Word of the Week 1/27/19: Lassitude

From Merriam-Webster:

1. a condition of weariness or debility : fatigue
2. a condition characterized by lack of interest, energy, or spirit : langour

Lethargy, Languor, Lassitude, Stupor, Torpor mean physical or mental inertness. Lethargy implies such drowsiness or aversion to activity as is induced by disease, injury, or drugs.  Languor suggests inertia induced by an enervating climate or illness or love.  Lassitude stresses listlessness or indifference resulting from fatigue or poor health. Stupor implies a deadening of the mind and senses by shock, narcotics, or intoxicants. Torpor implies a state of suspended animation as of hibernating animals but may suggest merely extreme sluggishness.

Lassitude and weariness make an interesting pair. As with many nearly synonymous pairs of words in English, one is derived from Latin and the other from Old English. Even though they both mean “the condition of being tired,” they are used in different ways. Following a common pattern, the Latinate word tends to be used in technical, medical, and formal writing, and the Old English-derived word is used when referring to physical, emotional, and spiritual qualities.

Though it is sometimes a fancy word for fatigue in medical contexts, lassitude is also used in ways that are metaphorical and closer in meaning to “negligence”

From Vocabulary.com:

A state of comatose torpor (as found in sleeping sickness)

Word of the Week 1/20/19: Trenchant

From Merriam-Webster:

The word trenchant comes from the Anglo-French verb trencher, meaning "to cut," and may ultimately derive from the Vulgar Latin trinicare, meaning "to cut in three." Hence, a trenchant sword is one with a keen edge; a trenchant remark is one that cuts deep; and a trenchant observation is one that cuts to the heart of the matter. Relatives of trenchant in English include the noun trench ("a long ditch cut into the ground") and the verb retrench ("to cut down or pare away" or "to cut down expenses").

From Collins Dictionary:

1. cutting; sharp; caustic
2. keen; penetrating; incisive; sharply perceptive
3. forceful; vigorous; effective and articulate
4. clear-cut; distinct

From Cambridge Dictionary:

1. of something said or written) forcefully and effectively expressed, and often in few words
2. severe, expressing strong criticism or forceful opinions

From Vocabulary.com:

The word trenchant originates from tranchant, which in French means "sharp" or "cutting," related to the word trench, which originally meant a line carved in wood and later came to mean a ditch carved into the earth. The word is often used to describe political commentary or cultural criticism.

Word of the Week 1/13/19: Hegemony

From Merriam-Webster:

1. : preponderant influence or authority over others : domination
2 : the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

Hegemony comes to English from the Greek hēgemonia, a noun formed from the verb hēgeisthai ("to lead"), which also gave us the word exegesis ("exposition" or "explanation"). The word was first used in English in the mid-16th century in reference to the control once wielded by the ancient Greek states, and it was reapplied in later centuries as other nations subsequently rose to power. By the 20th century, it had acquired a second sense referring to the social or cultural influence wielded by a dominant member over others of its kind, such as the domination within an industry by a business conglomerate over smaller businesses.

From Vocabulary.com:

Wealthy lender nations hoping to determine political outcomes and trade decisions have established hegemony over the debtor nations they lend to. As well as the dominance of one group or nation over others, hegemony is also the term for the leading group or nation itself. 

From Wikipedia:

In the 19th century, hegemony came to denote the "Social or cultural predominance or ascendancy; predominance by one group within a society or milieu". Later, it could be used to mean "a group or regime which exerts undue influence within a society".

Cake or Death: A Book Review

   At a party in 2008, my wife mentioned that I was in a "metal phase" right now. Ten years later, I've finished reading a third book on extreme metal subgenres. This doesn't sound very impressive as I write it, but keep in mind that I've listened to every album mentioned in these books. Sixteen months ago I finished a book and a playlist that focused on black metal, Dayal Patterson's Black Metal: The Evolution of the Cult. The book was a quick read; the playlist took about two and a half years. (review here) When I started the book, I knew quite a bit about the scene after finishing Søderlind and Moynihan's Lords of Chaos, but very little of the music. When I was finished listening to every album mentioned in Patterson's book, I felt qualified to argue with anyone in town about what was trve and what was kvlt, and how none of that mattered. I also knew what sound I was after in the black metal band I had formed with some friends. 

   The book was originally a gift, but by the time I was finished, I had enjoyed the process enough that I wanted to do it again. I bought Albert Mudrian's Choosing Death and started over. There was a surprising amount of crossover between these books, especially during the early years of the metal scene as heavy metal pushed itself into extreme metal with its many sub-genres. I learned several things from this book. Choosing Death bills itself as a history of both grindcore and death metal. I learned I like death metal more than grindcore, though not exclusively. I also learned just how many early death metal bands originated in England; I had expected a lot more from Florida and Scandinavia. I learned to recognize a classic death metal guitar tone with one guitar effects pedal, the Boss HM-2.

Word of the Week 1/6/19: Bespoke

From Merriam-Webster:

1a. custom made
1b. dealing in or producing custom-made articles
2. dialect: engaged

In the English language of yore, the verb bespeak had various meanings, including "to speak," "to accuse," and "to complain." In the 16th century, bespeak acquired another meaning - "to order or arrange in advance." It is from that sense that we get the adjective bespoke, referring to clothes and other things that are ordered before they are made. 

From Wikipedia:

The word bespoke has evolved from a verb meaning "to speak for something" to its contemporary usage as an adjective that has changed from describing first tailor-made suits and shoes, and later, to anything commissioned to a particular specification (altered or tailored to the customs, tastes, or usage of an individual purchaser), and finally to a general marketing and branding concept implying exclusivity and appealing to snobbery.

