February 2005 Archives
Book Words: bibliophile; vade mecum; polyglot; escritoire;
marginalia; frontlist, midlist, backlist
For Valentine's Day: canoodle; epigamic;
tentiginous; demi-vierge; nictitate (prurient, diaphanous); courtesan;
callipygous; coquette
"
Government and Rule: thalassocracy; malversation;
immobilism; kleptocracy; misprision; ptochocracy
Jane Austen #3: superannuated; sedulous;
(ossify, assiduous); puppyism; self-consequence; importunate; imaginist;
tremulous
Book Words
Oh for a booke and a shadie
nooke,
Eyther in doore or out;
With the grene leaves whispering overhead
Or the streete cryes all about.
Where I maie reade all at my ease,
Both of the newe and old;
For a jollie goode booke whereon to looke,
Is better to me than golde.
Old English song, quoted by Sir John Lubbock, The Pleasures of Life
(1887)
This week we shall look at the words of the
book,
Some shining with golden hue.
And if some be ironic or slightly sardonic,
You'll surely enjoy them too.
bibliophile a lover of books; also, a book collector
... an
individually owned work was protected for the creator's life plus 50 more
years; corporate-owned copyrights lasted a flat 75 years. The [Bono Act] law
extended both timespans by two decades, prompting a legal challenge by Eric
Eldred, a bibliophile in
Jesse Walker, Mickey Mouse clubbed, Reason, April 1, 2003
vade mecum [Latin,
go-with-me] a ready-reference book; a manual;
(hence also something regularly carried about by a person)
Wordcrafter note: the term generally conveys superior distain for one
who needs such a manual. All quotes below, except the first, illustrate this.
the Itinerario,
which acts as vade mecum for any Java-bound navigators using this
map, whom it duly advises "to reach the mouth of the Sunda Strait stay
close to the mainland of Sumatra, ..."
Simon Winchester, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883
Self-Help [an 1869 book by the aptly named Samuel Smiles] is the
ancestor of all self-help and motivational books and audio tapes, the indispensable
vade mecums of the person who feels overwhelmed by the tide and
tempo of modern life. The emotional anchor Smiles offered his readers was the
example of the great who had risen above humble beginnings and conquered
adversity.
Arthur Herman, How the Scots Invented the Modern World
Veblen was about to publish The Theory of the Leisure Class. But
unexpectedly, it was a sensation. ... overnight the book became the vade
mecum of the intelligentsia of the day: as an eminent sociologist told
Veblen, "it fluttered the dovecotes of the East."
Robert L. Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers
And yet these precepts were all uttered before the time of Christ, for example
in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, concerning which a leading
authority in this matter says, "St. Paul seems to have used the book as a vade
mecum." Bertrand Russell, Can Religion Cure our
Troubles?
polyglot 1. a book
with the same text in different languages (esp. the Bible)
2.
someone who can speak multiple languages
3. a confusion of languages.
adj. speaking or
writing, or written in, several languages
Two meanings are shown in this biographical sketch of Lazarusludwig Zamenhof:
Founder of the
universal language "Esperanto". He compiled many text-books, and was
the author of a polyglot phrase-book. Zamenhof's reputation is
due to the fact that he is the founder of Esperanto, the new universal
language. The idea was suggested to him by the polyglot character
of his native town; four different languages were spoken there, and to this
fact he attributed the constant dissensions and misunderstandings which
disturbed the city.
Jewish Encyclopedia (1905) (excerpted)
escritoire a writing
table; a desk, particularly, a desk with a top section for books
It's a grand old
line, major, a sublime old line; I wanted my Peerage; I'll fetch it myself,
presently, and show you a thing or two that will give you a realizing idea of
what our house is. I've been glancing through Burke*, and I find that of
William the Conqueror's sixty-four natural ah-- my dear, would you mind getting
me that book? It's on the escritoire in our boudoir.
Mark Twain, The American Claimant, ch.V
Between the windows, a fragile escritoire had been topped by her,
earlier in this week. with a bowl of roses -today, the petals began to fall.
