leitmotif

leitmotif - noun - In music drama, a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play; a sort of musical label; a dominant and recurring theme.

I'm sitting here listening, as I frequently do while working, to the musical soundtracks from the StarWars movies. I'm a huge fan of John Williams' scores. He really seems to have a knack for emotionally charging a particular scene, or getting your to feel a certain dread, animation, excitement, or other emotional connection to the action or characters on-screen.

I'm sure just about anyone can hear the theme titled "A New Hope" and know it pertains to Luke Skywalker, or to certian other themes and know Jar Jar Binks is about to be on screen and do something ridiculous. The most famous, and probably most recognizable theme, is "Lord Vader's March".

The concept of musical labels goes back a long time (especially in movies) to early themes in which the music was played by the organist or some other player in the theater as the movie was run. The particular sounds emitted were cues the bad guy (or good guy, or beautiful damsel - possibly in distress) were about to be or were indeed on the screen. This particular idiom has become such a part of our current concept of entertainment - it makes it into tv shows, and children playing make their own music (humming tunes or singing in various voices) to indicate a particular suspensful or action packed time of their play. I can say I am guilty of having played in this fashion while I was a child - often with some comic interpretation by my parents who happened to overhear such renditions.

concomitant

concomitant – adj - Existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent.

What follows has nothing to do with today's word, but I found it so interesting I had to pass it on.

As you know, women outnumber men in the developed world, and they've outnumbered them since about the 12th Century. Based on the available - and admittedly spotty and largely anecdotal - evidence, the situation was reversed right up until the High Middle Ages. What happened? It seems that women of child-bearing age need twice as much iron in their diets as men; pregnant women need three times as much. The typical diet in, for example, ancient Rome was heavy on grains, fruits, green vegetables, olives, and fish, with the result that most women were severely anemic by the time they were in their 20s, which in turn made them easy prey to any virus or bacterial infection that was making the rounds. Starting in the 11th Century West, beans and peas were introduced, rabbits were brought to France and England from Spain, and the supply of meat in general increased. Result: women at all levels were getting an iron-rich diet and living longer; in fact, they started outliving men.

One point is that women weren't being starved or worked to death by an oppressive, sexist patriarchy, and the drivel being promoted by the Womyns' Studies types is just that - drivel. Men and women were subsisting on the same diets; the effect on women was catastrophic, on men negligible. To drive the point a little further home, it wasn't until the 20th Century that anyone would have known what you were talking about if you had mentioned vitamins and minerals as they pertained to diet.

epicene

epicene - adj - having the characteristics of both sexes; effeminate; unmasculine; sexless; neuter; having but one form of the noun for both the male and female

lumpen

lumpen - adj - of or pertaining to dispossessed and displaced individuals, especially those who have lost social status; common; vulgar;

Jumping on a similar concept with the comments Jack posted today.

porcine

porcine – adj - Of or pertaining to swine; resembling swine; hoggish; piggish.

Today's word was inspired by the photograph on my new state ID. I was sufficiently horrified to go on a diet, and this time I'm going all the way. (Now if I could only get more exercise. . .)

To tell the truth, I reminded myself of Charles Laughton as Quasimodo in the 1939 Hunchback of Notre Dame. I might consider a career change if I found a cathedral in the market for a bell-ringer.

incipient

incipient - adj - beginning to exist or appear


In my last post I mentioned the drudgery of work and how the winds of change were beginning to blow. They have certainly gusted recently and this word is in honor of my new position, beginning in two weeks.

nymphomania

nymphomania - n - Abnormally excessive and uncontrollable sexual desire in women.

I was going to make 'satyriasis' my word for today, but - lo and behold! - it's already been used - and by me, no less! (I can't remember if I remarked that, when I was younger, I was "heterosexual to the threshhold of satyriasis," but if I didn't then, I will now. Absurd as it may seem, much of that remains as I pass from middle- to old-age. Of the Seven Deadly Sins, Lust has always been deadliest to me.)

I must have considered using today's word before, but no doubt refrained out of respect for that "rare and radiant maiden(?) whom the angels named" Natalie. Well, Nat's gone, and our daily institution need no longer be rated PG-13.

