Conference thebay::joyoflex

         gesamtkunstwerk - an artist's ouevre (guess)

         gradgrind - some pedantic old fogey

         grundyism - an instance of hyper-correctness, supreme
	 euphemism (often "Miss Grundyism")

         Grand Guignol - theatre of the macabre, gruesome, horrible

         paideia - ?

         Svengali - one who seems to have power over someone -- usually
	 not positively

         ubi sunt - ?
    
         vials of wrath - ?

         Walpurgisnacht - the night when witches go for a ride and meet

         Xanthippe - a shrewish woman or wife (Socrates' helpmate)

         below the salt - those seated at the table below where the
         salt is placed.  One who is of low standing??? - sounds good to
	 me

         palimpsest - a used piece of paper or parchment that still
         shows the original writing.  Isn't there a particular use of
         this word, maybe Biblical?  - something that's been written on,
	 erased, and then written on again (then you can see the original)

    Gesamtkunstwerk -- a term originated(?) or at least popularized by
    Wagner, who conceived of opera as a superset of all the arts:  a
    collection-art-work, I believe is a close approximation of the
    meaning...
    
    Grand Guignol -- a French term general used to characterize
    slice-'n-dice horror artworks, occasionally used in popular culture
    (e.g., the press) to describe actual bloody scenes of mayhem.
    
    Svengali -- as .1 said, a term from the Indian subcontinent, probably a
    reference to a famous 19 or 18c "psychic" or medium; generally, one
    with strong mental powers (over someone else in particular, usually)
    
    Walpurgisnacht -- a formerly pagan(?) holiday common in Germanic
    culture, perhaps around Hallowee'n, when nightttime bonfires are lit and
    celebrations held.
    
    Xanthippe -- I believe she was the wife of Socrates or one o' them guys
    
    You're right about "below the salt."  One of low standing.  Salt was
    relatively rare in ancient times, was a form of currency -- folks used
    to be PAID in NaCl, aka Salis, hence the terms "Salary! (!!) and "Saline" 
    
    Palimpsest -- Right again.  Once used parchment, scraped "clean" again
    (it was expensive, hence the importance of paper manufacturing later!),
    and reused.  I'm unfamiliar with any occurrence of "palimpsest" in the
    Bible, but that shouldn't surprise me...  :-)  Dan

    "Grind" at MIT referred to a person who did nothing but study, or it
    referred to the never-ending study itself.
    
    Therefore:
    
    Gradgrind - (1) a graduate student who does nothing but study,
    		(2) the continuous study required of a grad student.

    My wife thanks for the inputs on the words!!
    
    Since people have been having fun with the list, I thought
    I'd enter the complete list.  Any inputs are welcome, although she's
    puzzled out most of them.  *'s are the ones we have no answer for. 
    Others we have definitions for, but don't know the derivation, which is
    sometimes more interesting:
    
    abcedarian
    
    antipodes
    
    apocryphal
    
    Augean stables
    
    Babbitt
    
    below the salt
    
    catachresis
    
    cimmerian
    
    diacritics
    
    disjecta membra
    
    eisteddfod
    
    exegesis
    
    explication de texte
    
    Faustian *** didn't he sell his soul to the devil?
    
    festschrift
    
    gesamtkuntswerk
    
    gradgrind  *** derivation? I've gotten two definitions, both
                   believable.
    
    Grand Guignol
    
    grundyism
    
    Hesperides
    
    inverted comma
    
    Ixion's wheel
    
    lares and penates
    
    logos *** something other than our first reaction?
    
    maculate camelopard
    
    memento mori
    
    misology
    
    moloch
    
    obiter dictum
    
    Occam's razor
    
    paideia *** Greek?
    
    palimpsest
    
    parse
    
    philistine
    
    Pieran spring
    
    poetaster
    
    pound of flesh
    
    proem
    
    quodlibet
    
    Rabelaisian
    
    roman a clef
    
    roman-fleuve
    
    sackcloth and ashes
    
    Siege Perilous
    
    slough of despond
    
    Sturm and Drang
    
    Svengali
    
    The Thousand and One Nights
    
    ubi sunt *** Latin?  Isn't 'sunt' he(they) is or was?
    
    vials of wrath
    
    Walpurgisnacht
    
    Xanthippe

    sunt = 3rd person plural, present tense of "to be", namely "(they) are"
    
    ubi = "where" from my Latin grammar book
    
    From the OED:
    
    ubi = (1) place, position, location
    	  (2) present place or location, whereabouts
    
    The OED gives no meaning for the phrase "ubi sunt", and these phrases
    sometimes (frequently?) acquire somewhat different meanings from what
    one might translate directly from the Latin.

