tautology, tawdry, terrazzo, thigmotaxis, Thursday, tragedy, tragus, Brooklyn College MFA in Creative Writing Reading List

T: a new letter today...81 pages.  A little different from the x's and z's.

tautology

tawdry

terrazzo

thigmotaxis

Thursday

Tuesday

tragedy

tragus

trigeminal nerve

tsutsugamushi

tu quo que

tungsten

turbidimeter

twelve

Favorite “t” word: tautology

Miscellaneous other ’t’ words: these are other words that I have underlined and made notes on; too many to approach for now.  A future date awaits more discoveries.

ta (thanks)

Taal (Afrikans language)

tabard

tabor

tabula rasa

taffeta

Talmud

talon

tangerine

Tartarus

Tartuffe

tatami

taupe

tax, taxonomy

teal

telamon

tele-, telephone

Telemachus

tellurian

tempeh

tempera

tempura

tendentious

tenebrific

tenebrism

tenor

termagant

terra incognito

terrazzo

tertian

terza rima

tessera

tete beche

tetrahedron

tetralogy

tetrameter

Teuton

textus receptus

thalassemia, thalassic

Thalia

thaumaturgist

theatre

Theatine

the dansant

thegn

Thersites

Theseus

Thespian

theta

thimble

Thisbe

thixotropy

Thor

thorp

Thousand Island dressing

thrasonical

thremmatology

thrips

Thule

thurible

thyrse

thyrsus

tiara

tical

tiffany

tiki

tilde

timbal

timpani, timpanist

tincture, menstruum

tinge

tintinabulary

tiresias

tisane

titan

Titania

titanic

tithe

titian

titular

tmesis

tocsin

toile

toile de Jouy

tondo

Tongan

tonsure

tontine

toponymy

toreador

torero

toreutics

toril

torpid

torrid

torsade

towrtoiseshell

torus

totipotent

tow, towhead

tracery

tracheae

trachytic

trammel

tramontane

transom

trapezium

trapezoid

trapunto

trattoria

treacle

trebuchet

treillage

trellis

trews

tribology

trichotomy

trident

triglyph

trigraph

trilby

Trimurti

tripe

triphthong

triplicity

tripos

triquetrous

triskelion

Tristan, Tristram

triton

triumvirate, triumvir

trivet

trivia

-trix

trochee

troglodyte

troika

Troilus

Trojan

trollop

trompe l’oeil

trop-, tropo-

trope

tropic of Cancer, Capricorn

troposphere

troth

truculent

trundle bed

trypot

tryst

tsetse

tuatara

tunicate (marine animals that can reverse blood flow in heart)

tup, tupped, tupping

tuppence

turbid

tureen

turkey trot (definition)

turnpike

turpitude

turquoise

tusche

twa

tycoon

typhon

Tyrollean

tzaddik

tzar

tzigane

tzimmes

tzitzis

tautology: [Greek, tauto,  same; contraction of to auto] Useless repetition.

tawdry:  [derived from "St. Audrey"] cheap, showy clothing

terrazo: [Italian terrasso, terrace] mosaic flooring.

thigmotaxis:  [Greek, thigma  touch, taxis  to move] moving towards a solid surface.

Thursday: "Thunderday"  [German: thonar thunder, Donar god of the sky; 

also Norse, thors dagr: thor, thunder, dagr day]

     Again, the beauty of Norse derivations.  See "Wednesday" under the w's: a tribute to Woden or Odon.  

tragedy: [Greek tragos  goat, aiedein to sing]   Satyrs (goats) were the singing 

chorus in Greek tragedies.

tragus: the prominence (triangular flap) in front of the external opening of the ear

I look at and examine ears every day as a doctor...and often think of Greek 'tragedies' and goats when I see the 'tragus.'  I have mentioned this to medical students if they are of a literary bent.

