|
cloud-cuckoo-land: msg#00021culture.language.word-of-the-day
***************************************************************** Word game lovers! Enjoy a free trial subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged and try our new brainteasers! http://www.merriam-webster.com/premium/ ***************************************************************** The Word of the Day for April 23 is: cloud-cuckoo-land \klowd-KOO-koo-land\ noun : a realm of fantasy or of whimsical or foolish behavior Example sentence: If the boss really thinks he can up productivity and increase profit after the company is downsized, he is living in cloud-cuckoo-land. Did you know? In Aristophanes' 5th century B.C. comedy Birds, Peisthetaerus (a human) convinces the king of the birds and his followers to help him build an ideal city juxtaposed between heaven and earth. They plan to intercept all of the sacrifices rising from the earth to the gods on Olympus, thereby starving the gods into cooperating with them. The newly built city is dubbed "Nephelokokkygia," (from "nephos," meaning "cloud," and "kokkyx," the native European cuckoo). By the late 19th century, English speakers had translated the town's name as "Cloud-Cuckoo-Land" and had begun using it as a general term for any similarly unreal or whimsical place or situation. |
|
| <Prev in Thread] | Current Thread | [Next in Thread> |
|---|---|---|
| Previous by Date: | acquiesce: 00021, word |
|---|---|
| Next by Date: | perquisite: 00021, word |
| Previous by Thread: | acquiescei: 00021, word |
| Next by Thread: | perquisite: 00021, word |
| Indexes: | [Date] [Thread] [Top] [All Lists] |
| News | FAQ | advertise |