want, wish, wanted, stilted, cantor

The London Library

Happy birthday #JaneEyre! #CharlotteBronte's masterpiece was first published #onthisday 1847 (under the pseudonym Currer Bell). She dedicated the book to her hero, great author (and member and auditor of The London Library !) #WilliamThackeray. They eventually met in 1850, at a famously stilted dinner, shortly after Bronte had been revealed as Jane Eyre's author.

Celebrating 800 years: the St. Thomas Boys Choir

Not many choirs can look back on an 800-year history, but the St. Thomas
Boys Choir of Leipzig is exceptional not just in that respect. Johann
Sebastian Bach led the group as cantor for 27 years.

"When I see the Ten Most Wanted Lists... I always have this thought: If we'd made them feel wanted earlier, they wouldn't be wanted now." — Eddie Cantor

Beckett's love affair with Germany began in the late 1920s, when the young man traveled to Kassel to visit a maternal uncle and fell in love with his cousin. Though the family spoke English, the gifted linguist began to correspond with his relatives in a stilted, still-developing German prose. But by 1929, he was fluent enough to read works by Arthur Schopenhauer - a major influence on the writer - in their original language.

Japan's nuclear crisis

A question of trust

Japan’s nuclear crisis is eroding deference to authority 

 cantor[can・tor]

• 発音記号[kǽntər | -tɔː]
• [名]《教会》聖歌隊長, 聖歌隊前唱者；《ユダヤ教》先唱者：祈祷(きとう)文の独唱部分を歌う役.

want
v., want·ed, want·ing, wants. v.tr.

1. 1. To desire greatly; wish for: They want to leave. She wants a glass of water. See synonyms at desire.
   2. To desire (someone to do something): I want you to clean your room.
2. 1. To request the presence or assistance of: You are wanted by your office.
   2. To seek with intent to capture: The fugitive is wanted by the police.
3. To have an inclination toward; like: Say what you want, but be tactful.
4. Informal. To be obliged (to do something): You want to be careful on the ice.
5. To be without; lack. See synonyms at lack.
6. To be in need of; require: "'Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter" (Lewis Carroll).

v.intr.

1. To have need: wants for nothing.
2. To be destitute or needy.
3. To be disposed; wish: Call me daily if you want.

n.

1. The condition or quality of lacking something usual or necessary: stayed home for want of anything better to do.
2. Pressing need; destitution: lives in want.
3. Something desired: a person of few wants and needs.
4. A defect of character; a fault.

phrasal verbs:
want in Slang.

1. To desire greatly to enter: The dog wants in.
2. To wish to join a project, business, or other undertaking.

want out Slang.

1. To desire greatly to leave: The cat wants out.
2. To wish to leave a project, a business, or other undertaking.

[Middle English wanten, to be lacking, from Old Norse vanta.]

wanter want'er n.

USAGE NOTE When want meaning "desire" is followed immediately by an infinitive construction, it does not take for: I want you to go (not want for you to go). When want and the infinitive are separated by a word or phrase, however, for is used: What I want is for you to go. I want very much for you to go. Want in its meaning of "have need, lack" normally takes for: They'll not want for anything now that they've inherited his estate. See Usage Notes at wish.

n.

1. A desire, longing, or strong inclination for a specific thing.
2. An expression of a desire, longing, or strong inclination; a petition.
3. Something desired or longed for.

v., wished, wish·ing, wish·es. v.tr.

1. To long for; want. See synonyms at desire.
2. To entertain or express wishes for; bid: He wished her good night.
3. To call or invoke upon: I wish them luck.
4. To order or entreat: I wish you to go.
5. To impose or force; foist: They wished a hard job on her.

v.intr.

1. To have or feel a desire: wish for the moon.
2. To express a wish.

[Middle English wissh, from wisshen, to wish, from Old English wȳscan.]

wisher wish'er n.

USAGE NOTE Wish is widely used as a polite substitute for want with infinitives: Do you wish to sit at a table on the terrace? Anyone who wishes to may leave now. This usage is appropriate for formal style, where it is natural to treat the desires of others with exaggerated deference. The corresponding use of wish with a noun-phrase object is less frequent: Anyone who wishes an aisle seat should see an attendant. Both usages are likely to sound stilted in informal style, however, and want may be substituted for wish. • A traditional rule requires the use of were rather than was in a contrary-to-fact statement that follows wish: I wish I were (not was) lighter on my feet. While many people continue to insist on upholding this rule, the indicative was in such clauses can be found in the works of many well-known writers. See Usage Notes at if, want.

A question of trust

Japan’s nuclear crisis is eroding deference to authority

deference

(dĕf'ər-əns, dĕf'rəns)
n.

1. Submission or courteous yielding to the opinion, wishes, or judgment of another.
2. Courteous respect. See synonyms at honor.

stilted
(stĭl'tĭd)
adj.

1. Stiffly or artificially formal; stiff. 2 pompous. 3 Architecture. Having some vertical length between the impost and the beginning of the curve. Used of an arch.

stiltedly stilt'ed·ly adv.
stiltedness stilt'ed·ness n.