Speaking of Greek tragedies, I recently read these: Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus, Lysistrada by Aristophanes, and Oedipus the King by Aeschylus.   The themes were almost of secondary importance; the poetry of some of the verses was breath-taking; the humor as well.  In Lysystrada (which, ironically, has the same plot as the new movie Chi-raque), the women are withholding sexual favors until the men stop their fighting and war like activities.  Lysystrada keeps all the women in quarantine…but the women become “husband crazy.”  One woman starts to run away and Lysystrada catches her.  The woman says, “I am having labor pains and must see my mid-wife.”  Lysystrada says, “You weren’t pregnant yesterday.”  She replies, “But I am now.”

traveling for one week

I am away this week so will not be able to write any posts until this coming Sunday.
I am also away from my precious dictionary, references and notes...so sorry not to be able
to share my thoughts and discoveries with you. Will be in touch soon!

Ute, Utah, uterus, utricle, Uther, Utopia, dystopian, The Tempest, Prospero, uvula, boitryoides, urea, uxorious

This will conclude the u's...many more to consider in the future of course.  Nice to have a Native American etymology here.  I will have to add that to the categories in the introduction.  

    Also, speaking of the "diminutive" suffix category, will have to add the ''-us" of uterus.  

Ute: [Ute, Yuta]  /yoot/  a member of a Native American group ranging through Utah and surroundings 

uterus [L. uter leather bag]  uterus is the diminutive of uter

utricle: part of the labyrinth of the inner ear 

Uther:   \oo' ther\  the Father of King Arthur

Utopia:  [L. ou, not;  topos = place; literally means "no place"]  An impossibly ideal place.

    Sir Thomas More first used this in his book Utopia, written in 1516

    Ironically, I guess the thought here is 'impossible.'  Ideal: yes; impossible: yes also.  But I don't submit to this pessimistic view.  Although our times now seem more dystopian, what is more noble, more necessary, more Cervantean, than to look for our own Utopia?  I was surprised and moved when I witnessed this in the intent, heart-felt looks of the devoted followers of Bernie Sanders during his talks, as they absorbed what he said from his heart in silence and concentration; a look I haven’t seen since the days of Robert Kennedy’s run for president.  Compassionate, altruistic, humble, self-effacing, pure, quixotic.  

     I finished reading The Tempest a few days ago and much of it was beyond me.  I do read favorite books over and over again, and it has been gratifying to hear Harold Bloom state the same.  He will read certain authors and their books every year or two… and I feel the same.  But, I digress.  What made me think of The Tempest and its connection to utopia was the thing I like most about good literature.  There are gems strewn throughout these writings; phrases, thoughts, symbols. 

     In The Tempest, Prospero, the wise father and Duke of Milan, is talking to his beautiful daughter, Miranda, whom he loves deeply.  He says “We are such stuff that dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep,” (4.1.156).   I am seeking my utopia, the stuff my dreams are made of.  I have found hints of such things in certain poetry, film, works of art and literature, Thoreau’s Walden being a prime example for me.  I will keep reading.  I will keep dreaming. 

uvula: [L. uva grape, diminutive] 

      In the medical field, the term boitryoides similarly comes from the Greek word for grape).  

    uvea of the eye (the iris and cornea)

uxorious: [L. uxor, wife]   \ek sor' ious\  Excessively submissive to (or fond of) a wife.

ursine, Ursa Major, usufructuary, usus et fructus, usury, usurer, usurious, The Merchant of Venice

ursine [L. ursinus, ursus  bear]  resembling a bear.

     Ursa Major: a constellation resembling a bear, that contains the Big Dipper and points to the North Star

     These "u" words seem to point to the sky tonight.  I will have to pull out my dog-eared copy of Walden for the appropriate references.  One of my treasured vade mecums.  I recall Thoreau asking how can he be lonely when he has all the myriad stars above him to keep him company.  And he also had his books of wisdom from around the world to fill his soul.   I do remember him referencing the Upanishads...from a one room hut in Massachusetts he was speaking of the wisdom of the Upanishads.

    One of my favorite movies is Contact  with Jodie Foster.  Reaching out to search the skies, to travel the infinite universe in our search for a sense of community and love,  only to find that our journey leads to a reconnection with parents and family who were here before us all along. 

usufructuary: one having the usufruct of property; one having the right to use and enjoy something.  

    usus et fructus: use and enjoyment. 

