Todays Thought

The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. 

-Steve Biko, anti-apartheid activist (18 Dec 1946-1977)

Todays Thought

For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: “It might have been!” 

-John Greenleaf Whittier, poet (17 Dec 1807-1892)

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Todays Word

 

lexiphanic

PRONUNCIATION:

(lek-si-FAN-ik) 

MEANING:

adjective: Using pretentious words and language.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Lexiphanes, a bombastic speaker, in the satire of the same name by Lucian (2nd century CE). From Greek lexis (speech, diction, word) + phainein (to show). Earliest documented use: 1767.

NOTES:

Lexiphanes, the title character of the satire, likes to use pretentious words and convoluted sentences in the belief that it shows his intellect. His friend Lycinus is concerned and has a doctor treat him. The doctor prescribes an emetic to purge Lexiphanes of his vocal clogging.

With Lexiphanes’s system cleaned, the doctor leaves him in his friend’s care. Lycinus prescribes reading great poets, orators, and philosophers, saying “We do not like even poetry to read like the dictionary.”

Lexiphanes is also a genus of leaf beetles. It’s not known what these beetles talk about when they use their fancy long words.

USAGE:

“Someone who reads dictionaries for fun. ... Been totally lexiphanic and proud of the fact.”
Debra Adelaide; The Household Guide to Dying; HarperCollins; 2009.

Todays Thought

In its original literal sense, "moral relativism" is simply moral complexity. That is, anyone who agrees that stealing a loaf of bread to feed one's children is not the moral equivalent of, say, shoplifting a dress for the fun of it, is a relativist of sorts. But in recent years, conservatives bent on reinstating an essentially religious vocabulary of absolute good and evil as the only legitimate framework for discussing social values have redefined "relative" as "arbitrary". 

-Ellen Jane Willis, writer (14 Dec 1941-2006)

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