Worthless Word for the Day

[teapeebubbles]

the worthless word for the day is: otium

[fr. classical L., leisure, ease, peace]
now rare leisure; free time; ease

"Mr. Morgan was enjoying his otium in a dignified
manner, surveying the evening fog, and smoking a
cigar."
- W. M. Thackeray, The history of Pendennis (1849)

otium cum dignitate
[fr. classical Latin cum dignitate otium]
leisure with dignity; spec. retirement from public life

"So we find words and expressions that were much better
known on the Continent than in either America or
Britain. Under the heading for Haste and Leisure, for
instance, we find brusquerie* and its Latin converse,
otium cum dignitate. (In the newest, fifth edition of
the International, published by Harper Collins in 1992,
both these obscure forms have vanished, though the
Latin term that was under the Leisure column has been
replaced by the Italian dolce far niente, which is
amply supplemented by the phrases ride the gravy train
and lead the life of Riley.)"
- Simon Winchester, The Atlantic Monthly May 2001

*brusquerie: [F] abruptness of manner