    From the OED:

    Cimmerian = Of or belonging to the Cimmerii, a people fabled by the
    ancients to live in perpetual darkness.  Hence proverbially used as a
    qualification of dense darkness, or night, or of things or persons
    shrouded in thick darkness.

    The OED lists some quotations going back to 1598, but my favorite,
    which isn't in the OED, comes from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of
    Penzance. The hero is plighting his troth and says:

    Ralph (common seaman): I am poor in the essence of happiness, rich
    only in never-ending unrest. In me there meet a combination of
    antithetical elements which are at eternal war with one another. Driven
    hither by objective influences, thither by subjective emotions, wafted
    one moment into blazing day by mocking hope, and plunged the next into
    the Cimmerian darkness of tangible despair.  I am but a living ganglion
    of irreconcilable antagonisms.  I hope I make myself clear, lady?

    Josephine (captain's daughter): His simple eloquence goes to my heart.

    paideia 	everything to do with kids growing up/education - hence
    		or cognate `encyclopaedia' `paediatrics' etc.
    
    ubi sunt	I agree with -.1-or-2; I've never come across it as a
    		free-standing expression. But it _may_ have been taken
    		into some writers' vocabulary via the carol `In dulci
    		jubilo' (which has Latin alternating with English phrases):
    		in one version a verse (talking about heaven) starts `Ubi sunt 
    		gaudia'. In other contexts it could easily mean `where are
    		they [now]?' (people like Lord Lucan, John Stonehouse,
    		Simon Dee).
    
    b

    Gradgrind	Try Dickens. I seem to remember a character called Mr
    		Gradgrind.
    
    logos	was your first reaction something to do with `logo'? I regret
    		(though I recognize it's happened) that companies today
    		use `logo' to mean `identifying graphical device'. It used
    		to mean, specifically, `identifying graphical device based
    		on a word'. Gk for word is `logos'. Hence `logorrhea' etc.
    		I believe in some circles `logos' is taken to be `The Word'
    		(as in the Doxology of The Word'. It's interesting (to me)
    		that `logos', in this case, relates to one particular word;
    		not unlike `biblon' [Gk = book] which relates to one
    		particular book.
    
    b

re .4 - I'll take a shot at the canonical list.
    
    abcedarian - ?
    
    antipodes -  Opposites
    
    apocryphal - Unconfrirmed or not accepted in the canon.  From several 
		 books of the bible (the Apocrypha) which have not received
		 the imprimatur of the Church.
    
    Augean stables - Site of one of the labors of Hercules.  They were a mess -
		     he cleaned them.  By analogy, any filthy, disorderly, 
		     messy place.
    
    Babbitt - Title and hero of Sinclair Lewis's 1922 novel. By inference, any 
	      small minded, boosterish, philistine.
    
    below the salt - Somebody earlier had it right.
    
    catachresis - ?
    
    cimmerian - Not sure what it means as an lower case adjective - there was 
		an ancient people, the Cimmerians, who were from somewhere in 
		Asia minor.
    
    diacritics - Not sure -  I know the marks that editors use when correcting
		 manuscripts are diacritical markings, so perhaps these are 
		 the same.
    
    disjecta membra - Beats me - sounds dirty	:<{)
    
    eisteddfod - ? Welsh song fest?
    
    exegesis - Critical analysis of a literary work -  see explication de texte
	       below.
    
    explication de texte - A formally structured criticism of a small piece of
			   text.  Favored by French deconstructionists.
    
    Faustian *** didn't he sell his soul to the devil?  - Yup..
    
    festschrift - ?
    
    gesamtkuntswerk - ?
    
    gradgrind  *** derivation? I've gotten two definitions, both
                   believable.   ?
    
    Grand Guignol - Somebody earlier had it right.
    
    grundyism - Pecksniffery.
    
