Why this word is great
RITARDANDO — [Adjective, Adverb, Noun] A musical directive for a gradual slackening in tempo. From Italian ritardando, the gerund of ritardare ("to delay, to slow down"), which is from Latin retardare ("to make slow, to delay"), from re- (intensive) and tardare ("to slow"). Unlike accelerando, which hastens the pulse forward, or rallentando, which often suggests a gentle, fading ebb, ritardando is a deliberate, dignified yielding of time. It is the conductor's hand pulling against the current, the deep, sighing breath of a locomotive before the station, and the conscious, aching elongation of a farewell—a measured, gracious concession that all motion tends, inevitably, toward rest.