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| Salvador Dali, "Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach" (1938) |
Occasionally a reader will remark that they had to look up the definition of a particular word in a piece of mine. Not so much as a reprimand, but just to let me know. And I don't feel sorry for making them do so, because there are a lot of words, nobody can know them all, and regularly checking definitions is both a hallmark of curiosity and the path to acquiring knowledge.
I look up words myself, all the time. For instance, I was having my coffee and Cream of Wheat Friday morning, reading the Sun-Times — I always read it first, before the New York Times, out of loyalty.
My attention focused on David Struett's article on testimony at the Jayden Perkins murder trial. The sort of story a reader naturally is drawn to — a grisly murder, a gripping trial, a fainting juror. Five paragraphs in, the doctor, who Struett said "switched from giving testimony to helping the juror" — smoothly put — said, "I think you probably just had a vagal response."
"A vagal response?" Does that mean anything to you? It didn't register with me, and I groped at what "vagal" might mean. Based on the first three letters, I immediately thought, "vaginal." But surely that couldn't be it. Perhaps a matter of shared derivation.
What does the word "vagina" actually mean? I felt a momentary chill, because I was straying into gender politics territory. Best be on my guard. Center? Cleft? Fundamental? Those didn't sound right. As I often say: no need to guess, we can just find out.
"Vagal" is the adjectival form of "vagus," and according to Dr. Google AI: "The vagus nerve, also known as cranial nerve X, is a crucial part of the autonomic nervous system, playing a key role in regulating involuntary bodily functions like heart rate, digestion, and breathing." Who knew? Not me. While you can't always trust AI — on Tuesday, when I joyously nosed the car into the drive-thru at the White Castle on 111th Street, AI told me that a cheese slider is 340 calories, when that is actually two — that definition sounded accurate, and I did no more digging. You have to go with your gut on these things, provided you have a good gut.
So what is the etymology of "vagina"? It traces back to the Latin word vagina, unsurprisingly enough, which in ancient times meant, not a sexual organ, but the scabbard you sheath your sword in. The word took on its current meaning in the Middle Ages, which seems apt.
The unchanging quality of the word reminded me of something I was thinking of about 3 a.m. that morning, when. I was awake and musing over the alphabet, which I sometimes do, trying to sleep (it's soothing; judge me harshly if you must). The opening letters of the English alphabet, A, B, C, D, line up with the opening letters of the Hebrew alphabet, א (aleph), בּ (bet), ג (gimel), ד (dalet). (The "C" and "G" sounds being very close). Which means a kid learning his ABCs down the street is going through the same drill of the same sounds that a Jewish boy in Babylonian captivity learned on letters drawn in the dirt.
What does the word "vagina" actually mean? I felt a momentary chill, because I was straying into gender politics territory. Best be on my guard. Center? Cleft? Fundamental? Those didn't sound right. As I often say: no need to guess, we can just find out.
"Vagal" is the adjectival form of "vagus," and according to Dr. Google AI: "The vagus nerve, also known as cranial nerve X, is a crucial part of the autonomic nervous system, playing a key role in regulating involuntary bodily functions like heart rate, digestion, and breathing." Who knew? Not me. While you can't always trust AI — on Tuesday, when I joyously nosed the car into the drive-thru at the White Castle on 111th Street, AI told me that a cheese slider is 340 calories, when that is actually two — that definition sounded accurate, and I did no more digging. You have to go with your gut on these things, provided you have a good gut.
So what is the etymology of "vagina"? It traces back to the Latin word vagina, unsurprisingly enough, which in ancient times meant, not a sexual organ, but the scabbard you sheath your sword in. The word took on its current meaning in the Middle Ages, which seems apt.
The unchanging quality of the word reminded me of something I was thinking of about 3 a.m. that morning, when. I was awake and musing over the alphabet, which I sometimes do, trying to sleep (it's soothing; judge me harshly if you must). The opening letters of the English alphabet, A, B, C, D, line up with the opening letters of the Hebrew alphabet, א (aleph), בּ (bet), ג (gimel), ד (dalet). (The "C" and "G" sounds being very close). Which means a kid learning his ABCs down the street is going through the same drill of the same sounds that a Jewish boy in Babylonian captivity learned on letters drawn in the dirt.
See what I mean? Something comforting about that.
The Sisters of No Mercy were adamant we learn the origin of a word, which has been useful when seeing an unfamiliar word. I think Latin is a beautiful language.
ReplyDeleteI took 2 years of high school Latin, taught by a relatively friendly nun of a certain age. I don't seem to recall the fact that the English word "vagina" "traces back to the Latin word vagina, unsurprisingly enough" being mentioned. ; )
DeleteThey would deny having one
DeleteHere's another unusual word. "tampion", which is related to tampon, but a tampion is the plug sailors put into the muzzle of the big guns on a battleship to keep the barrels dry.
