13 Comments
User's avatar
Heather Cadenhead's avatar

I enjoyed reading this. Thanks for sharing. I think the study of language is important for every Christian — I’m in a place where most of my personal Bible reading now includes looking up Greek and Hebrew. As you wisely and succinctly put it: words matter.

Expand full comment
Tyler Rogness's avatar

There’s so much richness in language that can be so easily glossed over. ā€œWe say what we mean and mean what we say,ā€ but I don’t think we always know what we mean and mean what we know when we say what we thought we meant...

Expand full comment
Carolyn Bales's avatar

I love this so much.

Expand full comment
Tyler Rogness's avatar

Thanks Carolyn! Glad you enjoyed.

Expand full comment
Loren Warnemuende's avatar

Excellent. Thanks for diving into this one!

Expand full comment
Tyler Rogness's avatar

Thanks Loren!

Expand full comment
Teresa Sayles's avatar

This is so interesting and profound, Tyler! Fantastic work! Thanks for sharing these poignant thoughts.

Expand full comment
Tyler Rogness's avatar

Thanks, Teresa!

Expand full comment
Eliana Wickland's avatar

"Words have depth to them, entire worlds holed up in their cores, and I’d rather break the shell to see what’s inside than take them for granted."

I think C.S. Lewis would agree with you very much on this point. I just finished reading That Hideous Strength through the lense of Medieval cosmology for school, and there's a point in there when the planets (or rather the spiritual beings associated with each planet) descend. When Mercury comes down, the philologist (Ransom) feels the essence of language itself overflowing with meaning and reality.

I loved reading through your reflections on words! I had an assignment once to translate a poem I wrote for one class into Latin, and it was really enjoyable to pore over dictionaries and read all the possible meanings of a word so I could choose the one with just the right connotation. It's great to know someone else out there has enjoyed dabbling in Latin, too!

Expand full comment
Tyler Rogness's avatar

That Hideous Strength -- what a GREAT book. I'll have to give that whole space trilogy another read.

Translating your work into Latin must have been such a neat experience! I haven't dabbled very much more than to chase down a few words, though it would be a fascinating language to learn. What were some favorite Latinates of yours, or connections you made in English when studying Latin?

Expand full comment
Eliana Wickland's avatar

Hmm... It's been a while, but I loved finding different words for darkness that varied from 'murky blackness' to 'shadow'. My poem was about the early days of Augustine of Hippo, which used a lot of that imagery.

'Viaticum' is one of my favorites, mostly because it has such a specific meaning that brings an image easy to play with. Here's the definition the internet gave me:

Viaticum is a term used in the Catholic Church to describe the Eucharist given to a person who is dying, or in danger of death.

There's also a quidnunc, which is someone who is always asking 'what now/what next?' It's made up of the Latin 'quid' (what) and 'nunc' (now).

Expand full comment
Eliana Wickland's avatar

Oh, one more: sinister. In Latin it means 'left-handed,' but it definitely means something else now. It's been fun to trace all the places in literature where, for example, the hint that a character is corrupt or evil is when their left eye twitches, or their left shoulder is stooped lower than the other.

I'm also a lefty, so it makes me laugh a little. Beware my lack of dexterity! ('Right-hand' in Latin)

Expand full comment
Tyler Rogness's avatar

Fun words! I just did a little search on "viaticum" myself, and found its common meaning refers to "provisions for a journey" via (<-- see word to left) "viaticus" -- "of a journey." Applying that idea to the dying man's Eucharist is a powerful and rich thought.

Expand full comment