suspense
adj.— «Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Army’s term for a deadline is a “suspense,” sometimes abbreviated simply “S:” and followed by a date. The first time I was told that I had to “meet a suspense,” I didn’t know where to turn, but now I understand the aptness of referring even to an end by a term most of us associate with uncertainty. The Army is a life of perpetual suspense: the soldier waits for war to begin and then waits for it to end.» —“In the Valley of the Shadow” by Elizabeth D. Samet New York Times Sept. 30, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...
In 1803, a shy British pharmacist wrote a pamphlet that made him a reluctant celebrity. The reason? He proposed a revolutionary new system for classifying clouds — with Latin names we still use today, like cumulus, cirrus, and stratus. Also: when...