An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquents

Good day to you, or should I say good evening to you, my little literary dreamers. Get your coziest pyjamas on, your bunny slippers, your favourite teddy bear and take a deep breath, as we prepare to take on today’s word: somniphobia.

‘Somniphobia’ is the fear of going to bed, or extreme anxiety with the thought of sleeping or falling asleep. It is also known as hypnophobia, clinophobia, sleep anxiety, or sleep dread. It can be related to a fear of the unknown, concern with a ‘lack of control’ whilst sleeping, or worrying that one might not hear a loved one call out in pain or trouble whilst one is asleep. Sleep paralysis and nightmare disorders are two of the causes of somniphobia, although it is linked to many other forms of anxiety and fears. Common symptoms of somniphobia include a feeling of fear when thinking about sleeping, experiencing distress at bedtime, avoiding going to bed altogether, having panic attacks when it’s time to sleep, irritability or mood swings, and having a hard time remembering things. There can also be physical symptoms, including nausea, a tightness in the chest, and sweats, chills or hyperventilation. Children with somniphobia will often cry, become clingy, and ask not to be left alone. 

The word ‘somniphobia’ comes from the Latin words ‘somnus’ and ‘phobia’. ‘Somnus’ means ‘sleep’ or ‘drowsiness’, and comes from Proto-Italic ‘*swepnos’, meaning ‘to sleep’. It can also take on the figurative meaning ‘death’. Though not quite an antonym, chronophobia is a related fear - the fear of time. Chronophobia is an irrational fear of both time and the passing of time, and can include a fear of watches, clocks and other timepieces. It comes from the Latin word for time - ‘chronos’. 

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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Goooooooooooood daaaaaaaaaaaaay to youuuuuuuuu, listeneeeeeeerrrrrr and thaaaaaank you for joining usssssssss today. You might think I’m speaking rather oddly, or even slowly today, dear listener, and you would be right, as I have been inspired by today’s word: sloth.

The ‘sloth’ is a type of mammal noted for their slow movement, who live in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. They spend most of their lives hanging upside down in trees, and are closely related to anteaters. With a low metabolism, sloths have a low-energy diet of leaves, and though they are terrible on the ground, can hang from trees easily and even swim. They have a shaggy coat with grooved hair, and host green algae which helps them to camouflage, hiding from predatory hawks and cats. 

The word ‘sloth’ comes from  the Middle English ‘slouthe’ or ‘slewthe’ meaning ‘laziness’, from the Old English ‘slǣwþ’, also meaning ‘laziness’ or ‘indolence’, which in turn is from the Proto-Germanic ‘*slaiwiþō’ meaning ‘slowness’ or ‘lateness’. As well as being the word for the aforementioned mammal, ‘sloth’ can also mean ‘laziness; slowness in the mindset; disinclination to action or labour’, or more rarely, is used for the collective noun for bears, as in ‘a sloth of bears came by and attacked the camping ground.’ No official collective noun for a group of sloths is recorded, although some that are used include a ‘slumber’ of sloths, a ‘snuggle’ of sloths, or my personal favourite, a ‘bed’ of sloths. 

Sloth is also one of the seven deadly sins - a Catholic list of cardinal sins from the 13th century. It is described as the ‘sin of omitting responsibility’ in contrast to the other sins, which are generally speaking immoral in nature. 

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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Ciao ciao, my bellas! I hope you’re ready for some pizza and pasta, for today we journey to Italy, to explore the word: cantastoria.

‘Cantastoria’ is an Italian word which is a ‘theatrical form where a performer tells or sings a story while gesturing to a series of images. These images can be painted, printed or drawn on any sort of material.’ The word comes from the Italian for ‘story-singer’; ‘canta’ meaning ‘to sing’ and ‘history or story’. ‘Cantare’ comes from the Latin ‘canō’ meaning, ‘I sing’, and with the suffix ‘tō’ becomes ‘cantō’ which means ‘I sing’, but can also mean ‘I exchange, or call forth by charms, chant’. ‘Storia’ is from the Old Italian ‘istoria’, which in turn is from the Latin ‘historia’, from Ancient Greek ‘historía’, which means ‘learning through research’. 

