8 May 2013

logomachy

[loh-gom-uh-kee]

noun

plural lo·gom·a·chies.

1. a dispute about or concerning words.
2. an argument or debate marked by the reckless or incorrect use of words; meaningless battle of words.
3. a game played with cards, each bearing one letter, with which words are formed.

Origin:
1560–70; < Greek logomachía. See logo-, -machy

Related forms
log·o·mach·ic [law-guh-mak-ik, log-uh-] Show IPA , log·o·mach·i·cal, adjective
lo·gom·a·chist, log·o·mach, noun

Example:

‘In totalitarian regimes they have virtually absolute control over the semantic description of society and individuals. In democratic societies, the result may be called logomachy, or the “war of words”. This is the natural semantic consequence of disputes over such ‘essentially contested concepts’ as democracy, freedom, justice, equality and so on’.

– Geoffrey Hughes, Words in Time: A Social History of the English Vocabulary. Blackwell, 1988

Today’s aphorism

‘A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty’.

– Albert Einstein.

On this day

8 May 1911 – birthday of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.

8 May 1945 – VE day. Victory in Europe – the day that Nazi Germany formally surrendered in World War II.