Middling is an adjective that means of medium or average quality or size.

Appropriately enough, our word of the day comes from Middle English. Its prefix M-I-D means ‘middle.’ A person of middling appearance would be an average looking person and so on.

I would describe our lemonade stand as a middling success. We didn’t come close to reaching fortune 500 status, but we did a lot better than those businesses that fold after weeks of opening.

Bon mot is a noun that refers to a clever word or phrase.

Coming from French, the literal translation of our word of the day is ‘good word.’ But it is more clearly understood as a clever or witty word or series of words.

For example: Annabelle was never been at a loss for words. She could find a bon mot to deliver to a judge as he sends her away to prison.

Sociolect is a noun that refers to a dialect of a particular class.

Our word of the day is a fairly recent addition to English, originating in the 1970s. The prefix S-O-C-I-O means ‘related to society,’ while the suffix L-E-C-T refers to a dialect. When combined we get a word for a way of speaking unique to a social class.

The guys I worked with on the dock spoke with a sociolect that distinguished them from my colleagues in law school. I often felt I needed a translator when going from one location to another.

Dollop is a noun that refers to a massive blob of something.

Our word of the day’s origin is uncertain, but we know it can mean a wide range of things from a giant lump of ice cream to a huge mound of dirt. Although mostly a noun, it can also be used as a verb, which means to add or serve a giant blob of something. For example: I have no idea what this big green blob is. The cafeteria worker just dolloped it onto my plate, so I assume it must be edible.

Demiurge is a noun that refers to an autonomous creative force.

Our word of the day combines Greek word demos (DAY mos) which means ‘people,’ and ergos (AIR gos) which means “working.’ It was originally used to describe a god-like figure, or creator of the universe. But it later came to refer to any powerful or creative force.

Emma has been promoted to the head of the office. As such, she’s regarded as the demiurge around here. She’s the one to talk to when you want anything done.

Glen is a noun that refers to a valley.

Coming from Late Middle English, our word of the day is a good when to recall when you’re on a hike and you find a narrow, secluded pathway between two hills.

The view from the mountain’s peak was spectacular, but it was also breathtaking to hike through the glen and gaze up at the magnificent peaks from below.

Wont can be a noun, adjective or verb, depending on context. As a noun it refers to someone's habitual way.

Our word of the day is spelled like won’t without the apostrophe and is pronounced like W-A-N-T, but its meaning and origin is different from both of those words. Coming from Old English, wont — W-O-N-T — means a person’s customary behavior in a given situation.

Charlie’s custom of practicing the drums at five-thirty in the morning can be pretty irritating. But there’s nothing you can say to persuade him to stop. This is simply his wont and you can’t change it.

Ergonomics is a noun that refers to the science of design.

The Greek word ergon (AIR gon) means ‘work.’ Our word of the day combines this word with ‘nomics,’ which refers to ‘the art of managing a household.’ This gets us to ergonomics which can be thought of a science, but, in everyday use, can simply refer to the placement of our desk or living room couch.

Example: The ergonomics or Ted’s office made the meeting really uncomfortable. Having everybody crammed in a tiny room with no windows for hours made us more interested in getting things done quickly than in making sure things were done right.

Millstone is a noun that refers to a heavy burden.

Traditionally, a millstone is a heavy stone used to crush something. This is the origin of our word of the day, but in more recent use, millstone is generally applied metaphorically.

For example: Kari used to think of that piano in her living room as a millstone, something that would be a real pain to deal with when it was time to move. But since she’s learned to play the thing, she doesn’t think of it as a burden at all.

Bedraggled is an adjective that means dirty and disheveled.

The root word of bedraggled is drag, which has an origin from Middle English. When we say someone is or looks bedraggled, we mean they seem as though they’ve been dragged around and roughed up.

For example: It was embarrassing to see my kids show up at their graduation right after baseball practice, looking like they’d been dragged there from the back of a truck. They looked so bedraggled I thought they might get their diplomas withheld.