
When I created this new section of Timeless & Timely earlier this year, one of the popular editions was Historical Words That Should be Revived.
People chortled over âtwaddlingâ and âcrapulous.â They sniggered at âsnollygosterâ and âcockalorum.â And they guffawed at âultracredipdarianâ and âshivviness.â
Saturdayâs âOff the Clockâ entry has tended toward language, and given that our topic this week was misrepresentation and chicanery, I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the vocabulary related to the scandalous.
Brazen
Hardened in effrontery; shameless. From Old English braes, brass (of unknown origin).
Calumny
False and malicious misÂrepresentation of words or actions of others calculated to injure repuÂtation. âBe thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow,â/âThou shalt not scape calumny.ââHamlet, 1603
Cutty stool
(Scottish) The stool of repentance. A low seat in a church where offenders against chastity, or other delinquents, were forced to sit during service and receive a public rebuke from the minister.
DiĆ« liÄn: äžąèž
(Mandarin) Lit. âto lose face,â to be humiliated. Whence the English idiom âto lose face.â
Draaikooi
(Dutch) Lit. âturning cage.â An iron cage used to punish and publicly humiliate adulteresses.
Embarrass
To make a person feel awkward or selfÂ-conscious. From Portuguese em-, to put into, and baraço, cord (early 12th cent. as baraza). Apparently originally with reference to animals being restrained by cord or leash; further etymology is uncertain.
Guilt culture
A society that emÂphasizes punishment and forgiveness to restore moral order. (A âshame cultureâ stresses selfÂ-denial and humility to restore such order.) Concept popularized by anthroÂpologist Ruth Benedict, 1946.
Hazukashii æ„ăăăă
(Japanese) Shy, ashamed, shameful. Often used in reference to a person receiving excessive public praise, and thus standing out from other people.
Infamy
Scandalous repute; public reproach, shame, or disgrace. âYe are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people.ââBook of Ezekiel, King James Version, 1611
Mortify
To cause to feel humiliÂated; to cause a person embarrassÂment. From Middle French mortifier (various senses: 1552, to become gangrenous, decompose; 1588, in viandes mortifiĂ©s as a culiÂnary term; 1594, to bruise, wound; 1636, to embarrass). From Latin mortificare, to deprive of life.
Ostracon
A potsherd. In ancient Athens, the decision to banish or exile a person from the city was made by casting a vote on a shard of pottery. Whence ostracism. âOstracism was not the punishment of any criminal act,â wrote Plutarch, âbut was speciously said to be the mere depression and humiliation of excessive greatness and power.â
Reproach
To upbraid, reprove, rebuke. âI have been a very great rogue for your sake, and you reÂproach me with it.ââWilliam Congreve, 1693
Scandal
A grossly discreditable circumstance or event; something that hinders reception of faith or obedience to divine law. From Greek skandĂĄlon, trap or snare; hence skandĂĄlÄthron, a mousetrap. See Julius Polluxâs Onomasticon (2nd cent.): âAnd the carpenter may also make mousetraps, whose upÂright and open part is called a pattalion, and that fastened to a rope a skandĂĄlÄthron.â
Shame
A painful emotion arising from the consciousness of someÂthing dishonoring, ridiculous, or indecorous in oneâs conduct or cirÂcumstances. Also, the privy memÂbers: âAnd with loving pencil you shaded my eyes, my bosom, and my shame.ââJames Joyce, 1922
Schande Ś©ŚÖ·Ś ŚŚą
(Yiddish) Shame, disgrace, scandal.
SuccĂšs de scandale
Success due to notoriety or scandalous character.
Sully
To pollute, defile; apparently, from French souiller, to soil, tarÂnish. âThe purity of his virtue was sullied by excessive vanity.ââEdward Gibbon, 1781
Wanton
A lawless or violent acÂtion; also, rude, illÂ-mannered.
Source: Laphamâs Quarterly
No doubt you recognized quite a few familiar terms. Which were new to you? Which stand out?
Before we part, take another look at the image above: the number of times âhonorâ and âshameâ were used in English language books from 1800â1960. Shame has trailed honor since about 1828. For a couple of brief moments in the two preceding decades, we wrote about shame more than honor.
But since about 1900, honor has been in a freefall and shame has steadily declined.
What might our world look like if we focused more on honor and shame? Might we see less shameful and more honorable behavior?
It wouldnât hurt to start talking about it.
Thanks, and Iâll see you on the internet.