John Robertson:
I received your book on 6/26/00. Congratulations on a great book. You no doubt spent a great amount of time in research. I find the book fascinating.
It’s been over 45 years since I studied Latin and Greek in college and unless one keeps it up, one tends to forget. You have rekindled my interest. Now that I’m retired, I’ll have more time. I have always been interested in the origin of words especially from Latin and Greek.
Because the schools do not teach Latin and Greek as they once did, your book would be invaluable in helping students with the English language; thereby enriching their thought process. I am so happy that we still have people in this world who regard knowledge of Latin and Greek essential to scholarly development.
To quote Seneca, Jr. from your book: “Non scholae, sed vitae discimus.” Thank you for your “illusions” and also many thanks to your wife.
Jeffrey
Note from your editor: The “illusions” referred to the dedication in Words for a Modern Age, A Cross Reference of Latin and Greek Combining Elements in which I wrote: “Dedicated to my wife, who has been my sine qua non. She has kept me in good health with her loving concern for my well being and has rarely interfered with my efforts to strive for my ‘illusions.’ ”
The Latin quotation by Seneca, Jr. means: “We don’t learn just for school, but we learn for life.”.
Speaking of books. The following came from "The Spelling Newsletter" published by Ray Laurita, Leonardo Press, PO Box 1326, Camden, ME 04843.
After reading the following exchange which appeared in the Metropolitan Diary, I have a feeling that our readers will be equally dismayed:
Carol Ruth Langer stopped at the information desk of a Barnes & Noble in Midtown to inquire about a copy of the Book of Job.
"How would you be spelling 'Job'?" the clerk asked.
"J -- O -- B", Ms. Langer said.
"Job books are in the career section."
Ms. Langer tried again. "Not job, Job, a book in the Bible".
"Who is the author" the clerk asked.
At that point, Ms. Langer knew it was time to leave.
Additional words that exist that are derived from the Greek element tribo-: nanotribology, [no dictionary seems to be available that has a definition for this term.] The following definitions came from various sources on the internet.
First, on Thursday, January 21, 1999, there was the following information from Dr. Jacqueline Krim, Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina:
“Thank you for your inquiry. Yes, I coined the term nanotribology in a paper I wrote in 1991, entitled, ‘Nanotribology of a Kr [krypton] monolayer: A Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study of Atomic-Scale Friction’, J. Krim, D. Solina and R. Chiarello, PRL, 66, (1991) p. 181-184.”
“I would define nanotribology as the sub-field of tribology involving contact geometries which are well-characterized at atomic length or time scales. These tend to be on the order of nanometers and nanoseconds.”
“JK”
Secondly, on Friday, January 22, 1999, I received another clarifying definition that I had requested from a contact I found on the internet.
I asked for a simple, easy to understand definition of “nanotribology” and this is what he sent to me:
“Tribology is the science and technology of two surfaces in relative motion which encompasses friction, wear, and lubrication. Nanotribology allows the study of friction and wear processes on nanoscale.”
Now you know what nanotribology means, don’t you? If you want to know more about nanotribology, here are excerpts of other definitions; but be WARNED that if they are too confusing or of no interest to you, you may scroll down to the area where other tribo- words are presented. Don’t give up before you see the rest of the list, please.
Micro/nanotribology as a field is concerned with experimental and theoretical investigations of processes ranging from atomic and molecular scales to the microscale, occurring during adhesion, friction, wear, and thin-film lubrication at sliding surfaces.
This involves determination of the chemical, physical and mechanical properties of the surfaces undergoing relative motion at length scales of the order of nanometers. Interaction between rubbing surfaces occurs at asperities [roughness of surfaces] at which the local pressure and temperatures can be very high.
These conditions can lead to formation of tribochemical films with the unusual properties necessary for efficient wear protection. The nanomechanical properties of these films are being investigated by interfacial force microscopy (IFM) which is capable of determining the elastic constants and anelastic behavior of the films in boundary layer lubrication.
Proposed nanotribology experiments for the Triboscope include studying the effect of different contact areas, scan directions and crystallographic orientations on both lubricated and unlubricated surfaces.