  

     After cutting the grass or raking leaves with my children when they were young, I would sometimes just pause and draw them to me and ask, “We are working so hard, but do we every stop and just look and see the beauty of what we have done?”  There was a wooden bench under a tree in the yard and I often wondered why we rarely ever just sat in it and observed nature.  Our homes give us the usus et fructus but I sometimes have to quiet my mind and take a zen outlook until I can really see and appreciate this reality.  

     I once went to a Buddhist retreat in a beautiful monastery in the woods.  It was late afternoon and all was silent.  The zen master was very humble and self-effacing.  His joyful manner taught me as much as his words did.  He changed into his robes and we did some chanting sitting in this small wooden monastery in the woods as the sun started to fade.  

     He then went outside to the door to the monastery and took a wooden mallet from its holder and methodically, slowly, carefully hit a flat wooden piece of wood set against the door frame.  I was almost euphoric at the beauty of this powerful sound and of this ritual; the natural sound of wood against wood as it echoed and faded into the surrounding darkening woods.  I enjoyed each passing moment.  

usury:  [L. uses, to use]   \you zhury\  The loaning of money (often exorbitant interest)

     pronounced with a z sound  

     usurer one who practices usury

     usurious having to do with usury

    I just finished reading Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice  which features the despicable usurer Shylock.  When Antonio, the ‘Merchant of Venice,’ can’t pay back his loan, Shylock literally demands his ‘pound of flesh’ that Antonio put up as collateral.  

     This play also mentions the word obdurate when describing Shylock.  [Latin ob- against, durus hard, as in durable]  resistant to persuasion, stubborn in persistence of wrongdoing.  

     

Note: The Merchant of Venice has passionate love as one of its typically Shakespearean themes.  It introduces the phrases "love is blind" (2.6.37) and "green-eyed jealousy" (3.2.110).

Ur, Ur-Hamlet, uraeus, Uranus, Urania, Urdu, urodele

Ur-  [German: ur- original] the original, primitive form, i.e. the Ur-Hamlet. 

     I was reading one of my favorite authors yesterday, the MacCarthur genius award winning Harold Bloom.  The Western Canon is an enticing and stimulating cornucopia of information that keeps me running to the dictionary and encyclopedia to dispel the cobwebs from my brain pan (to quote Cervantes).  

     In any case, since I am reading many of Shakespeare's plays now, I picked up his voluminous book on Shakespeare, Shakespeare, The Invention of the Human, that comments on all of the plays.  In his discussion of Hamlet, he postulates that this had been initially written ten years prior and that Shakespeare had let it brew for awhile, later having re-written it.  Bloom then referred to the original version, the ”Ur-Hamlet."   I was gratified that I had read the "U's."

     In German, ur- is pronounced more like "oo" as in 'oops' with with there rolling r at the end i.e.  ursprache: primitive language; urschleim:  protoplasm.

uraeus [Greek, ouraios snake]  /yu ‘ree us/  the sacred asp (snake) seen on Egyptian  rulers’ headdresses signifying their sovereignty

Uranus:  [Greek, Ouranus]  Greek god of the sky

     Uranus was father of the Titans.

Urania: [Greek, ourano sky] Greek muse of astronomy

Urdu: [Sanskrit, camp language]  official language of Pakistan; a form of Hindu, used by Muslims in Pakistan and in India

urodele [French urodele, Greek oura tail]  /yur’ ah deel/  amphibians that have a tail throughout their lives, i.e. a newt. 

unifolate, unijugate, uniramous, univalent, Upanishad

unifolate: having only one leaf, i.e. Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

unijugate: only one pair of leaves

uniramous: only one branch

    I had mentioned that the dictionary has scattered poetic descriptions of flowers and botany; different types of inflorescence, patterns of leaves, descriptions of trees, acorns...  I finally obtained a copy of a book that I had been meaning to get for years, and it has turned out to be deeply spiritual and profound in its own way although it is nominally about architecture and the design of communities and living spaces.  It is a trilogy, one of which is A Pattern Language  by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein, written in Berkeley, California, 1977.  It is gentle and compassionate, with such chapter titles as "Windows overlooking life," "sitting circle," ""secret place," "filtered light," "things from your life."  Incredibly gentle and insightful, like observing a zen rock garden.  

