Multiple Plurals, Multiple Meanings

One of the more interesting aspects of the changes that take place in English from generation to generation is the fact that as spellings change to conform to modern usage, some of the old forms stick around with different connotations or meanings.

Two words for angel that came into English from Hebrew have plural forms ending in -im:cherub/cherubim and seraph/seraphim.

In angel lore, a seraph is a “fiery six-winged angel” who guards God’s throne. A cherub ranks just below a seraph and has two large wings, a human head, and animal body. A cherub is the guardian of a sacred place.

Seraph has not entered into general use, but in modern English cherub refers to the image of a pretty Cupid-like child with wings, or to the little faces with wings one sees as architectural decorations. A child with a beautiful, innocent face can be called a cherub. For these modern uses the plural of cherub ischerubs.

The earlier plural of brother was brethren, a form still seen in the King James version of the Bible and still to be found in sermons and some religious writing. It suggests spiritual kinship.

The plural fishes for fish has a kind of Biblical ring to it, as in the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Pence as the plural of penny is still used in Britain while Americans saypennies.

The word dice is the plural of die: a cube with spots used in gaming. Die can also refer to an instrument used in manufacturing. The plural of that kind of die is dies.

Some other words with more than one plural form:
formula formulas formulae: The Latin plural formulae is often preferred by scientific writers.

index indexes indices: The plural indices has a specialized mathematical meaning (a number or symbol or expression written to the left or right of and above or below or otherwise associated with another number or symbol or expression to indicate use or position in an arrangement or expansion or to indicate a mathematical operation to be performed).

staff staffs staves: The plural staffs is the modern choice, whether you’re talking about a group of workers or a stick used as a walking aid. If you’re writing an historical novel, however, Robin Hood and Little John would fight with staves. The word stave occurs as a singular musical term. It is also the word for one of the strips of wood used to make a barrel. The plural of staveis staves.

Speaking Of Eponyms

My first introduction to the concept of eponyms was in high school. My English teacher talked about the ‘eponymous heroine’, meaning the protagonist after whom the book was named. Examples include Jane Eyre and  Silas Marner.

An eponym is a word that is formed from the name of a person. A famous example is the word sandwich, named after the Earl of Sandwich, but there are hundreds more. We seem to like this type of word association and eponyms crop up in all fields. Here are some examples:

Laws

• Asimov’s Three Laws Of Robotics
• The Dilbert Principle: the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.
• Faraday’s law of electrolysis
• Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
• Newton’s laws of motion

Trademarks

Many generic words were once trademarks, including:

• Aspirin
• Brassiere
• Cellophane
• Escalator
• Granola
• Gunk
• Heroin
• Jungle Gym
• Kerosene
• Linoleum
• Saran Wrap
• Shredded Wheat
• Tabloid
• Yo-yo
• Zipper 

There are also several trademarks still in use that are also used generically, including:

• Alka Seltzer
• Band Aid
• Breathalyzer
• Coke
• Dumpster
• Frisbee
• Jello
• Kleenex
• Play-Doh
• Q-Tip
• Styrofoam
• Superglue
• Valium
• Vaseline

Others

• algorithm,  from Al-Khwarizm, a mathematician
• Celsius, named after Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius
• derringer, from gunsmith Henry Derringer
• Granny Smith apples, from an Australian apple breeder
• leotard, from trapeze artist Jules Leotard
• Henry Laurence Gantt gave us the Gantt chart
• Gerard Kuiper gives his name to the Kuiper Belt

Euphemism and Euphuism

Political correctness is nothing new. People have desired to avoid calling a spade a spade since ancient times.

People don’t die, they “pass away.”
Politicians don’t commit crimes, they “make mistakes.”
Married men don’t commit adultery, they “cheat.”
People don’t fart, they “pass wind.”

The word for this substitution of a less offensive word or phrase for a more specific or unpleasant one is euphemism. The word is from Greek euphemizein“speak with fair words.”

The concept stemmed from the belief that the gods listened to human conversations and could be easily offended. People were careful not to boast of their wealth or accomplishments, so as not to prompt some god to reverse their fortunes as punishment.

The maiden Arachne, for example, learned to her cost what came of boasting. For claiming that she was a more skillful weaver than the goddess Athena, Arachne was transformed into a spider. (To this day spiders bear her name.)

The more horrific the deity, the more necessary it was for mortals to speak nicely about them.

The Erinyes, female personifications of vengeance, were really gruesome. Like the Gorgon, they had snakes on their heads. Drops of blood oozed from their eyes. They flew after oath-breakers on the wings of bats. Watch the filmJason and the Argonauts to see the Furies in action. In order to stroke their egos, ancient Greeks referred to them as the Eumenides, “the Kindly Ones.”