Bespoke is derived from the verb bespeak, meaning to "speak for something". The particular meaning of the verb form is first cited from 1583 and given in the Oxford English Dictionary: "to speak for, to arrange for, engage beforehand: to 'order' (goods)." The adjective "bespoken" means "ordered, commissioned, arranged for" and is first cited from 1607.

According to Collins English Dictionary, the term is generally British English. American English tends to use the word custom instead, as in custom car or custom motorcycle. Nevertheless, bespoke has seen increased usage in American English during the 21st century.

The word bespoke is most known for its "centuries-old relationship" with tailor-made suits, but the Oxford English Dictionary also ties the word to shoemaking in the mid-1800s. According to a spokesperson for Collins English Dictionary, it later came to mean to discuss, and then to the adjective describing something that was discussed in advance, which is how it came to be associated with tailor-made apparel. The word was used as an adjective in A Narrative of the Life of Mrs Charlotte Charke, the 1755 autobiography of the actress Charlotte Charke, which refers to The Beaux' Stratagem as "a bespoke play". After that, the adjective was generally associated with men's tailor-made suits.

Before about the 19th century, most clothing was made to measure, or bespoke, whether made by professional tailors or dressmakers, or as often, at home. The same applied to many other types of goods. With the advent of industrialised ready to wear clothing, bespoke became largely restricted to the top end of the market, and is now normally considerably more expensive, at least in developed countries. At some point after that, the word bespoke came to be applied to more than tailoring, although it is unclear exactly when. Mark-Evan Blackman of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York told the Wall Street Journal in 2012 that the "bespoke proliferation may be tied to young Hollywood types becoming enamored with custom suits about a decade ago".

Lastly, here's a cute little article from the New York Times about modern usage and semantic drift:

Bespoke This, Bespoke That. Enough Already.

Forever a Stranger, and Alone - 2018 wrap-up

- O waste of loss, in the hot mazes, lost, among bright stars on this most weary unbright cinder, lost!*

Authors, politicians, entrepreneurs, and musicians. They all die. Some of them die young, some at their own hand, some die shortly after a partner or long-time collaborator passes. Some we miss, others we ponder, still others we wonder that they were still alive up to 2018. 

Dolores O'Riordan
'Fast' Eddie Clarke
Ursula Le Guin
Billy Graham
Stephen Hawking
Barbara Bush
Verne Troyer
Margot Kidder
Glenn Branca
Tom Wolfe
Kate Spade
Anthony Bourdain
Vinnie Paul Abbott
Steve Ditko
Jon Schnepp
Aretha Franklin
Robin Leach
Kofi Annan
Philip Roth
John McCain
Burt Reynolds
William Coors
Paul Allen
Stan Lee
George H W Bush
Penny Marshall
Ricky Jay
Matt 'Guitar' Murphy

Word of the Week 12/30/18: Apotheosis

From Merriam-Webster:

1.a. the perfect form or example of something : QUINTESSENCE
1.b.  the highest or best part of something : PEAK
2. elevation to divine status : DEIFICATION 

Among the ancient Greeks, it was sometimes thought fitting, or simply handy, say if you wanted a god somewhere in your bloodline to grant someone or other god status. So they created the word apotheosis, meaning "making into a god." (The prefix apo- can mean simply "quite" or "completely," and "theos" is the Greek word for "god.") There's not a lot of Greek-style apotheosizing in the 21st century, but there is hero-worship. Our extended use of "apotheosis" as "elevation to divine status" is the equivalent of "placement on a very high pedestal." Even more common these days is to use "apotheosis" in reference to a perfect example or ultimate form.

From Wikipedia:

Apotheosis is the glorification of a subject to divine level.

In theology, apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature. In art, the term refers to the treatment of any subject (a figure, group, locale, motif, convention or melody) in a particularly grand or exalted manner.

Before the Hellenistic period, imperial cults were known in Ancient Egypt (pharaohs) and Mesopotamia (since Naram-Sin). From the New Kingdom, all deceased pharaohs were deified as the god Osiris.

In the Greek world, the first leader who accorded himself divine honours was Philip II of Macedon. At his wedding to his sixth wife, Philip's enthroned image was carried in procession among the Olympian gods.

Up to the end of the Republic, Romans accepted only one official apotheosis: the god Quirinus, whatever his original meaning, having been identified with Romulus. Subsequently, apotheosis in ancient Rome was a process whereby a deceased ruler was recognized as having been divine by his successor, usually also by a decree of the Senate and popular consent. In addition to showing respect, often the present ruler deified a popular predecessor to legitimize himself and gain popularity with the people. The upper-class did not always take part in the imperial cult, and some privately ridiculed the apotheosis of inept and feeble emperors, as in the satire The Pumpkinification of (the Divine) Claudius, usually attributed to Seneca.

At the height of the imperial cult during the Roman Empire, sometimes the emperor's deceased loved ones—heirs, empresses, or lovers, as Hadrian's Antinous—were deified as well. Deified people were awarded posthumously the title Divus (Diva if women) to their names to signify their divinity. Traditional Roman religion distinguished between a deus (god) and a divus (a mortal who became divine or deified), though not consistently.

From britannica.com:

The most significant part of the ceremonies attendant on an imperial apotheosis was the liberation of an eagle, which was supposed to bear the emperor’s soul to heaven.