Sinecure Kvelling

Two marvelous new-to-me words spied recently:

• kvell — to be delighted in, gloat, or celebrate, often applied to the accomplishments of one's children (via Yiddish, from the German quellen = to swell or gush)
• sinecure — a job with few or no responsibilities, but good pay (from the Latin sine = without and cura = care)

"Kvell" is loosely the opposite of kvetch, to whine and complain. "Sinecure" reminds me of Sir Martin Rees's description of the duties of the British Astronomer Royal, "... so exiguous that they could be performed posthumously." (exiguous = scanty or meager)

(cf. CreativeDevices (2001-01-01), ...) - ^z - 2008-12-01