Modern mortals use euphemisms to avoid offending (or frightening, or informing) other people.

The opposite of euphemism is dysphemism, an intentionally harsh word intended to shock or offend. The Coen brothers go a little overboard with the F word in The Big Lebowski.

Euphuism is a term that describes a flowery, affected type of writing.

Euphues is Greek for “graceful, witty.” Sixteenth century English author John Lyly wrote a book called Euphues: The Anatomy of Wyt (1578). The main character is a fashionable young man named Euphues. The style in which the book is written is full of convoluted sentences, euphemisms, rhetorical questions, alliteration, and references to classical literature. (In the 16th century educated people were assumed to be familiar with Greek and Latin literature.)

Here’s an example of Lyly’s euphuistic style. For the fun of seeing how English has changed since the 16th century, I’ll give you both the original and a modernization.

It happened thys young Impe to ariue at Naples (a place of more pleasure then profite, and yet of more profite then pietie) the very walles and windowes whereof shewed it rather to bée the Tabernacle of Venus, then the Temple of Vesta.

There was all things necessary and in redinesse that myght eyther allure the minde to luste, or entice the hearte to follye, a courte more méete for an Atheyst, then for one of Athens, for Ouid than for Aristotle, for a gracelesse louer then for a godly lyuer: more fitter for Paris than Hector, and méeter for Flora then Diana.

Modernization:

It happened that this young playboy arrived at Naples (a place of more pleasure than educational value, and yet of more value than piety) the very walls and windows of the place showed it rather to be the place to occupy oneself in matters of sex than in those of chastity.

In this place were to be found all things necessary and in readiness that might either tempt the mind to lust, or entice the heart to folly, a court more suitable for an atheist, than for a pious person, for Ovid [who wrote about love] than for Aristotle [who wrote about intellectual matters], for a promiscuous person than for someone who lives a godly life: more appropriate for Paris (he stole another man’s wife] than Hector, [faithful husband of a faithful wife] and more suitable for Flora [goddess of the Spring and, presumably in Lyly's mind, associated with mating] than Diana [virgin goddess].

Gods and Ducks – Get It Right

rom Mod.L. translation of Gk. theos ek mekhanes, lit. “the god from the machina,” the device by which “gods” were suspended over the stage in Gk. theater–Online Etymology Dictionary.

I heard an NPR reporter use this expression to refer to a character in the 2001 cult movie Donnie Darko. (Spoiler alert: stop reading now if you don’t want to know the ending.)

Anyone hearing the reporter’s use of the expression would have thought that it was just a fancy way of saying “a supernatural force that saves someone’s life in a story.”

For those who, like me, never heard of Donnie Darko, here’s the story according to a summary on IMDb:

While sleepwalking, a troubled teenager named Donnie Darko meets Frank, a mysterious personage dressed in a diabolical bunny suit. That same night a jet engine crashes into the Darko house, destroying Donnie’s empty bedroom. Donnie feels that he was saved from death by Frank’s supernatural powers. At Frank’s instigation, Donnie commits several vicious acts of vandalism, but in the end, thanks to a time warp, Donnie is killed by the falling jet engine and the vicious acts remain undone.

The NPR reporter called the man in the bunny suit a deus ex machina.

Deus ex machina is a plot device. It is a character or an event introduced at the last minute to save a character or resolve the story. An author uses it because he’s written himself into a corner. It is unexpected and does not arise from the logic of the story up to that point:

The hero’s car is teetering at the edge of a cliff in a remote wilderness. The front wheels are over the abyss and the hero can’t open the door to jump to safety. The hero can do nothing to save himself. Just then, out of the blue, a helpful stranger happens to drive up in a tow truck and pulls car and driver to safety. That’s deus ex machina.

Donnie’s man in the bunny suit does appear suddenly and unexpectedly, but he doesn’t resolve the story. According to the film summary, it was Donnie’s sleepwalking that saved him from being killed by the jet engine. Frank’s appearance begins a chain of events that advance the story. The plot’s resolution, however, arises from its internal logic and occurs when Donnie chooses to drive into the time tunnel.

For some reason the reporter’s inexact use of deus ex machina reminded me of a political reporter’s misuse of the expression “lame duck.”

After the November elections in 1996 I heard a reporter, also on NPR, refer to Bill Clinton as “a lame duck President.”

In political terminology, a “lame duck” is “a public official serving out his term after an election.” The expression is a negative one, conveying the sense that, since the incumbent will soon be out of office, he’s lost all power and influence. Clinton could have appropriately been referred to as a “lame duck President” after the 2000 elections, but not in 1996 when he was preparing for a second term.

It could be argued that both usages described above are “more or less” correct, but with the vast vocabulary at their disposal, people who use words professionally can be more particular.