Rapid Rhetoric: WITENAGEMOT

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word or phrase I came across that I have never previously used.

witenagemot (WIH-ten-EYE-yah-moat) n. a political body in Anglo-Saxon England that operated from approximately the late 6th century through the 11th century.

The term witenagemot is derived from the Old English phrase ƿitena ȝemōt ("meeting of wise men"). The witenagemot was an assembly of social and political elites served in an advisory role to the king. Members of the witenagemot were known as "witans," and the assembled group lacked the power to create legislation.

The king called the witenagemot as he saw fit, and the assembly possessed at most limited authority, ultimately answering to the monarchy. Weaker kings sometimes relied more heavily on the advice of the witenagemot, while more powerful kings called the assembly infrequently or even disregarded the advice of the witans. I suspect that the witans had little interest in life insurance without medical questions, either, but this is altogether another topic.

I possessed a fuzzy notion of the origin of the term prior to this afternoon, when I came across a reference to the witenagemot in the 1913 text The Constitutional History of England in its Origin and Development. Now, to form my own witenagemot, as I seek solutions to the male canines in my home who have recently engaged in nefarious behavior involving leg-lifting and a certain kitchen chair.

Rapid Rhetoric: MISOGAMY

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

misogamy (miss-AH-guh-mee) n. hatred of marriage.

After I came across this word in a lit-crit book about Shakespeare, I realized I could have easily discerned the meaning of misogamy by looking at its constituent parts, both of which are Greek in derivation: μισέω (miseō, "to hate") and γάμος (gamos, "marriage").

Note to self: cognition and caffeine work hand in hand (pauses to drink a half-cup of black coffee). Ah, much better.

Misogamy is joined in its antagonism toward matters marital by the noun misogamist ("one who hates marriage") and misogamic ("related to the hatred of marriage"). I have known people with misogamic tendencies, and they are just as likely to be women as men.

No cracks about misogamy and the Roman Catholic Church, please.

Rapid Rhetoric: PERLUSTRATE

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

perlustrate (PEHR-luh-straight) v.to travel through and thoroughly survey; to traverse and inspect carefully.

Derived from the the past participle stem of the Latin word perlustrare ("to wander through"), this word conveys both a visual and movement sense.

I came across the related word perlustration in The Memoirs of Count Witte. The Baltic German Sergei Witte was an influential Tsarist minister who led the drive toward industrialization and modernization in the last decades of the Russian Empire. In the following passage he expressed his discontent with a perlustrative practice:

I believe that perlustration of private correspondence is essentially a harmful practice. It lays before the Administration intimate and purely confidential matters, thus giving the Minister of the Interior a means for settling personal accounts. I am certain that if Stolypin had not been given to the study of perlustrated mail he would have acted more properly with regard to many people, and would have had fewer enemies.

While Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin certainly garnered many enemies in his career - especially after the Coup of June 1907 - I suspect his habit of perlustrating other peoples' mail was the least likely of his behaviors to cause him to become the recipient of the bullets of an assassin.

Rapid Rhetoric: INDAGATE

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

indagate (IN-duh-gayt) v. to investigate; to search into; to inquire; to research.

The archaic word indagate comes from the Latin indagatus, which is the past participle of indagare ("to search"). There are also related derivatives of indagate, including the nouns "indagation" and "indagator" and the adjective "indagative."

I came across the word while wasting time in the 1828 edition of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language. Johnson suggested that indigate can also mean "to beat out," presumably in terms of a suspect's confession.

No Guantanamo Bay jokes, please.

Rapid Rhetoric: SAMOGON

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

samogon (SAH-moh-gohn) n. a homemade distilled liquor produced in Russia through a variety of methods and ingredients.

From the Russian word самогон, which literally means "self-fire" or"self-distillate," the production of samogon is even more time-honored in Russia than moonshine is in the United States. The production of distilled spirits was a state monopoly in Russia from the sixteenth century through the Soviet era, and taxes from liquors such as vodka provided an important source of state revenue.

As much as 50 percent of distilled spirits in the Soviet era consisted of samogon, and one estimate suggested that 40 percent of Russian peasant households produced their own samogon in 1928.

Samogon production was a pressing issue for the administration of Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. Efforts to eliminate samogon distillation - part of a wider anti-alcohol campaign - served only to increase samogon consumption and dry up tax revenues from legal alcoholic beverages, both of which came back to haunt Gorbachev.

Rapid Rhetoric: HAMMAM

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

hammam (huh-MAHM) n. a traditional Turkish steam bath.

I came across the term hammam during some readings on the late Ottoman Empire, and - being the word geek that I am - I felt the compulsion to learn more about this ancient art.