Tribology is the study of friction, lubrication and wear. Nanotribology is roughly defined as the study of these same phenomena down to the nN and nanometer force and length scales.
I hope I haven’t lost you in the sea of obfuscation (confusion, obscurity, or bewilderment) because there are other interesting words to learn. Here are additional examples that are derived from tribo-:
- triboelectric, an electrical charge produced by friction between two objects; such as, rubbing silk on a glass surface.
- triboelectricity, in physics, electrical charges produced by friction between two surfaces; static electricity.
- tribofluorescence, triboflurescent; to give off light as a result of friction.
- tribologist, a specialist in the science of tribology.
- tribology, tribological, the science of the mechanisms of friction, lubrication, and wear of interacting surfaces that are in relative motion.
- triboluminescence, the quality of emitting light under friction or violent mechanical pressure.
- triboluminescent, exhibiting triboluminescence.
- tribophosphorescence, tribophosphorescent; to produce light by friction.
- tribothermoluminescence, thermoluminescence [luminescence resulting from exposure to high temperature] produced in a material as a result of friction.
- tribometer, an instrument for estimating sliding friction.
- tribophysics, the physical properties or phenomena associated with friction.
- tribophosphoroscope, an instrument for examining triboluminescence.
- tribulation, originally from Greek; then through Latin, “to press; affliction”; distress, great trial, or affliction.
Frictional electricity … was supposedly known to the ancient Greeks, particularly Thales of Miletus, who observed about 600 B.C. that when amber was rubbed, it would attract small bits of matter. The term “frictional electricity” gave way to “triboelectricity,” although since “tribo” means “to rub,” the newer term does little to change the concept.
“The Roman tribulum was a sledge consisting of a wooden block studded with sharp pieces of flint or iron teeth. It was used to bring force and pressure against wheat in grinding out grain.
The machine suggested the way trouble grinds people down and oppresses them, tribulations becoming another word for troubles and afflictions. The word is first recorded in English in 1330.”.
The Romans ground out their corn [make that grain-J.R.] with a heavy roller, mentioned in Vergil’s Georgics among agricultural instruments: the tribulum, diminutive noun, from tritere, trit —, to rub, from Greek tribein, to rub. Being ground under and pressed out made an excellent metaphor to express the trials and tribulations of the early Christians.
“To know the origin of words is to know how men think, how they have fashioned their civilization. Word history traces the path of human fellowship, the bridges from mind to mind, from nation to nation.
“Some of the words in our language can be traced to a remote past; some have histories that begin but yesterday. Many are members of large families, with intertwining legend and history. Slow change, swift new coinage of science or slang, ancient or recent borrowing from many tongues: together they give flexibility, power, and beauty to English, the richest and most widespread language of all time.”
Here is a hoverfly, also called a flower fly or a syrphid fly; which is part of the insect family Syrphidae and the adults of this group are often seen hovering or nectaring on flowers because they are known to feed primarily on nectar and pollen.
2. jeu de mots (zhuh duh moh) (s) (noun), jeux de mots (pl) The humorous use of words or phrases: A jeu de mots is an intelligence game of wits or a general term for charades, puzzles, tongue twisters, quizzes, etc.
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
3. jeu de paume (zhuh duh-pohm) (noun) (not countable): Formerly a term for lawn tennis: Jeu de paume, originating in France, is a ball-and-court game, which was placed first with the hand and later with a racquet.4. Etymology: literally, "palm game".
[Editor's note: There's always at least one joker as shown by the first reader/writer].
- The principal reason for this discussion is to decrease one’s spelunking spills.
- Some of us should live by no particular moral principles; I live by the immoral Principal Corruthers.
- The principal character in the play is ill.
- His political principles are not acceptable.
- As a matter of principle, he refused to borrow money from anyone over three meters tall who fancied avocados.
- The principal invested in that project was $100, 000, 000, 000.
- We must install computer chips into the hypothalamusi of our youth which will instill principles of honesty and morality and the urge to vote Republican.
I hope that my cooperation will be of help. I can't wait to read what this is all about . . . and to hear from you regarding how I scored.
I know I don't have to make any comments but I have to say that this was a real eye opener. I felt as if I was back in school.
