Word Whore
One of the great things about intoxication is that it frees you from the burdensome constraints of rational, linear, focused, coherent, and often mundane thoughts. Now when you're in an extremely social situation, this cognitive freedom can, of course, yield disastrous (or at least surprising in the following morning) results. But when you are chillin' with a friend, ensconced in an enclave filled with fine beer and entertaining DVDs, the same state can open you to intellectual perambulations that would otherwise have remained the mental "road not taken" as it were (or is, or was, or would've otherwise been).
Such was it that last night I used the word "pornography" in casual conversation and was immediately struck by a strangeness I hadn't seen before. "Pornography" is clearly a word of Greek origin with your standard prefix "porno" and root "graphy", but whereas the root is all over the place -- "caligraphy," "telegraphy," "orthography" -- you never hear the root "porno" except in "pornography." What's more ... I had no idea what "porno" meant. "Graphy" is from the Greek "graphos" which means writing or recording, but what the hell is "porno"? Mental note ... check it out when not chillin' with friend.
Turns out porno (or porne, I'm not sure which) is originally a Greek work for purchase -- specifically, "bought," "purchased," "exported," or "sold." One source I found says that the earliest women (or girls, presumably) (it said nothing about men or boys) bought for sexual activity had been enslaved. So, makes sense -- they were "porno." Apparently, over time porno (or porne) became the Greek term for "whore." So that "pornography" (first appearing in writing in the early 19th century) literally means writing about or by prostitutes. (The OED briefly proffers a French treatise on prostitution in 1800.)
Of course, I couldn't stop there.
"Prostitute" is from our old friend, Latin -- (prostitutus). It comes from the prefix "pro", which means "before" or "in front of" and a derivation of the root, "statuere" which meant "to cause to stand." So "prostitute" unpacked means "to cause to stand in front of" and immediately we imagine that Imperial Rome has moved past tawdry slave women to good, old fashioned street walkers ... or street "standers" as the case may have been.
Interestingly enough, statuere is a busy bee of a root for English. Derivations of it include "statue," of course and "stature," "status," and "statute." So if you stand up in parliament and say, "These women of low status, prostituting themselves on our street corners, are a menace to men of high stature. Thus, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the statute," you're actually referring to the same root over and over again without even knowing it. Malkovitch! Malkovitch! Malkovitch! Malkovitch!
However, as much as the streetwalker/stander image makes sense to us, if statuere means "to cause to stand" then perhaps prostitutus with its "to cause to stand before" does not refer to the women but the effect that such alluring women might have on male genetalia. And thus, if a man quietly shares with his friend, "That is one statuesque woman," he is perhaps being more clever than he knows.
By the way, "erotic," of course comes from "Eros," the Greek god and "commerce" and "purchase" are both of Latin origin. So that just goes to show if you want to be creative about it go to the Greeks but if you want to talk about buying it go to Rome. (Okay, that's a facetious point. "Buy" comes from down home Gaulic and Old Saxon roots.)
Incidentally, "harlot" is a mystery. It comes from the Middle English, herlot, which used to refer to a vagabond; a fellow of no fixed address; a wandering minstrels he, a man of rags and patches. A little later it came to be used to describe a lecherous man and then somehow it stopped talking about men and started talking about women. No one can guess why. Oh the linguistic muddle those English get into without the Romans to guide them.
And finally, "whore" is an old, old, old word. One source traces it back to the Indo-European root "ka," which meant to like or desire. From there it develops a stem, "karo," and then the Germanic peoples turn the "k" into an "h" and invert the vowels (not a totally uncommon occurrence strangely enough) to come up with "horaz," which meant "one who desires" (It also grew to mean "adulterer" apparently.) From there, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to Old English where it morphs into the word we know and love ... for $50 an hour. For further linguistic irony, the same root finds itself imbedded in "charity" and "cherish."
There. That's what I do when I tell myself I'll be grading.
Such was it that last night I used the word "pornography" in casual conversation and was immediately struck by a strangeness I hadn't seen before. "Pornography" is clearly a word of Greek origin with your standard prefix "porno" and root "graphy", but whereas the root is all over the place -- "caligraphy," "telegraphy," "orthography" -- you never hear the root "porno" except in "pornography." What's more ... I had no idea what "porno" meant. "Graphy" is from the Greek "graphos" which means writing or recording, but what the hell is "porno"? Mental note ... check it out when not chillin' with friend.
Turns out porno (or porne, I'm not sure which) is originally a Greek work for purchase -- specifically, "bought," "purchased," "exported," or "sold." One source I found says that the earliest women (or girls, presumably) (it said nothing about men or boys) bought for sexual activity had been enslaved. So, makes sense -- they were "porno." Apparently, over time porno (or porne) became the Greek term for "whore." So that "pornography" (first appearing in writing in the early 19th century) literally means writing about or by prostitutes. (The OED briefly proffers a French treatise on prostitution in 1800.)
Of course, I couldn't stop there.
"Prostitute" is from our old friend, Latin -- (prostitutus). It comes from the prefix "pro", which means "before" or "in front of" and a derivation of the root, "statuere" which meant "to cause to stand." So "prostitute" unpacked means "to cause to stand in front of" and immediately we imagine that Imperial Rome has moved past tawdry slave women to good, old fashioned street walkers ... or street "standers" as the case may have been.
Interestingly enough, statuere is a busy bee of a root for English. Derivations of it include "statue," of course and "stature," "status," and "statute." So if you stand up in parliament and say, "These women of low status, prostituting themselves on our street corners, are a menace to men of high stature. Thus, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the statute," you're actually referring to the same root over and over again without even knowing it. Malkovitch! Malkovitch! Malkovitch! Malkovitch!
However, as much as the streetwalker/stander image makes sense to us, if statuere means "to cause to stand" then perhaps prostitutus with its "to cause to stand before" does not refer to the women but the effect that such alluring women might have on male genetalia. And thus, if a man quietly shares with his friend, "That is one statuesque woman," he is perhaps being more clever than he knows.
By the way, "erotic," of course comes from "Eros," the Greek god and "commerce" and "purchase" are both of Latin origin. So that just goes to show if you want to be creative about it go to the Greeks but if you want to talk about buying it go to Rome. (Okay, that's a facetious point. "Buy" comes from down home Gaulic and Old Saxon roots.)
Incidentally, "harlot" is a mystery. It comes from the Middle English, herlot, which used to refer to a vagabond; a fellow of no fixed address; a wandering minstrels he, a man of rags and patches. A little later it came to be used to describe a lecherous man and then somehow it stopped talking about men and started talking about women. No one can guess why. Oh the linguistic muddle those English get into without the Romans to guide them.
And finally, "whore" is an old, old, old word. One source traces it back to the Indo-European root "ka," which meant to like or desire. From there it develops a stem, "karo," and then the Germanic peoples turn the "k" into an "h" and invert the vowels (not a totally uncommon occurrence strangely enough) to come up with "horaz," which meant "one who desires" (It also grew to mean "adulterer" apparently.) From there, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to Old English where it morphs into the word we know and love ... for $50 an hour. For further linguistic irony, the same root finds itself imbedded in "charity" and "cherish."
There. That's what I do when I tell myself I'll be grading.
posted by - caj at 2:33 PM
2 Comments:
Excellent.
How could you drop the line "a wandring minstrel he, a man of rags and patches" and not segue to ballads, songs and snatches?
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