Actually, that trivia fact is a bit of a linguistic “near-miss.” Whether it’s true depends entirely on how you define a vowel.
The “Y” Factor
In the word rhythm, the letter y is functioning as a vowel. Linguistically, we distinguish between vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u) and vowel sounds. Since y in “rhythm” creates the sound /ɪ/, it is technically a vowel in that context.
The “No-Vowel-Letter” Rivals
If the trivia meant “words without a, e, i, o, or\ u,” then rhythm is certainly the most famous, but it has plenty of company:
* Symphony, Nymph, Glyphs, Gypsy, Myrrh, and Dry.
* Tsktsk (the sound of disapproval) is often cited as the longest word with zero vowel letters, though it’s an onomatopoeic interjection.
* Crwth and Cwm: These are legitimate English words (found in major dictionaries) borrowed from Welsh. In these cases, w acts as the vowel.
Etymology: Rhythm
* Origin: From the Greek ῥυθμός (rhuthmos).
* Meaning: It comes from the root ῥέω (rheō), meaning “to flow.”
* Context: This connects beautifully back to our Ulysses discussion. Stephen is trapped in the “jerks of verse” (the mechanical rhythm) while trying to find the “flow” (the rheo) of his own life.
Glengarry Glen Ross, Belfry belltower
The “Glengarry Glen Ross” Connection
You have a sharp ear for phonetic patterns! The rhythmic, repetitive sound of “Belfry Belltower” does indeed mimic the staccato, percussive title of David Mamet’s play, Glengarry Glen Ross.
The Names: “Glengarry” and “Glen Ross” are actually the names of two real estate developments the characters are trying to sell.
Etymology of “Glen”: Both names use the Scottish/Gaelic word gleann, meaning a narrow valley.
The Vibe: Much like your “Litany” of the evening, the title Glengarry Glen Ross is designed to sound like a sales pitch or a chant. It’s repetitive and hypnotic, intended to show how these men are trapped in a cycle of high-pressure language.
The etymology of belfry is one of the most famous “accidents” in the English language. It is a word that changed its spelling because people thought they knew what it meant, even though they were technically wrong.
1. The Surprising Root: It Wasn’t About Bells
Despite starting with “bell,” the word originally had nothing to do with bells.
* Old French Root: It comes from berfrey, which was a term for a siege tower.
* Germanic Origin: The French word was borrowed from the Middle High German bercvrit.
* Berg (to protect/guard)
* Frid (peace/safety)
* Original Meaning: A bercvrit was a “protective shelter” or a “watchtower”—specifically a wooden tower on wheels used by besieging armies to get over castle walls.
2. The “Bell” Confusion
As the Middle Ages progressed, these high wooden towers were used as watchtowers in towns. To sound the alarm, people hung bells in them.
* Folk Etymology: Because the towers contained bells, English speakers assumed the first part of the word must be “bell.”
* The Spelling Shift: Over time, the “r” was replaced with an “l,” transforming the French berfrey into the English belfry.
3. The “Belfry” of the Mind
In your evening narrative, the “dripping walls” and the “water pump” create a kind of sensory “belfry”—a high-stakes environment where you are keeping watch over the household (the gas cylinders, the milk, the tea) while also guarding the students’ education.
There is also the idiom “bats in the belfry,” referring to someone who is a bit eccentric or has “noisy” thoughts. Given our discussion of Stephen Dedalus and his frantic, guilt-ridden thoughts, he certainly has a “belfry” full of bats (his “Agenbite of Inwit”).
Centoquarantadue
“Centoquarantadue” is the Italian word for 142. Its etymology is a perfect example of how Latin evolved into modern Romance languages. It is a compound of three distinct parts:
1. Cento (Hundred)
* Latin Root: Centum.
* Evolution: Over time, the final “m” was dropped in Vulgar Latin.
* Cognates: This is the same root for the English “century,” “percent,” and the French “cent.”
2. Quaranta (Forty)
* Latin Root: Quadraginta.
* Breakdown: * Quadra- (related to quattuor, or four).
* -ginta (a suffix denoting tens, similar to “-ty” in English).
* Evolution: Through a process called intervocalic lenition, the hard “dg” sound softened into the “nt” sound we see in the Italian quaranta and French quarante.
