by Dwane | Oct 3, 2014 | Greek, Latin
Phantasm: something imagined; an illusion, or apparition; something that seems to exist, but, in fact, does not. The Latin word for ghost is phantasma. It comes from the Greek φάντασμα (a phantasm), which derives from φαντάζω (I make visible). The English word ghost...
by Dwane | Sep 20, 2014 | English, Greek, Vocabulary
Acantha: In botany, a prickle; in zoology, a spine or prickly fin. Acantha, in Greek mythology, was a beautiful nymph. Apollo fell in love with her. She resisted his advances. While pushing him away, she scratched his face. In anger, he turned her into a prickly...
by Dwane | Sep 19, 2014 | Education, English, Greek, Vocabulary
Acrolith: a stone head, a statue with a wooden body and head of stone. The U.S. government isn’t the only nation to debase. The “brilliant” powers that be have replaced the silver in our coins with cheaper metals. This official trickery is nothing new. In ancient...
by Dwane | Sep 15, 2014 | Education, Greek, Latin, Motivation
In those days a boy on the classical side officially did almost nothing but the classics. I think this is wise; the greatest service we can do to education today is to teach fewer subjects. No one has time to do more than a few things well before he is twenty, and...
by Dwane | Sep 12, 2014 | English, Greek, Vocabulary
Enigma: someone, or something mysterious, puzzling, difficult to understand. A riddle. Here’s an enigma… What word in the English Language is always spelled incorrectly? From Greek αἴνιγμα (dark saying, riddle).
by Dwane | Sep 11, 2014 | Education, English, Greek, Vocabulary
Acrophobia: fear of heights. There is nothing to fear, but fear itself. And heights. And public speaking. And spiders… especially spiders. From Greek ἄκρον (height, summit, peak), and and φοβία (fear).
