Each day, delivered fresh to my inbox at work, I and a million other people get a word-of-the-day from Anu Garg himself, the Indian émigré to Seattle whose Wordsmith site created a bit of a sensation back in 2003, when these things were still novel.
Today’s word was too neat not to share — particularly in this time of economic turbulence and uncertain job prospects. If you can cry on command, own a lot of black clothes and like to pretend you’re sadder than you really are, you may have what it takes to be a moirologist.
From A.Word.A.Day:
There are some things in life money can’t buy, for everything else, there’s Mastercard. With the right credit card you could even hire mourners for your funeral or find the right sentiment. While researching this word, I came across websites that offer “eulogy packs”. One such site lists a “Mother’s Eulogy pack” that includes “9 speeches, 3 poems, 3 free bonus”. Only $25.95 — have your credit card ready. Fathers go cheaper: $19.97.
Let’s not be too smug and look down upon those who buy these packs. When we go to the neighborhood card store to buy a greeting card or a sympathy card, we’re also hiring someone to package words to help us convey our feelings.
Professional mourners are not a new thing either — there’s a long tradition going back to ancient Greece and beyond. As late as 1908 a New York Times article reported on a professional mourners’ strike in Paris.
Then there is claque, a group of people hired to applaud a performer at a show.
Incidentally, if you didn’t know that “Dord” was briefly an accidental synonym of density, and if you inexplicably care about these things like I do, and if you’re looking to populate your bathroom bookshelf, I highly recommend Garg’s The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two: The Hidden Lives and Strange Origins of Common and Not-So-Common Words. It’s one more reason to go to the bathroom.
Image via Unsinkable Western History.
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