WORDS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22073, 22 April 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

WORDS

An expressive word commonly ■ used ;is' tantalising.- Tantalus,' in ■ the", Greek legends, was a son of - Jupiter, ruling over the country of ■ Pbrygia, .in Asia - Minor. •' His . father, supreme among the gods, allowed him to be present at their feasts.,:, tantalus, howeyer..failed to ■' keep his promises of secrecy, and , disclosed to mortals details which / he ; 'should .never have revealed. In punishment he was sent to the infernal regions. There ,he stood ■ up to-his chin in water, under an ■ overhanging fruit tree.' But always, as he bent, to quench the ' thirst that "tormented him,"' the water receded; and ever, as he . stretched out his hand for fruit to • satisfy his great' hunger, the tree retreated from his- grasp. From ■ the, /name of the unhappy Tan- • talus,. comes the ■ modern adjective, used of something pleasant and desirable, which continues to evade one's attempts to secure it. The Goat . . Through Greek and Latin, the xgOat has enriched- English ■ with , several words. Plays can usually ■be placed in one of two groups—--1 .tragedies and comedies. The former word comes direct from . Greek, '.where it is found in the word' "tragoidia," which literally meant "goat-song." Precisely why the * term .was used is not known. It "may be that the oldest tragedies were exhibited when a goat was •'safcriflced, for plays frequently -were connected with religious ceremonies; perhaps the actors were .clothed in goat skins; or, possibly the prize, for the- best - tragedy was.a live goat. .However this may be, the word came to mean any heroic or. serious play,, as opposed to.,a comedy. Later it acquired a meaning, in addition, of I any unhappy event. Italian has a word "capriola," derived from the Latin word for - a goat, "caper." Through the Italian word, which means the leap .of a young goat, we get our word caper. Again, the full name of., a horse-drawn vehicle, once popular,, but now rarely seen, was cabriole.' This word, too, came from the Italian "capriola," for the ■"cab," ; a two-wheeled ; carriage lightly built, used to leap about like a goat when driven over roads which had uneven surfaces. "Capriccio" is another Italian word similarly derived, which has given - us caprice and capricious. It .means a sudden motion like the skip- of a goat. And so caprice means a sudden—and possibly . whimsical .or illogical—action, while capricious is used of a person of uncertain temper. Related to these words is Capricorn, the name of one of the signs of the zodiac. It is made up of "caper," and "cormi," which means a horn. Spartan One' of the city states, or small kingdoms of ancient Greece was Sparta. Its people were noted for their courage, their sparing use of ' words, and their ability to bear pain without flinching. One story often told is that of the Spartan mother who sent her son to war with these words: "Return with 4hy shield,, or upon it;" meaning • that she wanted him to come back victorious, bringing his shield; or to be brought back dead, having Sain down \ds life for his country. A Spartan act thus means ,an act of courage, and uncomplaining en- ■ durance. From 1 , the' other name for Sparta, Laconia, comes laconic, tteed of people who are sparing of wordsv-,or of an important announcement;- that is . unexpectedly brief, ' ,-- —~*J