Wild Word Friday!
In researching the word SARCASM, I discovered that it definitely deserves the title Wild Word. SARCASM isn’t usually a part of my repertoire, but a couple of years ago a person told me that they were going to do something which I knew would hurt the feelings of an elderly person dear to my heart. Suddenly I became an expert at SARCASM, such an expert that I had to apologize later in spite of my motivational factors.
The word SARCASM finds its root in the Greek word, sarx, which means flesh. A “cousin” word is the Greek sarkazein. The meaning? To tear the flesh like dogs. According to The Merriam Webster New Book of Word Histories, the Greek noun sarkasmos – also a derivative of the verb sarkazein – means SARCASM. Sarkasmos becomes sarkasme in the French, and SARCASM in English.
I think SARCASM has very apt genesis. I know that if someone is sarcastic with me, I often feel deeply wounded. Worse, if I answer back sarcastically, my wounds seem doubly hard to bear. Usually I ignore SARCASM, as if I didn’t understand the reference. Maybe that’s the coward’s way out. What do you think?
Have you ever been wounded by SARCASM? What did you do?
Blessings!
Sue
(Information in this post from Webster’s New World Dictionary of The American Language and The Merriam Webster New Book of Word Histories. Photograph from Wikipedia.)
