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Did everybody else already know this--the source, I mean?
sardonic (sahr-DON-ik) adjective
Marked by scorn, mockery, and cynicism.
[After Sardinia, a large island in the Mediterranean. Eating a Sardinian plant was believed to produce facial convulsions as if in a maniacal laughter.]
Are there any other words from illnesses that aren't used solely in descriptions of them? And, does anybody know what plant it was?
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Kia ora Jackie.
I think the plant is a type of buttercup.
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From the Wikipedia entry for Ranunculus: The term sardonic (sardanios), "bitter or scornful laughter", is often cited as deriving from the name of the Sardinian plant Ranunculus sardous, known as either σαρδάνη (sardanē) or σαρδόνιον (sardonion). When eaten, it would cause the eater's face to contort in a look resembling scorn (generally followed by death). It might also be related to σαίρω (sairō) "I grin". , apoplectic, and hysterical have come to mind as “other words from illnesses that aren't used solely in descriptions of them”. There is some disagreement as to which physical conditions and phenomena deserve to be classified as diseases or disease manifestations.
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Not exactly illnesses, but in earlier medical history, illnesses were often associated with one of the four humours, the names for which have come to mean character traits - phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholic and choleric.
Other illness related words that have come to have a wider application would include: manic, poxy, cancer (-ous, etc), demented, dizzy, fever (febrile, etc), infectious, jaundice(d), splenetic, lousy, scab (scabby, etc), vertiginous.
There are also other words that only coincidentally mean other things, being applied to both, rather than having originated with an illness, such as bipolar, stroke, shingles, thrush and shock. Not sure which category measly, rash and impotent fit into.
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Does anybody else think that the word doesn't fit the theme because it's named for the plant? That the plant is named for the place is incidental. In fact, it seems the place might be named for the fish, so it's an ichthonym. (^_^)
Last edited by Myridon; 06/20/08 05:19 PM.
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Kewl, guys--thanks!
Myr--well, it's still a toponym, innit?
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It's named for a plant. If you're going to follow the chain, you should follow the chain or not. Why stop in the middle?
It's a floratopoichthonym.
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it seems the place might be named for the fish, so it's an ichthonym. (^_^) Actually, sardine is not a species of fish, but refers to a whole bunch from the family Clupeidae: sardines, so the fish are named after the place, not the reverse. :0) I have bigger problems with hysteria, a sexist term originally applied to women, about women. The etymology is from the greek hysteros or uterus. Note the "treatments" described in the article: hysteria Also, the uterus is not a disease!
Last edited by twosleepy; 06/20/08 10:00 PM. Reason: [size:8pt][i]added last line[/i][/size]
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Also, the uterus is not a disease!
Actually in the folk medical belief you link to, it is not the uterus which is the disease but its wandering away from its location in the body. Sort of a womb errant syndrome. (Syndrome meant in the Greek original 'a running together'.) I note that the most hysterical people I've ever come across are male; perhaps it's uterus envy.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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