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A.Word.A.Day--omphaloskepsis

Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

This week's theme: There is a word for it.

omphaloskepsis (om-fuh-lo-SKEP-sis) noun

Contemplation of one's navel.

[From Greek omphalos (navel) + skepsis (act of looking, examination). Ultimately from the Indo-European root spek- (to observe) which is also the ancestor of suspect, spectrum, bishop (literally, overseer), despise, espionage, telescope, spectator, and spectacles.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus.

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"Readers whose main interest is literary how-to or criticism can look elsewhere, in places specifically dedicated to those matters. Doing too much of it here would smack of omphaloskepsis." Stanley Schmidt; About Science Fiction; Analog Science Fiction & Fact (New York); Jun 2001.

X-Bonus

Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty. -Stephen King, novelist (1947- )

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