ReplyDeleteNeil, I look up a word you've used nearly every goddamn day. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMe too
DeleteEtymology class in college taught me that pencil, penne, peninsula derived from penis
ReplyDeleteI just googled that, and it only seems to be true of pencil.
DeleteThe thing about swords and scabbards reminds me of a barely remembered bit of Shakespeare from high school, of a woman telling a man: " Give us your swords; we have scabbards of our own. " I can't even remember which play that's from, but of course I remember the line. I was a teenager, what do you want.
ReplyDeleteI always found Alexander Pope's poem, "The Rape of the Lock" weird due to it's use of rape in the title, even though it's an older definition of that word meaning to steal or carry off.
DeleteIt's from "Much Ado About Nothing", but scabbard isn't used, bucklers is the correct word, it means a small shield some soldiers carried.
DeleteGrowing up my mother always told us to “look it up” when we asked what a word meant-that way we would remember it. She was right.
ReplyDeleteThose alphabets all go back to the Phoenicians. Greek, too: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, …
ReplyDeleteBut Cream of Wheat?? Eeuw. Does Ralston still exist? It used to have a little character. .
Ralston mostly makes generic cereals for grocery stores. Grocery, a word the fat fascist traitor just made up! /s
DeleteComing upon an unfamiliar word and needing to look it up is one of the joys of reading you.
ReplyDeleteSeveral years ago I was sitting in the hot sun on the back deck of our house. I had just exercised intensely (for me) and was feeling dizzy and weak. My wife drove me to the hospital ER. My blood pressure was 69 over 30. They gave me fluids intravenously and monitered my vitals. I was diagnosed to have suffered a vasovagal syncope episode. I had checked all the triggers; exercise without sufficient fluid, heat exposure, resulting dehydration. My blood pressure normalized quickly and the intense feeling of faintness abated. I was kept in the hospital overnight and released the next morning after a stress test on the treadmill. Never made all those mistakes again. Damn scary.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the use of vagus for this nerve is not vague. It’s the vagabond of nerves, wandering throughout the body. :- )
ReplyDeleteI read about the ER doctor giving testimony, and then stopping to assess whether the juror needed an ambulance. On the one hand, how lucky to have him there with his expertise, yet on the other hand, it was his own graphic testimony that precipitated the vagal response.
ReplyDeleteMr S may muse about the alphabet when trying to fall asleep; I have found myself more than once trying to recall the names of the 12 cranial nerves when I'm trying to fall asleep. We were taught a mnemonic, "On Old Olympus' Towering Tops, A Finn and German Viewed Some Hops", with the 10th word representing Vagus. We quickly discovered on our own, however, that there was a racier version of the mneumonic: "Oh! Oh! Oh! To Touch And Feel Very Good Velvet! Ah, Heaven!" (the 11th cranial nerve is called the "sensory" or "accessory", either name is acceptable. ). Then, because medical people are rather goofy, they also have a mnemonic for remembering the function of each of the nerves (Sensory, Motor or Both): "Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More).
I used to have a small book of just medical mneumonics! I just went searching for it but cant find it. That happens often ... I have good references but cant find them when I need them.
I read an article in the NYT this week about how often AI provides mistaken information. It was surprisingly high and is causing some serious problems.
ReplyDeletethen I asked my phone how many homers did Barry bonds hit . AI was the first option for an answer on my pixel phone. You dont even have to click on it the information is presented pretty much in full. What it said was bonds hit 762 homers and that he was the only player to ever hit over 700. Not that this would cause a problem of any significance but still my 5 year old nephew knew this was wrong.
I had two years of Latin in highschool. If nothing else, I learned that language is interesting.
ReplyDeleteWith that intro I thought you were going to explain a 'vagal response.' I was kinda sorta sure I knew what it was (fainting) but you made me look it up - so thank you! It's pronunciation had always tripped me up. From MayoClinic.org:
ReplyDeleteVasovagal syncope (vay-zoh-VAY-gul SING-kuh-pee) occurs when you faint because your body overreacts to certain triggers. These may include the sight of blood or extreme emotional distress. Vasovagal syncope also is called neurocardiogenic syncope.
The vasovagal syncope trigger causes your heart rate and blood pressure to drop suddenly. That leads to reduced blood flow to your brain, causing you to briefly lose consciousness.
Vasovagal syncope is usually harmless and requires no treatment. But it's possible that you may injure yourself during a vasovagal syncope episode. Your healthcare professional may recommend tests to rule out more-serious causes of fainting, such as heart conditions.
Very informative column today - and the comments too!
ReplyDeleteThe word itself, alphabet, is derived from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta. The Greek letters themselves go back to the Semitic letters aleph and bet. The word came into Middle English from the Latin word alphabetum, which in turn originated in the Greek alphábētos. The word was used to mean "letters of a language arranged in customary order" or "learning or lore acquired through reading".
