Chapter 4 Flashcards
Draconian
Characterized by very strict laws, rules, and punishments
Draco was and ancient Athenian ruler who believed that the city-state’s haphazard judicial system needed to be reformed. In 621 B.C.E., he issued a comprehensive but very severe new code of laws. Whether trivial or serious, most criminal offenses called for the death penalty. Draco’s laws were so severe that they were said to be written not in ink but in blood.
Today, the word DRACONIAN refers to very strict laws, rules, and punishments. For example, in Iran both men and women can be stoned to death as punishment for being convicted of adultery.
Laconic
Very bried; concise; SUCCINCT; TERSE
The ancient city-state of Sparta was located in a region of Greece called Laconia. The Spartans were fearless warriors who had little time for long speeches. As a result, they were renowed for being LACONIC or very concise. For example, Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great sent the spartans a long list of demands. The LACONIC Spartans sent it back with a one-word answer: “NO!”
Today, the word LACONIC still means very brief and TERSE.
New Englanders are often described as LACONIC. For instance, Robert Frost, the poet who spet most of his life in Vermont and New Hampshire, is considered the QUINTESSENTIAL (the most perfect embodiment) LACONIC writer, one who expressed much in few words.
Spartan
Plain; simple; AUSTERE
The Spartans were more than just LACONIC. they also prided themsleves on being tough warriors who avoided luxuries and led hardy lives. For example, Spartan soldiers lived in army barracks and ate meager servings of a coarse black porridge.
Today, the word SPARTAN still describes a plain life without luxuries. Like the ancient Spartans, American soldiers undergo a rigorous period of training. For example, recruits at the Marine training center at Parris Islands must live in SPARTAN barracks and endure an ARDUOUS (demanding) 12-week training schedule before they can be called United States Marines.
Halcyon
Idyllically calm and peaceful; an untroubled golden time of satisfaction, happiness, and tranquility
In Greeek mythology, Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus, god of the winds, and the devoted wife of Ceyx. When Ceyx tragically drowned in a shipwreck, the distraught Alcyone threw herself into the sea. Out of compassion the Gods transformed Acyone and Ceyx into a pair of kingfishers. The ancient Greeks named this distinctive bird halkyon after Alcyone. According to legend, kingfishers built a floating nest on the sea at about the time of the winter solstice. The expression “halcyon days” refers to this period of untroubled peace and tranquility.
Today, AHLCYON still refers to a golden time of untroubled happiness and tranquility. In the movie, The Notebook, Allie and Noah are two carefree teenagers who meet at a local carnival of Seabrook Island, South Carolina, and spend a HALCYON days inspire their lifelong love for each other.
Companies can also enjoy HALCYON days with content employees, satisfied customers, and robust profits.
Sophistry
A plausible but deliberately misleading or FALLACIOUS argument designed to deceive someone
In the mocie Animal House, the Deltas are a notorious group of fun-loving misfits who greefully break campus rules. Outraged by their low grades and wild parties, Dean Wormer holds a hearing to revoke the Deltas’ charter . UNDAUNTED by Dean Wormer’s accusation, Otter resorts to SOPHISTRY in a clever but ultimately FUTILE attempt to save the Deltas: “sdkfjgh ighdfiu iuhgdfhfd hirughdfn siuhdg YES IT IS!”
Pleased with his SOPHISTRY, Otter then leads the defiant Deltas out of the chamber as all the fraternity brothers hum the Star-Spangled Banner.
Chimerical
Given to fantastc schemes; exciting only in the imagination; impossible; vainly conceived
The Chimera was one of the most fearsome omnsters in Greek mythology. A fire-breathing female, she had the head and body of a lion, a serpent’s tail, and a goat’s head protruding from her midsection. This frightening combination was unusually fantastic even for the ancient Greeks.
Today, a CHIMERICAL scheme or claim is one that is a product of unrestrained fantasy. For example, according to popular legend, Ponce de Leon discovered Florida while seaching for the fabled Fountain of Youth. While the Fountain of Youth proved to be fanciful, we have still not given up our search for longevity. Fad diets, vitamin supplements, and exercise routines all offer claims that have often proved to be Givenn>CHIMERICAL.
Ostracize
To deliberately exclude from a group; to BANISH
Today, the word OSTRACIZE still retains its original meaning of deliberately excluding someone from a group. For example, following World War II, angry French citizens OSTRACIZED people who had collaborated with the Nazis. In Chartres, vigilantes shavd the head of a young woman whose baby was fathered by a German soldier. Crowds of jeering people taunted the OSTRACIZED woman as she walked alone on the city streets.
Impecunious
Poor; penisless; NOT AFFLUENT
When the Romans first settled the lands along the Tiber River, they lacked a metal currency.
Nonetheless, Roman farmers did have an ample supply fo cattle. As a result, cattle were often used as a measure of wealth. In Latin, pecus is the word for cattle. A Roman without a cow or pecus was thus IMPECUNIOUS (IM is a prefix meaning NOT) or NOT WEALTHY.
