Someone used this in another thread, saying it meant an inexperienced beginner.
Having never seen nor heard this word, I did my due diligence on google and confirmed this. I’m amazed that I’ve buzzed around this planet for 50 years without ever coming across this word.
Any of you get any mid-life vocabulary boosts?
Ever since I first found this place. I don’t think a week goes by, I don’t look up a word I’ve never seen.
Perseverate. But I’m a complete tyro at the usage of it.
As I suspected, I found it in my Latin dictionary: tīrō. It’s Latin for “n00b”. Well, no, not exactly. Apparently it means a new recruit (FNG) or a young man just coming of age. Still, I’m going to start using it as Latin for “n00b”, e.g., “t1r0”.
WRT tyro, a number of years a couple of us suggested that as the term to refer to new hires at work. Management questioned whether it was a word. Since then, I’ve been surprised at how often I see it in newspapers and mags - and especially crosswords. At least once a month, I bet.
Do us a favor and check back in when you see/hear it again. I’ll bet it is less than 50 years!
I discovered “tyro” when I was around 30 and was reading a late 19th/early 20th century book on the art of rifle shooting. The author frequently said things like, “Another mistake common to the tyro is…”
He used it so often I finally had to stop and look it up, as glossing over it and not being 100 percent certain I was reading the context correctly was pulling me out of the book every time I encountered it.
I’m 30 and I had never heard of this word until the aforementioned thread. I haven’t heard of it since, either. And I never bothered to look it up.
I thought maybe it’d be one of those things I saw/heard once and then all of a sudden heard about it everywhere (like “Pants on the Ground” which I didn’t hear of until weeks after it started, and now have heard many times since)…but nope…until just now, I haven’t heard it again.
And I’m on teh Facebook!!
Hinky.
I thought it was a made up word on NCIS.
I knew “tyro” from crossword puzzles. It’s the kind of word that crops up when a puzzle designer has no other choices.
It’s reasonably common here. A quick search of the main Sydney newpaper shows its use in about 20 articles in the past month - mostly sporting related.
Yeah. But that was just because of of playing in a tabletop game run by another Doper (hi, ArrMatey!!), so I don’t know if that should count.
I’ve used the word tyro for thirty years or more, and yet, I’m amazed at the number of people who have never heard of it.
Another fun one is snafu; although most people have heard of it, only a small minority seem to know what it stands for.
Stranger
There was a show some years ago where Tyra Banks taught aspiring models the trade. Maybe it was a contest too. I didn’t really watch it, but I thought it should be called “Tyra and the Tyros”.
I enjoy looking up new words when I encounter them. The great thing about being is midlife is that I’ll never run out of cool new words. The ones I learned last year have already faded, so, to me, they’re brand new again!
I actually just ran across “tyro” in a novel I was reading. I looked it up, too.
I know it well, but that’s because I do crossword puzzles. I hadn’t heard of it before.
I also know the capital of Latvia and the name of a Sicilian mountain.
I knew “tyro” from comic books, because sooner or later somebody always starts monologuing like Doctor Doom: knowledgeably self-assured to the point of condescendingly dismissive.
I’m not sure why one would use “tyro” in a sports context when we already have the word “rookie”.
Are you kidding? Sports writers love synonyms. In a typical week, the sports pages contain more variations on “win” and “lose” than a thesaurus. You think they’re going to be satisfied with a single word for rookie?
Yes! I just learned this word maybe two weeks ago. Some guy at the bar, at long last, decided to leave our table, then my friend remarked “That guy just perseverates.” We all wore the same expression: 
None of us had any idea what she was talking about. Her attempt to clarify was “He just… keeps on. Over and over and over, regardless of what is said to him.” Persevere, perhaps she meant? “No, perseverate.” After telling her to stop making up words, we looked it up, and lo, we were the idjuts, not her.
Yes again! I learned this watching “Cops.” I thought the cop was making up words, but I looked it up, and there is was. Hinky, staring me in my face, straight from the pages of Webster. So the lesson here is to go to the bar and watch “Cops” and you’ll learn nice words and how to talk good.
Heh, IE Spellcheck says “perseverate” and “hinky” are not words. Excellent!
Merriam Webster doesn’t believe in “perseverate”, therefore neither do I.
Sounds like a word someone made up to sound erudite. 