The long and the short of it

Today we have a long blog about short expressions. Let’s start with pericope, from the Greek word perikope which meant a cutting all around, and refers to a passage, usually short, “cut” from a written work. My spell-check says periscope. Best to only use the word when speaking, even though it refers exclusively to writing. My dictionary says “especially same as lection”.

Lection is a noun referring to “the version in a particular text in a certain passage”, but also meaning “(see pericope) a part of the Scriptures read in church service”. A lection is what’s read from the lecturn (see 4/11).

An apothegm, on the other hand, is a short pithy saying, rather than a short, pithy writing sample. Apothegm is pronounced AP- eh – them; I know you mathematicians are thinking “that sounds like the word for the perpendicular from the center of a polygon to any of its sides. You’re right, it’s a homonym, but comes from other Greek words and doesn’t have the letter g. Apothegm comes from the Greek word for a terse, pointed saying, which I’m sure you know is apophthegma and is a form of the word apophthengesthai. It won’t surprise you to know that apophthengesthai is a combination of apo- (from) and phthengesthai (cry out or utter, which is what you would prefer to do rather than try to pronounce it). It can also be spelled apophthegm, but why would you want to?

Adage, which comes to us through the French from the Latin adagio, refers to an old saying that has been popularly accepted as the truth. The Latin word comes from ad- meaning “to” and aio meaning “say”. (It apparently took the g that was left over from apothem.) For those versed in Italian or musician, you would be familiar with the Italian word adagio, which comes from the Latin words ad- and agio (meaning ease). In music it refers to a tempo that is an easy walking pace. Two Latin words spelled the same meaning different things. Gotta know your roots.

A maxim is a concisely expressed principle or rule of conduct, or a statement of a general truth. It comes to English in 1426 through Middle English (maxime) from Middle French which got it from Middle Latin (maxima) which got it from the Late Latin word spelled the same, which is the feminine form of maximus, meaning greatest.

An aphorism is a short, concise statement of a principle or a short, pointed sentence expressing a wise or clever observation or a general truth. It can be a synonym for adage or maxim, but is more general. It comes through French (aphorisme) from Greek (aphorismos from aphorizein which means to divide or mark off.) A famous work in the 1520s (you may remember) was the “Aphorisms of Hippocrates”, which hasn’t been on the best-seller list since. But it was popular enough to give us this word.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” is a pericope; “carpe diem” is an aphorism; “a stitch in time saves nine” is an adage; “brevity is the soul of wit” is an apothegm; and “birds of a feather flock together” and “opposites attract” are dueling maxims. That should clear things up.