;Posted on 02/19/2014 5:20:36 AM PST by TruthShallSetYouFree
Word For The Day, Wednesday, February 19, 2014-- forte
;In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
forte [fawrt, fohrt or for 1, fawr-tey]
noun
1. a person's strong suit, or most highly developed characteristic, talent, or skill; something that one excels in: I don't know what her forte is, but it's not music. Synonyms: talent, skill, excellence, strength, strong point, specialty, proficiency; knack, bent.
2. the stronger part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt (opposed to foible ).
3. A musical direction meaning “to be performed loudly”; the opposite of piano.
Pronunciation note:
In the sense of a person's strong suit ( He draws well, but sculpture is his real forte ), the older and historical pronunciation of forte is the one-syllable [fawrt] or [fohrt] pronounced as the English word fort. The word is derived from the French word fort, meaning “strong.” A two-syllable pronunciation [fawr-tey] is increasingly heard, especially from younger educated speakers, perhaps owing to confusion with the musical term forte, pronounced in English as [fawr-tey] and in Italian as [fawr-te]. Both the one- and two-syllable pronunciations of forte are now considered standard.
Origin: 1715–25; < Italian < Latin fortis strong
Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day.
My daughter’s little dog loves the frogs and lizards that have lived very safely in my back yard until the dog came into the family. A mouthful of frog gave him a bit of surprise recently though...
That's what Miss Piggy said....
B Hussein Obama’s only forte appears to be the destruction of the American republic.
Should I call your wife and tell her you need some attention tonight? ;^)
That was the first and only time I put decorations on my gate/fence, too-I’m not a slow learner, and apparently neither are my neighbors here-the only Christmas decorations were safely behind gates and fences...
I am/have always been absolutely terrified of wild/feral hogs-pretty funny for someone brought up in and used to living in the country. If I see cougar tracks while hiking, I go in the opposite direction from where they lead-if I see hog tracks, I get back to the main trail or road as fast as I can, keeping my ears on high alert for them-you hear them before you see them. Those things are not much afraid of humans, often travel in groups, and are known to attack and even kill humans if they feel the least bit threatened-way more dangerous than a mountain lion, I think...
“attention tonight”
Like a cold shower, or mouth washed with soap?
Something like that.... lol
The Russkies had high hopes for a hockey medal as the host, but won’t even finish fourth thanks to the Finnish forte ...
Thanks. I was mentally shaken up but physically unharmed.
B Hussein Obama’s only forte appears to be the destruction of the American republic.
And he's damned good at it.
Nice!
Would be nice to have respectable breath for a change...
Have you been devouring lizards again?
Great!!
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