Some books of her own were wedged among those not hers in the shelves in the
arched recesses.
Elizabeth Bowen, The Heat of the Day
*Note: perhaps our British readers could
give us a better understanding of Burke's Peerage?
marginalia notes
made in the margins of a book
Harry brought his
John Irving, A Widow for One Year
frontlist [usage ambiguous]
publisher's list of new or current titles, or of those being pushed as
potential blockbusters
midlist a
publisher's new or current books expected to have less popular appeal than the
frontlist
backlist
publisher's list of older titles kept in print
backlist books give the publisher modest but steady income at little cost;
frontlist books, though costly, offer the hope of high profits;
midlist books are getting squeezed out.
The battle for
rack space has become so intense that the "frontlist"
(new and forthcoming titles) overpowers the backlist. A
generation ago 60 percent of sales was backlist; now that has dwindled to about
25 percent. While the frontlist is aggressively promoted and the backlist is
kept at a minimum, the midlist disappears.
James B. Twitchell, Carnival Culture (1991)
At Warner, which is a major frontlist house, unless the book can
break out in a major way for us, it probably isn't right for us. That usually
means most general midlist nonfiction won't work for us.
Rick Wolf, Exec. Editor of Warner Books, quoted in Writer's Guide to Book
Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents by Jeff Herman
St. Martin's was so impressed by his [J. H. Hatfield's] work in just eight
months that it moved the book up from a midlist paperback to a frontlist
hardcover.
Bobby Tanzilo, On Milwaukee magazine, Sept. 2, 2003
For Valentine's Day
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we bring
you some words of love and attraction. Impress your significant other!
canoodle to kiss and cuddle amorously
Perhaps a better definition is from an 1859 British publication: "A sly
kiss, and a squeeze, and a pressure of the foot or so, and a variety of
harmless endearing blandishments, known to our American cousins (who are great
adepts at sweet-hearting) under the generic name of canoodling. Our
quote today also illustrates the sense of light intimacy.
Only a month ago,
The Mirror, Feb. 2, 2005
And since a picture is worth a thousand
words, you might want to check here.
The word 'epigamic', though rarely found
outside of scientific writings on natural selection, would seem wonderfully apt
for everyday speech. For example, one could speak of a tight-fitting, alluring
dress as epigamic. I'll give examples of a dry scientific use, and of a
rare non-scientific one.
epigamic (of a trait or behavior) tending to attract a mate, such as
large antlers or bright colors. (See picture here )
He was commanding,
brave, dignified and surprisingly epigamic, as Livia
pointed out. Allan Massie, Augustus
Darwin introduced the concept of sexual selection, a special case of natural
selection in which selection is acting on variations in the ability to obtain
mates. Darwin identified two modes by which sexual selection could operate:
contest competition: among members of one sex for access to mates known as intrasexual
selection and competition to attract members of the other sex, referred to as
epigamic selection.
Charles W. Fox, Evolutionary Ecology (excerpted)
Intriguingly, the science literature tends
to conceive of and define epigamic traits as male displays attracting
the female, shouting out 'choose me'. But of course, the female too has
her attractive mechanisms.
The obsolete word tentiginous has an
interesting pair of meanings.
1. Stiff; stretched; strained.
2. Lustful, or pertaining to
lust.
I trust no comment is necessary.
Scholar Eric Partridge says, in Shakespeare's
Bawdy:
It was a Frenchman who coined the term demi-vierge, 'a girl or woman
still undevirginated, yet far from innocent with her compliance in vulval
digitation and mamma-caresses': fear-held from frankness, they may be habitual
c.t.'s
The term was introduced into English by Marcel Prιvost's novel Les
Demi-vierge (1894, tr. 1895). Our long quotes give noted authors' very
different perspectives. Note Lawrence's sad sense of being trapped in an
unhappy limbo, "so intimate, and utterly out of touch".
Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt:
"Why don't you
divorce Zilla?"
"Why don't I! If I only could! But honestly, I'd be tickled to death if
she'd really go making love with somebody. Fat chance! Of course she'll flirt
with anything--you know how she holds hands and laughs--that laugh--that
horrible brassy laugh--the way she yaps, 'You naughty man, you better be
careful or my big husband will be after you!'--and the guy looking me over and
thinking, 'Why, you cute little thing, you run away now or I'll spank you!' And
she'll let him go just far enough so she gets some excitement out of it and
then she'll begin to do the injured innocent and have a beautiful time wailing,
'I didn't think you were that kind of a person.' They talk about these demi-vierges
in stories--"
"These WHATS?"
"--but the wise, hard, corseted, old married women like Zilla are worse
than any bobbed-haired girl that ever went boldly out into this-here storm of
life--and kept her umbrella slid up her sleeve!
D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterly's Lover:
He wanted to say
something later to Connie about the demi-vierges business...the
half-virgin state of her affairs. But he could not bring himself to do it. He
was at once too intimate with her and not intimate enough. He was so very much
at one with her, in his mind and hers, but bodily they were non-existent to one
another, and neither could bear to drag in the corpus delicti. They were so
intimate, and utterly out of touch.
Germaine Greer When I left school I was faced with this ghastly thing
called dating. I didn't know what the hell it was supposed to be about.
my
convent training just said: look, by all means, if you want to make love to a
man, do it and take the consequences, but this ignoble business of groping and
finger-fucking, keep out of it. It's vile and it's called hypocrisy. It's no
use being a demi-vierge; you have to be either fiercely
virginal or fiercely non-virginal.
The habit of a lifetime: Germaine Greer looks back fondly on her strange,
sex-obsessed school days as a convent girl, The Guardian, Nov. 27, 2003
nictitate to wink
Add the prefix con- = 'with' to the same 'wink' root, and you get our
word connive, literally to wink together at.
Terry's Guide to
Cuba [1921] gave tourists precise directions to
Havana's waterfront red-light district "the prurient spot resorted
to by courtesans, varying in complexion from peach white
to coal black, 15-year-old flappers and ebony antiques; chiefly outlanders who
unblushingly loll about heavy-eyed and languorous, in abbreviated and diaphanous
costumes; nictitating with incendiary eyes at passing
masculinity; studiously displaying their physical charms or luring the stranger
with flaming words or maliciously imperious gestures."
Louis A. Perez, Jr., On Becoming Cuban : Identity, Nationality, and
Culture
Bonus words:
prurient having or causing an excessive interest
in sex
[from Latin for 'to itch; have a craving'.]
diaphanous so light and delicate as to be see-through
[Greek dia through + phainein to show. Thus related to 'phantom']
.
. .(also fig:
vague or insubstantial: diaphanous hopes)
courtesan a prostitute, especially one with wealthy or upper-class
clients
[Wikipedia delicately says "a person paid and/or supported for the giving
of social companionship and intimate liaisons to one or more partners. The word
is generally reserved for those who enjoyed the most social status for such
services."]
callipygous or callipygian having shapely buttocks
Nurse Sue Ann
Duckett despised Aaryf, and that was another one of the numerous fetching
traits about Nurse Duckett that Yossarian enjoyed. He enjoyed Nurse Sue Ann
Duckett's long white legs and supple, callipygous ass
Joseph Heller, Catch 22
The Greeks, who had a word for everything, provided us with a lovely one to
describe the sleekly rounded, well-proportioned bottom. In five flowing
syllables, the word "callipygian" says it all and says
it ever so much more suavely than does the lame literal rendering, "having
beautiful buttocks."
.
. .All of this was updated, in pretty stark terms,
when a reader wrote to me in desperation asking, "Do you know where I can
buy a foam-rubber fanny?" I replied that I never heard of poopdeck
falsies, but if I did I would fill her in with a view toward filling her out.
Abigail van Buren The Best Of Dear Abby
Bonus: Tutu
was euphemistic baby talk in 19th century French for cucu, a derivative
of cul, a rather coarse word for the backside. It was originally applied
to the tight fitting underwear worn by dancers and then to the dress covering
the underwear.
coquette an
insincerely flirtatious woman [adj. coquettish]. to coquet 1.
to trifle or dally in love 2. to deal playfully instead of seriously as, we
have coquetted with political crime
Webster's 1913 puts it well: she "endeavors to attract admiration from a
desire to gratify vanity". I think of the opening scene in Gone With
the Wind, where Scarlett, surrounded by a crowd of admiring young men,
flirts with them all.
The rare masculine form, coquet, seems to be the original. Derived from
Old French coc from Late Latin coccus, rooster.
Popularity, I have
always thought, may aptly be compared to a coquette the more
you woo her, the more apt is she to elude your embrace.
John Tyler, U.S. President 1841-1845 (nicknamed Accidental President
and His Accidency)
"You've remained so faithful to dear Charlie, though you could have
married dozens of times. Melly and I have often said how loyal you were to his
memory when everyone else said you were just a heartless coquette."
Scarlett passed over this tactless confidence.
Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind
"Bell" Words
Happy Valentine's Day! A Valentine word,
fitting last week's theme, will begin this week's theme of "Bell
Words". This word is rare and obsolete, basically last used by Edmund
Spenser (Shakespeare's contemporary) quoted below, who was consciously using an
archaic style. But oh! what lovely quotations!
belgard a sweet or loving look
Sometimes upon her
forhead they behold
A thousand graces masking in delight;
Sometimes within her eye-lids they unfold
Ten thousand sweet belgard, which to their sight
Doe seeme like twinckling starres in frostie night
- An Hymne In Honour Of Beautie
Upon her eyelids many Graces sate,
Under the shadow of her even browes,
Working belgard, and amorous retrate, [retreat]
And every one her with a grace endowes:
And every one with meekenesse to her bowes.
- Fairie Queen
Happy Valentine's Day to my darling.
Today we see that the 'bel' is not always a
beauteous belle with her belgards.
beldam a elderly woman, esp. an ugly evil-looking one
[Wordcrafter note: I would say, "a hag or harpy."]
The authorities say this is from bel beautiful, + dame. Perhaps.
But the beldam is certainly not beautiful.
[At an open-air
market] More than once, I was elbowed fiercely in the ribs by one of these
bargain-hunting harpies, and my shins still bear the bruises from the kicks of
zip-up suede bootees. Most were accompanied by bewildered menfolk, blinking
nervously at the carnage all round, and slowly disappearing beneath the mounds
of "bargains" they were expected to carry round, ultimately paying
for. Mrs Hextol was of course oblivious to the Hogarthian horde, except
when one bright-eyed beldam tried to help herself from the pile
of trophies of the hunt I was supposed to be guarding.
Hexham Courant, Jan. 28, 2005
Would someone more knowledgeable than I care
to explain 'Hogarthian'?
A reader notes: A Supreme Court Justice once said he could not define
pornography, but knew it when he saw it. The same is true of Hogarth, a
portrayer of the roiling, moiling underclass of 18th century London. Check out http://www.haleysteele.com/hogarth/
especially the classic Gin Lane print from 1750.
campanology the art of ringing bells; campanologist
[Also, say some dictionaries, the art of casting or tuning bells. I cannot
confirm that usage, and I have made inquiry of Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd.,
which is noted in that art.]
Are any of our readers fans of Dorothy L. Sayers and her Lord Peter Wimsey
mysteries? Campanology is a major part of her novel The Nine Tailors,
and is essential to the plot. Here are two quotes come from that novel,
followed by a more recent citation.
..[Wimsey
speaking] "It's a pity you can't relieve me at the rope, Bunter."
.."I assure your lordship that for the
first time in my existence I regret that I have made no practical study of campanology."
.."Did you ever try?"
"Once only, my lord, and on that
occasion an accident was only narrowly averted. Owing to my unfortunate lack of
manual dexterity I was very nearly hanged in the rope, my lord."
