Grammars At Eton Are Rife With "Jocular Coinage" Potential

From wiktionary:

floccinaucinihilipilification

IPA: /ˌflɒksɪˌnɒsɪˌnɪhɪlɪˌpɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, /ˌflɒksɪˌnɔːsɪˌnaɪhɪlɪˌpɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

English

Noun

floccinaucinihilipilification ‎(uncountable)
1. (often humorous) The act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless.

Etymology: 
Latin: flocci, from floccus (a wisp) + nauci, from naucum (a trifle) + nihili, from nihil (nothing) + pili, from pilus (a hair) (all having the sense of "pettiness" or "nothing") + -fication.

A jocular coinage, apparently by pupils at Eton College, combining a number of roughly synonymous Latin stems. The word was inspired by a line in the Eton Latin Grammar that gave a rule for certain verbs that take an object in the genitive case: "Flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis, hujus, teruncii, his verbis, aestimo, pendo, facio, peculiariter adduntur." This translates literally to: "To these words—aestimo, pendo and facio—irregularly are joined flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis, hujus and teruncii.” Or more loosely, "The verbs aestimo, pendo and facio when used in the sense of “to value” or “to care” irregularly take the following objects in the genitive case: flocci, nauci, nihili, pili, assis (a “penny”), hujus (this) and teruncii (a “farthing”)." 

 

On The Eve of The Great Star Wars Dionysia

The Star Wars nerd in me can't help but make a few observations on the eve of the first Star Wars movie to premiere in ten years, and the first to feature the original main triad of actors in thirty-two (!):

How different could the excitement felt by the spectators of today's new Star Wars film be from the Athenian theater-goers during the ancient Dionysia? Some of my friends attended marathon sessions of viewing the previous six Star Wars movies before seeing the new seventh film; did not also the Athenians sit for long hours on end --for the entire day!-- watching their own marathon of sorts, as their country's playwrights presented their mythological trilogies, like Aiskhylos' Oresteia? As the hissing Furies, yet to be dubbed "The Kindly Ones", roved the stage searching for Orestes in the opening of The Oresteia's third play, would not the Athenians have felt the same shiver dance across their flesh as we feel today when we watch Vader stepping off his shuttle in the opening of Return of the Jedi?

Be afraid.

Those scenes are memorable because both Athenian tragedy and Star Wars (and, by extension, opera) operate under the assumption that the audience is familar with the plots and characters prior to viewing. You know Vader and the Furies are "bad guys" because they possess easily identifiable characteristics which mark them as "bad"; but if you know their backstories and past deeds, then you truly know how bad they are. In order to fully appreciate the story, the audience must have first put in the time and effort to become familiar with the tales and their characters.
As such, these stories are not meant to be mere casual viewing.

And:

Star Wars, like every proper mythology, is rife with various contradictions and inherent inconsistencies which betray the natural and organic fashion in which the overall story evolved -- much like how each authorship of The Iliad would have added their own brushstrokes to the masterwork until Homer wrote his version of the song down. 
Additionally, the films' writing history is also a cautionary tale, a good example of mythology gone bad, run amok or overwritten, or even worse, overedited:

Still a sore subject.

Science Again Saves The Day By Proving That Which We Already Knew To Be True.

Thanks, Archaeology.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/11/julius-caesar-battlefield-unearthed-southern-netherlands-dutch-archaeologists

A couple of things:
  

• It's nice when we are able to confirm with some degree of accuracy the locales of the Proconsul's campaigns on either side of the Rhine, but what exactly was "prove[d]" here? That Caesar carried out campaigns on the borders of and within ancient Germania? If only there were other sources of information concerning this event...(Starts at IV.16) Check the maps:
  
  
  The findings were discovered in Kessel, Netherlands... about right where Caesar says that he fought a battle with the local tribes in 55 B.C. Another map:
   
  Let's take a closer look at that red-boxed area in the upper-right quadrant.
   
  My, my. So, archaeologists went to where Caesar recorded that he had fought a battle with the Usipetes and Tencteri, and lo! these intrepid diggers found evidence of a battle fought by Caesar against the Usipetes and Tencteri? What was proved again? I fully respect and appreciate the work of archaeologists, but the media needs to stop reporting findings as if archaeology has proven the account of the ancients, as if the ancient documents need "proving".

• "Emperor"? That's a loaded title and a lot of ink has been put to paper (and haphazardly spilled) concerning the subjects of empire and imperialism and the application of such terms to the antique Romans. Honestly, I'm skeptical of even referring to Augustus as an "emperor" -- I use princeps until the reign of Septimius Severus, when all the vestigial Republican trappings had completely fallen from the "office" and the empire's ruler disposed of his holdings as a king. Best to stick with the title of Dictator as a catch-all for The Pimp in Red.

Either way, good work, archaeologists. I tip my hat to you.
Media, please step up your reporting game.