Medium Is No Chronofage If YRMIRY

The Word Collector — part 22

This is the latest in a series about new words and phrases collected during expeditions into the deepest, darkest literary and media wilderness, for your bemusement, bewilderment and befuddlement at my ignorance.

My wife and I usually watch the TV show “University Challenge”, though in my case this is more in hope rather than expectation of getting any answers, unless there is a popular music, or birds of Britain round.

My best chance is actually if we are watching on “catch-up” and I have had a sneak preview, though if I get more than a couple right Mrs. Pearce would be very suspicious. The show turned up the following first two words this week:

Samizdat — I had heard this word before but wasn’t certain of its meaning — it is a noun meaning the clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned by the state, especially formerly in the communist countries of Eastern Europe. In this form of dissident activity, individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader.

Ivy League — Again I had heard of this reference to the group of elite U.S universities before but wasn’t sure of its origin and which are included. The term Ivy League initially referred to an athletics conference established by a group of prestigious universities and colleges in the North-eastern U.S., but the name has now come to refer to the academic institutions collectively.

Ivy League now refers to not only the sports conference but also refers to the academic, admissions and social class of the eight universities as a whole.

They are Brown University, Harvard University, Cornell University, Princeton University, Dartmouth University, Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. I gather if you make it to one of these illustrious institutions in the U.S you have made it in life, rather like getting to Oxford or Cambridge University in the UK.

“A Modest Proposal” — this one is actually the name of a book rather than a word or phrase, and is a work I had not heard of before by Jonathon Swift, and was referred to in a review of the much-discussed and very distasteful “Human Meat” Channel 4 TV show. The programme was referred to as an updating of Swift’s earlier satirical work, in which poor Irish families sell their children to be eaten by the wealthy.

A review of the rather awful TV programme is below if you really want to know more -

condottiere- this description, of the Russian mercenary group Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, was used in a review of the book “The War Came to Us” by Christopher Miller, which I am currently reading, which is reviewed below. The word condottiere means a captain, originally Italian, in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period.

They notably served popes and other European monarchs during the Italian Wars of the Renaissance and the European Wars of Religion. Notable condottieri include Prospero Colonna, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Cesare Borgia, the Marquis of Pescara, Andrea Doria, and the Duke of Parma

From the same book, which is proving very educational in terms of the background to current conflict, I picked up the next two specimens-

Credenza — a dining room sideboard, particularly one where a central cupboard is flanked by glass display cabinets, and usually made of burnished and polished wood and decorated with marquetry. The top would often be made of marble, or another decorative liquid- and heat-resistant stone.

Stentorian — an adjective (of a person’s voice) meaning loud and powerful.

YRMIRY — an acronym meaning “you read me; I read you”, invented by Medium author RC Hammond to describe the new secret sauce for success on Medium, after the earnings rule changes on 1st August in this article. It remains to be seen if the acronym gains traction in the same way as “F2F” (follow for follow).

dysania — this is a pseudo-medical condition for people who struggle to get out of bed, which fellow sufferers may be familiar with, and used in this article -

Hate Getting Out Of Bed? You Could Have This Condition | HuffPost UK Life (huffingtonpost.co.uk)

“….tenderised by the blunt force of the movie’s marketing campaign….” Eva Wiseman used this phrase when writing in “The Observer” about the new “Barbie” film –I thought it a great use of the word “tenderised” in this context.

Terpines and phytoncides -these words were on an educational signs at Westonbirt Arboretum which we visited, and they are chemicals trees exude which promote a positive mood, which have given rise to the modern trend of “forest bathing” -

sonnenrad — a disc resembling a sunwheel, which the Anti-Defamation League defines as an “ancient European symbol appropriated by the Nazis in their attempt to invent an idealised ‘Aryan/Norse’ heritage” and which has “countless variations [including] the swastika”. A bad thing in other words, though clearly unfair on the original users of the symbol for it to be smeared in this way. The word turned up in this article about an aide of the hopeful Republican nominee De Santis, who was forced to resign after using the symbol -

Chronophage — Something that wastes time. As in: “That Wordle/Sudoku was a bit of a chronophage, wasn’t it?!” The word turned up in the Medium article by Afiani Rui linked to below, which just shows how useful and educational time spent on Medium is, and not a chronophage at all. Even better, at the time of writing the word seems unknown to Grammarly, so if you drop it into your articles you can annoy a bot as well.

The next three specimens are from the weighty tome “Vietnam — An Epic History of a Tragic War” by Max Hastings, which I am still wading through:

Stentorian — an adjective -(of a person’s voice) loud and powerful.

Wiseacre –a noun meaning a person with an affectation of wisdom or knowledge, regarded with scorn or irritation by others; a know-all. It was used to refer to a politician.

“Trying to grab smoke” — this rather great phrase was used to describe the process of trying to engage with an elusive enemy in the Vietnam jungle.

Blondie — this word turned up in a vlog (video blog) about a visit to parts of Dorset I was watching, and is a variety of dessert bar. It resembles a chocolate brownie, but substitutes vanilla in place of cocoa, and contains brown sugar. Blondies also contain flour, butter, eggs, and baking powder and may also contain walnuts or pecans, white or dark chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, toffee chips, or other flavourings. It sounds delicious but rather life-shortening.

Suppurate — this means to undergo the formation of pus; fester. It was used in a rather derogatory restaurant review by the excellent Jay Raynor, writing in “The Observer”. Restaurant owners must quake at the sight of him — he is excoriating and entertaining in equal measure.

Fascinator — is a formal headpiece, a style of millinery. Since the 1990s, the term has referred to a type of formal headwear worn as an alternative to the hat; it is usually a large decorative design attached to a band or clip. In contrast to a hat, its function is purely ornamental: it covers very little of the head. The word turned up in a conversation about our daughter’s wedding, and was a moment of triumph for Mrs. Pearce who knew the word when I didn’t.

Finally, from general conversation, mic drop — I have heard this expression used numerous times without really being aware of what was being referred to, part of a general trend of me not keeping up, so decided to look it up. So a “mic drop” is the gesture of intentionally dropping one’s microphone at the end of a performance or speech to signal triumph. Figuratively, it is an expression of triumph for a successful event and indicates a boastful attitude toward one’s own performance.

A famous mic drop appears at the end of this video clip by Medium member Barak Obama, who just oozes style -

And with that it is time for my own mic drop moment!

I hope you enjoyed this latest collection and do share any favourite new specimens of your own in the comments.

As always, thank you for reading.

To join a new Facebook group “Medium Matters” where writers can support each other and share articles.

Mastodon- you can find me here