lemma
On occasion I have been known to take a mental meander through a book of words – usually the Webster’s Talking Dictionary that is installed on my computer. During one such cruise and peruse, I tripped and/or stumbled over several very interesting words – most of which are seldom used in everyday conversation. Dragging them from their hiding place, I decided to allow them to experience the freedom and joy of jovial communication.
My saunter of contemplation was in the “L” section and the word that started all this was lemma. This is an auxiliary proposition accepted as true for use in the demonstration of another proposition. It would also be considered a form of syllogism (deductive reasoning) – another unit of discourse discovered some time in the past while tripping the light verbalistic.
Since “di” added to a word usually means two, one might think that dilemma would mean two of the aforementioned things already defined. But I have been in a few of these dilemmas and they are not nearly so calm, cool and collected as just one lemma alone. In fact, most of the dilemmas in which I have found myself have extracted somewhat of a cost from the mental and/or emotional parts of me - and even occasionally the physical.
When joyously finding these somewhat odd, but meaningful, combinations of letters, I strive to compose a sentence in which to use them. This even if I have to bend the definition ever so slightly to fit the series of words – at times a crowbar of circumlocution is necessary. During a face to face conversation my legerity (mental quickness) sometimes doesn’t allow me to draw a word picture the way I would have liked, leaving somewhat of a lacuna (a gap or missing part). Later I seem to think of the very witty remark I could have made, or something good I could have said, but the person to say it to has already departed.
When I write, however, there is plenty of time to think and rethink and rewrite and correct and re-correct – even delete. But with all this, I still think of things I could have written – after the fact (after the email, blog, etc. is sent).
Some of the words I come across still leave a lot of questions even after I look at the definition. For instance the definition for the word loxodrome is given simply as “rhumb line”. Then I am forced to look up rhumb line – the path of a ship that maintains a constant compass direction. The word rhumb is a point of the compass.
I found out that lovat meant a grayish blend of colors, especially of green, loup was to leap, louche was disreputable and lorn was forsaken or desolate. Lugubrious is something I don’t recall being since Jesus Christ rescued me from sin. Litotes, as a word, is not bad at all and refers me to hyperbole, a word we all use thousands of times a day.
A loquat is a small evergreen tree, cultivated as an ornamental – also it is the name of its yellow plum-like fruit. At first glance loquacious would seem a related word and might mean that you had eaten too many loquats. But the only fruit loquacious is associated with is the fruit of the lips and refers to someone that tends to talk a lot – maybe too much (or maybe writes too much about weird stuff).
Then there is the word liberticide: 1- Destruction of liberty. 2- A person who destroys liberty. I was somewhat taken aback that such a word even existed – my spell check doesn’t even like it. It must be fairly new, since it was not in my hard copy dictionary – several years old. My mind first went to several third world countries in which this action is taking place. But then it hit me that it’s happening in this country as well, only in a much more subtle manner. More anti-freedom laws are being put on the books and more judges are bending to the will of small but loud groups and are ruling against long held freedoms. Liberticide is taking place in our very own land of the free.
With this in mind, I am so glad that Jesus made it possible to have a freedom for the soul that no man or political group (or even demons) can take away. Even if our body is in bondage, we can have the freedom of Christ for the asking. I wonder why more people don’t ask? ec
My saunter of contemplation was in the “L” section and the word that started all this was lemma. This is an auxiliary proposition accepted as true for use in the demonstration of another proposition. It would also be considered a form of syllogism (deductive reasoning) – another unit of discourse discovered some time in the past while tripping the light verbalistic.
Since “di” added to a word usually means two, one might think that dilemma would mean two of the aforementioned things already defined. But I have been in a few of these dilemmas and they are not nearly so calm, cool and collected as just one lemma alone. In fact, most of the dilemmas in which I have found myself have extracted somewhat of a cost from the mental and/or emotional parts of me - and even occasionally the physical.
When joyously finding these somewhat odd, but meaningful, combinations of letters, I strive to compose a sentence in which to use them. This even if I have to bend the definition ever so slightly to fit the series of words – at times a crowbar of circumlocution is necessary. During a face to face conversation my legerity (mental quickness) sometimes doesn’t allow me to draw a word picture the way I would have liked, leaving somewhat of a lacuna (a gap or missing part). Later I seem to think of the very witty remark I could have made, or something good I could have said, but the person to say it to has already departed.
When I write, however, there is plenty of time to think and rethink and rewrite and correct and re-correct – even delete. But with all this, I still think of things I could have written – after the fact (after the email, blog, etc. is sent).
Some of the words I come across still leave a lot of questions even after I look at the definition. For instance the definition for the word loxodrome is given simply as “rhumb line”. Then I am forced to look up rhumb line – the path of a ship that maintains a constant compass direction. The word rhumb is a point of the compass.
I found out that lovat meant a grayish blend of colors, especially of green, loup was to leap, louche was disreputable and lorn was forsaken or desolate. Lugubrious is something I don’t recall being since Jesus Christ rescued me from sin. Litotes, as a word, is not bad at all and refers me to hyperbole, a word we all use thousands of times a day.
A loquat is a small evergreen tree, cultivated as an ornamental – also it is the name of its yellow plum-like fruit. At first glance loquacious would seem a related word and might mean that you had eaten too many loquats. But the only fruit loquacious is associated with is the fruit of the lips and refers to someone that tends to talk a lot – maybe too much (or maybe writes too much about weird stuff).
Then there is the word liberticide: 1- Destruction of liberty. 2- A person who destroys liberty. I was somewhat taken aback that such a word even existed – my spell check doesn’t even like it. It must be fairly new, since it was not in my hard copy dictionary – several years old. My mind first went to several third world countries in which this action is taking place. But then it hit me that it’s happening in this country as well, only in a much more subtle manner. More anti-freedom laws are being put on the books and more judges are bending to the will of small but loud groups and are ruling against long held freedoms. Liberticide is taking place in our very own land of the free.
With this in mind, I am so glad that Jesus made it possible to have a freedom for the soul that no man or political group (or even demons) can take away. Even if our body is in bondage, we can have the freedom of Christ for the asking. I wonder why more people don’t ask? ec
posted by mreddie | 10:55 AM
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