Curiosa: New Vocabulary

[nebroadwe]

Hip-deep in bibliographic description of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century texts on law and magic, which it is my task to convert into database-ready copy, I stumbled across the following Library of Congress subject heading:

Medicine, Magic, mystic, and spagiric.

Since the text in question is concerned with "curing magical and cabalistic illness" (if I'm translating the Latin correctly), the subject appeared to suit, but I was left asking, "What the heck does 'spagiric' mean?" As it turns out, "alchemical" -- and it seems to be derived from a Latin term invented by Paracelsus, spagiricus (thanks, OED!). Huh. Must file that away for possible use in FMA 'fic.

Comments

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

thanks for explaining. I'm sitting here thinking wow, i have a very good vocabulary but i don't know that one.

and yes, you must.

now back to test making and original fic writing. WIll beat this depression..

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

That was exactly my reaction. I suspect somebody felt it was time I got humbled, though. I've been reading Hammond and Scull's reader's companion to LOTR, which is fascinating for the detail it goes into about editorial matters and occasionally quite odd about the vocabulary it chooses to gloss. "Squint-eyed," sure (because who knew that it means two different things in British and American English?), but "knoll"? Or "quailed"? Doesn't everybody know those? (Or grok them from context?)

And then there's "spagiric". Okay, maybe I needed to be taken down a peg. :-)

[picks up cheerleading pompons and tries to figure out an anti-depression cheer ... this may take some time ... ]

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

definitely a new one on me

And thanks. I did a little writing at the library today waiting on the laundry (by lucky happenstance my library and laundromat share a parking lot so I can sit someplace sane and comforting while the laundry is doing). That helps

It will also help to NOT read crap in the same genre I write (no crap, as opposed to the good stuff in my genres becuse the crap just makes me doubt myself)