     Concerning flowers, it has a chapter called "Garden Growing Wild":

     "People need contact with trees and plants and water.  In some way, which is hard to express, people are able to be more whole in the presence of nature, are able to go deeper into themselves, and are somehow able to draw sustaining energy from the life of plants and trees and water."  

     "...the garden growing wild creates a more profound experience.  The gardener is in the position of a good doctor, watching nature take its course, occasionally taking action, pruning, pulling out some species, only to give the garden more room to grow and become itself."

univalent:  'a chromosome lacking a synaptic mate'  

hmmm...poetic...romantic

Upanishad [Sanskrit]  one of the Vedic treatises

undulate, undulant fever, ungual, periungual, ungulate, John Wayne, Freddie Francis

undulate: [L. undula, small wave; diminutive of unda] to move in waves.  

   undulant fever the coming and going of fever

   an undine is a being inhabiting water

ungual [L. unguis nail, hoof]  pertaining to the  nail

     periungual: around the nail (a medical term)

ungulate:  [ungula, hoof; unguis, nail]  having hooves.  A horse is an ungulate.  

    

    On my daily late-night walk in the cold, I was thinking about these words,  hooves and horses, and my lack of connection to them.  And yet, a few thoughts arose as they always do on these silent, meditative walks:

     My Father-in-law, an Irish leprachaun filled with the joy of life, loved horses.  Since his childhood, he would frequently draw them; he delivered newspapers on a horse-drawn sled in the winter in Orange, NJ; he took care of  horses at a neighbor’s stable and had dreams of being a cowboy.  He would bring his family to rodeos, dressing them in boots and cowboy hats as he dreamt of cattle ranches in the far West…and he was an industrial realtor…in New Jersey.   

     One of my favorite films is The Shootist by John Wayne, and I am not even a John Wayne or Western afficianado …except for this exquisite film.  His horse  plays an important part in the movie and draws the viewer towards empathy for his character as he slowly rides into town in search of Doc Hosteder (Jimmy Stewart).  (footnote 1) 

    A very beautiful film is Horseboy, a story of a young boy diagnosed with autism.  His free-spirited parents notice that he starts to talk and relate when he is placed on a horse’s back.  They then set out for Mongolia to meet a Shaman among the wild horsed there in search of a cure.  The movie is a surprising portrait of the intimacy of these parents as they undergo rituals by the shaman.  Their son is a true product of their love for one another.  

Footnote 1: The opening shot in The Shootist is a one frame camera shot that lasts for several minutes, as you gradually realize it is John Wayne riding across this prairie, the mountains as a back drop.  Reminiscent of the incredible camera work in The Straight Story (David Lynch, director, and the incredible Freddie Francis as the cinematographer) and also the recent, “one camera shot for the entire film” Birdman  with Michael Keaton. 

umpire, umlaut, unbe, Sartre, uncial, uncinate, unction

umpire: [Middle French: nomper, from Latin, non not par paired]  one person having the authority to decide

umlaut:  [German,  um, around, laut, sound] rhymes with 'about'

     two dots above the vowel, indicating a specific sound

see notes under "ablaut" in a prior post...

unbe: to not be

   A surprising phrase; humorous and yet deep in meaning.  

   I wrote my thesis in philosophy on Sartre’s Being and Nothingness and this concept of ‘nothingness’ or negation, as funny as it may seem, is important in Existentialism.  The introduction of the idea of zero was a milestone in mathematics.  How about anti-matter in physics?  Or it’s centrality in Buddhism and zen meditation?  Minimalism in poetry and art.  

   I love classical music and of all the myriad symphonies and pieces I have heard and that have moved me, it is John Cage's 4:33 (four minutes and thirty-three seconds) that moves me the most...the symphony plays nothing as you are gently lead to meditate on the nature of music, the devotion of the players to their art as they sit on stage holding their precious instruments, the seriousness of the conductor and of the audience, being attentive, the gentle sounds through the windows. 