    Hesperides - The Blessed Isles of( mumble) legend????
    
    inverted comma - An apostrophe???
    
    Ixion's wheel - ?
    
    lares and penates - ?
    
    logos *** something other than our first reaction? - Reason - logic.
    
    maculate camelopard - Reticulated (another ten dollar word:<{)) giraffe.
    
    memento mori - a reminder of death - the sculls, urns, and willow trees 
		   that appear in lugubrius and sentimental art.
    
    misology - Don't know - should be "hatred of learning" from its Greek 
	       roots, but I've never seen the word.
    
    moloch - ?
    
    obiter dictum - incidentally?
    
    Occam's razor - Logical principle attributed to William of Occam, medieval
		    philosopher.  It basically states that if several 
		    explanations of a phenomenon are equally probable, one 
		    should select the simplest.
    
    paideia *** Greek? - ?
    
    palimpsest - Somebody earlier had it right.
    
    parse - Analyze formally for meaning by applying rules of grammar.
    
    philistine - A person of low tastes.  (See Babbitt, above.)
    
    Pieran spring - ?
    
    poetaster - ?
    
    pound of flesh - A draconian debt or requirement.  From Shakespeare's "A 
		     Merchant of Venice", wherein said pound was collateral on
		     a loan made by Shylock.
    
    proem - ??
    
    quodlibet - ??
    
    Rabelaisian - Lusty, ribald, high spirited.  From the works of Rabelais.
    
    roman a clef -  A novel?
    
    roman-fleuve - ?
    
    sackcloth and ashes -  Traditional garb of penitants.  To "wear sackcloth 
			   and ashes" is to abase oneself - to eat crow.
    
    Siege Perilous ?
    
    slough of despond - Depressed mental state.  From John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's
			Progress."
    
    Sturm and Drang - melodramatic, of heightened emotion,  from a German 
		      literary movement.
    
    Svengali - Somebody earlier had it right.
    
    The Thousand and One Nights - Subtitle to the collection of tales known as 
				   the Arabian Nights.
    
    ubi sunt *** Latin?  Isn't 'sunt' he(they) is or was? - ?
    
    vials of wrath - ?
    
    Walpurgisnacht- Somebody earlier had it right.
    
    Xanthippe- Somebody earlier had it right.

    
    cimmerian  -- A "literary" sidelight: Conan the Barbarian was,
                  according to his creator, Robert A Howard, a
                  of Cimmeria.
    
    lares and penates -- minor Roman deities
    
    logos *** something other than our first reaction? 
                -- Greek for "word" -- See The Gospel according
                   to St. John
    
    maculate camelopard -- A Cameleopard is another name for a
                           giraffe
    
    memento mori -- "Remembrance of death?"
    
    misology -- Looks like "dislike of knowledge"
    
    moloch -- A rival deity (or devil) -- Can't remember if this is
              Biblical or from "Paradise Lost"
    
    poetaster -- An inferior poet
    
    roman a clef -- A novel with references to real people
    
    Siege Perilous -- The most dangerous seat at The Round Table --
                      Parsifal sat in this seat.
    
    slough of despond -- Another literary allusion -- Piers
   			 Ploughman?  Something like that...
    
    ubi sunt *** Latin? -- Literally "where they are" -- no idea of
  			   its derivation or deeper meaning

    gradgrind		Dickens, as someone mentioned earlier.  Try either
			_Hard Times_ or _Great Expectations_.
    
    Occam's razor	After William of Occam (14th C.).  "Entities should not
			be multiplied unnecessarily."  Applying Occam's Razor
			means the simplest explanation is the most likely.
    
    Pieran spring	Double-check the spelling on this.  I think the
			reference may be something out of Greek mythology,
			by way of Alexander Pope:
				A little learning is a dangerous thing;
				Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
				There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain
				And drinking largely sobers us again.
						-- _An Essay on Criticism_

    A couple of fill-ins:
    
    Abcedarians very likely study alphabets.
    
    Svengali was the villain in a popular novel / play called "Trilby"
    (unless I'm getting it confused with the hat). Trilby was the insipid
    heroine; Svengali hypnotized her into becoming a great
    something-or-other but wanted to keep her emotions under control as
    well.  I've seen several movies based on the story, the earliest with
    John Barrymore (I think), the most recent made-for-TV and starring
    Peter O'Toole and Jodie Foster. 
    
