Daily Archives: October 8, 2008

A fist in your ear and a blight to your senses. The middle syllable, like a plug-ugly little dog, bursts out strong and loud – if you said pugnaciously, you’d be right. It is couched in the re of repel and rebarbative rather than that of resign or reacquaint. The end is the arms-akimbo noun suffix, not a busy ing or an officious tion but an ant in active stance, even antagonistic, all the more so because of the negative little n that attaches to it. The re draws back, the pu spits in distaste and the gn gulps a a gag reflex. This word is sometimes seen with physically, which is nearly redundant, but of late keeps company often with morally. The soul recoils, then fights back – pugnare, Latin “fight,” is what punches this one through.