|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 180
member
|
OP
member
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 180 |
I heard this interesting segment about hypergraphia on NPR several weeks ago, but didn't have the opportunity to post about it until now. I've ordered The Midnight Disease from the library. It certainly sounds good. Has anyone else here read it yet? From NPR.ORG: Many authors fear writer's block. But its opposite -- hypergraphia, the driving compulsion to write -- can be equally debilitating. A new book called The Midnight Disease considers the relationship between the wiring of the brain, writing and creativity. NPR's Renee Montagne talks with author and neurologist Alice Flaherty.To listen to the segment, go to this link: http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1623749and click on Morning Edition audioEnjoy! Dawn
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
isn't the classical name for this cacoëthes scribendi?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 180
member
|
OP
member
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 180 |
isn't the classical name for this cacoëthes scribendi?
Could be. Isn't it also a poem?...Yes! Here it is:
Cacoëthes Scribendi By Oliver Wendell Holmes IF all the trees in all the woods were men; And each and every blade of grass a pen; If every leaf on every shrub and tree Turned to a sheet of foolscap; every sea Were changed to ink, and all earth’s living tribes Had nothing else to do but act as scribes, And for ten thousand ages, day and night, The human race should write, and write, and write, Till all the pens and paper were used up, And the huge inkstand was an empty cup, Still would the scribblers clustered round its brink Call for more pens, more paper, and more ink.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
It's from Juvenal (vii.51, 52): insanabile scribendi cacoëthes usually translated as 'an incurable passion for writing'. kakoethes 'malignant, ill-disposed, thinking evil; wickedness, malice' ( kakos 'bad, evil' + ethos 'custom, habit'. Passion seems a little tepid for cacoëthes, but it's traditional.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Far worse is cacoëthes loquëndi.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
Far worse is cacoëthes loquëndi.
Usually just called logorrhea or potty mouth.
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,351
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
477
guests, and
2
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|