The art of change-ringing is peculiar to the English, and, like most English
peculiarities, unintelligible to the rest of the world. To the musical Belgian,
for example, it appears that the proper thing to do with a carefully-tuned ring
of bells is to play a tune upon it. By the English campanologist,
the playing of tunes is considered to be a childish game, only fit for
foreigners; the proper use of bells is to work out mathematical permutations
and combinations.
the two cathedrals - Anglican and Catholic - faced one another in Hope Street
(an ironic name). I liked the fact that the rivalry was mainly expressed in campanology
- sectarianism as a load of bells.
Robert McNeil The Scotsman, Jan. 19, 2005
Campanology update: A most helpful e-mail from Alan
Hughes of Whitechapel Bell Foundry Limited, states as follows after noting the
Chambers definition by way of introduction:
That being said these
expressions are very rarely used by bell ringers or anyone involved with the
casting or making of bells when referring to bells. They are usually used by
non-bell people.
My thanks to Mr. Hughes.
gavial a
crocodile-like animal of northern India, with a long slender snout; picture here
Why is this a "bell" word? Because the name, from Sanskrit, is
probably derived from the Sanskrit for "bell," alludng to the bulb at
the end of the animal's snout.
bellwether a leader
of trends, or a leading indicator of trends
From the original meaning: the sheep that leads the flock (that sheep is often
belled)
[bell + wether = castrated ram]
Our quotes illustrate all three meanings. You'll find it a great pleasure to
read, at the link, the full poem from which the last quote is taken.
... the [New York]
Times, bellwether and fashion setter for the city's press ...
Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
In 1996, in a 50-50 race for president the swing state was New Jersey. By the
2000 election, New Jersey was solidly Democratic; Florida, a state that
historically leaned Republican, was the new bellwether.
Dick Morris, Rewriting History
And then a wise bellwether sheep
Pursued the trail oer vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bellwethers always do.
The Calf-Path
by Sam Foss
cloche [from the
French for 'bell'] either of two bell-shaped covers:
1. woman's hat, close-fitting and bell-shaped
2. a cover, usually bell-shaped, to protect plants from frost
You'll understand readily when you see a picture such a hat here or here.
Most readers
today, if asked what era these characters [of P.G. Wodehouse] belong to, would
probably answer vaguely in terms of the interwar years, or more precisely the
Jazz Age of the 20's, with its Bright Young Things in cloche
hats.
George Watson, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Autumn 1997
belvedere - a
structure designed to command a view (e.g., gazebo, cupola, tower)
[Italian, 'beautiful sight']
As a concession to
urban life they had large glass-paned windows opening onto courtyards, and belvederes
with many ornamental pinnacles on the roofs from which a watch could be maintained
on all sides.
Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
They also say he liked his drink; once or twice a year he would shut himself up
in the room in the belvedere, and two or three days later
he would emerge as though from a battle or a spell of dizziness pale,
shaking, befuddled, and as authoritarian as ever.
Jorge Luis Borges, The Shape of the Sword (trans. Andrew Hurley?)
Government and Rule
We'll look this week at some words concerning
governmental rule, power, and functions or malfunctions.
thalassocracy maritime supremacy; command of the seas (naval power or
commercial power) (thalassocrat)
It was not that
resources did not exist elsewhere which could have wrested naval supremacy from
Great Britain. But to do so would have demanded a huge effort. No other nation
operated either the number of ships or possessed the bases which could make it
worth while to challenge this thalassocracy. There were
advantages to other nations in having the world's greatest commercial power
undertake a policing of the seas from which all could benefit.
- J. M. Roberts, The New History of the World
malversation corruption by one in public office or a position of trust.
[French, from Latin male badly + versari behave]
Though the term applies to such corruption in any form (Emerson and E. Burke
quotes below), it is typically used for corrupt taking of funds (quote 3);
indeed, indeed Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (quote 5) seems to limit
it to that meaning.
in the
prevalence of sense and spirit over stupidity and malversation,
all reasonable men have an interest.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
And be it enacted, that after the arrival of any ship transporting negroes, the
said protector of negroes is hereby authorized and required to examine the
state of the ship and the said negroes; and upon a sufficient proof of any
cruelty to the negroes, or any other malversation of the said
captain, or any of his officers, the protector shall impose a fine on him or
them.