Just wanted to add a note of thanks. I've really been enjoying your messages.
Many thanks for your efforts. I just wanted to let you know I always look forward to your newsletters.
It might be of interest for the purposes of your survey that I am not, in fact, a native English speaker; my mother tongue is German.
[Ed. note: All of your answers were correct].
I learned these differences in 5th grade! - The princiPAL of the school is our PAL - he's a number-one (principal) guy; I'll admit cheating on number 6 - I've probably spelt it wrong all my life!
"The principal 'pal' of the principal . . ." came in useful.
Bravo for tackling this one. Why not try "lay" and "lie"; my students love to confuse those two, also. And believe it or not, they mix up the plurals of "this" and "that".
Are you trying to make a point about our country's lack of principles?
Interesting examples. Using one word or the other changes the meaning of the sentences in interesting ways. But I guess "principle" can,t be used as an adjective?
After the quiz, I checked the dictionary on my PC, and I was in for a rude awakening. I certainly have a better understanding of the two words, because I did not realize that principal had a monetary meaning. I'll not forget the definition anytime soon.
This is a good idea. I look forward to learning the results. I suggest you test us with "affect/effect" and "stationary/stationery." Others, doubtless, would be useful, but none comes to mind. On another topic, how about a test for subject/verb agreement, like "none-is/none-are" or "data-is/data-are"?
I just mentally replaced "principal" with "main" and "principle" with "scruples" and made my choices based on that. I paused on #6, but I stayed with the same definitions, because you have the "main" money (principal) and the interest, which is earned from it.
After looking at these sentences, I can easily see that many folks could be quite confused. It was a fun mental workout.
Thank you very much for allowing me to join your Focusing on Words Newsletter. I am Japanese. I am trying to learn English.
[Editor: When asked what system this subscriber used to choose the right "princip-", his response was as follows]
I don't think it qualifies as a system, but here's my thought process: I know that one of the words refers to abstract decision-making guidelines for things like morals, ethics, professional decisions, etc., and I know that that word isn't "principal" because Principal was the sign on the office door of the guy who ran my grade school, and I remember walking past that sign in the first grade and thinking "He's no pal of mine."
The logic doesn't track, but I walk through this little personal memory each time I have to distinguish between these two words, and it seems to get me to the right answer.
I rely on an obscure personal memory to determine that "principal" does not refer to abstract values and decision-making guidelines. If "principal" doesn't refer to them, then "principle" does.
Hope this helps.
I used the word principle anytime it was talking about one's moral belief system. Principles are beliefs or values. I used the word principal meaning the central or main thing. Also, principal means an amount of money.
I teach 6th grade language arts and math. My boss is a principal with few principles.
The oldest trick in the book. My high school principal, who is the main person in the school, is my pal. Works for nouns and works for adjectives. The only one I wasn't sure of was principle/principal meaning money in the bank. I made a good guess (or inference.)
I mentioned this earlier but my letter apparently went into hyperorbit. The phrases involving two and tandem are not pleonasms. Tandem hitching simply requires that the hitching of a team be linear, one behind another. Any number of individuals can constitute the tandem team.
A replacement pleonasm could be the “three-horse troika.” A troika is three horses, hitched abreast, to a conveyance.
For the history [of discipline and punishment], I found the following on www.m-w.com:
Discipline Etymology: Middle English, from Old French & Latin; Old French, from Latin disciplina, teaching, learning, from discipulus, pupil.
Punish Etymology: Middle English, punisshen, from Middle French, puniss-, stem of punir, from Latin punire, from poena, penalty —
My interpretation is that discipline is an inflexible teaching. Punishment can be a tool to achieve discipline, but reward is another tool. Moreover, crime punishment (for example) can be hardly related with discipline.
I am very delighted with the newsletter. I agree that the female version of an android would be gynoid or something in that area. I have recently learned the Ancient Greek word for woman: gune, gunaikos. So in English that would transliterate into gyna-.
I was wondering how I can get my comments to appear on the newsletter. I truly love the classic languages and anxious to participate.
Si bene valet, valeo.
Discipline is derived from the Latin word discere which means to learn. Discipline is related to the concept of moral or physical training often involving hard work and hard knocks as we say “I went to the school of hard knocks.” We learn from the mistakes we make (except for those of us with hard heads!).
Discipline can be imposed by others or we can be self-disciplined. We learn discipline (self-control) through the lessons of life.
Many times, when we behave in an undisciplined matter we can incur a consequence which is like a penalty or punishment.
Penalties for our behavior can be a natural result of our actions or given to us by our authority.
Punishment comes from two Latin words; the Latin verb punire (poenio) which means to punish or penalize and the Latin noun poenia = a penalty/punishment. It is the idea of paying for the wrong that was done. Hence the Latin idiom poenas dare, "to pay the penalty".
Punishment is related to discipline but not synonymous.
As language evolves, related terms are sometimes used interchangeably as are discipline and punishment. However, I believe it is best to clearly distinguish between these two terms as your text book is doing. Looking at the phrases below, which communicates more clearly?
I am being punished. [I am experiencing a penalty] I am being disciplined. [Am I behaving in a disciplined manner or being punished?]
He endured the discipline. [Did he endure rigorous training or a punishment?] He endured the punishment. [He endured a penalty].
For what it's worth,
Just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful and educational site on the WWW. I work with a lot of people from other countries who, have asked me to help them learn the English language. This site has been extremely helpful to me.
With all of the slang that is used, it is hard to understand, some of which I was not aware of, that I have been using (like "what's up" a man from Ethiopia said to me what is the meaning of this Laura? What do they mean what is up? The sky is up, I laughed and explained).
Anyway, thanks for teaching me as well and others. Bless you for the effort you put forth!
Gee, I really like this site. I prepare prison inmates to pass the GED exam. I really like my work and am planning on presenting a 40-minute talk with handouts about the value of improving vocabulary. This will be in March at the Missouri Department of Corrections Education Conference.
I should have two sessions, with about thirty to forty participants each. The title of my little dittie is: "Don't Be a Brain Robber, Be a Brain Builder!" Catchie-huh?
Now, I would like to know if I may use some of the material from this site and if you have some references or pearls of wisdom to suggest. I really would appreciate hearing them.
By the way, in the field of literacy and emerging language skills, the area of corrections is doing a big job of stressing the importance of getting a GED. If an inmate wants a job above $7.50 a month, he has to have a diploma!
Sometime in the next two years, an inmate will also need a GED to get a parole date! So far I have enjoyed my inmate students. They are so interesting, and surprisingly, they are open to using dictionaries and improving their vocabulary. Thanks for listening.
Thank you for the welcome; what fun to find your page. As a retired teacher of Humanities, I applaud the writer's efforts to present accurate information to her class. I'm sure she is an excellent teacher. I also admire your effort in trying to focus on Latin and Greek derivatives, and I'll be interested to see if you can pull it off.
Having done no research on either punishment or discipline, I don't have any answers, but here are a few ideas I'll S.W.A.G.
First, punishment and discipline are Latin derivatives but with radically different stems. The text is right to make a difference between them. The Latins and Greeks were clear thinkers and, therefore, meant exactly what they said.
When they used "punishment," they meant a condition of causing pain or suffering; when they used "discipline," they meant instruction and/or education. Punishment and discipline may be used together. That is, one may cause pain or suffering (emotional, not necessarily physical), but that is largely ineffective without discipline.
"Don't hit your sister with your fist, you'll break your knuckles" is more effective than "Don't hit your sister with your fist, because if you do, I"ll hit you." ;-)
So, discipline takes punishment one step further; it provides instruction as to the way of the world. Experiments in child psychology appear to provide evidence showing that babies only two or three months old have a sense of how the physical world works. The essence of punishment is unpredictability. The two words probably became synonymous in the vernacular through sloppy thinking.
Good luck with your project.
Any idea who came up with this ridiculous sesquipedalian monstrosity [floccinaucinihilipilification]? I forgot the definition.
Your newsletter is great by the way.
Ok, is there a precise word for the act of "counting sheep" other than the inaccurate "insomnia"? If not, can we offer a neologism, a hybrid word combining sheep and sleep . . . Ewesomia? But that isn't pc, is it? Ewes it or lose it . . . . (to sheep perchance to dream?)
