Word of the Day: MALINGER
To shirk or sham
malinger (adj) - to pretend or exaggerate illness, especially to avoid work or responsibility [muh-ling-ger]
a malingerer is someone who feigns illness to avoid duty or elicit sympathy
BREAKDOWN: The word malinger would seem to relate to the common base MAL- meaning bad or evil. It might, assuming the French malingre meaning sickly or ailing derives from that root and the word haingre meaning sick or haggard. Some etymologists, however, consider alternate derivations.
“We have it so deeply engrained in us that any kind of hardship shouldn’t last more than a couple of months, at most. Anything more than that is considered malingering. As though the loss of someone you love were just a temporary inconvenience, something minor, and surely not something to stay upset over.” —Megan Devine
[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]