Etymology Word of the Week – As some of you know, in addition to working in the Admissions Office, I also teach Latin at Saint Ignatius and am something of a "word nerd." Thus, each week, I’ll sneak a vocabulary word (sometimes derived from Latin, sometimes not) into the e-blast. Here then is this week’s edition of the Etymology Word of the Week.
Persist
Definition: “To continue steadfastly in some purpose or course of action, especially in spite of opposition.”
Origin/Derivation: From the Latin prefix per- meaning “thoroughly” and the Latin verbs sto and sisto, meaning “to stand” and “to take a stand”.
Related Words/Phrases: resist, insist, exist, desist, subsist
Quote: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
— by the 30th U.S. President, Calvin Coolidge
(All information is from www.wikipedia.org, www.etymonline.com and/or www.dictionary.com)
“Old Saw” of the Week:
See if you can “complete the phrase” of this time-worn (but true!) adage:
“If, at first, you don’t succeed”…
try, try again.”
Caption: Sisyphus rolling his rock up the hill, over and over again.