    If I remember right, the Slough of Despond was one of the vistas
    described in John Bunyan's guidebook, "Pilgrim's Progress".
    
    Ray

A little more info on some:

abcedarian: My daughter has one - it's an alphabet book ("A is for apple...")

antipodes - the opposite end of the earth - for extra points, name what is at
             the antipodes of Greenwich, England.

Eisteddfod - as guessed at before, it's a Welsh choral singing festival/
              competition

lares and penates - were the Roman household gods - now means (I think) objects
                     of value

Walpurgisnacht - is, like Hallowe'en, a pagan holiday, six months before and
                  after Hallowe'en (April 30th - my birthday!)

Ben

    Moloch - In the Old Testament, god of the Ammonites and Ph�nicians
    to whom children were sacrificed.

    As I recall from a previous life as an academic abecedarian,  :-)
    Festschriften are written to celebrate the work of seminal academics at
    or near the end of their careers.  They typically appear as special
    editions of the academic journals for the sub-discipline the Worthy
    Person has influenced most deeply.  The WP him/herself either appears
    in the dedication, in the lead article, or (rarely) edits the
    submissions of his/her academic descendants.  Sometimes Festschriften
    are published as standalone volumes, as well; in those cases, the
    "first draft" (-: Beta Test, in our terms :-) has often come out
    previously, at least in part, as a special issue of some relevant
    journal. 
    
    The hallmark of a Festschrift (literally, Celebratory Writing?) is that
    the various acolytes acknowledge, either implicitly or explicitly,
    their deep intellectual debt to the WP.
    =====
    All of which will serve as well as anything as prologue to my favorite
    German-language story, which if memory serves me I have told elsewhere
    in this file, probably better than time will permit at the moment.
    
    The great German Philosopher had labored all his life to produce his
    monument:  a five-volume "Philosophie."  All his acolytes trailed him
    as he proudly left the groves of Academe carrying all five laboriously
    hand-penned volumes, the fruit of a lifetime's meticulous scholarship. 
    
    Tragically, as they crossed the bridge between his Universit�t and the
    city wherein his publisher's offices were located, the old Professor's
    wizened, quill-crabbed hand shook and one of the precious volumes
    slipped irretrievably beneath the river's waves.  Realizing that the
    water would render the pages illegible, the old Professor didn't even
    bother to throw himself off the bridge; he merely sobbed quietly.
    
    One of his stricken acolytes consoled the old teacher...  "Herr
    Professor, while this is truly sad, don't despair...  Surely you can
    reconstruct the volume from your notes...?"
    
    The poor Professor's sobs increased to screams -- "Ach NEIN!  Zat was
    ze fifth and last volume!!  IT HAD ALL ZE VERBS!!!"
    =====
    And on that note, I end this description of "Festschrift." :-)
    

    Then there was the one about two people who had been listening to
    Hitler speak for hours and hours.
    
    First:	Let's go.  I'm getting tired of this.
    Second:	Let's wait awhile. I want to hear the verb.

    Re .16 -- nifty!  *much* higher pith/byte ratio, same point!
    
    Pierian spring -- All I recall of this is that there's some sort of
    musical or cultural group at Harvard U. named the "Pierian Sodality."
    On further reflection I'm 95% sure it is an orchestra.
    
    misology -- Japanese tofu soup with large hunks of tree-trunks therein :-)
    
    ubi sunt -- semper ubi sub ubi  :-)
    
    

    Re: semper ubi sub ubi
    
    	Oooof!  Your Mother told you that, too?		:-)

As long as we're swapping German language stories, allow me to
share this one, entirely unrelated to the subject.

An American woman in London made the acquaintance of a German
gentleman. She desired to know whether he had been to see the
Derby the previous week, so inquired, "Was haben sie auf Derby 
Day gemacht?".
He looked rather sternly at her and replied, "Es ist nicht
_der_ Bidet, sondern _das_ Bidet".

    A small addition...
    
    Walpurgisnacht.  From St Walpurga, 8th century (English?) abbess in
    Germany.
    
    I just love obscurities.
    