Though the word is Italian, ‘cantastorias’ originated in 6th century India, where religious tales called ‘saubhikas’ were performed by storytellers who travelled from house to house with banners painted with pictures of Gods. ‘Yamapapaka’ was a similar style of storytelling, where performers with vertical cloth scrolls sung stories of the afterlife. Some of these stories continue to be performed by the Chitrakar women of West Bengal today.

Heading back to 16th century Italy, prayers would be sung next to illuminated scrolls as ‘cantastorias’, whilst the secular folks created ‘cantambanco’ or ‘singing bench’, where the performer would point to pictures with a stick whilst standing on a bench. Up until the 19th century there were blind men in Spain with a young ‘helper’ who would make their living by displaying illustrations whilst the blind man would sing a story, often about crimes, while his helper pointed at each illustrations. These were known as ‘romances de ciego’ or ‘blind man stories’.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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Ciao ciao, my bellas! I hope you’re ready for some pizza and pasta, for today we journey to Italy, to explore the word: cantastoria.

‘Cantastoria’ is an Italian word which is a ‘theatrical form where a performer tells or sings a story while gesturing to a series of images. These images can be painted, printed or drawn on any sort of material.’ The word comes from the Italian for ‘story-singer’; ‘canta’ meaning ‘to sing’ and ‘history or story’. ‘Cantare’ comes from the Latin ‘canō’ meaning, ‘I sing’, and with the suffix ‘tō’ becomes ‘cantō’ which means ‘I sing’, but can also mean ‘I exchange, or call forth by charms, chant’. ‘Storia’ is from the Old Italian ‘istoria’, which in turn is from the Latin ‘historia’, from Ancient Greek ‘historía’, which means ‘learning through research’. 

Though the word is Italian, ‘cantastorias’ originated in 6th century India, where religious tales called ‘saubhikas’ were performed by storytellers who travelled from house to house with banners painted with pictures of Gods. ‘Yamapapaka’ was a similar style of storytelling, where performers with vertical cloth scrolls sung stories of the afterlife. Some of these stories continue to be performed by the Chitrakar women of West Bengal today.

Heading back to 16th century Italy, prayers would be sung next to illuminated scrolls as ‘cantastorias’, whilst the secular folks created ‘cantambanco’ or ‘singing bench’, where the performer would point to pictures with a stick whilst standing on a bench. Up until the 19th century there were blind men in Spain with a young ‘helper’ who would make their living by displaying illustrations whilst the blind man would sing a story, often about crimes, while his helper pointed at each illustrations. These were known as ‘romances de ciego’ or ‘blind man stories’.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

Subscribe to us on ITUNES, STITCHER, SPOTIFY, or your podcatcher of choice.

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A bright and wonderful day to you, my little chickens! Take a trip to the farm with us today, down on the ol’ homestead, as we discuss today’s word: cockalorum.

Cockalorum is a word meaning ‘a boastful and self-important person; a strutting little fellow’. For example, one might say, ‘Look at that cockalorum, eating all the cheese as if he had paid for it himself!’. The origin is not confirmed - it likely comes from the English word ‘cock’ meaning ‘rooster’, with -a- and Latin -lorum suffixed as a fanciful elaboration. It could also originate from a Dutch onomatopoeic dialect term ‘kockeloeren’ which is a word for the cry of a rooster, comparable to ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’. Cockalorum can also mean ‘boastful speech or crowing’ or ‘a game similar to leapfrog’. Come and join me for a game of cockalorum this afternoon, won’t you?

The word ‘cock’ itself has over eighteen different recorded meanings, including, ‘a male bird, such as a rooster or pigeon’, ‘the circle at the end of a rink in curling’, ‘a boastful tilt of the hat or head’, and of course, ‘vulgar slang for penis’. The word originated from Old English ‘cocc’, from Proto-Germanic ‘kukkaz’, probably of onomatopoeic origin. This is reinforced by the Old French word ‘coc’, also of imitative origin. The associating of the word ‘penis’ is attested since at least the 1610s, with the compound ‘pillicock’ also meaning ‘penis’ confirmed since 1325. 