Edmund Burke, Sketch of a Negro Code, 1792, directed to one of the King's
advisors (ellipses not shown)
The assassination of Sadat brings an end to an era marked by the growth of the
black market, currency speculation and the malversation of public
funds.
UNESCO Courier, Oct., 1992
Removal from an office ... seems to be the utmost penalty to which any
committee-man is liable, for any fault, except direct malversation,
or embezzlement, either of the public money, or of that of the company, and the
fear of that punishment can never be a motive of sufficient weight to force a
continual and careful attention to a business, to which he has no other
interest to attend."
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
A reader notes correctly: Is "vers" perhaps closer to the idea of turning, than
behaving? Thus a bad turn. Cf. adverse, adversary, animadversion, averse,
verse, version
Wordcrafter: The above etymology comes from Compact OED. Nonetheless, I would
agree with you: my own reaction is that you are right and COED is mistaken. But
I'm no Latinist. Can others chime in?
capitation a tax
levied on the basis of a fixed amount per person; also, a payment or fee
of a fixed amount per person
Note: can be either a charge to a person, or a payment made to or
for him.
The capitation
payments to primary schools must be reviewed at once to ensure that children
with special learning are catered for, according to Westport Deputy, Michael
Ring.
Marian Harrison, Western People, Ireland - Jan 26, 2005
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless
in Proportion to the Census
U.S. Constitution
[MW's law dictionary, with this example, misleads by omitting the 'unless'
clause.]
immobilism extreme
political resistance to change (whether due to conservative philosophy,
self-interest, tactical delay, gridlock, or dithering)
kleptocracy a government of widespread greed and corruption ['government
of thieves']
The few on-line dictionaries defining immobilism speak of being
'conservative' or 'reactionary'. But I suggest, per the usage examples, as
below, that it apples to other forms of change-resistance.
[philosophy] As
super-patriots their reluctance to stir the pond is logical. Nationalism and
social immobilism go together. If we are inherently superior, why
change anything?
George Walden, New Statesman, June 27, 1997 [speaking of attitudes in
UK]
[gridlock] Stockwin argues sectionalism, compounded by entrenched, clientelist
relationships among bureaucrats, politicians, and businesses, has produced
policy immobilism.
Kim Eric Bettcher, Pacific Affairs, Summer 2000 [speaking of Japan]
[self-interest] [After overthrow of the Congo dictatorship] there was a general
sigh of relief and unbridled enthusiasm about the prospects for democratic
political dispensation after thirty-two years of despotism, kleptocracy,
and immobilism.
Paul S. Orogun, World Affairs, Summer, 2002
[tactical delay] As one of Arafat's close associates explained, what was needed
was to gain time. One of [the Arab regimes] was bound to fall, which would
alter the balance of power. It was this strategy of "movement within immobilism,"
as it was called with a straight face, that gained the day at the 12th
Palestine National Council, humorously dubbed "the conference of the
yes-no." Arafat declared: "We can't afford to say no to everything.
We can't say yes to everything either. So we have to learn to say 'yes, but',
and 'no, but'
"
Eric Rouleau, Foreign Affairs, Fall 1983
[dithering] But in an incredibly protracted case of policy immobilism,
Japanese policymakers dawdled and allowed the problems to get progressively
more debilitating.
Masaru Kaneko, Electronic Journal Of Contemporary Japanese Studies,
Aug. 29, 2001
The s in today's word is pronounced zh
as in azure or Zsa Zsa; it would be wrong to pronounce the ending
like 'prison'. The word has two entirely different senses.
misprision neglect or malperformance in office (not implying
corruption)
also, failure to report treason or felony; also, sedition
[from mes- wrongly; + prendre to take, seize]
What is genuinely
alarming is the silence on such issues. When was the last time you heard Tony
Blair make a speech about climate change?
television news bulletins do not
bother to mention climate change
If the consequences were not so awful, one
could dismiss it as merely bizarre - a wilful misprision,
a strange collective act, in the psychotherapeutic sense, of denial.
