Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

Sometimes I come across words or expressions that were new to me. I thought this would be a good place to put them. :)

"THE RASHOMON EFFECT is contradictory interpretations of the same event by different people. The phrase DERIVES FROM THE FILM, "RASHOMON", where the accounts of the witnesses, suspects, and victims of a rape and murder are all different. The film is known for a plot device that involves various characters providing alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same incident."
FROM:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomo...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon

The film: "Rashomon" (1950)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/?...
"A heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view."

PS-I found it interesting that I had recently come across the term, "THE RASHOMON EFFECT", in several different places. I'm wondering how often the term is used and if it's a fairly new reference to an old idea.

Have you seen the term often?

PPS-Here is a description of the film from Amazon:
"Rashomon" (1950) (English Subtitled)
"A riveting psychological thriller that investigates the nature of truth and the meaning of justice, Rashomon is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Four people give different accounts of a man's murder and the rape of his wife, which director Akira Kurosawa presents with striking imagery and an ingenious use of flashbacks. "
FROM: http://www.amazon.com/Rashomon-Englis...

Interesting. I hadn't actually seen that name before this. Do you know the meaning of the word, "alembic?" I don't. And saw it in a book and didn't yet look it up.

Nina wrote: "Interesting. I hadn't actually seen that name before this. Do you know the meaning of the word, "alembic?" I don't. And saw it in a book and didn't yet look it up."

Definition of alembic
1 . an apparatus used in distillation [an obsolete kind of container used for distillation; two retorts connected by a tube; anything that distils or purifies]
2. something that refines or transmutes as if by distillation
(philosophy: "filtered through the alembic of Plato's mind" -B. T. Shropshire
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio...
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dict...

Nina, that certainly is obscure! :)

I should have copied down the sentence it was in but didn't. Now I'll know better.

Nina wrote: "I should have copied down the sentence it was in but didn't. Now I'll know better."

Nina, it's hard to keep up with all the good stuff we read. I used to spend time copying all the good sentences as I read a book. Now I have piles of scribbled notes which no one will probably ever read. Besides, it really slowed down my reading progress. However, it was a way for me to SAVOR all those "well-said" words. Somehow I didn't want to forget them... or lose them forever.

I found the word "APODICTIC" while reading a book, but I don't remember which book it was. The meanings are below, taken from dictionaries online (See link below.):

apodictic:
---necessarily true or logically certain;
---incontestable because of having been demonstrated or proved to be demonstrable.

Anything apodictic is certain: it cannot be disputed.
An apodictic statement is absolutely, completely, unquestionably true.

Usually, this applies to the logic of a statement or argument that is airtight. Lawyers try to make apodictic arguments: flawless arguments. If something is apodictic, there’s no point in questioning it.

EXAMPLES:
The existence of gravity is apodictic.
“Slavery is wrong” is an apodictic statement.

Word Origin: from Latin apodīcticus, from Greek apodeiktikos, clearly demonstrating; from apodeiknunai to demonstrate

DICTIONARY LINKS FOR "APODICTIC":
http://www.onelook.com/?w=apodictic&a...

Interesting word and I've never run across it before. Thanks for sharing. At least it makes sense to me.

Makes sense that the word is from the Greek deriivative. Used to hear Greek around our house as my husband and son both studied Greek in high school for two years. Might have been required in a Jesuit school.

Nina wrote: "Makes sense that the word is from the Greek deriivative. Used to hear Greek around our house as my husband and son both studied Greek in high school for two years. Might have been required in a Jes..."

Wow, Nina, studying Greek in high school is unusual these days. I studied Latin in high school for 3 years. I suppose that's unusual nowadays too, but it was really good training in understanding grammar and so many other things. It trained the brain to think logically, IMO.

Joy, I totally agree with you. I only had Latin for a year in high school but it did teach me about derivatives etc. Seems strange to think that a dead language was such a fun classroom experience. Our teacher had us hunt for Latin derivatives in the Sunday Paper's columns and the one who found the most words won a prize. I have now forgotten what the prize was but also at the end of the year we had a party and had to wear white sheets made to look like togas and we all ate what she thought was Roman food sitting on the floor. It really was fun, if you can imagine.

I went to a good Eastern prep school in the 70's & they didn't offer Latin. I would have taken it if they had. I think they dropped it several years before. They never offered Greek that I'm aware of.

Nina wrote: "Joy, I totally agree with you. I only had Latin for a year in high school but it did teach me about derivatives etc. Seems strange to think that a dead language was such a fun classroom experience...."

She must have been a good teacher, Nina.

Jim wrote: "I went to a good Eastern prep school in the 70's & they didn't offer Latin. I would have taken it if they had. I think they dropped it several years before. They never offered Greek that I'm aware of."

Jim, with your interest in words, you probably would have done very well.

Jim, Perhaps that is the answer that you are that much younger than my sons/ Tim graduated in 1965 and he had four years of Latin in High school and two years of Greek. My younger son graduated in "69 and he had no Greek but did have four years of Latin. Tim also had a fifth year of Latin in College. When he then went to the University of KS and took Spanish first year he quizzed out on the test(probably because of the Latin.) Now I am curious if they still teach Latin at those schools. Maybe I'll inquire.