    My uncle was a professional jazz pianist and his favorite phrase was “less is more.”  I think that is why I love Thelonious Monk’s exquisite music so much.  As a bass player, leaving enough out, not playing the unplayed note, makes the music all the more beautiful. 

uncial: \un' shel\  [L. uncial, ounce, 12th part, an inch]  large capital letters 

with rounded forms and cursive strokes, used in 300's - 700's A.D. in Latin manuscripts 

uncinate [L. uncus hook]  bent at the tip like a hook; hooked

unction [L. unctio anointing]  the act of anointing as a rite of healing or consecration

umbrella, umbellifer, umbelliform, inflorescence, ultimogeniture, primogeniture, King Lear and Cordelia

And so we begin the mysterious u's...a universe all their own.  23 pages.

U:

umbrella

umbellifer  (inflorescence, umbelliform)

ultimogeniture

umpire

umlaut

unbe

uncial

uncinate

unction

undulate, undulant fever, undine

ungual

ungulate

unifolate

unijugate

uniramous

univalent

Ur

uraeus

Uranus

Urania

Urdu

urodele

ursine

Ursa Major

usufructuary, usufruct, usus et fructus

Ute

uxorious

usury

uvula, uvea (boitryoides)

favorite word: umlaut

other miscellaneous “u” words

U-boat

ukulele

ultima

Umbundu

umiak

list of un- prefixes: unshakable, unsubtle, unyoung, unchurched

una corda (depressing the soft pedal on a piano)

unconscionable

unhouseled

unicameral

unmitigated

Upanishad

upas

umbrella: [Latin: umbra  shadow, shade]  diminutive of umbra 

     I love the diminutive forms of words, often with an -ito, or -ina, or in this case an -ella tacked on.  When I talk with Latino Mothers about their babies, I have observed with delight their talk of the smaller, more delicate names for things such as zapatitos instead of zapatos (shoes) or pansita instead of pansa (abdomen).   

umbellifer: [umbell flowers]  the carrot family  

    [L. umbella, umbrella]  

     Carrots have an umbelliform inflorescence (they originate from the same point on the stem).  I imagine that the umbrella-like (umbra) of the greens coming off the top of the carrot gave it it’s name of umbellifer, both derived from umbra.  

    

    inflorescence: the pattern of buds in different arrangements coming off the stem. 

     The dictionary has many definitions of flowers and their different, beautiful patterns of inflorescence.  I read a wonderful essay today by Dr. Oliver Sacks from The New York Review of Books called Darwin and the Meaning of Flowers found in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, 2009.  The essay, of course, contains his usual luminescent writing style:  insightful, gentle, beautifully phrased, intellectual, erudite and yet humble.  A vortex of sadness remains at his absence after his death.   

     This essay describes Charles Darwin’s love of botany.  After publishing his On the Origin of Species he returned to his home with it’s many gardens and wrote articles and books on his investigations of various flowers, especially orchids, their structure (inflorescence), fertilization and even movement. 

     Sacks concludes, “I rejoice in the knowledge of my biological uniqueness and my biological antiquity and my biological kinship with all other forms of life.”   Pure poetry.  Pure philosophy.   

ultimogeniture: the youngest son inherits the family wealth; 

     as opposed to primogeniture where the oldest son inherits all.  How about the daughters?

     I just finished reading King Lear; what an emotional, suspenseful ride.  Lear is dividing up his kingdom among his three daughters.  This is refreshing in itself…no Henry the VIII desperately seeking a male heir.  Even more refreshing…no primogeniture: the giving of your inheritance to the eldest male child.  I laughed when I read about ultimogeniture. A great idea.  I wonder who thought of that?  

     Here’s another thought: how about dividing everything between all of the siblings in a gender neutral environment?   In any case, King Lear’s first two daughters, Goneral and Regan,  lavish excessive praise on their father, proclaiming their everlasting love in a Janus-like manner.  Lear says that they will each therefore get one-third of his kingdom.  

     When he gets to the third daughter, Cordelia, what ensues is a typically creative Shakespearean invention: a conversation where the word “no” occurs four times in a row.  I had never seen this before.

   

Lear: …what can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters?  Speak.

Cordelia: Nothing, my lord.

Lear: Nothing?

Cordelia: Nothing.

Lear: Nothing will come of nothing.  Speak again.  (1.1)