Sinister cynicism

Cynicism has that almost sinister (catch the sound alike?) sound....

I think sinister is from Latin, and cynicism is from Greek. It may have traveled thru Latin, though. The Roman empire took a lot of mythology and philosophy from Greek, and tried to make it their own.

Sinister means evil or ominous, and came thru Middle English from Old French, from Latin.
Cynical means suspicious or thinking all men are motivated by selfishness, which came thru Latin from Greek, of course. I copied that defination from the dictionary, so please don't accuse me of being sexist.

Thanks to Kevin Hogan for the idea for this article. I read Kevin Hogan's newsletter (Coffee) and articles every week. I think they are brilliant.

You can find some brilliant books here:

Jolly and fatuous

Speaking of fat, jolly bearded men, the word for today is Fatuous.

Fat u ous means silly, lacking judgement, and is a synonym for daft. Because it starts with F, not PH, I'll venture a guess that it is from a Latin word.

I just finished listening to an audio book with very fatuous music. I'd say it was a fatuous look at the scientific studies searching for evidence for an afterlife. Or is it a scientific look at the more fatuous experiments designed to find evidence for an afterlife? It definitely includes "experiments" done in a very spurious manner, with questionable results. I think the author, Mary Roach, could have provided much better examples. I can think of many, but is that because they are more objective, or is it because I am less objective? I used to think I was a skeptic, but after listening to this I realize that my exposure to hypnosis, and the many metaphysical books I read, have influenced my beliefs and I can really no longer say I am skeptical about reincarnation or the existence of an afterlife.

The book is called Spooks, a scientific search for the afterlife. It is quite funny in places. It shows how scientists can be influenced by popular trends in thought, like spiritualism. There is a museum which claims to have the only known quantity of ectoplasm on the planet. Funny, how I thought ectoplasm was a gelatinous material, when most mediums who produced it seemed to produce a length of gauze or chiffon. I'm talking about actual CLOTH. And the only known quantity of it appears to be a rather large, stained square of cotton cloth. And redolent, also. I don't quite understand why.

Red o lent means smelly. Probably Latin.

Your Invitation

I cannot keep quiet about this. I saw a sign today that said:

Your invited!

This abuse of grammar must stop! This sign was probably written by a student in high school, but I saw the same thing on a flyer which my son brought home from school, which I assume was typed by his teacher. She should know better. How can she teach grammar to my son if she doesn't know this should say,
You're invited,
which means you are invited. "Your" is a possessive pronoun. I don't own an "invited." I actually couldn't, as it is a verb, not a noun!!!!!

So please use the correct grammar on your invitations.

Thank you!

Aye, Aye, Captain!

I heard the word, “aye,” today on a tape (audiobook, of course). It's an interesting word. I think every American knows what it means. But why do sailors, pirates, and the crew of the Enterprise, use a word which must be Gaelic in origin? Were the earliest sailors Gaelic?

Also used in parliamentary settings, when you have to vote either aye or nay.

Am I wrong in thinking this is Gaelic or Celtic? I know I’ve heard actual Irish-Americans say this. The dictionary doesn’t give me an etymology. I’ll have to refer to the HUD (huge unabridged dictionary), and get back to ye.
In the meantime, Top o’ the mornin’ to ye!

Florida Holidays

I heard Bing Crosby singing on the radio this morning. A local channel is playing ALL Christmas songs, ALL the time. You see, they have to. Even with the pink flamingoes wearing santa hats, it is just so easy to forget that Christmas will be here in less than 3 weeks!

Sleigh Bells ring, are you listening, in the lane snow is glistening…

You never hear that word, “glistening” except for Christmastime. It’s a sweet word. It carries an image with it. I can see a drop of dew glistening on a leaf. There is no snow here to glisten in the lane.

I also like gleam, glitter and glimmer. I would guess they are Dutch or Germanic in origin. They all mean something like sparkle or shine. Sparkle, now there is a cute word!

Happy Holidays! Hope your holidays glisten and your outfit sparkles and there’s a glimmer in your spouse's eyes when they see you on New Year’s Eve.

Obviously

This morning I heard an interesting phrase, “Tacitly obvious.” This is definitely an oxymoron. Tacit means subtle, and obvious means it’s out there, easy to see, plain as the nose on your face, clear, unambiguous. I enjoy defining words.

Now I’ll check these with the authorities, so I can see the etymology.

Tacit – adj. not spoken; implied. It’s from the Latin word tacitus (silent).

Obvioius – adj. easily perceived or understood; easily seen through, not subtle. From Latin also.

Is it tacit or obvious that I love words?