Tantalizing - The curse of Tantalus
“It was eternal, see? Tantalus never
even achieved the escape of death.
The fruit on the branches was
always just out of reach…the water in the stream always
receded just when he stooped to
drink. And that’s why we say things
like, look at those tantalizing
pies” - The Shape of Water (2017)
Triathlon - “compete for three prizes”
According to Greek, an athlete is a person competing for a prize (from Gr. “athlein” (compete for a prize). So etymologically speaking, a triathlete in a triathlon should be competing for three prizes. Demand your fair share triathletes!
Nymphomania - “bride madness”
If a woman would like to be a “bride” to a lot of “husbands” then they may be a nymphomaniac. From Greek Nymph (bride) and mania (madness).
Ecology - “study of home” (gr.)
From Greek “oikos” (home) and “logy” (study of). A new way to look at a science dedicated to studying the earth (home).
Hydrate - “water yourself”
If there was ever a good example of the bastardization of the English language, it can be found in words relating to H2O still being used in common speech. We have Greek hydr (hydrate), Latin Aqua (aquatic, aquamarine), Germanic waeter (water) and Russian vodka (little water).
Olympics - “games of Olympian Zeus”
The original contests were not only held in the town of Olympus, but were also done to honor “Olympian Zeus” (the Greek god Zeus who lived on mount Olympus). It doesn’t take much to figure out how they came to name the games “the Olympics”
Catastrophe - “suddenly turned around”
Used outside the original meaning of Greek “katastrophe” (sudden turn) first in drama to mean a sudden turn in a theatrical performance, often with a fatal or undesirable effect. This meaning of something suddenly going very wrong expanded until we have our current understanding of the word as a terrible, widespread disaster.
Hypochondria - “under the rib cartilage”
Greek hupokhondria, denoting the soft body area below the ribs, from hupo (under) + khondros (sternal cartilage) due to the fact that melancholy was originally thought to arise from the bodily parts of that area i.e. liver, gallbladder, spleen, etc.
Anarchy - “no ruler”
Coined during the Reign of the Thirty Tyrants, this word referred to the period where there was no archon (chief) ruling over Athens. To all you “anarchists” out there - a reminder that during this 18 month time period of “anarchon” 5% of the population was murdered.
humansofnewyork
“I had very thick hair as a child. But I was also very tender-headed, so I hated getting my hair combed. The first time my mother took me to the salon, I screamed bloody murder. So for the rest of my childhood she did my hair herself. And it always looked good. I grew to believe that my hair was my best quality. I could have on my best make-up, and my best outfit, but if my hair wasn’t done right, the whole thing was off. After college my boyfriend discovered the first bald spot on the back of my head. Soon afterwards I was diagnosed with an auto-immune condition. The doctor told me that I could eventually lose all of my hair. I was devastated. I immediately called my mother, and she told me we were going to fight it. We prayed and prayed. We kept finding new oils and new shampoos. But the bald spot only grew bigger. My mother started doing my hair again, just like when I was a kid. And whenever a new spot appeared, she’d invent a new style to hide it. For the longest time no one knew. But it was so much stress. I’d panic if someone was behind me in the elevator. Dating was the worst. It was like: ‘Oh my gosh. How am I going to keep this a secret?’ Some mornings I’d call my mom in a moment of desperation. I’d tell her: ‘I can’t do this anymore. I’m going to shave it off.’ But she’d talk me out of it. She’d tell me: ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to figure this out.’ But we never did. It only got worse and worse. By the age of thirty-one I was in a really dark place. And I decided to go on a fast because I needed some clarity from God. And that’s when I made the decision. The first person I told was my mom. She’d been telling me not to do it for so long, because she was scared too. But I needed her to be OK with it. I needed her to finish this journey with me. Everyone in the hair salon was nervous. The person in the next chair was nervous. Even the hairdresser was nervous. She was like: ‘Do you really want to do this?’ But then she took out the clippers, and began to shave it off. My mother was the first one to break the silence. After the first pass of the clippers, she looked closely at my head. And then she announced to the whole salon: ‘It’s going to look good!’”
