Today's Word "Screed"
Published in Vocabulary
screed \skreed\ (noun) - 1 : A raised, smooth flat strip around the borders of an area where plaster, mortar, concrete or other wet material is poured, over which a long flat, straight object (also called a screed) is dragged in order to create a perfectly smooth, even surface. 2 : A rip or a fragment torn away from something (Scotland); 3 : a strip, especially the strip of cloth around the border of a hat (Britain). 4 : A long, monotonous text or speech, a diatribe.
"While Jason didn't expect a weekly screed from his girlfriend about her job at the club, he felt that a few words now and then would be nice."
Today's word can be traced back to Old Germanic skreuo-, commonly viewed as an extension of (s)kor-/(s)ker- "cut.". This is one of those Indo-European roots with an initial [s] that comes and goes mysteriously. With the [s] we get "shear," "scar," and "share," from Old English scaru "portion." "Short" is a member of this family, too; it is from Old English sceort "cut (off)." Without the [s] it turns up in Russian korotkij "short."
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