Hometown Buffet

Just got back from a visit to Hometown Buffet (HTB). Usually it’s my father’s favorite place to go, so I’ve become a regular at the Turlock HTB, but Dovie and I haven’t gone to the one in Elk Grove for some time. I tried hard not to overeat, or at least to overeat those things that aren’t fattening – a big salad, and a couple of sugar-free cookies for dessert.

One of the things my father usually comments on when we go to HTB is the gulosity of many of the denizens of HTB. Actually, he doesn’t use the word gulosity; in my dictionary it’s listed as a “Now Rare” word, but that’s a matter of volume of use, isn’t it? (I think I’ll begin a campaign to make gulosity less rare – as a word, not as a condition; I wouldn’t want to work in direct opposition to Michelle Obama’s efforts.) Apparently its rarity is cause for it not to be found in either of my favorite online resources. But my dictionary gives us some explanation of its etymology. It comes from the Late Latin word gulositas, which is a form of gulosus, which means gluttonous. The word gulosus comes from the Latin word gula, from which we also get the word gullet. Gulosity has come to mean greediness, especially in relation to food.

Another good word that applies at HTB (okay, to me at HTB) is inspissate. Inspissate came to English the same year the Pilgrims came to America, 1620. It, too, is formed from Late Latin words, in this case in- and spissare, which means “to thicken”. Inspissate still means to thicken, usually by evaporation (not in my case, though). A synonym would be condense.

While we’re on the topic, we might as well go to France and come back with embonpoint. Embonpoint came to English from French before the Pilgrims came from England. In the 16th century the Old French phrase en bon point, which means “in good condition” was adopted into English. Not long after Henry VIII (a man of great proportions) the word embonpoint was used to refer to those in good condition, which in that time meant not emaciated. By 1751 it came to refer to plumpness, and now my dictionary adds the word corpulence to the definition. There are usually people who are embonpoint at most buffets.

Now, those with embonpoint are not the same who are turgid. Turgid comes from the Latin word turdigus which mean inflated or swollen.

Paradoxically, those who are suffering from malnourishment will often have turgid or distended bellies, but those who have been through the line at HTB more than twice would likely also have turgid bellies. Turgid came into English in the 1610s, and eventually (by 1725) came to be used in reference to language.

If you want to see turgid language, turn to Cspan and watch your government in action. (Or is it inaction?) Or, for more on turgidity in language, you could refer back to my blog of Jan. 31, 2010. It’s not the blog that’s turgid, turgidity is the subject of the blog. Do it before Fat Tuesday...