I Almost Spewed My Coffee Out Of My Mouth

I'm always excited to hear when words that are given a small amount of play in the Bible make it into common parlance, or are at least recognized by the dictionary. The word "shibboleth," for example, is just plain fun to say, and while the meaning of the word "pharisaic" these days has been broadened to mean "anyone who disagrees with me on matters of religious discipline," at least it's still out there (although I would love to see the word "sadducean" used more often, particularly on the Jesus Seminar, et al). So imagine my delight when this little tidbit came across the wire:

Thirteen-year-old Kavya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, spelled "laodicean," Thursday night to take top honors in the 82nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The eighth-grader won $40,000 in cash and prizes for nailing the final word. Pronounced lay-odd-uh-see-an, the word means lukewarm or indifferent, particularly in matters of politics or religion.

When interviewed about the prize money, young Kavya was reported to say this: "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing."

Apoloblogology Double Whammy: Etymology 101/Upon Shrove Tuesday

It's days like this that make life worth blogging.

Carnival:

Today, the eve of Ash Wednesday, is referred to in some circles as "Carnival," taken from the Latin carne, meaning "meat" or "flesh," and vale, the second person singular present active imperative rendering of "farewell."

Of course, this being Fat Tuesday, the word "carnival" has a double meaning- saying farewell to meat is an integral part of the Lenten fast, and being the penitential season that it is, we are also called to say "farewell" to our "carnal," fleshly natures.

Expect carnival observances throughout the day today to say goodbye to neither.

Etymology 101: A Free Public Service From The Friendly Folks At Apoloblogology

Macabre

The first use of this word shows up in 1493, in reference to a dance of death. Basically, it's an Old French translation of the Middle Latin Machabaeorum, meaning "dance of the Maccabees." For those of you who may not have any books in your Bible between Malachi and Matthew, Judas Maccabeus and the other Jews in his family staged a revolt after Antiochus suppressed their religious practices and sacrificed a pig in the Temple. Needless to say, many a Maccabee met a macabre end in the process. Lots of references to tongues being cut out of the mouths of Jews who refused to eat pork and such.

And as II Maccabees itself tells us, it's not macabre at all, but "a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead."

Etymology 101: A Free Public Service From The Friendly Folks At Apoloblogology

Kite

Unsurprisingly, this word originally referred to a bird, and was sort of onomatopoeic, as determined by people that thought the variety of hawk in question kept yelling "kite!" over and over again in its one-word vocabulary. This puts the hawk in the category of other members of the animal kingdom who are named after the sounds they make, such as the Moo and the Poison-Arrow Frog.

The first instance of the word being applied to the flying children's toy is in 1665, because of its way of hovering in the air like a bird. And of course, if someone tells you to "go fly a kite," and they don't seem to mean it in a nice way, they're probably referring to the fact that the original bird after which the kite was named is a scavenger and eater of garbage, a repast that they encourage you yourself to indulge in rather than continuing to annoy them.

Etymology 101: A Free Public Service From The Friendly Folks At Apoloblogology

Hunky-dory

The mere sound of these syllables in swift succession is playful and palatable, rolling off the tongue like a friendly sputtering jalopy with cartoon eyes where its headlights should be. To be in a "hunky-dory" state is to be in positive circumstances, as American sailors considered themselves to be when on shore leave in Yokohama, Japan, on Huncho-dori, the main drag where all the liesurely (and perhaps disreputable) activities could be found. Next time you go to utter the expression, use the Japanese pronunciation; and if anyone tries to correct you, accuse them of being inauthentic.

Etymology 101: A Free Public Service From The Friendly Folks At Apoloblogology

Twelve

As is the case with most Westerners, we base our numeric system on tens. That being the case, in Old English (our primary Western holdover language), the word "ten," already implied, is spoken about as though it weren't in the room. All that remains is the "two left," which, when spoken in inebriated Chaucerian tavernese, comes out as "twelve." Something analagous can be found in other language groups who use number systems based on tens, such as in Lithuanian, where the word for twelve, drylika, literally can be broken into dry- (two) -lika (left over). Consider yourselves informed.

Etymology 101: A Free Public Service From The Friendly Folks At Apoloblogology

Ostracism

My first guess was that this word would share some root with the ostrich, who ostracises himself by that familiar head-in-the-ground technique. Turns out I'm a bad guesser.

Turns out that "ostracism" comes from ostrakon, the Greek word for tile. The Greeks had this habit of getting together and writing on tiles the names of men deemed dangerous to the the state, and then kicking those men out of society. And while my ostrich guess was a bit off, it does turn out that the self-secluding oyster draws his name from the same root syllables.