While there are a number of variations - such as steps that include clay mud packs and the use of expensive oils - there are a number of common principles to the hammam. The bather first relaxes in a room that is heated by a steady stream of hot air allowing perspiration to flow. Bathers may then move to an even hotter room to increase perspiration before cooling themselves with cold water. Participants typically then enjoy a full body wash and a massage, and then retire to a cooler room in which they can relax and enjoy conversation.

Andrea Sachs of the Washington Post visited a Moroccan hammam and shared her thoughts in a humorous 2006 article in which she recounted her experiences.

My 8-minute solitary morning showers seem, well, a bit rushed and lonely in comparison, though admittedly my Western neuroses would likely get in the way of any immediate plunges into the world of the hammam. If I found myself in a hammam, though, I suspect it would be my luck to be seated next to an auto insurance salesperson, and that the conversation would devolve to actuarial tables and risk assessment.

Rapid Rhetoric: THESMOTHETE

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

thesmothete (THEHZ-moh-theet) n. (Greek) a lawgiver or legislator; (Greek history) a junior archon of Athens.

In the city-state (polis) era of Greek history, there were originally three magistrates, or "archons," who wielded considerable authority: the archon basilieus, or "religious archon," the eponymous archon , who acted like a chief judicial leader, and the polemarch ("military archon"). The number of Athenian archons increased to nine in 683 BCE, and the additional six thesmothetes worked as scribes.

I came across the term in a reference to Hierotheos the Thesmothete, the legendary first bishop of the Christians of Athens. Saint Hierotheos is believed to have been instructed by Saint Paul the Apostle, and if you are so moved, you can celebrate his feast day next week on October 4.

Rapid Rhetoric: PECKSNIFFIAN

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

Pecksniffian (peck-SNIH-fee-uhn) adj. smugly hypocritical in benevolence; falsely moralistic.

This word is derived from a linguistic invention of Charles Dickens in his 1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit. The character Seth Pecksniff is an especially despicable con artist whose principal source of income is fleecing would-be architectural students out of their money.

An interesting use of this adjective was generated by political blogger Digby in listing one of the reasons he wanted to see Barack Obama win the Democratic presidential nomination:

And it's this kind of thing that makes me want to see him win the nomination so he can make that Pecksniffian twit Peggy Noonan choke on her Pinot Grigio when he throws a hard, high fastball right between John McCain or Mitt Romney's eyes.

Ah, what wondrous prose flowed from the pen of Dickens, giving us all sorts of arcane literature-based references with which to skewer political figures.

Rapid Rhetoric: TEMPUS FUGIT

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

tempus fugit (TEMP-uhs FOO-jit) phrase (Latin) "time is fleeting," "time flies."

I came across this inscription on a grandfather clock in Spain, and jotted it down so I could look it up later. What surprised me the most about this phrase is how common it really is, as I found over one million Google pages with the term, and how I managed to live for 44 years without encountering it in a meaningful way.

The earliest extant instance of this expression seems to be in the poem Georgica, penned by Roman poet Virgil: Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus ("But it flees in the meantime: irretrievable time flees”).

The phrase has found its way into a variety of pop culture references, appearing as the title for an episode of the television program The X-Files as well as a song by the art-prog rock group Yes. The expression is also the name of a California alcohol importer, should you need to imbibe on absinthe or some other obscure intoxicating liquid.

Rapid Rhetoric: EMPHYTEUSIS

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

emphyteusis (EM-fih-TOO-sis) n. (civil law) a long-term lease of land and/or buildings, including the exclusive enjoyment of all products of the land and the exercise of all property rights usually reserved for the property owner; a contract granting possession of land for a long period of time under certain conditions.

This legal term has its origins in Roman law, and emphyteusis can be traced to the lengthy or even perpetual leases of lands siezed in war by which the Roman State wished to raise revenue. The word emphyteusis is of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word ἐμφύτευσις (literally, "in-planting").

Laws of emphyteusis made a resurrection of sorts in postcolonial Latin America, and there was an attempt in the new nation of Argentina to use this practice to develop lands seized during the independence movement, something that at the time must have seemed to be old hat.

Rapid Rhetoric: DURBAR

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

durbar (DUHR-bahr) n. (Mughal India) a court or audience chamber, as well as a formal assembly of notable persons called together by the government; (British India) formal imperial assemblies called together to mark state occasions.

Derived from the Persian word دربار (darbār) the term durbar originally applied to the nobles of the Shah's court. Durbar later gained use as a general term in India and Nepal for the courts of the various provincial rulers.

