Word of the Week! Avuncular Richmond Writing

Word of the Week! Avuncular Richmond Writing Dr. Joe Hoyle, a man Id describe with this word, nominated it. Its a strange world, however, where Howard Stern now gets that descriptor. Professor Hoyle wrote to me that hed encountered that usage recently. Stern has grown wiser from his shock jock days, and while retaining his keen sense of humor, he comes across in interviews as more the listener, the wise older man: the sort of fellow youd not mind having as an uncle. And thats our origin for avuncular. The OED gives its origin as the Latin  avunculus  maternal uncle. Other than an obsolete usage as a term for a pawn broker, our word has maintained its associations with uncles since the earliest recorded usage. Thats modern, compared to many terms that appear here. It dates from the second quarter of the 19th Century.   There may be an older usage; find a wise uncle and ask him.   And if there is a comparable term for aunts, please let me know that as well. Professor Ted Bunn mentioned to me a 1982 column by the late William Safire, where the author polled erudite readers for a female equivalent of avuncular. Amital won the day, but as Safires colleague noted, it sounds to me like a barbiturate. The results are funny, if you are well read and interested in such things. Please nominate a word or metaphor useful in academic writing by e-mailing me (jessid -at- richmond -dot- edu) or leaving a comment below. See all of our Metaphors of the Month  here  and Words of the Week  here. image courtesy of MidCentArc at Flickr.