New? Check out the Word of the Week Intro here.]
…and we’re back! Kisses, everyone. It’s been far too long.
WoW #25 was slugabed, and I’m giving the win to myself for last week’s poem. I sincerely hope all of you took it to heart and spent the weekend tangled up in your bedsheets.
But now, let’s get down to business:
Cacoëthes is a noun, pronounced “KAK-oh-EE-theez.” (It has essentially the same rhythm and sort of rhymes with the phrase “pack o’ Wheaties.” You’re welcome.)
Cacoëthes means: a habitual and uncontrollable desire; mania. See also: insatiable, compulsion. A user known as “rawles” on Wordnik.com commented that cacoëthes is “More elegant than addiction. Less suggestive than desire.” And I think that says it beautifully.
It’s possible [1. I'll never tell.] that I chose this word just so I’d have an excuse to embed “Old Gregg” in my blog.
This piece speaks to one of the most fundamental of human desires. Old Gregg is a complex creature. But underneath everything is simply a desire to be loved. As we come to know Old Gregg, we realize that his life is the realization of a tragic irony: it is his cacoëthes for companionship that has led to a bitter loneliness.
And yet Old Gregg remains hopeful. Even in the shadow of disappointment, his approach to life is characterized by a childlike eagerness. Unabashed, his yearning for love never wanes and, at long last, fate rewards him with the object of his cacoëthes: a pair of strong arms to hold him at night [2. *tear* I do love happy endings.].
♦
When I introduced the upcoming series of book reviews here on IB, several of you suggested that I give the internets the opportunity to follow along by announcing in advance the books I plan to review. (Think “book club,” but without all the things that make books clubs irritating.) And since I’ve been using these weekly WoW posts for little updates about upcoming posts and other random tidbits, this seems the most natural forum for these bulletins. If the mood strikes me, I may also make the odd announcement on Twitter.
I hope to have my first review up this week and it’ll be on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I’d have given you all more warning, but a) I figure anyone who wanted to read this book would likely have gotten around to it by now, and b) I don’t necessarily recommend it. You’ll see.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s curious to note that the only other words that come readily to mind when I see today’s WoW are “cacophony” and “cacodemon.” Both of those imply more chaos than focus.
I really can’t imagine Sonny hawking his breakfast cereal of choice by proclaiming, “I’m cacoëthes for Cocoa Puffs!” even if it is technically and semantically true.
Now I’m curious to see if “cuckoo” owes any etymological roots to it.
Hahaha, “I’m cacoëthes for Cocoa Puffs.” Love it.
I know what you mean, though. It is a bit of a bizarre word. As for its etymology, I actually had it in the post and took it out at the last minute because I didn’t think anyone really cared:
Cacoëthes comes from the Greek “kakoethes” which means “malignant.”
You’re right, though. This is the Dictionary.com entry for the prefix “caco-” (from the Greek “kakos”):
1. a combining form meaning “bad,” occurring in loanwords from Greek (cacodemon); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (cacogenics).
I think initially the word may have meant an insatiable desire for something potentially harmful (one dictionary still listed this as part of the definition) and has since morphed into meaning a general mania (most other definitions I read don’t include a negative connotation).
That Old Gregg video has now become the weirdest thing I have ever seen…I am scarred for life. Dammit!
Come on, Chuck! You haven’t been scarred; you’ve just broadened your horizons a little. You’re welcome.