I came across the word in a four-volume set of books I am editing for the publishing house Brill, which is celebrating its 325th anniversary this year. The pay is decent, but I really could not pass up the opportunity to stick my feet in the door of this academic publishing powerhouse, which does not possess a modern equivalent of a durbar by which aspiring authors might seek corporate benevolence.

Rapid Rhetoric: REPLEVIN

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

replevin (rih-PLAY-vihn, rih-PLEH-vihn) n. repossession of goods wrongfully taken, with pledge to return them if defeated in lawsuit on the matter; a writ or action in such a case; a civil action taken to recover personal property said or claimed to be unlawfully taken.

Derived from from Old French term plevir ("to pledge"), replevin is one of the oldest known forms of action in English common law, first appearing in English courts in the thirteenth century. Acts of replevin were geared toward restoring the property itself to the person entitled to possess it, and defendants could not use as an excuse the fact that the property belonged to someone not involved in the lawsuit, as the only issue considered by English courts was rightful possession, not title.

Replevin is sometimes used in disputes between buyers and sellers, as in the case of a seller who brings a replevin action to reclaim merchandise from a buyer who failed to pay for the goods.

I came across this word in learning of a young Ohio woman who was caught shoplifting. Not only did she face a fine and possible jail sentence for the attempted theft of $84 worth of merchandise - which she certainly deserved - but a group of crafty lawyers at a firm known as Palmer, Reifler and Associates is chasing her for an additional $252 in replevin compensation. This is permitted under Ohio Revised Code ORC 2307.61 - Civil action for willful damage or theft:

Three times the value of the property at the time it was willfully damaged or was the subject of a theft offense, irrespective of whether the property is recovered by way of replevin or otherwise, is destroyed or otherwise damaged, is modified or otherwise altered, or is resalable at its full market price. This division does not apply to a check, negotiable order of withdrawal, share draft, or other negotiable instrument that was returned or dishonored for insufficient funds by a financial institution if the check, negotiable order of withdrawal, share draft, or other negotiable instrument was presented by an individual borrower to a check-cashing business licensed pursuant to sections 1315.35 to 1315.44 of the Revised Code for a check-cashing loan transaction.

While I am sympathetic to the plight of someone for whom such laws must seem like double jeopardy - especially in a case where the owner of the goods never actually lost possession, since the would-be thief was caught in the store - I suppose the best advice is pretty simple: don't steal, and you won't be harassed by legal goons like Palmer, Reifler and Associates for replevin judgments.

Rapid Rhetoric: IDIOGLOSSIA

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

idioglossia (ih-dee-oh-GLAH-see-uh) n. a secret language between twins; a form of secret speech or language, especially those invented by children; a psychological condition in which speech is so distorted as to be unintelligible.

Derived from the Greek root words idios ("distinct") and glōssa ("tongue"), idioglossia most frequently refers to the phenomenon known colloquially as "twin talk". These types of speech are also known as autonomous languages or cryptophasia.

Studies have demonstrated that some forms of idioglossia exist in up to 40% of all twins, but typically disappear within the first two years of life. There have also been documented cases where children - not necessarily twins - develop such languages when there is an absence of adult models from which to learn.

The 1994 film Nell, which starred Jodie Foster, is a fictional representation of a young woman who was raised by her mother in an isolated cabin, and whose unusual language ("Nellish") reflects the early years that she spent with a paralyzed mother with speech defects.

I do not know, however, if the grunted language among users of weight equipment qualifies as idioglossia, but one might make a convincing case for this.

Rapid Rhetoric: LAPPACEOUS

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

lappaceous (lah-PAY-shoos) adj. bur-like or prickly; covered with forked points.

The English word lappaceous is an almost direct appropriation of the Latin form lappaceus. Typically used to describe botanical features, lappaceous is an apt word to described the pesky capitula of members of the burdock family.

However, I propose an expansion of the term, as I have known a number of people over the years for whom "lappaceous" would be an appropriate adjective. Here, then, is a suggested usage of the word in a corporate setting:

Martin, a fiery regional vice-president who was unusually quick to terminate his subordinates, was a lappaceous sort of boss whose arrogance stuck to his staff like burdock on a peasant's trousers.

Something like that.

Rapid Rhetoric: SALTIRE

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

saltire (SAHL-teer) n. An X-shaped cross with diagonal bars of equal length; (heraldry) an ordinary in the shape of Saint Andrew's cross, formed by the crossing of a bend and a bend sinister; the national flag of Scotland, featuring a white diagonal cross on a blue background.

Saltire comes to modern English via a curious path, most recently from the Middle English sautour and Old French saultoir, both of which mean "stile," and tracing its roots back to the Latin saltare ("to jump").

