Free Rice and Words III: Getting to Level 50

So, after my ignominious (something "involving shame, disgrace or obloquy") mistake at 48, by getting griot wrong, a word that I, and I hope you, will never forget, I had to return to the abject humiliation of level 47. So, now I had to get three words right at 47. Here are two of them:

CARYATID

1. woman-shaped pillar
2. questioner
3. decree
4. truce

BALDRIC

1. dilemma
2. sword belt
3. bootleg whiskey
4. hair overshirt

I heaved a great sigh of relief with caryatid, because it is a common term from Greek sculpture. A caryatid is a woman holding up the entablature of a temple or other structure. Actually, that isn't a bad picture of life--women generally hold up the world, especially around Christmas time. I didn't know until now, however, that the word was derived from the name of one of the priestesses, Caryatis, of Artemis at Caryae in Laconia. The male equivalent is a telamon. When you look up "telamon" in the OED, it also directs you to Atlas, the big guy holding up the world in Greek mythology, and then you just have to read the dictionary entry on Atlas, to learn how an atlas, a collection of maps, got its name... We have to move on. So, I had a dilemma with baldric. I was almost positive that I saw the word "belt" in it, and that it probably was a Scottish or a Norse through Celtic or something like that word for belt, but I looked at the specificity of 3 and 4 and almost was tempted to choose one. But, I didn't. It is a "belt or girdle, usually of leather and richly ornamented, worn pendent from one shoulder across the breast.." Well, back to 48. I will only give one of the words, since all three were pretty easy, and then move on to 49.

LETHE--Level 48

1. oblivion
2. playwright
3. buckle
4. stench

ADMINICULAR--Level 49

1. auxiliary
2. enchanting
3. capable of movement
4. less important

Again, lethe (pronounced LEE thee) is a good Greek word, and I think I remembered it from 7th grade Greek Mythology. It was a drink that you had to quaff, as I recall, that would make you forget things. I don't remember whether Cerberus, the dog, made you do it, or Charon the watchman or in what situation (after death?), but I remember that it helped you forget. So, bingo, oblivion it is. On to 49, which is beyond the rarest level. We see all kinds of nice easy English words behind this. Adminsitrate, administration, administer, etc. are all there. But even people in administration might not know the definition of the word. Maybe that is the reason why most don't know what they are doing. Oh, that is harsh, Bill. Sorry. Back to the word.

What do you see in it? Well, the word "minister." Ministers give minister a bad name, often, especially because they don't know what the word means. Ok, in law, the word "ministerial" appears quite often, especially in the phrase "mere ministerial" duty. There are hundreds of legal cases which use that phrase. It is meant to stand in contrast to an "executive" decision. A "ministerial" decision is something like just stamping a form when you turn it into an office, or passing it along to the proper reviewing officer. A ministerial act is one that is performed using no discretion. You just do it because the rules of the job constrain you to do it. An executive act, on the other hand, is something that is done using judgment. Well, after we get through rolling on the floor laughing, we have to come back to the difference between the terms. A ministerial act is thus done out of constraint or duty, not out of creativity or judgment. Thus, to "administer" something is simply to help out someone by being an instrument of their desires. If college administrators (or others, for that matter) would get this through their minds, maybe schools could focus on the learning process. So, once we have completed this exercise, the definition of "adminicular" becomes quite easy--it is "auxiliary."

I have to move quickly now so that I don't do yet another essay. Suffice it to say that my third "level 49" word was one that I used in the first sentence of my first "Free Rice" essay: epigone. I hope you didn't skip over the word--I put it there as a little test for you...

EPIGONE. 1. poet; 2. struggle; 3. extraterrestrial; 4. inferior imitator.

I think the website "Free Rice" is fixated on extraterrestrials--this is at least the second word for which that was a suggested definition. Maybe the creators of the site came of age (they probably did) when the fantastic Star Wars movies came out. Hence, their resort to this term. Well, what do you do with "epigone"? It looks Greek, which it is. Some of you may think, "Hm...Greek..past Greek words have always been about poetry or architecture, so, pick 1." But that wouldn't be a good thing to do. Look at the last syllable. "Gone..." is derived from the Greek verb "to give birth." Well, you cutely say to me, "I don't know Greek." Fair enough. Then, I will say to you, "Well, do you know what a gonad is?" I hope so, or else I might have to kick you there. You get the picture. It relates to the "organ of generation." Now we have it. An epigone is someone who is generated, who comes later. Only 4 will fit the bill.

Conclusion

As with the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, whom time would fail to narrate all the deeds of the great heroes of faith (Heb. 11), so time would fail me to go through many more words. You simply have to check it out yourself. But I will say that epigone got me to level 50, and then we had lots of surprisingly easy words, such as "esculent," "duende," "saleratus," "scoria," and others (Oh, a hint for "saleratus." It is "sal"--the Latin word for "salt" and "aeratus," or "aired." Saleratus is aired salt, or as we know it, "baking soda"). Occasionally I would make an error (such as with "parget,") but then would intrepidly clamber back to level 50. It is fun, easy, and you learn something. And, I guess you feed the hungry....

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