Monday, April 21, 2008

365* New Words a Year [Merriam Webster] (Workman Publishing) 4/20/8: cordial

cordial adj 1: tending to revive, cheer, or invigorate 2a: sincerely or deeply felt b: warmly and genially affable
The Did You Know tells us "'Cordial' has the same Latin root (cor) as 'concord' (meaning 'harmony') and 'discord' (meaning 'conflict'). Cor means 'heart', and each of these cor descendants has something to do with the heart, at least figuratively. 'Concord', which comes from con- (meaning 'together' or 'with') plus cor, suggests that one heart is with another. 'Discord' combines the prefix dis- (meaning 'apart') with cor, and it implies that hearts are apart. And anything that is 'cordial', be it a welcome, a hello, or an agreement, comes from the heart. Rating 9/10 cherry cordials.
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"