Schedenfreude

schadenfreude\SHOD-n-froy-duh\ , noun;

1.A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others

Someone on Facebook used this word when talking about Kate Gosselin on Dancing with the Stars, and how awful she is. I had never heard this word before, but I must say that I don't like it. It's not very nice.

And that's just all I'm going to say about that.

Etymology: German, from Schaden damage + Freude joy

Date: 1895

Ignominious

Main Entry: ig·no·min·i·ous

Pronunciation: \ˌig-nə-ˈmi-nē-əs\

Function: adjective

Date: 15th century

1 : marked with or characterized by disgrace or shame : dishonorable

2 : deserving of shame or infamy : despicable

I love it when a definition leads you to another discovery! When Dana posted her story on debacles, the definition had a word that I had never heard of, much less used. What a wonderfully descriptive word!

 

Marked by shame or disgrace: "It was an ignominious end ... as a desperate mutiny by a handful of soldiers blossomed into full-scale revolt" (Angus Deming).

Degrading; debasing: "The young people huddled with their sodden gritty towels and ignominious goosebumps inside the gray-shingled bathhouse" (John Updike).

Rapscallion

I used this word the other day, and I didn't even know that it was in my vocabulary! I called our little 3-legged kitty a "rapscallion" because he was being mischevious. I had to look up the word to make sure was using it correctly.

n. A rascal; a scamp.


Etymology:
1690s, alteration of rascallion (1640s), a fanciful elaboration of rascal (q.v.). It is the parallel term of now-extinct rampallion (1590s), from M.E. ramp (n.) "ill-behaved woman" (mid-15c.), which is probably connected to the definition of romp in Johnson's Dictionary (1755) as "a rude, awkward, boisterous, untaught girl."
 
I would say Dana's little tattlers are definitely rapscallions.
 
Excellent word!

Kindergarten Debacles

This weekend, a friend used an excellent word in one of our conversations: debacle. Naturally, this brought to mind That’s Uncanny, and the need for a new post.

Debacle (diˈbakəl) is defined as a sudden and ignominious failure. Synonyms include fiasco, catastrophe, disaster, and defeat. In a more informal sense the word can be used to describe a foul-up, botch, snafu.

Now, in my line of work, molehills are often made into mountains, and minor offenses in the eyes of a 5-year-old can be made into true debacles. We all know that “tattling” is a favorite hobby of these precious little ones, but it is NOT my favorite part of my job. In order to abate the urges to pull out my hair, which are spurred on by frequent “tattles,” I have placed a tattle book in my classroom. When children have the need to tattle, instead of coming to the nearest adult (always me), they are to write an entry in the tattle book. This turns tattling into something that I can actually enjoy! I’ve had many laughs as I have read the “debacles of a 5-year-old” in his or her own words in our tattle book. Below are some of my favorites, written just as the kids have worded and spelled (tip- read everything the way it sounds). Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

“The boos chratid sille bans at PE”

“Andrew wus chas me and I hav sec throt so win er I op my math it will hrt”

“Payton and Timothy wur yeling in the bathroom”

“Kimberly tadol”

“Hayley hit me with a pin sool”

“John om most hit me”

“Hannah and Kelsey wous bragon”

“Heather sed th silly band stec”

“Chad Jeremy wr telegus we wur chedeg.”

“Mark lookt in the grls bathroom”

“Kacey wos trig to tell me wot to do”

“Sam and Jennifer wer brping at lunch”

“Adam brot a hol mil” (This was written when a little boy brought a Lunchable for snack.)

“Alex sed the smel wuz me”

“Jeremy cold Maddie a liyer”

“Robert wus playing in the hall an stept on my show on prpis”

“Caleb calld my bruther puck” (Caleb called my brother puke.)

“Brody cold Jason stoopid”

“Billy and Josie wer shering food”

“Wes wus slemen the dos”

“Kelly jry on my papr”


Welcome to true debacles in my world!

