Happy Wednesday, word nerds! A couple of months ago I posted about a word that I thought really didn’t sound like its definition: effulgent. (You can read that post here.) Last week, I was reminded of another word that fits into that category: bucolic.
bucolic: (adj) Relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.
Really? Does that word sound pleasant to you? Maybe it’s the colic part of the word that does it. Hands up all mothers out there who have pleasant associations with the word colic.
*crickets*
*more crickets*
Yeah, I thought so. But aside from that, I don’t associate those hard kinds of sounds with pleasant. Do you?
It turns out that the word is actually derived from the Greek word boukolikos which means herdsman (from bous meaning ox). Now that, I can see. Somehow the word bucolic seems much more fitting for the kind of rugged, hardworking man I can imagine working in the fields. Still, while I can see the relationship, it seems like a fairly big leap from herdsman to pleasant aspects of country life.
Incidentally, the word colic isn’t related to bucolic at all. Colic comes from the Latin word colon, which is, of course, the source of all the trouble when it comes to colic.
Definitely not! That’s probably why I never use it! LOL
Hello FA,
Bucolic does remind of a sickness like colic. You wonder how we broke up word parts to get English words. Maybe a little more like softer version works like idyllic. Not everything translates.
Thanks,
Gary
On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 2:32 AM Fiction Aficionado wrote:
> Fiction Aficionado posted: ” Happy Wednesday, word nerds! A couple of > months ago I posted about a word that I thought really didn’t sound like > its definition: effulgent. (You can read that post here.) Last week, I was > reminded of another word that fits into that category: bucolic. ” >
Idyllic definitely sounds nicer. Sylvanian is another good one. Much softer, nicer sounding options!
Language is an amazing thing.
Yes!
I am still so surprised how many words are out there that most of us have never used. Try playing the game Balderdash.
Oh, we love that game here! So much fun.
No, I’m with you! Sounds sickly!
Definitely!