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“C” Words from Left Field II: Redux. A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet

<word meaning and root formation> Cabotin: ham actor; theatrical; poser (perjorative) [from Fr. cabotin (“histrionic”] Cacedoxical: heretical (cf. Cacodoxy: heterodoxy) [from Gk. kákos (“bad”) + –doxa, (“opinion” or “glory”] Cacestogenous: caused by unfavourable home environment (OU) Calepin: a notebook; a dictionary, esp a polyglot dictionary [It. calepino, named after Ambrogio Calepino ((15th-16th cent. author of… keep reading →

“B” Words from Left Field II – Redux: A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet

<word meaning and root formation> Badaud: a person given to idle observation of everything, with wonder or astonishment; a credulous or gossipy idler; an urban bystander who “rubbernecks” (gawks) at some incident [Fr. from Old Occitan badau, from badar, from Medieval Latin badare (“to gape”; “yawn”)] Badaud, a type in French literature (Gérard Auliac, Le Badaud sculpture) Baffona: a woman with… keep reading →

“A” Words from Left Field II – Redux: A Supplement to the Logolept’s Diet

<word origin and root formation> Abderian: pertaining to foolish or excessive laughter [from Abderian, from Abdera (town in Thrace where Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher, lived) +‎ -ian] Acapnotic: someone who doesn’t smoke; a non-smoker [Gk. a (“not”) + –capno, –kapnós (“smoke”)] 🚭 Acataleptic: incomprehensible; one who suspends judgment as a matter of principle believing certainty is impossible [Gk. akatálēptos, (“incomprehensible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + –katalambánō, (“I seize”)] Accolent: dwelling… keep reading →

The Trojan War Tale in the Epic Cyclic Poems: Homeric and Post-Homeric

Movies based on the story of The Iliad as told by its traditionally reputed author Homer—such as the 2004 Troy, Helen of Troy (both the 1956 movie and the 2003 mini-series) and The Trojan Horse (1961)—automatically include scenes concerning the artifice of the Trojan Horse and the sack of Troy, conveying an impression that these… keep reading →

A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “Z” Words

Meet the “Z” family of words…Zeta, Zelda, Zara, Zack, Zee and Zed Z is the twenty-sixth and not-always-lucky last letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet and other western European languages. It is most commonly pronounced zed, as used in international English. But in the US, and sometimes in Canadian and Caribbean English, the preference is for zee. A… keep reading →

A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “Y” Words

A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “Y” Words ”Y” words from the lexical womb “Y” (pronounced the same as “why” or “wye”) is the 25th and penultimate letter of the English alphabet. “Y” appears in the Semitic alphabet as waw, which it shares with several other Latin letters, namely F, U,… keep reading →

A Logolept’s Diet of Obscure, Obsolete, Curious and Downright Odd “X” Words

“X”-factor words The letter “X” is the 24th letter of the Latin alphabet, as well as the Roman numerical symbol for “ten”(10). It derived from the Phoenician letter samekh, meaning “fish”, then circa 900BC the Greeks borrowed the samekh letter and renamed it Chi, giving it its present shape, the meaningful symbol of two diagonally-crossed vertical strokes…. keep reading →

An al fresco Bush Picture Theatre Once Nestled Quietly among the Orchards and Produce Gardens of North Ryde

꧁꧂🍊🍋🎭📽️🍿꧁꧂ THE street names around Macquarie University in the northwest of Sydney have an unambiguously militaristic ring to them. Many, many bear the names of historical battles, wars and military campaigns. In particular the battles of two 19th century wars, the Crimean War and the Napoleonic Wars, figure heavily in the street configurations – there’s Balaclava… keep reading →

Sokols and Slets: The Czechoslovak Experience of Gymnastics Societies

Sokol motto: ❛a healthy mind in a healthy body❜𖤗 ༓ 𖥔 ༓ 𖥔 ༓ 𖥔 The blog preceding this one addressed the German-American phenomena of Turnverein (gymnastics-cum-social-cum-political associations in the US in the 19th and 20th centuries), detailing how the American Turners movement derived its inspiration from the philosophy and gymnastics theory of the Prussian… keep reading →

Turnverein: The Society of German-American Turners

Turnverein (Pl. “Turnvereine”) from German: turnen (“to practice gymnastics”) + –verein (“club” or “union”) 𖥠 𖥠 𖥠 𖥠 𖥠 The earnest pursuit or physical exercise and a healthy lifestyle isn’t the first thing you think of in regard to fast-foodified, modern America and Americans. But it was the case for many German-Americans in the late… keep reading →