[Geysers] RE: A.Word.A.Day--miasma

[Carlton Cross]

Relayed for Lucille Reilly

Hmmm, today's word made me think of Dragon's Mouth or whatever it's called north of the Lake area.  Thought you'd all like to see it.

Lucille Reilly

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From: Wordsmith [mailto:wsmith at wordsmith.org] 
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--miasma

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
miasma 
PRONUNCIATION:
(my-AZ-muh, mee-)  
plural miasmas, miasmata (my-AZ-muh-tuh, mee-) 
MEANING:
noun:
1. Noxious emissions: smoke, vapors, etc., especially those from decaying organic matter.
2. An oppressive or unpleasant atmosphere. 
NOTES:
Earlier it was believed that many diseases were caused by bad air from decomposing organic matter, as in a swamp. Malaria, for example, is named from Italian mala aria (bad air). The germ theory of disease has put the bad air theory to rest. 
ETYMOLOGY:
>From Greek miasma (pollution, defilement), from miainein (to pollute). Earliest documented use: 1665. 
USAGE:
"A miasma of smoke from wildfires cloaked the sweltering Russian capital."
Jim Heintz; Fires Lay Ghostly Shroud of Smoke on Moscow; Associated Press (New York); Aug 6, 2010.

"The region is still wobbling in the miasma of corruption."
Bobi Odiko; Region Still Wobbling in Corruption; East African Business Week (Tanzania); Aug 4, 2010. 

Explore "miasma" in the Visual Thesaurus. 
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
That sign of old age, extolling the past at the expense of the present. -Sydney Smith, writer and clergyman (1771-1845) 
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