A Shocking Dictionary Discovery

A Shocking Discovery
On the Library Discards Sale TABLE!

Today dear readers whoever you are (sheesh will someone PLEASE use the comments box !) I will made a shocking discovery at the local library.

Our library has a policy of moving infrequently used books to the "stacks" and then alas to the DISCARDS book sale table. This applies to fact fiction and even reference books like dictionaries.

Today  I found a copy of Woodhouses English to Classical Greek dictionary on the table  of doom! Shudder.

Okay so we are a suburban library and I suppose they thought the only schools teaching Greek or Latin in the immediate area are the big private schools or the selective highs  and yes you can NOW access WOODHOUSE ONLINE when the server its housed on is working  which fortunately is most of the time.

B U U U T it makes me very sad to see the library thinks there's so little interest in the Classics and Classical Greek  that they can justify selling this.

On the other hand a bargain price of ONE DOLLAR but still ... darn and dang and stronger words given the size of the Greek policy in Sydney you'ld think there would be more students doing Classical Greek NOT LESS

AAARGH

Dear readers if your library is discarding print reference  books to make more room for fiction and newer material and computer terminals  you can find Woodhouse on line at

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/Woodhouse/

WHITE words for white in classica lGreek

Words for White in classical Greek

There are more words for gray and pale than white in Greek.

The two main words from which a variety of adjectives and nouns derive are

λευκός pale white and  ἀργής shiny white like silver ἀργυρός

White objects were also often compared to

Snow νιφος or stone λυγδος or marble μαρμαρος.

The Greeks seem to have associated the quality of whiteness with shine and gleam and brightness.

Color names begun as names. Color as an abstract concept developed later.

The ancients had to write about color by comparing it to objects.

More examples of this soon.