Harbinger

Harbinger = sign of things to come

I love this time of year. Everyone is very tired of the dull, gray days of winter and ready for spring. Before even one bud blooms, you can hear spring peepers. These little angels are truly "harbingers of spring".

These darlings can be as small as less than an inch and grow to a robust 1.5 inches. Their collective chorus sounds like sleigh bells. When I hear the peepers, I know that spring is just around the corner, when it's time to open windows and put away the woolens.

What is your harbinger of spring?

Etymology:
harbinger

c.1471, herbengar "one sent ahead to arrange lodgings" (for a monarch, an army, etc.), alt. of M.E. herberger "provider of shelter, innkeeper" (c.1175), from O.Fr. herbergeor, from herbergier "provide lodging," from herber "lodging, shelter," from Frank. *heriberga "lodging, inn" (cf. O.S., O.H.G. heriberga "army shelter," from heri "army" + berga "shelter"); see harbor. Sense of "forerunner" is 1550. Intrusive -n- is 15c.

Like the Dickens

For some reason, I thought of this phrase this morning while I was watching my cat play like the dickens, and wondered about it's history. I was sure it would have something to do with Charles Dickens, the great author. Perhaps something "hurt like the dickens" would reference the agony that some of his characters endure. Boy - Was I ever wrong!

"Dickens" is actually another word for devil, and this phrase has a history back to the 1600s, several hundred years before the author was born. A "dickens oath" is derived from the use of "Nick" or "Old Nick". Following is from a website on the origin of cliches:

The etymology of 'nick' can be traced back a lot further - 'nicor' was Anglo-Saxon for monster. The devil-association is derived from ancient Scandinavian folklore: a Nick was mythological water-wraith or kelpie, found in the sea, rivers, lakes, even waterfalls - half-child or man, half-horse - that took delight when travellers drowned. Beginning several hundred years ago both protestant and catholic clergy commonly referred to these creatures, presumably because the image offered another scary device to persuade simple people to be ever god-fearing (".....or Old Nick will surely get you when you next go to the river...") which no doubt reinforced the Nick imagery and its devil association.

Kind of makes you think twice about using this one, doesn't it?

Sans

I love this word! It means "without", but is hardly ever used. I see it in print more than I hear it, so let's try to employ it in our dialogue.

Etymology:

Middle English, from Old French, blend of Latin sine, without and absentiā, in the absence of, ablative of absentia, absence, from absēns, absent-, present participle of abesse, to be away; see absent.

I used this word on my Facebook status yesterday, to indicate that I was "Without status. Sans status." My daffodills are starting to come up, but they are sans blooms just yet.

Easy to use and very descriptive!

Ebullient

Jim was reading an article last night and asked me if I knew what the word "ebullient" meant. I did not, so I asked him to read me the sentence, so we could get the usage. It was decribing a city government person as an "ebullient Republican". When I looked up the word, I found two meanings:

1. intensely agitated
2. having or showing liveliness and enthusiasm

Now, I think these definitions are very different. The first one is negative and the seond is positive. The common denominator is that they are both emotional. So my question is, is this Republican agitated or enthusiastic? The etimology may help.

1590s, "boiling," from L. ebullientem, prp. of ebullire "to spout out, burst out," from ex- "out" + bullire "to bubble" (see boil (v.)). Figurative sense of "enthusiastic" is first recorded 1660s.

Another definition I found was "boiling or seeming to bubble". This would support both definitions, in that the person would be about to run over with whatever emotion he was feeling. The author does his readers a disservice in not better defiining the emotion.

All in all, I would not find this a useful word because it would be apt to be misunderstood. Surely there are better words in our rich language that would paint the canvas of conversation with a more exacting stroke.

Donnybrook

My friend Keith left a note that "donnybook" is a good word that is not commonly used.