‘Cock’ can also be used as verb, with several different meanings including ‘to prepare a gun or crossbow to be fired’, ‘to turn something upwards or to one side’, ‘to strut or swagger’, and my personal favourite, ‘to turn the eye obliquely and partially close its lid, as an expression of derision or insinuation’. 

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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Howdy hey there, partner! Get on down and welcome to An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquents! Now did that greeting seem a little odd? Perhaps even crazy? Good! That is precisely what I was going for, as I explain today’s word: pandemonium.

The most common usage of pandemonium is the definition stating ‘chaos; tumultuous or lawless violence’, or even ‘an outburst; loud, riotous uproar, especially that of a crowd.’ However, the archaic, and slightly more fantastical meaning is ‘a place where all demons live; hell’. The word was coined John Milton in ‘Paradise Lost,’ and comes from the Ancient Greek ‘pan’ meaning ‘all’ and the Late Latin ‘daemonium’ meaning ‘evil spirit’ or demon’. Thus, we have pandemonium, or ‘all of the evil spirits’.

The word ‘demon’ itself comes from Middle English, borrowing from Medieval Latin ‘dēmōn’ meaning ‘familiar spirit’, which in turn is from the Ancient Greek ‘daímōn’ meaning ‘dispenser, god, protective spirit’. Interestingly, the word demon can be used to refer to both an evil supernatural spirit, or a neutral supernatural spirit. The word ‘spirit’ can also be used to describe the soul of a person, or a supernatural being, whether good or evil. ‘Spirit’ comes from the Latin ‘spīritus’ meaning ‘breath; spirit’, which in turn is from Proto-Indo-European ‘*(s)peys-’ meaning ‘to blow’. It can be compared to the English words ‘respire’ as in ‘respiratory system’ and ‘inspire’, ‘to fill with an urge to do something’, both of which originate from the Latin spīrō meaning ‘I breathe, blow, respire’. Thus, spirit relates back to being filled with air or life.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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Good day to you, humble friend, and a kind and calm welcome to today’s journey to An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquests. Straighten that posture, get into position, and get ready to pray, because today’s word is: mantis.

Mantises, or ‘praying mantises’ as they are more commonly known, are an order of insects distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They have triangular heads with bulging eyes supported on flexible necks, and may or may not have wings. All mantises have forelegs that are greatly enlarged and adapted for catching and gripping prey, and are known for their upright posture, while remaining stationary with forearms folded, thus looking as if they are praying. They have stereo vision, and locate their prey by sight, feeding typically on live prey within their reach. They can stalk their prey slowly, or remain stationary and wait for their prey to approach them. Some larger mantises eat smaller individuals of their species, and can even eat lizards, frogs, small birds and fish.

The word ‘mantis’ comes from the Greek meaning ‘prophet’ or ‘soothsayer’. This in turn comes from the Ancient Greek word ‘maínomai’ which means ‘I am mad, raving’. Make of that what you will. Mantises were considered to have supernatural powers by early civilisations, including Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, and Assyria. For the Greeks, it had the ability to show lost travelers the way home; in the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead the ‘bird-fly’ is a minor god that leads the souls of the dead to the underworld. Today, they are often kept as pets, and are commonly bred by their owners, as they have a lifespan of about one year in total.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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Welcome welcome, kind friends! And thank you for joining me for today’s episode of An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquents. Today we are getting a little scientific, and a little philosophical, so strap yourselves in and prepare to think hard as we discuss today’s word: hylozoism.

Hylozoism is ‘the doctrine that all matter has life’ or ‘any system that views all matter as alive, either in itself or by participation in the operation of a world soul or some similar principle.’ I told you we were getting deep today! This view dates back as early as 5th and 6th century Greek philosophers, who considered the magnet to be alive because of its attractive powers, or air as divine because of its spontaneous power of movement, or because of its essentiality for life in animals. The word itself comes from the late 17th century, from ‘hylo’ meaning ‘matter’ and the Greek ‘zōē’ meaning ‘life’.

