The word for today is…

frisson (noun) – A moment of intense excitement; a shudder.

Source : The Free Dictionary

Etymology : “I feel a shiver that’s not from the cold as the band and the crowd go charging through the final notes…. That frisson, that exultant moment….” That’s how writer Robert W. Stock characterised the culmination of a big piece at a concert in 1982. His use of the word shiver is apt given that frisson comes from the French word for “shiver.” Frisson traces to Old French friçon, which in turn derives from frictio, Latin for “friction.” What does friction—normally a heat generator—have to do with thrills and chills? Nothing, actually. The association came about because frictio (which derives from Latin fricare, meaning “to rub”) was once mistakenly taken to be a derivative of frig?re, which means “to be cold.”

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Peter is a fourth-generation New Zealander, with his mother's and father's folks having arrived in New Zealand in the 1870s. He lives in Lower Hutt with his wife, some cats and assorted computers. His...