It IS a very good word, and very descriptive. Donnybrook is an actual place, a district in Dublin, Ireland. There was originally a Donnybrook Fair, an annual Irish event known for its brawls, drunken disorder and fracas of all types. Hence, the very appropriate term. More history:

By the eighteenth century it had become a vast assembly, held on August 26 and the following 15 days each year, a gathering-place for horse dealers, fortune-tellers, beggars, wrestlers, dancers, fiddlers, and the sellers of every kind of food and drink. It was renowned in Ireland and beyond for its rowdiness and noise, and particularly for the whiskey-fuelled fighting that went on after dark. A passing reference in, of all sober works, Walter Bagehot’s The English Constitution of 1867, gives a flavour: “The only principle recognised ... was akin to that recommended to the traditionary Irishman on his visit to Donnybrook Fair, ‘Wherever you see a head, hit it’.” The usual weapon was a stick of oak or blackthorn that Irishmen often called a shillelagh (a word which derives from the town of that name in County Wicklow). The legend was that visitors to Donnybrook fair would rather fight than eat.

There is a 1961 musical called "Donnybrook!", based on The Quiet Man which stars John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. I watch this movie every St. Patrick's Day. It is about an American boxer who kills an opponent by mistake and moves to Ireland to get back to himself. It is a very spirited love story.

Some quotes for you:

But this was the beginning of Tommy's years of fighting back, a period that ended in a donnybrook conducted all over the O'Connor house.

-- Tracy Kidder, Home Town

Wine and talk flow freely, so much so that the meal ends with a Rooney family donnybrook over, typically enough, religion and politics.

-- Howard Frank Mosher, "24 Hours in Due East, S.C.", New York Times, April 7, 1991

Thanks, Keith!

Prone

Dana brought up an excellent word that can be substituted for reclining: prone.

She used the example that she was going to spend spring break prone on the couch with a book. I have included a picture of Dana, taken during the spring break of 2010.

Prone is an interesting word in that it has two very distinct, yet commonly used, definitions. The first is having the tendency to incliniation. "I am prone to forgetting names", "the little boy was accident prone".

The second is the definition you see Dana exhibiting so well above: lying flat or prostrate. I guess you could say, "Dana is prone to being prone during spring breaks."

Fiddling while Rome Burns

After I dropped Strat at the high school yesterday, Jack, Chase and I were talking about etymology and the phrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned" came up. I promised to do some research.

Of course, the violin was not yet invented, so I had to assume that this was not a literal observation. He may have played a kithara, as shown in the picture, but that would miss the point.

I would immediately assume that it meant that Nero did nothing to stop the burning of Rome. That is, it turns out, what many infer.

The burning of Rome appears to have been quite extensive, however, only two historians wrote of it, one of those only in passing. The other historians alive at that time in that area make no mention of it at all. That is very suspect. Accidental fires were common in ancient Rome, and some speculate that Nero himself started the fire so he could clear land to build an luxurious palace. Christians confessed to the arson, but most likely under torture since it is well known that Nero persecuted Christians.

After the fire, Nero rebuilt the city. He was the first "community organizer" and completely renewed the urban area. He paid for relief efforts from his own fortune and opened the palace to those displaced by the fire. He arranged for food to be provided to the homeless to prevent starvation. It's clear that he was not 100% bad.

But back to the topic at hand, "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." It would appear that, while Nero was extremely cruel, he was also very generous, especially when he would benefit in the long run. The phrase is very probably to darken his reputation and legacy.

Wanted: A Substitute

To jump-start word usage, sometimes it's best to have a few examples. I thought we would try this week to substitute some common words we use for less common, less used words which mean the same thing.

Think = Cogitate / Ruminate
"Let me cogitate (ruminate) on the subject for a bit."

Worry = Vex
"Don't be vexed by the test. You will do fine."

Disapprove = Censure
"I'm afraid I must censure that movie."

Flat on your back = Supine
"At the beach, I will be supine the entire vacation."

Wander aimlessly = Maunder
"Must you maunder? Please get to the point."

Okay! Let's get started!