cockamamie

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 7, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>cockamamie</strong> &#149; \kah-kuh-MAY-mee\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Cockamamie</em> is an adjective used to describe something ridiculous, silly, or incredible.</p> <p>// Instead of being honest, he came up with a <em>cockamamie</em> excuse about why he didn't turn in his assignment. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cockamamie">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"... [Andy] Reid will invent strange new football ideas unlike anything that has been seen before—or at least not in the past few decades—and run them in the biggest moments of a season. And while his trick plays may appear like <em>cockamamie</em> inventions of a football mad scientist, they often take advantage of the unique strengths and talents of his superstar players. They are gimmicks and yet functional." — Rodger Sherman, <em>TheRinger.com</em>, 8 Feb. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>By the look and sound of it, <em>cockamamie</em> (also spelled "cockamamy") could have something to do with a rooster and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cock-a-doodle-do">the outrageous sound it makes</a>. But in fact, <em>cockamamie</em> is believed to be an altered form of the term <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decalcomania"><em>decalcomania</em></a>, which refers to the process, invented in the mid-19th century, of transferring pictures and designs from specially prepared paper to surfaces such as glass or porcelain. (The word referring to the picture or design itself, <a href="/dictionary/decal"><em>decal</em></a>, is a shortening of <em>decalcomania</em>.) The word <em>decalcomania</em> comes from French, with <em>décalcomanie</em> combining the verb <em>décalquer</em>, meaning "to trac