This is a fine old English verb meaning ‘to throw out of a window.’
So, if you are asked, ‘What did you do with that dirty dish water?’ you could reply, ‘I defenestrated it.’
Clearly, a useful addition to anyone’s vocabulary.
The verb ‘to defenestrate’ is recorded in English from the early 1600s—but only in the form of its past participle ‘defenestrated.’
The shorter form of the verb does not turn up until 1904 (which strikes me as a little odd, but there you are).
It comes from the Latin word for ‘window’ fenestra (which, in turn comes from a Greek source).
The prefix ‘de-’ means down or away from, hence ‘thrown out of the window.’
Apparently, ‘defenestration’ is the traditional Czech method of assassinating prime ministers.
This suggestion comes from an event in 1618 called ‘The Defenestration of Prague’—an action of Bohemian insurgents, who, on the 21st of May that year, broke up a meeting of Imperial Commissioners and Deputies of the States, held in the castle of Hradshin, and threw two of the commissioners and their secretary out of the window.
This formed the prelude to the Thirty Years War.
There is a lesson to be learned here: be careful who you ‘defenestrate’—you never know what you’ll be starting!
But now the computer world has taken on ‘defenestrate’ and given it a new twist.
Nowadays, to a computer programmer a ‘defenestration’ is a line of code that causes the program to exist the Windows operating system.
Isn’t that cute?
I like that—very clever.
The latest issue of The Spectator Australia is newsagents now -- with a cartoon about Islamic extremism on the front cover and my 'Language' column in the back.
FOR A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO THE DAILY NEWSLETTER SCOLL FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE >>>>>>
BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
