Regarding Abe Lincoln’s marriage “Their marriage was a metonym of the divided nation.” from Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times.
Metonym (also metonymy) is a noun defined as a name or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. For example: “Washington is a metonym for the federal government of the US.”
It is pronounced as you might say MET uh him, but substituting nim for him.
Recent examples:
“Within a year, the restaurant’s name was a metonym for excellence in the art of raw fish.” New York Times
“The little glass monocle designed as corrective eyewear wound up as a comic prop, a universal metonym for wealth and snobbery.” The Atlantic
This is a perfect word for Word of the Week. Use it in your communication, and it will make you appear intelligent without sounding pretentious. To learn more about this word, and to hear the correct pronunciation go to the following:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metonym
Going back to the initial quote from Abe regarding his marriage, it goes on to say….
“And ( the metonym) carried a lesson: a house divided could stand if the two sides were thoroughly devoted to the union. Just as Walt Whitman in his poetry offered companionship and affection as the panacea for the shattered America, so the Lincolns remained devoted to each other and their children despite strains on their relationship, The strains were real.”
Note: Lincoln was a civil and trial lawyer in Springfield, Illinois from 1836 until 1860, and handled thousands of cases. He traveled a rural circuit and was away from home about 50% of the time. It has been said that he liked being on the road.
That brings up the question: Were his absences easing or exacerbating the strain on their marriage?
And although companionship and affection might have worked out OK for the Lincolns, it certainly did not work out well for the nation…..a Civil War erupted with an estimated 700,000 dead, about 2% of the population.
Now that is a serious political divide.
A previous “Word of the Week” revisited:
black swan event – it comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory
A word that is not a word but should be:
velocitude: the feeling of wellbeing associated with being in prolonged transit. From “Mating” a novel by Norman Rush
We know that feeling. It is a good feeling.
Quote of the Week:
“Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely” Sir John Dalberg-Acton
That is a pretty famous quote. Do you agree with it?
Until next Saturday,
Gramps
Fifty-six weeks of great words:
1 – exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2- assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”.
3 – force majeure’ – unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 – sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 – segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause. “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 – bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 – indolent – habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 – ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable – “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 – truncate -to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – béchamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free béchamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy – absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications. “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic – foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight. “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge. In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile. “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions. From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect. “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.”
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust. “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important. “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president’s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion. “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. “I have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.”
30 – puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. “His puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews”.
31 – regnant – having the greatest influence – “The regnant belief”.
32 – roil – to be agitated or chaotic – “the politics of slavery was roiling the United States”.
33 – sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 – inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. “They will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.”
35 – mendacity – untruthfulness, lying. “He blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.”
36 – pejorative – Expressing contempt or disapproval. Having negative connotations. “Permissiveness is often used a pejorative term”.
37 – dystopian – A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. “The dystopian future of a society bereft of reason”.
38 – Occam’s razor – The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 – execrate or execrable – very bad – “The execrable hotel food.”
40 – immutable – unchangeable – Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.
41 – prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex.
“She’d been the subject of much prurient curiosity”.
42 – obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner. “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”
43 – iconoclast – a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions “He was a prolific writer with a reputation for iconoclastic insight and irreverent prose.”
44 – oblique – something not parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line – slanting.
“We sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace. Or something not done in a direct way such as “He issued an oblique attack on the president”.
45 – profligate – wasteful – wildly extravagant. “He has always been a profligate spender, which is why he is broke.”
46 – raconteur – a good teller of stories. “We always invite her to dinner because she is a fine raconteur”.
47 – taciturn – a person who is reserved or uncommunicative in speech…saying little. It usually connotes unsociability. “Nothing bothered the taciturn Hogan more that excessive praise.”
48 – fungible – capable of mutual substitution: interchangeable/ “The court’s postulate is that male and female jurors must be regarded as fungible.”
49 – filibuster – The use of tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly. This currently requires a 60 vote Senate majority. “They stopped the bill from coming to a vote by the use of a filibuster”.
50 – hegemony – preponderant influence or authority over others: Domination. “They battled for hegemony in Asia.”
51 – de facto – being such in effect though not formally recognized or contrary to established law “a de facto state of war” for a war that has not been officially declared.
52 – blockchain – an open, distributed leger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.
53 – bête noire – A person or thing one particularly dislikes or is strongly detested. “The abuse of women was a bête noire for Lincoln.”
54 – evince -“to constitute outward evidence of….to display clearly: reveal. “He evinced a depraved mind.”
55 – virago – a loud overbearing woman. Domineering, violent, or bad tempered. “Democrats, on the other hand, saw Jessie as a Republican virago.”
56 – metonym – a name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. “Washington is a metonym for the federal government of the US.”
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