Hello dear readers. I’ve recently come across another new word, DEFALCATION, and I’m going to share it with you.
This is what public officials, treasurers, and mutual fund managers sometimes fall into, or are accused of. The primary meaning is to misappropriate or divert funds, especially public money, to embezzle. According to Merriam-Webster, another meaning is to fail to meet a promise or an expectation.
I’ve demonstrated its use in these two senryu:
defalcation
that trickle to the slush fund
taxpayers’ tears
defalcation
those expense account holes
auditors look through
Christine's Collection 
Gosh, I’d have thought it meant to take the wings off a falcon! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Well, that does make sense to our English ears.
I didn’t go into the etymology, but the verb is defalcate, from Latin de- + falc-, falx, meaning a sickle. So, slice off your share? Think of the roman legions demanding a share of the poor English farmer’s harvest. 🙂
Thanks for your comment.
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And of course, that same -falc- gives rise to falcon cos of its wing-shape. Yay!
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Very different from deification, decalcification and desanctification!
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You’ve been delving DE-s in the dictionary. Lots of words to explore on my new blog. Thanks for your comment. 🙂
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