Scottish tradition holds that in 832 CE a decisive battle was fought near Athelstaneford. A combined army of Picts and Scots under the King of Alba, Óengus mac Fergusa, led an invasion into Northumbrian territory.

Unfortunately for Angus, his forces were surrounded by a much larger army of Angles and Saxons, and the king turned to prayer. Angus claimed he received a divine sign when he saw above him a blazing white cross like that associated with the martyr St. Andrew. The king vowed that if he secured victory, then Andrew would then become the patron saint of Scotland and his saltire cross would be forever the flag of Scotland.

Rapid Rhetoric: FELO DE SE

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

felo de se (FEH-low-deh-SAY) n. a person who kills himself; the act of suicide; a person who dies as a result of having committed an unlawful or malicious act.

The translation from Latin is something akin to "evildoer to oneself," but this archaic legal term typically refers to suicide.

Until the year 1823, English citizens were not permitted to bury suicide victims in a cemetery, and such bodies were supposed to be buried at a cross-roads with a stake driven through the heart. Between 1823 and 1882, the burial of the body of a felo de se was allowed between the hours of 9pm and midnight, though religious services could not be administered. These restrictions were lifted in 1882.

The 1834 edition of Henry John Stephen's Summary of the Criminal Law also noted that a verdict of felo de se meant that all real and personal property was forfeited, even property held jointly with his wife.

I'd make a joke about how this would be a stiff sentence, but this would be in poor taste.

Rapid Rhetoric: SCAGLIOLA

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

scagliola (skahl-YOH-lah) n. marble-like plasterwork for interior decoration, especially columns and sculptures.

The word scagliola is a direct import from the Italian language, and translates roughly as "chips." This form of imitation marble is typically composed of alabaster or gypsum plus an adhesive, with colored stone dust or chips then set into the surface for effect.

The scagliola process is similar to the more common technique known as terrazzo. While scagliolists have likely practiced their craft for a thousand years or more, the word did not appear in European texts until some point in the sixteenth century. Scagliola was a popular feature in buildings that adopted elements of Italian Baroque, and modern scagliola reputedly owes its origins to impoverished Italian monks seeking an ersatz decorative technique for monasteries.

This art form is certainly much more creative than modern technological specialists, who are more concerned with such items as bulk cable than aesthetics.

Rapid Rhetoric: PECCAVI

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

peccavi (peh-KAH-vee) n. an admission of sin; a confession of guilt.

This word is a direct import from the Latin word peccavi ("I have sinned"), which is the first person singular perfect tense of peccare ("to sin"). One might use this term as a replacement for - or in conjunction with - the more familiar mea culpa ("my fault").

Scholar Mark Burnyeat once recounted for the New York Times a historical use of peccavi by British admiral Sir Charles Napier:

The fighting in the 1840s was at a time of British expansion in India. Nevertheless, there were those in Britain who doubted the wisdom of too rapid an advance, and in particular, the capture of the province of Sind, which was thought likely to lead to an overextension of lines of communication. Napier was therefore under express orders not to capture the territory. Once he discovered, however, how little resistance there was, he took the province with ease. ''Peccavi'' therefore meant both ''I have Sind,'' and ''I have sinned'' - perhaps a perfect pun.

Rapid Rhetoric: WRASSE

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

wrasse (rass) n. a brightly-colored marine fish of the family Labridae that are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea.

The word wrasse has Celtic origins, and is most closely related to the Cornish word gwragh and the Welsh word gwrach, both of which mean "old woman" or "hag." I am not sure of the reasons for the etymological association between wrasses and hags, but perhaps the physical features of these fishes may be related.

Wrasses typically possess spiny fins, fleshy lips, and powerful jaws, and they are valued for food as well as for aquariums. Yet the nineteenth century writer John Bickerdyke, in his 1895 book Sea Fishing, had little to say for the varieties of wrasse he consumed. These fish, he claimed, are "watery and insipid," and the use of wrasse as soup stock produces "the nastiest soup of all soups" (p. 414).

Rapid Rhetoric: COIR

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

coir (KOY-ehr) n. a stiff and somewhat coarse fiber derived from the outer husk of a coconut.


Derived from the Malayalam language, coir is the Anglified version of kayar, meaning "cord." While typically used for making rope and floor matting, coir also has uses as a renewable potting compost, serving as an excellent substitute for peat moss.

The fiber is also known for its waterproof nature, as well as for the fact that it is resistant to salt. For this reason coir mats are useful in coastal settings, or in areas like Northwest Ohio that use salt to melt snow and ice.

Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines are the world's largest producers of coir, and tens of thousands of residents on the island of Sri Lanka generate approximately one million cubic meters of coir each year.