•June 14, 2008 •
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a poem, speech, or song of lamentation, esp. for the dead.
From Greek thrên(os) ‘dirge’ and -ōid(e) ‘song’.
Threnody is the alter ego of Melody Jacobs, a character in the X-Men comics with the abilities to sense the dead and dying, absorb energy, deliver concussive blasts, and create/control zombies.
Appears in the poem Superbia (Vanity) by Ernest Hilbert.
Excerpt
O suffering student of heresies and small threnodies,
Coughing up warm beer in the
Back of a cab and still empyreal
This disastrous, this dominical icefall
Google Image Result: threnody

Posted in Abecedaruim
Tags: 2, Abecedarium
•June 12, 2008 •
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a pathological fear of heights.
From the Greek ἄκρος, meaning ‘summit’.
The fear of falling is thought to be the only instinctive fear in a newborn.
It is the name of an online acronym game and a roller coaster in Georgia.
This is one of those words I can never remember. I’m always getting it mixed up with agoraphobia- the fear of strangers (look, two words in one day!). But now, I think I’ll have an easier time, because “acro” like from “acrobat.”
Google Image Result: acrophobia

Posted in Abecedaruim
Tags: 1, Abecedarium