[Peace-discuss] Keywords 112918

[C. G. Estabrook]

Practice omphaloskepsis and await embourgeoisement, you pulchritudinous callipygian!

Translation: Turn on, tune in, and drop out, you bad ass!


> On Nov 29, 2018, at 12:42 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> pulchritudinous
> Definition - physically beautiful
> If the meaning of this word seems counterintuitive, it's probably because the word's Latin ancestor pulcher ("beautiful") is unfamiliar, and pulchritudinous sounds more disgusting than enchanting. We have been using pulchritude to refer to beauty since the 15th century. Pulchritudinous is a more recent addition to our language; its use dates to the early 18th century, and only began to be used to specifically refer to people’s beauty in the middle of the 19th.
> The braided locks of the pulchritudinous fair ones, with their infinity of triple plaits, are lent to the mercies of the wind.
> — The Athenæum (London, Eng.), 25 Sept. 1858
> => Cp. callipygian  (Keywords 110918) : having shapely buttocks.
> 
> omphaloskepsis
> Definition - contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation; also: lack of will to move, exert, or change: inertia
> In Greek, omphalos means “navel" and skepsis means “examination." Most of us are familiar with at least some words which the latter of these roots shares parentage with (skeptic, skepticism), but omphalo- words are considerably more rare. Among them are omphaloid, which is defined as “resembling an umbilicus (“navel”).
> Football, tennis, and even cinemas by barbarians from the West has tended to lower the popularity of omphaloskepsis by encouraging extravert types of recreation.
> — The Times of India (Mumbai, Ind.), 17 Feb. 1928
> 
> embourgeoisement