Murmuring Judges And Anhedonia

The Word Collector — Part 35

This is the latest in a series about new words and phrases, specimens collected during expeditions into the deepest, darkest literary and media wilderness, and displayed for your entertainment, elucidation, and enlightenment. These are new to me, but of course, you may know some or all of them already, in which case you are welcome to marvel at my ignorance.

Simit –This word turned up in a lovely, lyrical yet sad article by Medium author Gülya Kerimoğlu, about growing up barefoot in a ghetto district of Istanbul. There is some beautiful writing such as this to be found on Medium. Simit is a circular bread, typically encrusted with sesame seeds or, less commonly, poppy, flax or sunflower seeds, found across the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East, especially in Armenia, Turkey and the Balkans. For the article by Gülya:

For more about simit:

Kachumber- an everyday Indian salad made with cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and fresh herbs. From “BBC Master Chef”. Mrs. Pearce seems to enjoy the viewing of haut cuisine more than the practice. I will say no more, as I am in more than enough trouble already.

Words Gen Z use — If you want to get down with the kids, I discovered a very useful series on words used by Gen Z from Medium author Yohan J. The latest part of the series introduces the word “drip” as meaning very swag and cool, but you probably already knew that!

ahisma — This word came from a website run by my philosopher brother David, called “The Hedonistic Imperative”. The website is a great source of new words since David is one of those people for whom you need a dictionary for every sentence he comes out with. Sadly I somehow acquired a different set of genes. His website is on the link below if of interest.

So ahimsa from the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions, is respect for all living things and avoidance of violence towards others, which sounds like a very good philosophy for life

“murmuring judges” — This phrase was used in one of the questions on the BBC show “University Challenge”, which I watch in the vain hope of trying to improve myself. The project is not going well. So murmuring judges is an old offence under Scottish Law, of upsetting a judge, never a good idea if one is the defendant. It is also the name of a play by David Hare. More about the ancient offence in this article:

roman à clef — this is a French phrase meaning a novel with a key, about real-life events that are overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the “key” is the relationship between the non-fiction and the fiction This word was used in one of the questions on the BBC Show “University Challenge”.

balthazar– this word is one for the serious drinkers among you, and refers to a large wine bottle containing twelve litres. For the connoisseurs among you, there are a range of other sizes of bottles. For example, a Jeroboam contains between three and five litres depending on where you look these things up. Burgundy and Champagne winemakers would refer to a 4.5-litre bottle as a Rehoboam. Other sizes are available. For example six litres: Methuselah, also known as an Imperial in Bordeaux; Nine litres: Salmanazar; Fifteen litres: Nebuchadnezzar, or ‘Nabuchodonosor’; eighteen litres: Melchior, or Solomon. You never know when these things might be useful! This was one of the questions on the BBC Show “University Challenge”.

In a different context entirely, Saint Balthazar, was according to Western Christian tradition one of the three biblical Magi along with Caspar and Melchior who visited the infant Jesus after he was born.

steles — the central core of the stem and root of a vascular plant, consisting of the vascular tissue (xylem and phloem) and associated supporting tissue. Also called a vascular cylinder. This word was used in “Technofeudalism” by Yanis Varoufakis

Won — is the official currency of South Korea. Since you ask, a single won is divided into 100 jeon, the monetary subunit. However the jeon is no longer used for everyday transactions, and it appears only in foreign exchange rates. Won was referred to in Michael Lewis’s new book “Going Infinite” about the rise and fall of crypto (former) billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who won and lost a lot of won.

Tchotchke (pronounced chotch-kee) — a small object that is decorative rather than strictly functional, a trinket. Also apparently used in a rather chauvinist way, to refer to a pretty girl or woman. The word has long been used by Jewish-Americans and in the regional speech of New York City and elsewhere; also seen in “Going Infinite”.

Anhedonia — is the inability or reduced ability to feel pleasure. When a person suffers from anhedonia, they lose interest in the activities, hobbies, or experiences they used to love. It has been associated with many mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance use disorder. People who have physical conditions like chronic pain and Parkinson’s disease may also experience anhedonia. The word is used in “Going Infinite” to describe a condition suffered by the book’s subject, Sam Bankman-Fried.

I hope you enjoyed this collection, and do share any favourites of your own in the comments.

As always, thank you for reading.

Previous articles from The Word Collector:

Part 34 — A-quomodocunquizing-borborygmus

Part 33 — Going Monk Mode In Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu

Part 32 — Turpitudinous Tourons

Part 31 — Hurkle durkle, medicanes and misophonia

Part 30 — Immortal earworms

Part 29 — Government on the RAAC

Part 28 –Saved by a deus ex machina

Part 27 — Pre-Lapsarian Yakers

Part 26 — Fegans, Jorts, Rababs And Scotch Bonnets

Part 25 — Fissiparous Hegemony

Part 24 — Lollygag And Booktok

Part 23 — Patronymics And Samovars

Part 22 — Medium Is No Chronofage If YRMIRY

Part 21 — Everything Is Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious

Part 20 — Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia And The Matthew Effect

Part 19 — A Nappuccino And Some Typo-Squatting

Part 18 — Yeeting Detritovres

Part 17 — An Inverted Pyramid Of Piffle On The Bed Of Procrustes

Part 16 — Having The Jones And Partisan Acrimony

Part 15 — Spycops In The Boondocks

Part 14 — Harlots, Stochastic Parrots, And The Devil’s Cufflinks

Part 13 — The Things We Make Exceptional

Part 12 — “Semper Fidelis” And Semantic Symbiosis

Part 11 — Heliophobic Hikikomori

Part 10 — Lenticular Clouds And Peque Peques

Part 9 — Big Red Boots And Nepo Babies

Part 8 — A Patina Of Smilies

Part 7 — Atavistic frou frou

Part 6-Mouth Breathers And Pearl Clutchers

Part 5 — The Lexophile’s Latest List

Part 4 — Revenge of the word collector

Part 3- An Etymological Extravaganza

Part 2- Return Of The Word Collector

Part 1 — A Moment In The Sun

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