Joy H. wrote: "Nina wrote: "Joy, I totally agree with you. I only had Latin for a year in high school but it did teach me about derivatives etc. Seems strange to think that a dead language was such a fun classroo..."Joy, That's what I think of you/you must have been a good teacher also. The old adage, "It takes one to know one." Am I righ thtat you taught history?

I'll bet you would have also liked to learn Greek, Jim. You have what I think of as an inquiring mind.

Nina wrote: "Joy H. wrote: "Nina wrote: ""Joy, That's what I think of you/you must have been a good teacher also. The old adage, "It takes one to know one." Am I righ thtat you taught history?"

Thanks, Nina. I majored in history but I taught 4th and 5th grade elementary school for 5 years before I was married.

My son in law is now seventy/he retired last year after teaching 4th grade for thirty years. He still substitutes.

I substituted for 10 years after I was married and raising kids. It was a hectic life, waking up to the sound of the telephone and having to run out the door.

I graduated in 1977, Nina. That about fits with your kids' experience. As I said, Latin had been dropped a few years before I got to high school, probably in the late 60's.

While I would have liked to take Latin, I had & have very little interest in Greek. Latin would be handy as a root language, but also a scientific one. I find it far easier to remember words if I can put them in contexts & know how to pronounce them. I have a tough time trying to remember & pronounce proper tree names unless I carefully pronounce it & look the name up for other meanings. Usually it's just someone's name that's been mangled like Abies fraseri is the name of the Fraser fir. I know Abies is the Fir family & John Fraser 'discovered' this variety.

Other times the name actually describes the tree, though. Abies bracteata - bristlecone fir - has what are called 'exerted bracts' or very pronounced cones & seeds. While Abies concolor - white fir - means 'same color' which refers to the color of the needles. It's the same on both sides in this species which is unusual. Usually the undersides are lighter colored.

Joy H. wrote: "I substituted for 10 years after I was married and raising kids. It was a hectic life, waking up to the sound of the telephone and having to run out the door."Joy, That would have been hard; impossible for me, especially when I had kids in six different schools; some across the State Line. I suspect sometimes one of them missed a day of school.

Jim, I never thought about the Latin names for trees. Enough to just think of the "real" names of flowers. When my daughter and I were temporarily lost in Athens we both wished we knew how to speak Greek. "It's Greek to me," was more than that as far as we were concerned.

Jim wrote: "... Abies fraseri is the name of the Fraser fir. I know Abies is the Fir family & John Fraser 'discovered' this variety... "

Jim. I never realized that the Fraser fir was named after a person! Thanks for that tidbit!

Nina wrote: ""Joy, That would have been hard; impossible for me, especially when I had kids in six different schools; some across the State Line. I suspect sometimes one of them missed a day of school."

Nina, we had 4 boys born between 1961 and 1969. I worked outside the home in one way or another while raising the kids. I think I had only 4 years of being a full-time mom. Sometimes I wish I had stayed home. When a woman works, so many special moments are lost at home by both the mom and the kids. It all amounts to trade-offs. At least while teaching, I had the summers off!

Joy, that is the blessing of teaching for a mother/summers off and Spring break and Christmas breaks. Perfect occupation for a working mother inside and outside the home. I have two son in law's who were teachers/one still is and a teacher daughter who retired a few years ago. She had two children and sometimes I helped out. Now she is a grandmother watching three children almost full time/they live at her house except on weekends as their mother is a nurse so it seems to never end. We just bought a high chair for a great grandchild so that is what I mean when I say it never ends.

Nina wrote: "... Now she is a grandmother watching three children almost full time/they live at her house except on weekends as their mother is a nurse so it seems to never end. We just bought a high chair for a great grandchild so that is what I mean when I say it never ends. ."

Yes, Nina. I would guess that a lot of grandmothers nowadays act as babysitters for their grandkids. Gee, I have no great grandkids yet. That would feel very strange. LOL

Nina wrote: "Jim, I never thought about the Latin names for trees. Enough to just think of the "real" names of flowers. When my daughter and I were temporarily lost in Athens we both wished we knew how to speak..."

Flowers, animals, trees... it's all part of the Linnaean taxonomy or biological classification. As you know, if you get into any of them, the common names are just too confusing. They vary so much by area & overlap even in the same one or diverge so there seems to be multiple species when there is only one. It's also difficult to look many up. Anyway, Latin would be useful there.

I've never had much interest in Greek because I wouldn't use it. I have no interest in reading some of the old classics in their original language nor do I plan to travel to Greece or anywhere in the area.

I understand there is just so much to learn so you must decide what it is that is important to you at this time in your life.But I will add that just like Latin there are so many words with Greek derivatives. And Greece was a fascinating country but so are lots of places. It was interesting to visit the marble quarries and the Acropolis all lighted at night is a sight I'll not forget.