3. Due (Two)
* Latin Root: Duo.
* Evolution: The Latin duo transitioned almost directly into the Italian due. It stems from the Proto-Indo-European root *dwóh₁.
Putting it Together
In Italian, numbers are typically formed by stringing the components together without spaces:
> Cento (100) + quaranta (40) + due (2) = Centoquarantadue.
>
Interesting Linguistic Note: Unlike English, which often adds “and” (One hundred and forty-two), Italian (like most Romance languages) skips the conjunction entirely.
Calicle, Calyx, Chalice, Calculus
Perclitation, Mobile Vulgus
In the context of the history of English or the BBC series The Story of English, here are the answers to your questions.
1. What is perclitation?
Perclitation (more commonly spelled periclitation) means to be in a state of danger, trial, or hazard.
It comes from the Latin periculitari, meaning “to imperil” or “to put to the test.” While it is an extremely rare and archaic word today, it belongs to that family of “inkhorn terms”—fancy, Latin-derived words that were fashionable during the Renaissance but often criticized for being “nimious” (excessive) or unnecessary when simpler English words like “danger” or “peril” existed.
2. Why did Jonathan Swift dislike the word ‘mob’?
Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels, was a linguistic conservative who loathed what he called the “barbarous” corruption of the English language. He famously attacked the word “mob” for several reasons:
* It was a “clipped” word: Mob is a shortening of the Latin phrase mobile vulgus (the “fickle common people”). Swift hated abbreviations. He felt that cutting words down was lazy and made the language sound “low” and “clownish.”
* It sounded like slang: In the early 1700s, mob was considered trendy “slang” or “street talk.” Swift grouped it with other abbreviations he hated, like “phiz” (for physiognomy), “incog” (for incognito), and “rep” (for reputation).
* Loss of the “polite” tone: Swift believed that once a language started shortening words, it would eventually lose its structure and dignity. He even wrote a famous letter to the Lord High Treasurer in 1712, proposing an English Academy to “fix” the language forever and stop these “innovations.”
The Irony: Swift’s war against mob failed utterly. He once yelled at a lady for using the word, telling her she should say “the rabble” instead. Today, rabble sounds much more old-fashioned, while mob is standard English!
> Swift found the word mob to be a perclitation to the English language—a dangerous trial that threatened to turn a refined tongue into a series of monosyllabic grunts.
All Hail The Mother Half Virgin!
I sit on a stone outside the Padmanabha Puram: a residential complex near railway station. Some buffaloes pass by. Smooth soothing soft breeze touches my skin. Some vehicles keep passing. The weather has been pleasant in this month.
I saw a tagline on a small trailer which was parked on my way. It said something which meant what the heading of this article means.
Exact words: Jai maan Ardhakunwari!
Ardhakunwari is derived from Ardhakumari. Kunwar or kunwari is variation of Kumar or kumari which meant virgin or pure. Ardha is a prefix here which means half. Thus the word means half virgin.
You might have heard about the virgin Mary. But what about the mother half virgin? This is the first time I have seen her name. She’s neither virgin nor not virgin. She’s neither pure nor not pure. She’s neither black nor white. What’s she?
Yes, she’s a mystery. There’s a world of gods and goddesses who are taken from the folklore and found only on the vehicles as protection charms.
Since this post is about names: let me take a diversion here. I have been meaning to write about couple of surnames for sometime. Surnames tell a great story if you have means to dig up the etymology. However I would only touch upon two new surnames I found in my colony which were waiting to be discovered.
The first one is maafidaar. It’s the surname of a ration shop owner. It seems like it has something to do with the infamous maafia which is originally from Italian maafos which relates to the arabic or Urdu maafi too and means to pardon. The word is kind of euphemism because ‘being able to pardon’ was an insinuation towards ability to punish. It was about the creditors. The word Mahajan originally meant ‘great people’ as in the epic Mahabharata Vyasa says: Mahajanoyen…..panthah : the path on which great people have left their footsteps is the path to be walked. Later the word meant only the people who were loan sharks.
The next word is: argala. This surname also seems to be odd. It’s akin to maafidaar threatening in nature. Argala means divine obstruction. It’s not something you take lightly. It’s the surname of a family of advocates of law.
Dancing light of grace 