Posted on by theresourceress

Apology

Etymology Lesson: apology

Recently I made a few mistakes and hurt someone dear to me, so I needed to make an apology, and it got me thinking about the origins of the word.  Let’s break it down a bit.

There are two PIE roots, ap- and apo- which both mean, “reach, extend, put hence, put off, put away.”  You’ll recognize these roots from words like apostate, apotheosis, apogee, apocalypse etc., all of which have a sense of something set apart or distant that has reached its finality.

Next is the PIE root leg- 1, (there are two leg roots) which is interesting because it means, “to gather, consider, and choose” but in the distinct context of there being an intent to pick things out, in this case, words, from that collection of information.  So from leg – 1, we get the Greek word, logos, which means, “word, speech, discourse” and also “reasoning.”  So an extended definition of the word means “to gather, consider, choose, reason, and then speak about in discourse.”

So when you combine apo and logos together, you get an extended definition that means “an extension to finality of the gathering, consideration, choosing, and reasoning of a personal account, which will be spoken about in discourse.”  The word itself is an invitation to really consider what has occurred, gather what information you can about it, and then figure out the best way to reach forward for some discourse to some finality on the topic.

Can’t think of a better way to put it really.  Apologizing isn’t easy, and, not that I’m an expert on it, but a lot of people are REALLY bad at it.  Right there in the word though are instructions for how to make a good apology.  If you haven’t carefully considered what has occurred and aren’t able to even articulate what you did wrong, how can you ever really offer an apology?

On a lighter note, I will always take any excuse to post this video, because even though Justin Bieber is kind of a tool, Parris Goebel and ReQuest Dance Crew are awesome and I’m not sorry about it:

Posted on by theresourceress

Phenomenon

Thursday Etymology Lesson: phenomenon

Two words for the price of one today!  Phenomenon from the Ancient Greek word phaínō, meaning “I show.”  In Latin phaenomenon, meaning, “appearance, particularly in the sky” and noumenon, from Greek nous, meaning, “I think, I mean, perception, intuition, understanding.” 

In a way phenomenon is the opposite of noumenon, because a phenomenon is a thing that is seen and observed, and a noumenon is a thing that is known (or maybe unknown?) without being seen. 

phenomenon 12:11:14
Noumenon, sculpture by Jan Kuck.

Confused yet?  In simple terms, noumenon represents a thing outside of the sensory filters we use to perceive the natural world.  Humans tend to provide names and stories about objects in order to accept them as known.  Stories like, this is a table, I sit in a chair, I am separate from you, you are separate from me.  The concept of a noumenal world is necessary if one believes that our understanding of the world is not limited to what we can perceive with our senses.  It may sound floofy, but in a way, science would not exist without this concept.  

Posted on by theresourceress

Melancholy

Wednesday Etymology Lesson: melancholy

This one’s a bummer, folks.  Today’s word is melancholy [sad trombone].  The word itself comes from the Ancient Greek words kholḗ meaning, “gall, or bile,” and mélas meaning, “dark, black, murky.”  You’ll recognize mélas from the word melanin. 

melancholy 12:10:14
Melancholy,1801, by French painter Constance Marie Charpentier

Back in medieval times, physicians believed that the body had four humors, which were basically four bodily fluids, blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.  These humors corresponded to the four elements, air, water, fire, earth respectively.  They could become imbalanced for any number of reasons.  Ancient physicians believed that a melancholic state of depression or great sadness was caused by an excess of black bile, or earth, in the body originating in the spleen.  Treatments for excessive black bile included, of course, blood letting by way of leeches, mistletoe poisoning, consumption of moist warm foods, and dancing! 

Posted on by theresourceress

Arctic

Monday Etymology Lesson: arctic

Today’s word is inspired by the frigid temperatures we are experiencing.  Arctic, from the Ancient Greek word arktikós, meaning, “land of the Great Bear.”  The greek word árktos means “bear” and arktikós references the constellation Ursa Major, the bear.

arctic 12:8:14.jpg

Seen in the northern sky, Ursa Major has served mankind as a beacon toward the north for millennia.  A remarkable number of distinct civilizations have named this constellation “bear,” from the Ancient Greeks, to the Iroquois and Wampanoag people of pre-european America.

arctic 2 12:8:14

Vincent van Gogh painted the constellation, Ptolemy listed it in the second century, Homer wrote about it, and so did Shakespeare.  The Romans believed that the bear was the nymph Callisto, transformed by Juno in a fit of jealousy over her husband Jupiter’s lustful longings.