I checked Nelson's Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament in which the word for "flock, sheep, goats"; is tso’n or "small cattle". "Tso’nia?" "Tso’nasomia"? I don't know, this sounds strange . . . .
What about the "counting" part of "counting sheep"? The same Hebraic dictionary defines "count"; as saphar, meaning "to number, count, proclaim or declare".
So counting sheep could be combined into "Saphartsonia"?
But what about the "sleep" connection? This is rambling, perhaps you could offer a Latin-Greek variant . . . thanks.
I probably should have been more precise with my discussion about “lose” and the [sic] example of “loose”. Whenever we mean that something has been lost, we should NEVER say, “I loose the hounds” or “I loosened the hounds” OR “The quarter back loosed his grip on the football” when LOST is meant!
The [sic] misuses are when people replace “lose” with “loose”. Again, I should have written, “... we NEVER ‘loose’ anything when ‘to lose’ is meant! They are two different verbs with different meanings and should not be confused. It’s certainly correct to say, “I let the dogs loose so they could run around (for example).” I maintain that it is unacceptable to say, “I loosed the dogs and I don’t know where they are” when “I lost the dogs .... ” is meant. Does this clarify the point?
I do appreciate the comments from readers. If nothing else, they make me aware that I must be more precise and probably should not have sent the letter out when I was so tired. It was after 2:30 a.m. (where I am) when I submitted the letter to the web and I wanted to get it out to see if it would go out properly (over the internet, that is).
For those who wrote, thank you. It means you’re paying attention and that’s better than being ignored. This reminds me of something I read recently about the “conspiracy of silence”. The phrase was coined by Sir Lewis Morris, a minor poet of the Victorian era. He wanted to be Poet Laureate in England but he never gained this honor. He claimed that critics were jealous of him and, as a result, damned his poetry when they bothered to mention it at all. He once complained at length to Oscar Wilde of this treatment, finally saying: “Oscar, there’s a conspiracy of silence against me. What shall I do?” Wilde replied simply: “Join it!”
The Washington Post recently published a contest for readers in which they were asked to supply alternate meanings for various words. The following were some of the winning entries:
- Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
- Carcinoma (n.), a valley in California, notable for its heavy smog.
- Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
- Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
- Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
- Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightie.
- Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
- Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.
- Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon.
- Flatulence (n.) the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
- Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
- Semantics (n.), pranks conducted by young men studying for the priesthood, including such things as gluing the pages of the priest's prayer book together just before vespers.
- Circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts.
- Frisbatarianism (n.), The belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there.
The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are some recent winners:
- Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the reader who doesn't get it.
- Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
- Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very high.
- Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of obtaining sex.
- Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously.
- Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.
- Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like a serious bummer.
- Glibido: All talk and no action.
- Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
- Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
I read your e-mail on the deplorable state of education in the United States.
Having taught both high school and college, I must admit that the comments are quite accurate. I must say that I am certainly doing my best to maintain high standards both at the university and high school levels and your newsletters have been a great help in helping me achieve this.
Best regards,James
John,
I enjoyed your latest newsletter about the problem of cheating and the watering down of the curricula in most academic areas. In my first teaching position almost forty years ago, I took a boy's History Regents paper away from him . . . along with his copious "cheat notes" and went to the Principal.
The result? I almost lost my job for daring to ruin this young person's life. The same Principal later asked me to remark the State Regents exams and see if I couldn't upgrade some of them because "they weren't going to be reviewed at the state capital that year and who would know the difference."
I'm happy to report I didn't, but it wasn't easy and the pressure on teachers to bend the rules has only grown worse. I don't know what the answers are, but you are right to highlight the problem.
Best wishes,
Ray
Hi John:
You have made some excellent points about education and Americans. I see this all the time. I have a Montessori Pre-school and we have "before and after-school kids" from three districts and it's amazing what they don't know and yet bring home "A's" and "B's".
Have you ever read the Leipzig Connection? I ran across it in a thrift store and it's the story of how America's education came to be what it is now.
Thanks for the wonderful newsletter. I don't say much about it but I do love getting it. You do a great job.
Pam