Lexical Compendium
Wait... what is this? Sometimes I come across a word, phrase, idiom, quote, reference, bit of slang, person of interest, etc that either I don't know or I find amusing, interesting, etc. This is a collection of those items so that I can refer back to them in emails, texts, etc.
Recent Entries:
"...an effective plot must be 'unexpected but inevitable'..."
I came across this quote in the television series Mythic Quest. In that show, it was attributed to Aristotle, but I haven't been able to confirm this.
(link to this entry)
References:
- IMDB: Mythic Quest Reference ID imdb-mythic-quest
Date Added: Unknown
Date Modified:
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!"
From Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," a poem in "Through the Looking Glass."
The poem was about the capture and killing of a creature called the "Jabberwock" and is filled with many other nonsense terms.
The word "jabberwocky," itself, has come to mean something meaningless in writing.
(link to this entry)
References:
- Definition: jabberwocky Reference ID definition-jabberwocky
- Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Reference ID jabberwocky-by-lewis-carroll
Date Added: Unknown
anathema
An anathema is something or someone that is abhorrent or extremely disliked.
I came across this word while reading an essay, "'Weird' Should Not Be An Insult."
Using “weird” as an insult ought to be anathema to Democrats.
Leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Democrats took to calling Republicans (especially Donald Trump and his VP candidate JD Vance) weird. (And the Republican retort seems to be: "I'm not weird, you are.")
While writing this, it's too early to know whether or not this tact will pay off.
The word anathema has its origins in the Greek word anatithenai, meaning "to dedicate." In the "Old Testament" of "The Bible," the word anathema is sometimes used in this way. Interestingly, the meaning of the word shifted to mean something accursed or repulsive and translated into Hebrew as herem. We see this meaning in the "New Testament" of "The Bible."
The ecclesiastical meaning of the word still exists today (it's the second definition in Merriam-Webster's dictionary). A more prominent use in English, though, is something that is vehemently disliked.
(link to this entry)
References:
- Definition: anathema Reference ID definition-anathema
- "Weird" Should Not Be An Insult Reference ID weird-should-not-be-an-insult
- 'Anathema' has had opposite meanings since its Greek birth Reference ID anathema-has-had-opposite-meanings-since-its-greek
Date Added:
defenestration
Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.[1]
The word comes from the Latin de ("down from") + fenestra ("window"). It originated in the early 1600s when people were writing about the Defenestrations of Prague.[2]
Today the word tends to not be used in the literal sense but more metaphorically, i.e. "a defenestrated prince."[3]
(link to this entry)
References:
- Definition: defenestration Reference ID definition-defenestration
- Wikipedia: Defenestrations of Prague Reference ID wikipedia-defenestration-prague
- The Guardian: Not in this together: King Charles cuts Andrew loose to save royal family’s repute Reference ID guardian-king-charles-prince-andrew
Date Added: