Root: SON, SONUS
Meaning: sound
Words:
1. resonate (v) (re- = again, renew): ongoing sound, with intensity
When LCB came home after a business dinner of overindulgence a couple of weeks ago and suggested we both reduce our caloric intake for a while (thanks, babe, for the underlying assumption there), I was game until he mentioned avoiding chocolate. That just didn’t resonate well with me. Cutting down on the cheese consumption is painful enough, but his words about chocolate and its caloric quagmire lacked resonance in my book.
Note: Resonance and resonant have multiple meanings, some of which vary quite a bit. The words in relation to the sciences, physics and chemistry in particular, carry a more specific meaning.
- sonnet (n): A poem with 14 lines, typically written in iambic pentameter and with a rhyme scheme
I may have a background in English, but I have to confess that I’m not a huge fan of the sonnet. If I’m in the right mood, I enjoy reading them. But the whole iambic pentameter rhyme thing drives me to tears and then dull, catatonic chanting the few times I’ve had to write one. I remember walking around my room in college, moving my shoulders up and down with the stressed and unstressed syllables as I critiqued my own words, trying to force soulfulness into a pattern that frankly sucks. At one point, I actually considered banishing Shakespeare from my life for his role in the promotion of the sonnet form. Oh, and don’t get me started on the all poetry served up rancid that feign brilliance on account of their sonnet forms.
- unison (n, adj) (uni- = one): voices or instruments spoken, sung or played together
The small people have a habit of all speaking in unison, but chaotically. Basically, they feel like whoever speaks loudest wins by getting my attention. I have no clue where they got that idea. Well, they got it because it totally works. I’m trying to teach them to take turns, that speaking in unison is only effective when everyone is saying the same thing. ‘Course, if I let my mind “blur†at little, it really does sound much like the chorus of seagulls in Finding Nemo, all saying, “Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!†together. It’s a good summary statement of the essence of their communication.
Hey! I just have to say again that I really love your latin. We are following a (very basic) latin book, and I love having these little “side lessons” to run by my boys. It becomes somewhat of a game when you see all of the words we use every day that come from a Latin root. Thanks! Keep these coming! 🙂
ALoha–
Thanks. They’re fun to do. When I taught etymology and had Latin and Greek word parts in the forefront of my mind, I got to the point where I’d be sitting somewhere, like a doctor’s office, and I’d try to dissect long, “technical” terms I’d see on book spines, walls, pamphlets, etc. just to see if I could figure out the meaning. That’s great that you are doing Latin with the boys. It’s definitely a vocabulary builder and can often be more effective than memorizing long lists of words.
Sonnets, in my humble opinion, are incredibly overrated. While I can appreciate one or two every once in a while, reading a collection of sonnets invokes the same feelings as “white noise,” and puts me right to sleep.