jactitation

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The Word of the Day for October 8 is:=20

jactitation   \jak-tuh-TAY-shun\   noun
          : a tossing to and fro or jerking and twitching of the body

Example sentence:
          =E2=80=9CIt is clear that Mrs Y.'s tics are far more complex i=
n form than mere Parkinsonian jerks, jactitations, or precipitations=E2=80=
=A6.=E2=80=9D (Oliver Sacks, _Awakenings_)

Did you know?
          In the 17th century, lawyers began tossing around the word =E2=
=80=9Cjactitation,=E2=80=9D which can be traced back to the Latin verb =E2=
=80=9Cjactare,=E2=80=9D meaning =E2=80=9Cto throw.=E2=80=9D Originally, =
=E2=80=9Cjactitation=E2=80=9D was used as a word for a false claim or as=
sertion being publicly thrown about to the detriment of another person. =
Run-of-the-mill slander and false claims of being married to someone wer=
e two common types of jactitation brought to court. Before long, =E2=80=9C=
jactitation=E2=80=9D had jumped over to the medical profession, where it=
 continues to serve as a word for restless, jerky, or twitchy body movem=
ents. In 1761, British writer Laurence Sterne threw =E2=80=9Cjactitation=
=E2=80=9D into his novel _Tristram Shandy_ as a substitute for =E2=80=9C=
discussion,=E2=80=9D but that meaning never caught on.=20





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