Right, what to write about? Is it time to dig into the little used words bag? Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. It's almost certainly too soon to mention 'persiflage' again, so hold on for a moment while the Phrontistery gets one of its semi-regular visits. Hmm...
Once again, it's astonishing how many more words there are than we use. It's astounding, shocking and even bewildering! Just a quick glance through 'K' and 'P' yields the following list!
kakorrhaphiophobia: fear of failure
kenophobia: fear of empty spaces
keraunoscopia: divination using thunder
proceleusmatic: inciting; encouraging; exhorting
proxemics: study of man's need for personal space
Of these, the most interesting in the moment seems to be 'proxemics', which shares a root with 'proximity' and deeply connects to that deep desire that we all have to be alone for some of the time. What is the etymological root, though? The psychological root is easy: we just need to avoid cognitive dissonance part of the time, and be able to what we want instead of what is forced upon us by the social situation. It's mad that some people never get to just follow their whims, the poor people. Oh, the etymological root is from Latin, from 'proximus'. Alas, there was nothing super interesting about it. No Greek gods or animals anywhere.
'Keraunoscopia' is quite a nice word too, though. The many words for the different kinds of divination are fascinating. Divination was such a prominent part of life in the old days, before it was reduced to just being the pseudo science of meteorology. Ooooh, there hasn't been a rant about meteorology yet, has there? That's something to come back too! Yes, people used to divine the future from thunder, which must have meant that such diviners had quite a few days off in the year. What an excuse that would be for not correctly predicting the future. "Sorry, dear, I couldn't read anything as there hasn't been a storm for six months. Try me again in November..."
O.
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