There was an interesting
article in the Washington Post about the word
idiot. Of course it is political, but we can put that aside. I had not known the etymology of the word, had you?
It comes from the Greek word
idios, an adjective translated as "private" or "personal." That surprises me. It was used that way in Homer's "Odyssey," where a group of nobles accepted bribes from the Persians, thus undermining the city's defense. Thucydides used it in the "History of the Peloponnesian War," again highlighting a political meaning to
idiocy, as privacy affecting the common good. Plato use
idios to distinguish between the knowledge of laymen, versus experts. From this it evolved from the knowledge of an unskilled individual to a general condemnation of one's intelligence.
As the author noted, in the beginning the word actually portrayed a shrewdness (prioritizing one's private gain). It's too bad how the word has degenerated. I could see the need for the previous definition of
idios.
