It’s Greek to Thee
If some of the words I’ve talked about so far in this level sound like Greek to you, that’s because they are! In fact, some of the most delightful words in the English language are derived from Greek, and particularly from Greek names.
One of my all-time favorites is Procrustean (pro-KRUHS-tee-in). Procrustes (pro-KRUHS-teez) was a robber of Attica, says the Century Dictionary (1914), “who tortured his victims by placing them on a certain bed, and stretching them or lopping off their legs to adapt the body to its length.” Many were maimed upon Procrustes’ bed until the Greek hero Theseus (THEE-syoos) tied the old bugger to his own bedposts for a permanent snooze. Today Procrustean means producing conformity by cruel or violent means, and to place someone on a Procrustean bed is to use ruthless measures to make him conform.
No less murderous in his manner of making people toe the line was Draco (DRAY-koh), a statesman of Athens whose legendary code of laws was unquestionably Procrustean. Draco “prescribed the penalty of death for nearly all crimes,” says the Century, “for smaller crimes because they merited it, and for greater because he knew of no penalty more severe.” From this arbitrary administrator of Attic justice comes the word draconian (dra-KOHnee-in), meaning ruthlessly severe.
A more pleasant influence on the language was exercised by the philospher Epicurus (EP-i-KYUUR-us), the source of the word epicurean (EP-i-KYUUR-ee-in or EP-i-kyuu-REE-in). According to the Century Dictionary, Epicurus held that “pleasure is the only possible end of rational action, and the ultimate pleasure is freedom from disturbance.” Although Epicurus has come to be thought of as a votary (VOH-tuh-ree—do you need to look it up?) of unrestrained indulgence, in a strict sense epicureanism (main stress on -cure- or on -re-) is distinguished from hedonism (HEEduh-niz-’m), which in common parlance (PAHR-lunts) means living for the moment. Epicurus advocated the renunciation of momentary pleasures in favor of more permanent ones, and his summum bonum (SUUM-um BOH-num), or greatest good, was the pursuit of pleasure through the practice of virtue. The word epicure (EP-i-kyoor), once used disparagingly of one devoted to sensual pleasure, is today used to describe a person with fastidious tastes, especially in food or wine.
Ancient Greece was also home to Pyrrho (PIR-oh), one of the great skeptic philosophers. His doctrine, says the Century, “was that there is just as much to be said for as against any opinion whatever; that neither the senses nor the reason are to be trusted in the least; and that when we are once convinced we can know nothing, we cease to care, and in this way alone can attain happiness. It is said that Pyrrho would take no ordinary practical precautions, such as getting out of the way of vehicles.” In modern English, Pyrrhonism (PIR-uh-niz-’m) means absolute skepticism, universal doubt, and a Pyrrhonist (PIR-uh-nist) is a person who doubts everything.
English has also gained some gems from the geography of ancient Greece. The rural region of Boeotia (bee-OH-shuh), says the Century, was known for its torpid climate, which was “supposed to communicate its dullness to the intellect of the inhabitants.” Although three of Greece’s greatest men of letters— Hesiod (HEE-see-id), Pindar (PIN-dur), and Plutarch (PLOO-tahrk) —were native Boeotians, Athenian city slickers reveled in reviling these bucolic folk. Today the noun Boeotian (bee-OH-shin, like be ocean) means a dull, ignorant person, and the adjective Boeotian means stupid, boring, obtuse. According to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Boeotian ears are “ears unable to appreciate music or rhetoric.”
The supercilious Athenians also disparaged the inhabitants of Arcadia (ahr-KAY-dee-uh) and Soloi (SOH-loy).
Like the Boeotians, the Arcadians were a pastoral people, fond of music and dancing. They were considered the least intellectual of all the Greeks. The Greek equivalent of the word Arcadian meant a shepherd or farmer, but it had the pejorative (pi-JOR-uhtiv—is your dictionary handy?) connotation of simple-minded bumpkin. Arcadia’s reputation has since been vindicated. Today the word Arcadian is a poetic or literary way of referring to the simplicity and innocence of rustic life.
Soloi was an ancient Greek colony in Cilicia (si-LISH-uh), Asia Minor, whose citizens were renowned for their horrible habits of speech. That they spoke a corrupt form of Attic—the Athenian dialect—probably only made things worse for them. The Greeks thought the people of Soloi rude, pushy, and foul-mouthed, and coined the word soloikos to mean speaking or acting like an inhabitant of Soloi—by extension, speaking incorrectly or behaving in an unrefined fashion. From the Greeks’ bad-mouthing of these B.C. boors we inherit the word solecism (SAHL-uh-SIZ-’m), which usually means a gross grammatical error, but which may also denote a social impropriety, as when someone sneezes in your face or belches audibly in public.
Another city of Asia Minor, Laodicea (LAY-ah-di-SEE-uh), became infamous among early Christians for its lip service to the Lord. According to Brewer, the Laodiceans were “indifferent to religion, caring little or nothing about the matter.” When it came to believing in a higher power, Laodiceans responded with a primal shrug. Today the word Laodicean (LAY-ah-di-SEE-in) may be used either as a noun to mean an indifferent or complacent person, or as an adjective to mean indifferent or lukewarm, especially in matters of religion.
Well, my Laodicean pupil, just think of all the solecisms you have already learned to avoid by reading Verbal Advantage and tell me that my edifying interlude on Hellenisms has fallen happily upon your Boeotian ears. And with that plethora of information on interesting words that have come to us from ancient Greece, let’s return to the Verbal Advantage vocabulary for the next ten keywords in Level 6.
