The Word of the Day for November 18 is:
assay (verb)
1 : try, attempt
2 a : to analyze (as an ore) for one or more specific components *b : to judge the worth of : estimate
Pronunciation information:
The stress in "assay" can be on either the first or second syllable. Approximations of two pronunciations of are ass-AY and ASS-ay.
Did you know?
Usage gurus warn against confusing "assay" and "essay." A degree of confusion isn't surprising; the two words look alike, and both derive from the same root, the Old French "essai," meaning "test, effort" (a root that in turn comes from the Late Latin "exagium," meaning "act of weighing"). At one time, the two terms were synonyms, sharing the meaning "try" or "attempt," but you are best advised to treat them as two distinct verbs. To keep things clear, use "essay" when you means "to try" and "assay" when you mean "to evaluate."
Example:
From: Donald N F
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997
Subject: "bug" ??
11/18, 5:53 a.m.,central. tried to read The Washington Post by linking from c-span.
The pop up said "The Publisher of the Washington Post not known"...
Thanks for sorting all these "bugs"-sounds like an icky process to me.(LOL)
Beverly E. Fowler
Outgoing Message:
Dear Bev -
Ah, sorting through the bugs ain't so icky. You just need to take time to patiently assay the information before essaying a solution. Speaking of which, it sounds like the difficulty you were having in connecting to Washington Post was just a temporary server glitch, perhaps on their computers. Thanks for letting us know, however.
Keep up the good work!
Jos
Previews Team
WebTV Networks
The Word of the Day for November 6 is
convoke (verb)
: to call together to a meeting
Pronunciation information:
The stress in "convoke" is on the second syllable. An approximation of the pronunciation is kun-VOKE.
Example:
From: HokieGal
Subject: Scrolling cut off my terminal..
I was scrolling down through the Infobeat Entertainment newsletter I had just gotten....halfway down the page, the screen froze up on me and would not budge at all, even after hitting the back and home keys.
So I just left it alone, and after a minute or so, the terminal abruptly
turned itsefl off and then back on again. Kind of neat in a way....a
self-correcting terminal!
Dear Janet -
Thanks for the email about this "freezing" issue. We have convoked the preview team in order to discuss this and we are now actively looking into the problem. Thanks again.
Jos
Previews Team
WebTV Networks
The Word of the Day for November 5 is
abstruse (adjective)
: difficult to comprehend : recondite
Pronunciation information:
The stress in "abstruse" is on the second syllable. Approximations of two pronunciations are ub-STROOSE and ab-STROOSE.
From: (Eric and Denise)
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 09:15:27 -0600
To: preview2
Subject: Questions/11/4/97
Chat
2.The advertising banners worked fine, however, the only problem we had
with them, were the distraction to the eye.
...
This made it annoying, not because it is an ad, but because it
interfered with the media.
Thanks again,
Eric and Denise
Outgoing Message:
Dear Eric and Denise -
Thanks for the response and suggestions; I can understand how the current setup may seem abstruse at times.
Jos
Previews Team
WebTV Networks
The Word of the Day for November 3 is:
envisage (verb)
1 : to view or regard in a certain way
*2 : to have a mental picture of especially in advance of realization
Example:
From: Hank Morris
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 22:42:33 -0500
To: preview2
Subject: Jos/ The nefarious (great choice of words ;-)) upgrade - 11/3/97
Jos,
Took upgrade again and received it without further problems. Just as
well as the CIA is just up the street and I was hesitant to break out
the secret code this soon. They're everywhere you know...v nbufj
b;asijbh l ZSdjgnba/vbpaoiet...
THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN INTERCEPTED FOR NATIONAL SECURITY REASONS> DO NOT
TRY TO INTERFERE
Outgoing Message:
Dear Kurt -
Thanks for the notice. That all sounds normal.
You know, I never envisaged you as a fellow operative. The blue cow howls at moonlight, eh?
Jos
Previews Team
WebTV Networks
The Word of the Day for October 31 is:
nefarious (adjective)
: flagrantly wicked or impious : evil
Pronunciation information:
The stress in "nefarious" is on the second syllable. An approximation of the pronunciation is nih-FAIR-ee-us.
Example:
From: TBHMorris (Hank Morris)
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 06:36:57 -0500
To: preview2
Subject: Upgrade note 10/31/97
Morning,
Lost my listings but not my saved channels. Personalized channel
selection held too. Nice job.
No problems with upgrade procedure, didn't have to use any "secret'
codes :-)
Have fun,
Hank
Outgoing Message:
Dear Hank -
I'm glad to hear that, at least in your case, the upgrade was not as
nefarious as we had feared. Enjoy!
Jos
Previews Team
WebTV Networks