Peccadillo

This cute word was used in The Republican War on Science, by my friend and fellow SciBling, Chris Mooney. This book was recently released in the more affordable trade paperback. If you haven't read this book yet, now is the time (I've read it once already in hard-cover, but never reviewed it, so I am going to rectify that oversight in the near future by reviewing this updated paperback).

Peccadillo (pek-uh-DIL-oh) [Origin: 1585-95; < Spanish pecadillo, dim. of pecado sin < Latin peccÄtum transgression, n. use of neutral of ptp. of peccÄre to err, offend]

noun

1. a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling fault.

Usage: For global warming truly to qualify as a hoax, a dramatic level of coordinated action would have to exist on the part of scienctists. This would make past scientific hoaxes seem like mere peccadilloes.

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