Thursday, April 12, 2012

Morning Mouthful

Today's Word "Matutolypea"

matutolypea \meh-tu-teh-leh-PEE-eh\ (noun) - A rare word for an everyday occurrence: ill-humor in the mornings, getting up on the wrong side of the bed.

'The secret is not to talk to Mr. Jenkins at all until he's been awake for at least an hour, as it's best to wait until his inevitable matutolypea subsides."

A facetiously concocted word that mixes Latin and Greek in a way impossible in either language, you won't find "matutolypea" in most English dictionaries. However, we like to include the occasional non-word just to demonstrate the line between them and actual words. Today's derivation was based on "Matuta" of Matuta Mater, the Roman goddess of the dawn, newborn babies, and harbors plus the Greek word for "grief, sorrow," lype. (The Latin word for morning is "aurora," also the chief goddess of dawn.) The Greek word for morning and the goddess of morning is "eos," so eostugia "morning sullenness," would be a more consistent derivation for the target meaning, though there is no evidence such a word was used in Greece.

2 comments:

  1. OMG! Nikki- I would give anything for tht to be me on my knees and YOU bout to be blown!!!- Lisa

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