megillah

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 26, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>megillah</strong> &#149; \muh-GHIL-uh\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1</strong> <em>slang</em> <strong>:</strong> a long involved story or account</p> <p><strong>2</strong> <em>slang</em> <strong>a :</strong> an elaborate, complicated production or sequence of events</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> everything involved in what is under consideration : <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ball%20of%20wax">ball of wax</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Well, one fine day last spring, I was laying off for a week at the Americana in New York when Solly phones me—a <em>megillah</em> about this inspiration that he and some other bookers had that morning in the steam room." — S. J. Perelman, <em>The New Yorker</em>, 18 Aug. 1965</p> <p>"We'll have more on 'Manbird' when the whole <em>megillah</em> drops September 18, but for now, the buoyant first single of the same name is available to stream." — <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/article245244645.html">Aaron Davis, <em>The Sacramento (California) Bee</em>, 25 Aug. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Although <em>megillah</em> is a slang word in English, it has perfectly respectable Hebrew origins. <em>Megillah</em> derives from the Yiddish <em>megile</em>, which itself comes from the Hebrew word <em>mĕgillāh</em>, meaning "scroll" or "volume." (<em>Mĕgillāh</em> is especially likely to be used in reference to the Book of Esther, which is read aloud at <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purim">Purim</a> celebrations.) It makes sense, then, that when <em>megillah</em> first appeared in English in the mid-20th century, it referred to a story that was so long (and often tedious or complicated) that it was reminiscent of the length of the <em>mĕgill