Word of the Day

My blog is feeling kind of stale and crumbly; it has the texture of feta cheese left on the counter overnight. It's hard to be inspired with that kind of environment. But I did find a neat word today, used in a recent New York Times article.

I debated whether to introduce the context of this word. Maybe you'll understand why. It's from a disheartening article about this contemporary pastor who seems to have discovered the secret formula to attracting large crowds. Hollywood spearheaded the art, and now it is obvious that desperate christian "workers" are now introducing similar trash in their sermons. If you are genuinely seeking God, I am guarantee your time would be much better spent somewhere else. But that's a different story for another day. Here's the context of the quote:

Mark Driscoll is American evangelicalism’s bête noire. In little more than a decade, his ministry has grown from a living-room Bible study to a megachurch that draws about 7,600 visitors to seven campuses around Seattle each Sunday, and his books, blogs and podcasts have made him one of the most admired — and reviled — figures among evangelicals nationwide.

And now, without further ado:

bête noire
  –noun, plural bêtes noires
a person or thing especially disliked or dreaded; bane; bugbear.

Origin:
1835–45; < F: lit., black beast