I offer an accolade to those who expend the effort to help shovel snow for neighbours. On our street there are often pathways cleared on the front sidewalk by various neighbours. On light snow days a shovel or two are pushed down the walkway by friendly people living up or down the street from us. When the snow falls and the wind blows and the drifts pile up, there are some who rev up the snowblower and plough the sidewalks. A special accolade goes to our friends across the street who check our house when we are away, and often have the snow cleared from the driveway and walkway by the time we arrive back home.
An accolade is an expression of praise or a mark of acknowledgement. Even though Barbie did not get as many Oscar nominations as numerous people thought it should have received, it has drawn accolades from both fans and critics. The award the engineer accepted at the conference was the highest accolade of the profession.
The word accolade came into the English language in the late 1500s. It was derived from the French verb accoler, meaning to embrace. The French Provencal acolada meant to embrace around the neck. This came from the Latin ad (prefix meaning at or to) plus collum (neck).
Accolade referred to a ceremonial embrace that formally conferred knighthood. Accolade expanded to include other ceremonial acts of knighting a person, such as the touching of the shoulders with the flat part of a sword’s blade. Eventually accolades morphed into the recognition of any special merit, distinction, or achievement.
Synonyms of accolade include citation, commendation, dithyramb, eulogy, homage, hymn, paean, salutation, and tribute.
Citation can apply to the formal praise of a person offered in a military dispatch or in awarding an honorary degree. She earned a citation for bravery from the Canadian Forces.
A commendation is a formal citation that extols the efforts of helping. The Prime Minister issued a commendation praising the volunteers for their exceptional work during the disaster.
Dithyramb means a statement or writing in an exalted or enthusiastic vein. He wrote a tongue-in-cheek dithyramb in honour of chocolate cake.
A eulogy is a commendatory oration or writing especially in honour of one deceased. Eulogy is derived from the Greek eu, meaning good, and logos, meaning word. She gave a wonderful eulogy for her mother at the funeral.
Homage is an expression of high regard adding the implication of accompanying praise. He wrote the play in an ancient verse paying homage to William Shakespeare.
Hymns are most often a song of praise to God. Most church services have numerous hymns sung by the congregation.
A paean is a work that praises or honours its subject. The poet wrote a paean on the occasion of the Queen’s silver jubilee.
Salutation is an expression of greeting, goodwill, or courtesy by word, gesture, or ceremony. She always begins her emails with a witty salutation.
A tribute is a formal attestation that indicates the worth, virtue, or effectiveness of the one in question. The design of the building is a tribute to the architect’s ingenuity.
In families it is important to acknowledge the achievements of each other. For many children parental approval is the highest accolade they can receive. Do not be stingy with accolades when good things are done.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