Today, the word IMPECUNIOUS means lacking money and, thus, poor. The recent global financial crisis is considered by many to be the worst since the Great Depression. The United States’ weak economy has RENDERED (made) many citizens IMPECUNIOUS. The official unemployment rate in the United States reached a staggering 9.1 percent, a figure that did not even include the underemployed or those who had given up looking for work. Moreover, foreclosure rates were at an all-time high, leaving many Americans in a PRECARIOUS state financially.
Nefarious
Famous for being wicked; VILLAINOUS; vile
In ancient Rome, the Latin word nefarious refereed to a criminal. This unsavory connotation continued over the centuries. Today, the word NEFARIOUS is used to describe someone who is extremely wicked. Some of the most NEFARIOUS villains in film include Lord Voldemort (Hary Potter), the Joker (The Dark Knight), Darth Vader (Star Wars.)
Jovial
Good-humored; cheerful; JOCULAR
Jupiter was the chief deity of the Roman PANTHEON (all the gods of particular mythology). The Romans believed that each of their gods possessed particular attributes of character. As the most powerful god, Jupiter was majestic and authoritative. However, he was also belived to be fun-loving and the source of joy and happiness. Since Jupiter was also known as Jove, the word JOVIAL came to refer to people who have a heerful, jolly temperament.
Today, JOVIAL still retains its meaning of good-humored, cheerful, and JOCULAR. While most people do not associate JOVIAL with Jupiter, they do associate the word with Santa Claus. Often referref to as “JOVIAL old St. Nicholas,” Santa Claus is usually presented as a jolly, good humored man who brings presents to well-behaved children.
Dirge
A funeral hymn; a slow, mournful, LUGUBRIOUS musical composition
When medieval Christians gathered to pay their final respects to the decreased, the Church ceremony began with this solemn Latin phrase:
“Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectus tuo viam meam.” (“Direct, O Lord my God, my way in thy sight.”)
Today, a DIRGE refers to a sad, mournful song or hymn of lament. For example, as the Titanic slowly sank, its musicians supposedly played the DIRGE “Nearer, My God, To Thee” to comfort the desperate souls still on the doomed ship. As POIGNANTLY depicted in the movie, the band played the LUGUBRIOUS DIRGE until the very end. They then calmly went down with their ship.
Maudlin
Tearful; excessively sentimental, but not MAWKISH
Fans of the Harry Potter novels will recall that Moaning Myrtle lives up to her name by crying INCESSANTLY (endlessly) and thus being MAUDLIN. Still, most would agree that she is a strong character who stops short of becoming MAWKISH (nauseatingly sentimental in a sickly, dull, INSIPID way), which is MAUDLIN carried to the extreme.
Quixotic
Foolishly impractical in the pursuit of ideals; impractical idealism
Miguel de Cervantes’ epic novel Don Quixote describes the chivalric adventures of the would-be knight Don Quixote. Motivated by chivalric ideals, Don Quixote is determined to undo the wrongs of the world. His fertile imagination turns lonely inns into castles and windmills into fearsome giants. After a long series of misadventures, Don Quixote returns home a tired and disillusioned old man. Derived from his name, the modern word QUIXOTIC refers to the foolish and impractical pursuit of noble but unattainable ideals.
Every year, 10’s of thousands of wannabe singers audition to compete on American Idol. Man of the auditionees have left their jobs, skipped improtant events , and traveled across the coutry just to attend the auditions. Allof the auditionees are convinced that they have the talent to be the next American Idol. The majority of the singers are QUIXOTIC, for they give up their livelihoos in order to pursue unrealistic dreams of fame and fortune. Since only a few Idol hopefuls make it ti the next round, most of the singers return home sadly, with no ticket to Hollywood.
Pandemonium
A wild uproar; tumult
In Book I of Milton’s Paradise Lost, the fallen Satan commands his heralds to announce: “A solemn Councel forthwith to be held/At Pandemonium, the high Capital/of Satan and his Peers.” Milton COINED this name for the capital of Hell by combining the prefix PAN, meaning “all,” with the Late Latin word daemonium, meaning “place of the evil spirits.” As Satan’s capital, Pandemonium was characterized by a place of noise, confusion, andwild uproar.
Today, the word PANDEMONIUM refers to a wild uproar rather than a specific place. On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon created states of PANDEMONIUM in New York City and Washington, DC. Recent natural disasters have also caused significant PANDEMONIUM. The devastait livele World ting earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 and the destructive tsunami in Japan in March 2011 caused massive uproar and panic in those countries.
Martinet
A strict disciplinarian; a person who demands absolute adherence to forms and rules
Today, the word MARTINET still refers to a strcit disciplinarian. The Marine Drill Sergeants at Parri s Islands are renowed for being merciless MARTINETS. As reader of Harry Potter are well aware, Martinets are not limited to the military. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dolores Umbridge was a MARTINET who tried to impose rigid standards of discipline on the students and faculty at Hogwarts.
