words, just a few

I warned you.

anagnorisis noun (plural anagnorises): the point in a play, novel, etc., in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character's true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances: we see the tormented figure of Oedipus come to recognize the truth in a classical moment of anagnorisis. ORIGIN late 18th century: Greek, literally ‘recognition’, from ana- ‘back’ + gnorisis ‘making known’.

I don’t know why I didn’t know this one. It’s a lovely dramatic trick.

trope noun: a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression: he used the two-Americas trope to explain how a nation free and democratic at home could act wantonly abroad. a significant or recurrent theme; a motif: she uses the Eucharist as a pictorial trope. verb [no object] create a trope. ORIGIN mid 16th century: via Latin from Greek tropos ‘turn, way, trope’, from trepein ‘to turn’.

You see this a lot these days. I’m not sure people are using it correctly.

su·per·er·o·ga·tion| noun: the performance of more work than duty requires: to maximize profits is for management not an optional exercise or a work of supererogation. PHRASES works of supererogation (in the Roman Catholic Church) actions believed to form a reserve fund of merit that can be drawn on by prayer in favor of sinners. DERIVATIVES supererogatory | ˌso͞op(ə)rəˈräɡəˌtôrē | adjective ORIGIN early 16th century: from late Latin supererogatio(n-), from supererogare ‘pay in addition’, from super- ‘over’ + erogare ‘pay out’.

I have looked this up several times in the past but it never seems to stick.

con·ur·ba·tion| noun: an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of one or more cities: the major conurbations of London and Birmingham. ORIGIN early 20th century: from con- ‘together’ + Latin urbs, urb- ‘city’ + -ation.

And look what happens to the infrastructure.

ci·bo·ri·um noun (plural ciboria: ˈ1 a receptacle shaped like a shrine or a cup with an arched cover, used in the Christian Church for the reservation of the Eucharist. 2 a canopy over an altar in a church, standing on four pillars. ORIGIN mid 16th century: via medieval Latin from Greek kibōrion ‘seed vessel of the water lily or a cup made from it’. ciborium (sense 1) is probably influenced by Latin cibus ‘food’

Now you know it. Can you use it?

sfu·ma·to noun: Art the technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms. ORIGIN mid 19th century: Italian, literally ‘shaded off’, past participle of sfumare.

Or this?

re·vanch·ism noun: a policy of seeking to retaliate, especially to recover lost territory: a recipe for deep future resentment, revanchism and renewed conflict. DERIVATIVES revanchis| adjective & noun. ORIGIN 1950s: from French revanche, ‘revenge’+ -ism.

I like this one. If I ever have need…

as·pho·del noun: 1 a Eurasian plant of the lily family, typically having long slender leaves and flowers borne on a spike. Genera Asphodelus and Asphodeline, family Liliaceae. See also bog asphodel.2 literary an immortal flower said to grow in the Elysian fields. ORIGIN late Middle English: via Latin from Greek asphodelos; compare with daffodil.

Very poetic.

cor·us·cat·ing| adjective: 1 flashing; sparkling: a coruscating kaleidoscope of colors. brilliant or striking in content or style: the play's coruscating wit. 2 severely critical; scathing: his coruscating attack on the Prime Minister | a coruscating denunciation of political opportunism. cor·us·cate| ˈkôrəˌskāt, ˈkärəˌskāt | verb [no object] literary (of light) flash or sparkle: the light was coruscating from the walls. DERIVATIVES coruscation | kôrəˈskāSH(ə)n | noun ORIGIN early 18th century: from Latin coruscat- ‘glittered’, from the verb coruscare.

I have looked this up before and had some vague memory of the second definition.

cor·vée noun: historical a day's unpaid labor owed by a vassal to his feudal lord. forced labor exacted in lieu of taxes, in particular that on public roads: they still force the peasants to do corvée. ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French, based on Latin corrogare ‘ask for, collect’. Rare in English before the late 18th century.

I’m the forced labour; I’m also the feudal lord. I can’t fire me

im·pli·ca·ture noun: the action of implying a meaning beyond the literal sense of what is explicitly stated, e.g., saying the frame is nice and implying I don't like the picture in it. a meaning so implied.

I love this one.

And I like words, but that’s enough for now.

get a grip

On what?

On the day, I guess. The past week was busy , tiring and frustrating, Although interesting things happened, none came to a conclusion or fruition so there is nothing to report but hope . You can live only so long on hope and then were are you?

No where, that’s where.

I’m still poking along with my files and papers, interesting to me but not to you unless I draw a blog from them. But I piled up a tonne of words. At this point I think it might be restful and even encouraging to look up a few definitions, as if I might use them some day….

Words (what have I been reading???)