David Nicholson-Lord, New Statesman, March 6, 2000
Henry VIII was assured by advisers in 1527 that he would soon be able to put
away his wife Katherine. But he had to wait till 1533 to marry Anne Boleyn; the
pesky octogenarian Archbishop of Canterbury, Warham, went on and on, only
finally succumbing when delivered a trumped up charge of misprision
of treason.
Christopher Howse, The Telegraph, Feb. 24, 2005
misprision [noun form
of misprize] misinterpretation, esp. undervaluing; also,
contempt, scorn
[concept of mis- wrongly + prize]
Everything mental
for Gately was kind of befogged and prone to misprision
David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest: A Novel
Today's word is extraordinarily rare, but
how can I pass up the rare opportunity to use a word beginning with pt?
Our quote comes from a satire that is well worth reading in full, at the link.
ptochocracy government by the poor
[The counterpart word is much more common: plutocracy - government by
the wealthy class.]
Perhaps the most memorable
occurrence of that period was that two months one winter when the beggars went
on strike.
And this was, ultimately, what was most surprising about the whole affair:
initial disbelief had become general derision had turned to a period of
suspicion had evolved into, finally, a real sense of rage that the beggars no
longer felt it their duty to occupy their usual positions in doorways, beneath
bridges, at the rear of restaurants pleading for scraps, etcetera. Some people,
for example, pointed out that because there was no longer anyone worse-off to
feel superior to, previously undealt-with feelings of worthlessness were wont
to resurface. Many parents, meanwhile, bemoaned the lack of opportunities for
wagging a finger at a beggar-family in order to warn their own children. Lastly
there were the political parties to consider.
Should Beggars Be Choosers? the quality papers enquired; and, what exactly was
the Beggars Belief? Had society, the tabloids wondered, previously only been
Paupering Over The Cracks?
Then, in a celebrated editorial, our leading newspaper of record declared that,
in such unusual circumstances, with the homeless and vagrant setting the
agenda, a ptochocracy, or rule by beggars, could not be
regarded as entirely out of the question. Soon the word was on everybodys
lips, enunciated of course with varying degrees of success.
- Paul Lenehan, Irish Times, Dec. 16, 2000 (excerpted; full text here)
Theme Jane Austen #3
Once again, we'll take our theme from the
divine lady of letters.
superannuated 1. ineffective, or sent out to pasture, because of old
age. 2. outmoded; obsolete.
I have known a great
deal of the trouble of annuities; for my mother was clogged with the payment of
three to old superannuated servants by my father's will, and it
is amazing how disagreeable she found it.
Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ch. 2
The unreliability of the superannuated helicopters has become a
byword in Canada and they should have been replaced years ago.
Janes, Canada struggles to define military role, Feb. 21, 2005
A nap, my friend, is a brief period of sleep which overtakes superannuated
persons when they endeavor to entertain unwelcome visitors or to listen to
scientific lectures.
George Bernard Shaw
sedulous showing
dedication and diligence. (noun: sedulity)
(negative connotation? see questions below)
nothing would
have induced Fanny voluntarily to mention [Edward's] his name before [Elinor];
because she believed them still so very much attached to each other, that they
could not be too sedulously divided in word and deed on every
occasion.
- Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ch. 34
With all of our sedulous care in training supple young minds, I
wonder if much of College training doesn't ossify the brain
rather than flex it to its fullest potential.
- Arlen Collier National Forum, Fall 1996
America's educated classes in general being notorious worldwide for their sedulous
conformity to whatever norm comes into fashion.
- Richard Grenier, Insight on the News, July 3, 1995
Bonus words:
ossify (trans. or intrans.) to make into
bone; hence, to cease developing, and become rigidly set in conventional
patterns
assiduous working with constant, persistent attention; unremitting
Questions; can readers help?
1) To me the word sedulous carries a strong negative sense, as quoted
above, but I can't put my finger on it.
2) What's the difference between sedulous
and assiduous?
