the only sentient beings in the universe, whether life is the product of random accident or deeply rooted law, and
whether there may be some sort of ultimate meaning to our existence, hinge on what science can reveal about the formation of life.
--Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle

Sentient comes from Latin sentiens, "feeling," from sentire, "to discern or perceive by the senses."