Hylozoism is distinguished from the concept of ‘hylopsychism’ or possessing a mind. This is also known as ‘panpsychism’, which is ‘the view that the mind or mind-like feature is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality.’ These two concepts become hard to distinguish in practice, however, because ancient hylozoists regarded the ‘spirits’ of plants and materials alive, and thus conscious. ‘Panpsychism’ comes from the Greek ‘pan’ meaning ‘all, everything, whole’, and ‘psyche’ meaning ‘soul, mind’. The use of psyche is sometimes regarded as controversial in this context because it is often synonymous with ‘soul’, which also gives supernatural connotations. More commonly found words to describe psyche include mind, mental properties, mental aspect, and experience.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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Wie geht’s Jungs! Or, how’s it going guys? And welcome to another round of An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquents. Today, we’re going on a trip to the woods, to connect with nature and become one with ourselves, et cetera, et cetera. Join us, for today’s word is: Waldeinsamkeit.

Waldeinsamkeit is a German word meaning ‘the feeling of solitude in the woods’. It is made of the German words ‘wald’ meaning ‘forest’ and ‘einsamkeit’ meaning’ loneliness; thus, ‘forest-loneliness’. The word ‘wald’ comes from Middle High German ‘walt’, from Old High German ‘wald’, which is from the Proto-Germanic ‘walþuz’. It can be related to the Dutch ‘woud’, Old English ‘weald’, and the Old Norse ‘vǫllr’. The word ‘einsam’, meaning ‘lonely’, is made up of the German words ‘ein’ meaning ‘one’ and the suffix ‘sam’ which is used to form adjectives from verbs, nouns and other adjectives. For example, ‘slowly’ in German is ‘langsam’ which comes from ‘lang’ meaning long, and literally translates to ‘long-ly’, which honestly, just makes a lot of sense. The suffix ‘sam’ comes from the Old High German samo, meaning ‘the same’, and also ‘sama’ meaning ‘similarly’. It is comparable to the English suffix ‘some’, as in ‘lonesome’.

A related word, ‘zweisamkeit’ means ‘togetherness’ or ‘intimacy between two persons, most often romantic’. This word comes from the word ‘einsamkeit’ but replaces ‘ein’ meaning ‘one’ with ‘zwei’ meaning ‘two’. Sort of romantic if you think about it! ‘Twoliness’...maybe we’ll stick to German.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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A good day to you, fellow literary lover, and welcome to today’s episode of An Assemblage of Grandiose and Bombastic Grandiloquents. We are going to get a little existential here today, so strap yourselves in and prepare for today’s word: onism.

‘Onism’ is a rather complex, created word meaning ‘the frustration of being stuck in just one body, that inhabits only one place at a time, which is like standing in front of the departures screen at an airport, flickering over with strange place names like other people’s passwords, each representing one more thing you’ll never get to see before you die—and all because, as the arrow on the map helpfully points out, ‘you are here’.’ That definition, taken from our friends at The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, is a rather poetic definition of the word. If we look at the structure, we find that ‘onsim’ is a portmanteau of ‘monism’ and ‘onanism’. ‘Monsim’ is a theory or doctrine that denies the existence of a distinction or duality in a particular sphere, such as that between matter and mind, or God and the world; in other words, the belief that only one supreme being, or God, exists. It comes from modern Latin ‘monismus’, which in turn is from the Greek ‘monos’ meaning ‘single’. ‘Onanism’, on the other hand, has a rather succinct meaning: masturbation. It comes from the early 18th century, from French ‘onanisme’ or modern Latin onanismus’, which comes from the name Onan, of the bible verse Genesis 38:9, who practised coitus interruptus.

One could suppose, then, that the joining of these two words forms the belief in being or using one body permanently. Another definition for onism is that sudden dreadful realization that you are you, and only you, and stuck in your body and you're not omniscient and the universe is filled with other people just like that but you still can't live their lives and they can't live yours. I told you it was going to get heavy.

Isn’t language wonderful?

Written by Taylor Davidson, Read by Zane C Weber

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