51吃瓜 of the Day
ad hominem
adjective
attacking an opponent's character or motives rather than answering the argument or claim.
More about ad hominem
The phrase ad hominem, literally 鈥渢o a person,鈥� originally meant in rhetoric and logic 鈥渂y appealing to the audience鈥檚 feelings, emotions, or interests, not to their intelligence or reason.鈥� Nowadays the usual meaning of ad hominem is 鈥渂y attacking an opponent鈥檚 character or motives, not their arguments.” Hominem, the object of the preposition ad “to,” is the accusative singular case of the Latin noun 丑辞尘艒 (inflectional stem homin-) 鈥渉uman being (of either sex), individual, person.鈥�贬辞尘艒 is also used colloquially in Roman comedy (Plautus): M墨 丑辞尘艒 et mea mulier, v艒s sal奴t艒, literally 鈥淢y man and my woman, I greet you.鈥� In the example from Plautus we can clearly see that 丑辞尘艒 鈥渕an鈥� is contrasted with mulier 鈥渨oman.鈥� In fact, all the Romance languages use a form of homin– to mean 鈥渕an鈥� as opposed to woman, e.g., Italian uomo, Spanish hombre (dissimilated from omne, which is contracted from omine), Portuguese homem, Catalan home, French homme, Sardo (Sardinian) omine, and Romanian om. The unpleasant counterpart聽ad f脓minam 鈥渁ppealing to one’s personal feelings about or prejudices against women,鈥� appeared in the 19th century. Ad hominem entered English in the 16th century.
how is ad hominem used?
In the case of online harassment, that instinctive preference for 鈥渇ree speech鈥� may already be shaping the kinds of discussions we have, possibly by discouraging the participation of women, racial and sexual minorities, and anyone else likely to be singled out for ad-hominem abuse.
Greta Thunberg, at age 16, has quickly become one of the most visible climate activists in the world. Her detractors increasingly rely on ad hominem attacks to blunt her influence.
ad hominem
lassitude
noun
weariness of body or mind from strain, oppressive climate, etc.; lack of energy; listlessness.
More about lassitude
The primary meaning of lassitude is 鈥渨eariness of mind or body, listlessness,鈥� but lassitude has a second meaning, 鈥渋ndolent indifference.鈥� The immediate source of the English word is Middle French lassitude, which, as in English, may be pleasant or unpleasant fatigue. French lassitude comes from Latin 濒补蝉蝉颈迟奴诲艒, which in Latin always has an unpleasant sense. 尝补蝉蝉颈迟奴诲艒 is a derivative of the adjective lassus 鈥渢ired, weary, exhausted,鈥� a derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root 濒脓-, 濒蓹– 鈥渢o let go, go slack,鈥� extended with –d (濒脓d-, 濒蓹d-). The same root yields Greek 濒脓de卯n 鈥渢o be tired,鈥� Albanian lodhem 鈥渢o become tired,鈥� and Germanic 濒脓tan, which in Old English becomes 濒牵迟补苍 鈥渢o allow, permit, suffer鈥� and let in English. Lassitude entered English in the 16th century.
how is lassitude used?
it occurred to me, as I ate another astringent chip, that this lassitude, the trouble focusing, the sleep difficulties, my exhaustion: Oh yes, I thought, I remember this. I was grieving.
贬别补惫测听lassitude聽settled upon me as I walked away from Peter Kanarjian. There had been too much excitement in the past eighteen hours, and I had had little sleep.
lassitude
agnate
adjective
related or akin through males or on the father's side.
More about agnate
The English adjective and noun agnate comes straight from Latin 补驳苍腻迟耻蝉, 补诲驳苍腻迟耻蝉, past participle (also used as a noun) of the verb 补驳苍补蝉肠墨 (also 补诲苍补蝉肠墨 and 补诲驳苍补蝉肠墨) 鈥渢o be born in addition to; (of a human being) to be born after the father makes his will.鈥� (The noun 补驳苍腻迟耻蝉, 补诲驳苍腻迟耻蝉 is a male blood relative on the father鈥檚 side; 补驳苍腻迟补, 补诲驳苍腻迟补 is a female blood relative on the father鈥檚 side.) 础驳苍补蝉肠墨 (补诲苍补蝉肠墨, 补诲驳苍补蝉肠墨) is a compound verb formed from the preposition and prefix ad, ad– 鈥渢o, toward, in addition鈥� and the simple verb (驳)苍补蝉肠墨 鈥渢o be born鈥� (Romans of the classical age had the same difficulty with initial gn– as modern English speakers do with, say, gnat, gnarly, and Gnostic). The much rarer Latin terms for 鈥渁 blood relative on the mother鈥檚 side鈥� are 脓苍腻迟耻蝉 for a male relative and 脓苍腻迟补 for a female, formed from the preposition and prefix 脓, 脓– (from ex 鈥渙ut of鈥�) and 苍补蝉肠墨. Agnate entered English in the second half of the 15th century.
how is agnate used?
Rather than writing that one thing is like another, she suggested, pupils might use 鈥渃ommensurate鈥� or 鈥�agnate,鈥� which means related through male descent or on the father鈥檚 side.
As office-holding tended to become hereditary, however, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, greater emphasis was placed upon agnate descent.
agnate