ReplyDeleteYour last paragraph certainly opened my memory bank, Mr. S. Of being nine years old and in fourth grade and entering Hebrew school. Did you go to Hebrew school at the West Temple, near Berea? Did you learn your "aleph-bet"...and eventually celebrate your Bar Mitzvah?
For me, it all began in the fall of 1956. My cousin's lavish bar mitzvah. A perfect game in the World Series, the very next day.. The Hungarian Revolution. Another landslide for Ike. And Israel taking back the Suez Canal from Egypt, which made us all cheer, and feel very proud to be Jewish.
My Hebrew teacher lectured us on how important it was to learn the language, so we could all go to Israel someday, and maybe even settle there. We had to learn our "aleph-bet"...which I did, and rather quickly. Became among the best in the class. I could write in Hebrew and speak it and read it. well before I turned ten.
All that evaporated from my brain decades ago. Can't even recite the "aleph-bet" anymore. But I can still read from a printed page, and understand the meanings of certain words. Because my parents spoke it, I'm actually better with Yiddish, which is Germanic, Hebrew, Middle Eastern, and Slavic. Would have loved to have had phone conversations with my mother in her twilight years. But I was never even close to being that good.
I enjoy reading your comments, Grizz, because of your interesting relationship to history. You remember dates, but you emphasize experiences/memories. Here you've linked your cousin's bar mitzvah to a memorable baseball game, followed by significant world events and US politics. All recalled based on the foundational memory (and date) of your cousin's bar mitzvah. I recall experiences but struggle to place them in (even rough) chronological order. I like the way you think.
DeleteThank you. My cousin's bar mitzvah party was on a warm Sunday evening in early October. It was at the Belden Stratford Hotel, across the street from the Lincoln Park Zoo. Seemed to last forever,. Found some old LIFE magazines in the balcony. They kept me very occupied.
DeleteDuring the ride home, a deep voice from the car radio proclaimed: "It is still Sunday, October 7th." Seconds later, it said: "It is now Monday, October 8th." In school the next day, I could barely stay awake. And that day, of course, was the day of the perfect game. I hardly noticed.
But it was that radio voice that stayed with me, and which make the memories of that day so crystal clear. It's mostly the trivialities that help to keep the chronologies in order, rather than the major historical events. Thanks for noticing.
I had that syncope reaction (passed out for about 8 seconds) once 20 some years ago and have ever after worried that it could happen again, but it has not. A perfect storm of stressors combined that day and hasn't regrouped...yet.
ReplyDeletejohn
For fifty years I thought the Carly Simon song Your So Vain contained the line, “you had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself cavort”, sung with an east coast accent.
ReplyDeleteThen I read a column here with the word Gavotte. I think it referenced an old French folk dance. When I heard the song again and googled the lyrics, sure enough, it was gavotte.
It’s used in the context of, “to move about in a pretentious manner”, where cavort could be used to mean, “to move about in a sexually provocative manner”. Either word works but it’s not surprising she went with gavotte since she’s from such a literary family.
Ah, a mondegreen-- the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase or a song lyric in a way that gives it a new meaning.
DeleteMy all-time favorite is: "Did you realize that you were a champion in their eyes?" from Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne".
People on Long Island thought I was from Brooklyn, and of a different ethnicity, so I heard it as: "Did you realize that you were Italian in their eyes?"
Which is exactly what happened to me, at eighteen
I always thought it was ..."as you watched yourself go by". That makes more sense anyway
DeleteMr. S, that story was real courtroom drama. Thanks for checking on vagal. I was wondering about that. A note of clarification, Dr. Andrea Geddes is a woman for those who might have missed it.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone still use a dictionary? An old friend, who had a penchant for raiding the refrigerator, wrote a new word and its definition on a piece of paper EGD and placed it on the top shelf next to the vegetables and fruit. Learning one new word every day, he developed an amazing vocabulary. This exercise was so successful, he came up with a new idea. Why not place the entire dictionary in the refrigerator?
At least that's the way he explained his ability to tell a captivating story.
The T.S. Eliot family kept their reference books on bookshelves in their dining room. He said most arguments begin over the breakfast, luncheon or dinner table so books - particularly reference works of all kinds -needed to be kept at hand to settle things.
DeleteLoved this piece-and the comments even more- I had 4 years of Latin in high school and 2 years of French-not sure that the Latin helped with anything-except that I got to read some wonderful old literature-part in the original and part in English. Virgil's Aeneid which we then rewrote and performed as a play. I can still see a classmate or two as Dido and another as Aeneas. Best part was we were not required to speak Latin unlike the French I had and struggled with speaking.
ReplyDelete