Check out one of my favorite sculptures, Gianlorenzo Bernini's Apollo and Daphne (completed 1625).

perfunctory

perfunctory - adj - done merely to carry out a duty; performed mechanically or routinely; lacking interest, care, enthusiasm; indifferent


I'm am largely surprised I (or someone) have not submitted this word already. Although, at this point it largely describes my approach to work. Have you ever seen the movie, "Office Space"? It is largely a satirical treatise on the "normal" office environment. Largely (I think) inspired by the Dilbert comic strip. In one particular scene, the "contractors" are there to evaluate where cuts can be made and are interviewing each employee. The hero (antihero?) of the movie sits before these gentlemen and describes his approach to the day. "First I sit and stare at my computer. I do that for about an hour ..." and so on. He doesn't really like his work, his work environment, the company for which he works, etc. I relate to this particular character. However, the winds of change are blowing and a new day may be dawning...

aspirant

aspirant - n - One who aspires, as to advancement, honors, or a high position.

I myself am an aspirant - aren't we all? Unfortunately, "Time is the bridge that burns behinds us." The traditional three-score-and-ten just isn't enough time to achieve all my aspirations. If I attain salvation, as I hope to, I'm sure there will be a great library in Heaven; Hell's library will no doubt be packed to the rafters with Stephen King and Danielle Steele - yet another incentive (if one were needed) to live a Christian life.

Do I ramble? Very well then, I ramble! "I am infinite, I contain multitudes!" ;^D

Come to think of it, it's been a while since I posted one of my exquisite women. Today's example won't be to everyone's taste, but I think she's irresistible. She's the Vicomtess Othenin d'Haussonville, formerly Louise-Albertine de Broglie, painted by Jean August Dominique Ingres in 1845. In the days of my youth, I'd have followed those eyes anywhere.

kitsch

kitsch – n - Something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.

Personally, I like Milan Kundera's definition, that kitsch is "the translation of the stupidity of received ideas into the language of beauty and feeling."

It grieves me to admit it, but there's a lot of kitsch (along with much that is brilliant) in Charles Dickens's fiction. For example, in Bleak House, I nearly went into a diabetic coma reading Esther Summerson's gushy prattle about her "darlings, Richard and Ada." On the other hand, the same novel's Mr. Lawrence Boythorne mad me laugh out loud.

polyglot

polyglot - adj - able to speak or write several languages; multilingual; containing, composed of, or written in several languages

Somehow I missed submitting this one after polymath, but it seems appropriate today after yet more examples written in comments on yesterdays word by Jack.

fiat

fiat - noun - an arbitrary or authoritative command or order; formal or official authorization or sanction

Arbitrary -or- authoritative? That combination seems odd. Besides, isn't this just a small red car? -wink-

fib

fib – n - A small or trivial lie; minor falsehood.

A simple word for today. I don't think I've heard it anywhere but New York. Is it used elsewhere?

appellation

appellation - noun - the word by which a particular person or thing is called and known; name; title; designation; the act of naming


Why is the name of the color blue? And how is it so universally understood? My son, recently asked (again) why certain things are named the way they are. Of course, he picked the simple and universal ones. Those are always the hardest to answer, if they can indeed be answered.

lacuna

lacuna - n - A gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.

A particularly frustrating example of lacunae is the Annals of Tacitus (A.D 55-117), which has large gaps, especially in his lives of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula. It's enough to make stones weep and turnips bleed.

polymath

polymath - noun - a person of great or varied learning; one acquainted with various subjects of study


Earlier in the list appears the word Autodidact describing a person who is self-taught. This word seems to go hand-in-hand with it. Good examples from history: Leonardo da Vinci, Julius Ceaser, Benjamin Franklin, Jack....

transubstantiation

transubstantiation - n - The changing of one substance into another; the changing of the elements of the bread and wine, when they are consecrated in the Eucharist, into the body and blood of Christ (a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church).

I can't believe this hasn't already been used. The Catholic doctrine in question has been controversial since before the Reformation. John Wycliffe, to mention a prominent example, denied the real prescence of Christ in the bread and wine. In the 17th Century, Thomas Hobbes derided "transubstantiation" as a nonsense word promulgated by "deceived and deceiving Schoolmen." The Catholics, Orthodox, and some Protestant denominations maintain the doctrine today.

delectation

delectation - noun - great pleasure, delight, enjoyment

Something I wish I could get out of my job, and which I hope everyone else is getting. I have a couple of opportunities which may offer more in the way of this word, but I haven't heard when I can present myself for consideration for them yet.

avuncular

avuncular - adj - Of or having to do with an uncle; regarded as characteristic of an uncle, especially in benevolence or tolerance.

insuperable

insuperable - adj - incapable of being passed over, surmounted or overcome; unsurmountable


Related to my current job, I am (unfortunately) no longer programming. The company has purchased what is (I think) a wonderful piece of software to allow non-technical users to develop fully working business plans (BPM). However, from the developer perspective, there isn't much to keep the interest. So, I'm sure I'll be in the job market again since I insist on being either a programmer or a manager of programmers.