$10 Words

I don't know the origin of that term, but I think I learned it as a boy in smalltown Ohio so it might just be an old idiom. Anyway, I've been trying to learn the meaning of many $10 words for about 35 years. I started writing them on index cards with their definition & a sentence sometimes & sometimes where I first saw it. I still have those 4" x 6" cards and my handwriting has definitely deteriorated. The card file is a lot larger now as I've added to it over the years. I fill out a new card whenever I come across a word in reading that I don't know precisely.

[stick with me, I'll get to the stock market by the end ;-) ]

So what is a $10 word? I could say it's a "big" word that's uncommon in ordinary speech and writing. Or I could say it's a "sesqipedalian" word that's inordinary in common speech & writing [ ;-) ]. Both are wrong in my usage of $10 word. For example, I've run across "bon mot" a couple times recently. That means "a witty saying" and is a French term now used in English. I also recently added the "whence, hence, thence" trio to my file. And "golly, gosh, and gee". Those are all common terms whose meaning I "sort of" knew, but not precisely.

Here: "golly" - "used to express mild surprise or wonder".
And: "gosh" - "used to express mild surprise or delight".
And: "gee" - "used as a mild expletive or exclamation of surprise"

I use "gee whiz" quite a bit more now as I'm trying to use fewer four-letter words under request from Mrs. B :-( These three words are very useful alternatives to many old Anglo-Saxon vulgar terms. [btw, just using "bleep" works, too.]

So how do you remember the difference between "golly" and "gosh" ???

Those my age might remember country bumpkin TV character Gomer Pyle saying "gawawawawawlllllllllllyyy Sgt. Carter" when he learned something new from the more sophisticated Sgt. Carter. So that's the "wonder" part. Now you've got "golly" pinned down. Lolol, gosh is the other one - implies some "delight" with the surprise.

So where am I going with this?

I'm giving you background on why I use words like "eisegesis" that means "an interpretation, esp. of Scripture, that expresses the interpreter's own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text." The person engaging in eisegesis might be an eisegete or eisegetist or eisegetor; I'm not sure - that word is more like a $1,000 word since it's not in my dictionaries. President / General U. S. Grant used in in his memories, though.

Yesterday's the babble on Bubblevison was pure EISEGESIS regarding Fed policy and the prospects for interest rates. The Fed is not going to raise interest rates in any relevant time horizon. The Fed might CUT rates one or two ticks [0.25% = one tick] IIFF the trend in core PCE inflation continues downward. That would produce a normal yield curve. Notice the bears screech "recession" when long rates go down & produce an inverted yield curve and obversely screech "higher rates" if long rates go up & remove the inversion. Both are bearish interpretations created by their "bias" and "bearish agenda"]. Those dirty eisegetes !!!

What we need is "exegesis". I was reminded of that $10 word by a very literate reader a few days ago. It's in my cardfile, but I forgot it :-( "Exegesis" means "an explanation or critical interpretation of a text". The person engaging in exegesis would be exegetist/exegete/exegetor, I'm not sure which one is best usage. There's no bias or agenda or own ideas from the exegetist; all bias for the eisegetist.

So a new epithet I really love is, "that dirty eisegete !!"

Doesn't that sound positively filthy ? ;-)