[Loch-Ruadh] Word for the day

[Jane Sitton]

Your daily vocabulary lesson:

untenable * \un-TEH-nuh-bul\ * (adjective)

*1:  not able to be defended  2:  not able to be occupied

Example sentence:
The contractor made the untenable demand that all work be paid for up
front, at which point we decided to take our business elsewhere.

Did you know?
"Untenable" and its opposite "tenable" come to us from Old French
"tenir," and ultimately from Latin "tenere," both of which mean "to hold."
We tend to use "untenable" in situations where an idea or position is so off
base that holding on to it is unjustified or inexcusable. One way to hold on
to the meaning of "untenable" is to associate it with other "tenir"
descendants whose meanings are associated with "holding" or "holding on to."
"Tenacious" ("holding fast") is one example.  Others are "contain,"
"sustain," "maintain," and "retain."  This last group came to us by way of
Middle English, which introduced the "ai" spelling. Untenable," "tenable,"
and "tenacious," by contrast, entered Modern English from Middle French,
which left the spelling of the root alone.