guillory h VE ch 8 stories
parasite
the greek parasitos was one who ate at the table of another, one who was literally beside the food. this word originally had a favorable meaning, for the term applied to priests, gov officials, and heroes honored with a feast at the public expense. this word has degenerated to a term of contempt. human ___ live at another expense
posthumous
comes from latin word postumus meaning very last. since an after death occurrence is one which is the very last, postumus came to mean after death. the word human can be traced back to indo-european ancient language dhghem (earth). in biblical hebrew, the name adam sounds like the hebrew word for earth. both hebrew and indo-european languages associate the origin of man with the dust of the earth. our life cycle as suggested by the etymologies of human and ____ can be summarized in the phrase ashes to ashes and dust to dust. ben johnson wrote volpone and the alchemist; herman melville wrote billy bud and moby dick
dexterous and sinister
left handers complain that thisis a right-handers world. we praise a good worker by calling him our right hand man. surgeons and pianists have manual _____. the threat of evil is associated with the left, for we refer to bloodcurdling howls accompanied by a sudden chill in the atmosphere as ____ events. lord acton noted the ___ nature of power. edgar allen poe and stephen king ___ create ____ environments in their stories
enthrall
originally, thrall meant slave in english. to ___ someone was to make that person a slave. Cleopatra _____ mark antony. richard wright wrote: native son; zora neale hurston wrote:Their Eyes were Watching God, margaret walker wrote jubilee, alice walker wrote The Third Life of Grange Copeland.
candid
the ancient romans had 2 words for white - albus for ordinary white, and candidus for shining white., as in the special gleaming of white of new fallen snow. candidus was also associated with spotlessness and purity, as when referring to the honesty of ones character, the cleanness of one's writing style, or the beauty of ones features. roman office seekers went among the public clad in white togas which symbolized their honesty. they would rub chalk into their togas.
ephemeral
the asian spiritual teacher buddha emphasized the ever-changing nature of existence. he saw that youth, health, and life itself rapidly vanished. robert herrick advised delighting in short pleasures (in his poem in the book).
zealous
this comes from the greek word zelos meaning intense and passionate devotion or enthusiasm a meaning still retained in our word ___. during the first centuryAD, these ppl opposed roman rule. from masada, the zealots fought off the romans for nearly 2 years. when defeat seemed inevitable, the zealots committed mass suicide.
cant
this word derives from the latin cantus (song). people believed that some of the medieval clergymen who chanted their prayers were dully repetitious and insincere. the beggars singing at church funeral services were viewed as insincere. andrew cant, a scottish preacher notorious for viciously persecuting religious opponents while simultaneously praying for their souls, strengthened the negative overtone of ____ by the words association with his name. this word also refers to the special language of a group or profession
chagrin
this word entered from the french word meaning distressed. the turkish word shagri meaning the rump or hind part of a horse. from shagri comes the french word ____ meaning rough leather or sharkskin. this rough material was used as an abrasiuve, as in rubbing the dirt off pots and pans.the sense of the rough, irritating, abrasive nature of the turkish-derived ____ was prob transferred to the other ____.
