OED Word of the Day

P&P

Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice was published 200 years ago last January. To mark the occasion, my friend Cathy sent me the OED’s online word of the day.

Collins, n.1
A letter of thanks for entertainment or hospitality, sent by a departed guest; a ‘bread-and-butter’ letter.

Pronunciation:/kɒlɪnz/
Etymology: < the name of a character, William Collins, in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice (ch. xxii). 1904. Chambers's Jrnl. 27 Aug. 611/2. When we do not call a letter of thanks for a visit ‘a board and lodging’, we call it a ‘Collins’. 1907. Lady Grove. Social Fetich. 74 The ‘Collins’ letter I had dutifully bored my hostess with. 1911. W. A. Raleigh. Lett. (1926) 375. This is only a Collins, and a Collins should not wade into deep places. It should be loving but neat. 1926. R. Bridges. Henry Bradley ii. 19. Wherever I can I shall let him speak for himself, and..group the quotations from his letters under subjects..This first Collins will serve to prelude them. 1940. W. de la Mare. Pleasures & Speculations. 327. The amateur composer even of a Collins or bread-and-butter letter realizes that his mother tongue is a stubborn means for the communication of gratitude.

I get several “words of the day” in my inbox, but I didn’t know about the OED one until Collins arrived. I quickly subscribed and look forward to their odd-ball words every day:

periplus, n. An account or narrative of a circumnavigation or other voyage; a manual of navigation.

statuomania, n.Excessive or passionate enthusiasm for erecting statues. Chiefly with reference to France.

genethliacon, n. A birthday ode.

akathisia, n. Inability to sit down or to remain seated, resulting from a subjective need or desire to move, frequently accompanied by sensations of muscular twitching, and often occurring as a side effect of the use of certain psychoactive drugs; an instance of this. Also in extended use.

I could go on and on. Subscribe yourself from the link on the right column of the OED home page.