    Mike

    Abcedarian is often spelled "abecedarian" so it can be pronounced more
    easily.
    
    Lares and penates were, as someone said, the household gods of Rome. 
    Now the term means household effects and personal possessions, not
    necessarily of value.
    
    Quodlibet, literally from Latin QVOD LIBET "what one pleases" - usually
    today used as a musical term for a composition that is, for lack of a
    better term, eccentric.  Related to AD LIBITVM "at will", from which we
    derive "ad lib."  The best-known quodlibets are one by Johann Sebastian
    Bach and one by Peter Schickele.
    
    Svengali was, as .12 says, the villian in the novel "Trilby," by George
    Du Maurier, father of the better-known Daphne Du Maurier.  The novel
    was written in 1896 and set in Paris.  Today, the name Svengali is
    attached to a particular kind of trick playing cards used by magicians. 
    I have three or four Svengali decks.
    
    -dick

    >If I remember right, the Slough of Despond was one of the vistas
    >described in John Bunyan's guidebook, "Pilgrim's Progress".
    
     Yeah, that's it!  Thanks, Ray.
    
     "Pilgrim's Progress" is also the source of the phrases "the straight
      and narrow" and "Vanity Fair."
    					andrew

re .13
> antipodes - the opposite end of the earth - for extra points, name what is at
>             the antipodes of Greenwich, England.

Water. Lots of water. Lots of cold water. Lots of very cold water.
And the climate is abominable, too. 

The closest land is the Antipodes Islands; however, the antipodes of the
Antipodes is (possibly just off the coast of) Normandy. It misses by over
100 miles. 

The only thing I remember about them is the phrase
"the Antipodes aren't the antipodes".

				I

    G'day,
    
     Without being able to give a refernce, is not Seige Perilous from
    Knight of the Round Table and / or other Arthurian legends?
    
    derek
    
    

    antipodes
        
       Any two places on opposite ends of a diameter of the Earth.
    
    apocryphal
    
       Of doubtful authenticity.
        
    Augean stables
    
       A daunting task, which may have a simple solution.  Hercules cleaned 
       the stables by diverting a river through them.    
    
    below the salt
    
       If you sat below the salt you were not a most favoured guest.  Salt 
       was expensive and those below the salt did not get any to flavour 
       their food.
    
    diacritics
    
       A sign placed above or below a character or letter to indicate 
       phonetic value or stress.
        
    eisteddfod
    
       A Welsh festival of arts, drama, poetry and music competitions.
    
    exegesis
    
       Explanation of a text, particularly in the Bible.
        
    explication de texte
    
       Explanation of a text
        
    gradgrind
    
       Used as a name by Dickens, but not as was proposed Great 
       Expectations, I don't know where though.
    
    grundyism
    
       Does this come from the Water Babies?
        
    inverted comma
    
       What is often referred to as 'opening single quote'
    
    parse
    
       To analyse grammatically.
        
    philistine
    
       Someone hostile towards culture and the arts.
        
    poetaster
    
       A writer of inferior verse.
        
    proem
    
       An introduction or preface.
        
    vials of wrath
    
       As a vial is the same as a phial, I'd suggest it was equivalent to a 
       poisoned chalice.
        
    Xanthippe
    
       A nagging, peevish or irritable woman.
    
       [With recent trials on the grounds of discrimination and in light of 
       restatements of corporate policy, it is now best to believe that 
       there are no Xanthippes anywhere, and that the word should only be 
       used in historical writings.]   :-)

	catachresis: Incorrect word usage

    >Without being able to give a refernce, is not Seige Perilous from
    >Knight of the Round Table and / or other Arthurian legends?
    
      Yup -- definitely mentioned in Mallory.
    
    

Re: .23

Perhaps .13 is referring to the International Date Line which runs for the most 
part along the antipodes of of any point along the Prime Meridian.

Wook

    Xanthippe has something to do with `yellow' too. Is it an element?
    
    Autobiographical trivium: I must admit that I once (under extreme
    duress) used the term `Xanthippean'. It was in an acrostic, and
    it was that or `xylophone'.
    
    b

    If you mean a chemical element, no, it is not.
    
    					andrew

>    Xanthippe has something to do with `yellow' too. Is it an element?
    
