Peter

[This word can be used both literally, as in the first example, and figuratively, in the sense of ill-informed or uneducated, as in the second example.]_ It is not so surprising when one reflects that all cultures possess a literature. In an analphabetic culture, the literature will be an oral one. (Scott Herring, Du Bois and the Minstrels, [W.E.B. du Bois], Melus, 06/22/1997, p. 3.)

In “The Lost Art of Reading,” here is the news [from author David] Ulin:… that the analphabetic anger of anonymous Internet comment threads is emblematic of a “degraded cultural conversation” in which “the ability to carry out a logical argument” has been lost. (Christopher Beha, “Our Unlettered Landscape,” The New York Times, 11/26/2010.)…

The [venture capital] community seems to love its holophrases: “incubate,” “accelerate,” “longtail,” “freemium,” and of course, the mythical “unicorn.” These are all words that serve as shorthand for more involved concepts central to the investment universe. (Ajay Raju, “The Next Silicon Valley Will Be … Philly?” Philadelphia Citizen, October 23, 2018)…

[French for “battle-horse”]  “Though I studied everything [said Podles], Rossini was my cheval de bataille. I would finish every exam with some Rossini, and later a Rossini aria would be my finale in every competition.” Nevertheless, while Rossini arias were her staple, she had yet to tackle complete roles. (Barrymore Laurence Scherer, Alto Rhapsody, [Poland’s Ewa Podles, Contralto], Opera News, 06/1/1997.)…

New York’ s beau monde is currently up in arms about a ghastly new threat to its continued well-being: stealth paparazzi. These are apparently normal kids who frequent Manhattan’s trendy nightspots and fashionable parties armed with hidden video cameras. (To Young, New York Confidential: Titanic Sequel Sinks Without a Trace, Independent, 07/3/1998, p. 8.)…

Europe’s past keeps sending awful bonbons to its present. In recent months, we have learned that Swiss banks piled up millions of dollars in assets stolen from Jewish victims of the Nazis. … No one would argue that German evil absolves Swiss cupidity or French collaboration. (John Marks, Swiss Cupidity, But German Evil, U.S. News & World Report, 12/15/1997.)

This word, when used in the above sense can also be a synonym for avarice, covetousness, desire and lust.…