Ms. Dot Wordsworth (apt name!) asks that
question in The Spectator and, admitting that she cannot give an
answer, enjoyably tells of the words' interesting histories.
[Readers' responses to question 1:
several say "no such negative
sense." But one reader notes that a significant fraction of its Google
hits for sedulous also include the word 'devil', and he states, "I think
that sedulous is often linked to the Devil/Satan, in the notion that evil is
always working to triumph. I think from there it is linked by its similarity to
seduction (a word that has some negative connotations as well). I remember that
I thought it meant the movement of a snake for the longest time." ]
puppyism extreme
meanness, affectation, conceit, or impudence
On the torture of waiting in line behind a slow, fussy customer:
He was giving
orders for a toothpickcase for himself, and till its size, shape, and
ornaments were determined, all of which, after examining and debating for a
quarter of an hour over every toothpickcase in the shop, were finally arranged
by his own inventive fancy, he had no leisure to bestow any other attention on
the two ladies
Marianne was spared from the troublesome feelings of contempt
and resentment,
on the puppyism of his manner in deciding on
all the different horrors of the different toothpickcases presented to his
inspection, by remaining unconscious of it all
At last the affair was decided. The
ivory, the gold, and the pearls, all received their appointment, and the
gentleman having named the last day on which his existence could be continued
without the possession of the toothpickcase, drew on his gloves with leisurely
care
- Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ch. 33
self-consequence self-importance; an exaggerated estimate of one's own
importance
Lydia was a stout,
well-grown girl of fifteen, with a fine complexion and good-humoured
countenance; a favourite with her mother, whose affection had brought her into
public at an early age. She had high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence,
which the attention of the officers
had increased into assurance.
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, ch. 9
As you may have noticed, our Austen quotes
this week feature her deft skewering of her characters' foibles.
importunate pesteringly urgent and overly pressing in request (as a
pushy beggar)
[importune to harass with persistent requests; (also; to offer
ones services as a prostitute)]
they were making
themselves agreeable to Lady Middleton. With her children they were in
continual raptures, extolling their beauty, courting their notice, and
humouring their whims; and such of their time as could be spared from the importunate
demands which this politeness made on it, was spent in admiration of whatever
her ladyship was doing.
Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ch. 21
Today's word seems to be Jane Austen's own
coinage. Her word would be very useful, but almost no one has used it (except
in a different sense, a movement in poetry and architecture), so I must provide
a definition.
imaginist one who lives in a world created by his or her active
imagination
... a fine young
man and a lovely young woman thrown together in such a way, could hardly fail
of suggesting certain ideas to the coldest heart and the steadiest brain. So
Emma thought, at least. Could a linguist, could a grammarian, could even a
mathematician have seen what she did, have witnessed their appearance together,
and heard their history of it, without feeling that circumstances had been at
work to make them peculiarly interesting to each other?--How much more must an imaginist,
like herself, be on fire with speculation and foresight!--especially with such
a groundwork of anticipation as her mind had already made.
Jane Austen, Emma, ch. 21
Florida has always bred good writers, but not many write of dragons and
centaurs and alternate worlds. Except for Piers Anthony. Decades ago, the
millionaire imaginist mixed his love of Florida with a bit of
magic and came up with the kingdom of Xanth, a place where dreams are real and
non-Xanth citizens (read: you) live in a land called Mundania (read: mundane).
Adrienne P. Samuels, Hillsborough County Times, Feb. 9, 2005
tremulous - shaking
slightly, quivering, as with nervousness, timidity, or excitement
he showed
himself so intimately acquainted with all the tenderest songs of the one poet,
and all the impassioned descriptions of hopeless agony of the other; he
repeated, with such tremulous feeling, the various lines which
imaged a broken heart, or a mind destroyed by wretchedness,
that she ventured
to say, that she thought it was the misfortune of poetry to be seldom safely
enjoyed by those who enjoyed it completely; and that the strong feelings which
alone could estimate it truly were the very feelings which ought to taste it
but sparingly.
Jane Austen, Persuasion, ch. 11