	"Xantho-" is a root meaning yellow.  It's mostly used in 
	chemical names, but here's a more interesting term that
	uses it:

		xanthochroi - white persons having light hair
		and fair skin

	My dictionary is pretty confusing on what "xanthos" actually
	means in Greek: yellow? grey? hare?  I'm sure that Xanthippe's
	name uses this root somehow.  Any Greek scholar out there?

		-- Cliff

    antipodes
        
       Where octopusses go to die.  (Converted 100% into energy.)
    
    
    
    apocryphal
    
    .25>Of doubtful authenticity.
                                                                 o   \
       Yup.  I wouldn't trust a definition like that either.  (   ----)  )
                                                                 o   /

    �	My dictionary is pretty confusing on what "xanthos" actually
    �	means in Greek: yellow? grey? hare?  I'm sure that Xanthippe's
    �	name uses this root somehow.  Any Greek scholar out there?
    
    `Scholar' ? Yes - in the limited sense that I studied it once.
    Dictionary - no. I don't have one, nor regular access to one.
    (I wonder why there isn't a Greek lexicon on Bookreader. I'm
    sure there'd be a market for it.)
    
    I can think of a fairly whimsical (and almost certainly wrong)
    derivation from `x-anthos' - as anthos=flower [whence `anthology'];
    and a hybrid, in a gardening book, gets the prefix x-. But I'm
    sure `xanthos' means something less fanciful in Greek. I'll look
    it up next time I'm passing a decent library.
    
    b

    re: Grundy; she was the termagant that dogged Archie in Archie commics.
        "Freedom begins when you tell Miss Grundy to go fly a kite" 
             - Heinlein (?)
    
    re: Occam's Razor; (no non-philosphers on this one please) to use the
        closest argument that falls near the question. It is NOT the
        simpliest or else "UFO's did it!" would suffice for many questions.

Ubi sunt qui ante nos in mundo fuere?

"Gaudeamus Igitur" verse 2, line 1

-dave

    Bravo!

     Ubi sunt qui ante nos in mundo fuere?
    
    "Where are those who preceded us in this world?"
    
    

    I don't think that's it.  The form "fuere" isn't a proper conjugation
    of "esse".  You could render "[they] who were before us" as "qui ante
    nos erant", but the more usual form would be "qui nobis praeivunt"
    "[they] who have preceded (gone before) us".  The closest sensible form
    to "fuere" that I know is "fuerunt" which is the future perfect tense.
    
    -dick

    When I looked "fuere" up last night, it was the 3rd person plural
    perfect tense of "esse".  It was shown as an alternate for "fuerunt".
    So the translation given in .38 seemed reasonable to me.
    
    A more literal translation might be:
    
    	Where are they who before us in the world existed?

    Re: .40
    
    Okay, I can buy that.  Time for a better dictionary...
    
    -dick

    My text was:
    
    New Latin Grammar, Allen and Greenough, Ginn and Company, 1888.

Please note, also, the "Gaudeamus Igitur" is an example of late medieval student
Latin, rather than the Classical variety.

-dave

Mr. Gradgrind is a character in Hard Times. Dickens used him to satirise the
more zealous followers of utilitarian philosophy. Read the first paragraph of
Hard Times and you will know all you ever need to know about Mr. Gradgrind.


Chris

       
       
       
       Can someone please define "fanish" for me. I looked in my American
       Heritage Dictionary, but it's not in there. 
       
       				Thanks!
       				 ->Jay

       
       
       >  <<< Note 950.47 by REGENT::BROOMHEAD "Don't panic -- yet." >>>
       >                  -< Could that be "fannish"? >-
       
       Quite possibly. Someone sent me a mail message and the word was
       used as an adjective, but I can't even take a guess at the meaning
       (or even the correct spelling).
       
       			->Jay

    There may be multiple meanings, but here is one.  A "fan" is an ardent
    devotee, an enthusiast, a FANatic.  That's from the dictionary. As
    usual with science fiction (SF) "fans", they have carried the word to
    lexicological excess ending in "ish":  "fanish" is an adjective
    referring to an SF fan or fans or anything he, she, they, or it might
    do or say.

       
       
       RE: .49
       
       Thanks! Now that I re-read the mail message, it fits in.
       
       			->Jay