Reunion Weekend: June 2-4, 2023

All alumni are invited to join us back on campus for Reunion Weekend the first weekend in June.

Saint Ignatius High School

Etymology Word of the Week

Director of Admissions Pat O'Rourke '90, a self-proclaimed "word nerd," brings you his Etymology Word of the Week. Every other week he presents an online Etymology lesson just for fun!

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.  

Euphemism

Definition: “The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.” 

Origin/Derivation: From the Greek roots eu- meaning “good, well” and pheme/phanai meaning “speaking, saying, telling.” 

Related Words/Phrases: blasphemy (“hurtful speech”), Eucharist, Eumenides (from Greek mythology, a.k.a. the Furies), eulogy (“good speech”), eucalyptus, eugenics (“good birth/genes”), euphoria, euthanasia (“good death”)



 

Image Caption: Which phrase sounds nicer, “garbage dump” or “landfill”?


(All information is from www.wikipedia.org, www.etymonline.com and/or www.dictionary.com)