Word for the Week

I thought it was time to do another Word for the Week, seeing as it has been many, many weeks since the last one!

So here's one from Free Rice this morning:
BANE = RUIN

According to thefreedictionary.com BANE is:
A cause of fatal injury or ruin!
Or, alternatively, and less scary:
A source of persistent annoyance or frustration

I had no idea that the first and original use of this word refers to death and destruction! Isn't it facinating how words take on new life in their everyday use?! I often find myself using a nice, big, juicy word only to have Boyo ask me what on earth it means. Then I have to stop and think, and try to come up with alternatives...frequently struggling to put into words just what I think the word means. Or, as in this case, realising that I am using a word in one context, when it can be used in several. Quite often our every day conversations give meanings to words that the dictionary doesn't necessarily agree with. I often use words based on where I have read them used, without actually knowing their full and proper definition. I'm finding Free Rice facinating in showing me just what some of these words can mean.

Amy