Alex and Alexander and alexandra and alexia and alexicacon and apotropaic and auden

This essay will not have a tight structure, one ringing point, an easy application to present-day life. Rather, it will be a romp through the OED and Century Dictionary, with some reflections thrown in, on some words related to or derived from "alex..." The Greek roots "lexis" (meaning "speech) and "alexein" (meaning "to ward off") stand behind many of the words. Let's flow with the dictionaries.

Starting with Alexander

Until I began to think about the root "Alex" I never stopped to think that the root meaning of Alexander is one who defends men (alex and andros). I rather liked that, even if the first person in history associated with this name, Alexander the Great, spent most of his short life on the offensive rather than the defensive. But he and others of that name bequeathed the word to a dazzling variety of things. Alexander can be "Alexandrian work," i.e., "a species of striped silk." It can be a kind of cocktail, sort of like a Presbyterian. Next time you are out for a drink with a friend, one of you should order an Alexander and one a Presbyterian. See how they get along.

Alexander can also be used attributively with respct to an early 20th century Austrainian-born physiotherapist who argued for a postural technique that would control behavior. A 1969 publication effused: "Given mysticism and such psycho-physical techniques as the Bates method and the Alexander method, it is possible to conceive of a totally new kind of education." Forgive me for not being so excited, even though a quick survey of web sites shows the Alexander technique (a way of reducing physical tension and stress by attention to the way we go about our physical lives) seems to be alive and well.

Then, an Alexander is a "nonce word" meaning to extol or "to praise as an Alexander." Finally, though not exhaustively, an "Alexandra," named after the wife of Britain's Edward VII, designates a manner of walking affected by fashionable society in imitation of her limp when she was Princess of Wales. And I thought hip-hop was original!

Building Off Alex...

Two words immediately come to our attention: alexia and alexicacon (or alexikakon). The first is built off "lexis" which does not mean "fancy car" but means "speech". The "a" is an alpha privative, so that "alexia" means inability to see words or read; word-blindness. Let's introduce the family members. Agraphia, (sometimes called dysgraphia) first appearing in 1871, is the inabilty to write as a manifestation of brain disease while alexia is the inability to comprehend the written word. When you are unable to express orally what you want, you may be suffering from aphasia, which word only appeared in the 1860s, being preceded by alalia, which appeared a generation earlier. Alogia is defined by a web site (not the OED) as a synonym of alalia, that is, the lack of ability to articulate, but the OED only has the word alogy (no entry under alogia) to mean absurdity or unreasonableness.

There is also anarthria, which the OED defines as "defective articulation of speech," but I first met the word in the form of anarthrous more than 30 years ago when I was studying Greek grammar. Anarthrous simply means "used without the article ["graphai hagiai....is a proper name for the Scriptures and therefore anarthrous"--i.e, you don't need "hai graphai....."]. What this quick survey of the "gosh-folks-I'm-speechless" family, to quote the Cowardly Lion, reveals is that if you run into the word in print or in someone's speech, make sure they specify precisely what they mean, and ask them about the cause of the phenomenon. These are words that can easily be slipped by unsuspecting or gracious listeners, and the user must be held accountable to define the term precisely.

Alexicacon

Rather than lexis with alpha privative standing at the root of this word, it is combined of "alexein" (to ward off) and "cacon" (evil). The Greek word for evil is "kakos," and one would normally think you woud write the word "alexikakos" but English tends to take the double "k" of Greek into our language as double "cc." Hence, we have "ecclesiastical," which is derived from "ekklesia" in Greek. We have "cacophony," and the adjective "kakos" underlies it. So, we will stay with alexicacon. Something that is an alexicacon wards off evil, possibly like an amulet or good luck charm. You would think, then, that alexicacon would have a rather wide usage, but it does not. Its only attested usages are in the medical field, where it is defined (in 1775) as "a medicine to expell any ill humours from the body."

But I would like to use it in a humanistic way, synonymous with the more popular apotropaion, which itself has fallen into disuse because of general dumbing down of our vocabulary. I think that most college graduates ought to know apotropaic, which means "having the reputed power of averting evil influences." An apotropaion, then, is "any sign, symbol, or amulet reputed to have the power of averting the evil eye or of serving in any way as a charm against bad luck." WH Auden used the word most refreshingly: "Apotropaically scowling, a tinker shuffles past."

Thus, the vivid concept of something worn, something carried, something demonstrated, something evinced from the face, which is meant to protect the wearer from the myriad ineffable threats of life is at the root of both apotropaion and alexicacon. I think it fits nicely with the word "talisman" or "talismanic" to capture the almost magical nature or power that we hope certain things communicate to us. "She wore the sunglasses not so much to protect her eyes from solar rays but as an alexicacon against the penetrating stares of those who disapproved her latest ventures."

Conclusion

Sometimes we invite life to come and meet us, but often we are dressed and approach the world apotropaically or alexicaconically (new word, maybe you can come up with a beter form). We want to protect ourselves against its onslaughts and ward it off. It is good to have words to express that concept clearly and vividly.