Gods of sleep

The headline of an ad today on page 5A made me resolve to hit the gym tonight but also reminded me of the god behind the word “hypnosis.” In Greek mythology Hypnos was the god of sleep.

His Roman counterpart was Somnus, and from his name comes the adjective “somnolent,” a synonym for “sleepy.” A word for the lack of sleep, “insomnia,” also comes from his name.

Photo special to the Sentinel
 

A perfect word for grandkids

I always knew that “signal” can be used both as a noun and a verb, but today I learned it can also be used as an adjective.

In that usage, according to Webster’s, it means “not average or ordinary; remarkable; notable.”

I’ll tuck that knowledge away for my next Christmas letter when I need to describe my grandkids. (Yes, I know my inordinate pride is showing, but other grandparents will surely understand.)
 

Nurturing places of learning

“Alma mater” refers to a college or university from which one has graduated.

The phrase comes from Latin words for “nurturing” (alma) and “mother” (mater). In ancient Rome it was used to describe mothering goddesses such as Ceres, according to Wikipedia.

Lots of folks fondly pay homage to their alma maters by sporting their schools’ logos on clothing, bumper stickers, decals and even beads.

Many probably regard their college or university days as the most carefree of their lives – yes, even with the annoyances of research papers and exams.
 

Seize the day

As a chronomaniac, I am already frustrated as I begin composing this blog entry. I don’t have enough time today to wax eloquent (or try to) on the importance of time.

Luckily, a number of famous writers have expounded on the subject, so I’ll rely on them to help me convey how much I agree with Franklin’s comment.

A quick aside on time’s etymology— oh, golly, there’s no time to do it justice today. Suffice to say, the concept of “time” has been around a long … time.

Where was I? Ah, yes. About to quote famous writers to bolster my assertion about time’s importance. When I first read this quote, I thought of the expression, “Time waits for no man.” I took the time to google it, only to learn I would need to spend time to research it further.

Doing so was time well spent, because I learned a number of authors have used variations of this quote over the centuries. One variation, “Time and tide wait for no man,“ was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet to be buried in Poets’ Corner of Westminister Abbey in London. He is most famous for “Canterbury Tales.”

(I’m tempted to digress on Chaucer, but the clock is ticking or whatever digital clocks do. More on him on another occasion.)

Oh, I must steal some time to note that “tide” in the above quote did not mean an inrush of water from the sea, but was an Old English expression for time. (Not surprisingly, then, the Norwegian word for time is tid.)

Hmm… back to more quotes. Robert Herrick (1591-1674) expressed the same idea in his poem, “To the Virgins, to make much of time.” The first two lines read:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:

In 1909 Robert Waterhouse paid tribute to Herrick with a painting entitled with the first line of this poem.

My favorite time-related quote, though, is “carpe diem.” It is found in a Latin poem by Roman poet Horace. Popularly translated, it means “seize the day.” According to Wikipedia, however, a better translation of carpe would be to “pluck” or “cull,” as in the harvesting of fruit. So, the original mandate was more along the lines of seeing a day as something like a fruit tree that should be enjoyed while the fruit is ripe (a rather appropriate thought for those of us lucky enough to live in this abundant valley).

Oh, just noticed that Franklin’s quote is next to a few horoscopes today that also mention time. I like that, since “horoscope” is composed of two Greek word parts. “Hora” meant “hour,” and skopos meant “watcher.”

Hmm … great reminder to watch the time and wrap this up. It’s time for the weekend to begin!

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" by Robert Waterhouse
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
 

A special way of knowing

Whenever I see the word “intuition,” I think of typing my mother’s dissertation on Christian apologist C.S. Lewis in 1986. During that time “Dr. Mom” mentioned that Lewis married a divorced American woman, Joy Davidman, and that he did not find true happiness until his highly logical mind encountered Davidman‘s strong intuition.

"Intuition" comes from two Latin word parts, according to the American Heritage Dictionary. “In,” of course, meant, and still means, “in.” “Tueri” meant “to look at, view.”

There are many fine quotes on this word at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/intuition.html.

Among them, my favorite is by English Romantic poet William Wordsworth: “Faith is a passionate intuition.”

C.S. Lewis, age 50
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia