Subject: A.Word.A.Day--chrematophobia
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1994 23:29:53 -0400 (EDT)
chre.ma.to.pho.bia \ kre_ma.-to_'fo_--be_--* \ n : fear of money
I've never met a human being so afflicted.
Gk chrema (chremata) is related to Middle Irish gerr 'short' (Irish goirid), gerraim 'to shorten, crop', gerrán 'castrated'. Chrema also means goods or merchandise.
Dear jheem: In a complete physical exam, Stroking the skin
just below the pubic bone on the thight in a male near midline causes the testicle to be elevated, briefly. This is called "the cremasteric reflex".
I could not find the etymology of 'cremasteric '. Any comment?
There's also a set of five films called Cremaster 1 through 5, (I've seen 4 and 5), named in honor of the cremaster muscle in the scrotum. The word is Greek, kremaster, and means 'suspender; muscle by which the testicles are suspended' from the verb kremannumi (or kremamai) 'to hang, suspend'. Only cognates are in the Baltic languages.