What is mythology?

Welcome to the magical world of Greek Mythology!  Greek myth is thousands of years old, very vast and very interesting. But let’s backtrack a little and first answer  a really important question – What is Myth and Mythology?

The word “myth ” itself comes from the Greek “mythos” which originally meant “speech” or “discourse” but which later came to mean ‘fable’ or ‘legend’.  Simply put, the term could mean any traditional story. The word ‘Mythology’ has two meanings –  It refers to either the study of myths,       ( ‘ology’ is a root for ‘study of knowledge’ ) or just means  a collection of myths, like Hindu Mythology or Greek Mythology.

Each mythology has a different reason for its coming into existence and tells a lot about the people who made and believed in them . The stories have major and minor gods , each with special powers  and abilities. The adventures and exploits of these gods forms the foundation of a story or “myth”.

Greek Mythology  has influenced the English language to a considerable extent. Many words in English arise from characters and situations in Greek myths. Heard of the word “Titanic”? ( i knew you’d think of the film and Celine Dion!) . The word comes from the Greek word “Titan” which means ‘huge’. Titans were an ancient race of creatures that were defeated by the young Greek gods, led by Zeus. But this is a story for another time!

Some commonly misused words

1. The abhorrent individual was spurned by his fellow citizens because of his aberrant behavior.
2. With her speaking skills, she has the ability to fill the auditorium to its capacity.
3. The minister adjured his wayward congregation to abjure the sins of the flesh.
4. I would accept your excuse, except the part about losing the watch.
5. The number of students who wanted access to the computer labs was in excess of two hundred.
6. The government would often adopt policies that required people to adapt to a harsh regime.
7. The trouble with many adolescents is that they never seem to grow out of adolescence.
8. I need your advice. Please advise me on this.
9. She was confused, displaying ambivalent feelings about the ambiguous situation they’d gotten into.
10. Sometimes it seems more shocking to be amoral than to be immoral .
11. After we have the jeweler appraise the diamond, we will apprise you of its value.
12. When they got the assent of the weather bureau, they allowed the enormous balloon to begin its ascent.
13. I am averse to traveling in such adverse weather conditions.
14. We need a lot of money. She will allot funds according to need.
15. Are you all ready already, or do we have to wait for you?
16. She would often allude to her childhood, when she would elude her brothers in a game of hide-and-seek.
17. In mock debates, we used to alternate sides, taking alternative positions.
18. Government agencies tried to alleviate the effects of the depression. They attempted to ameliorate the job-seeking process.
19. With amiable people like the Durwitzes, it’s not unusual to have an amicable divorce.
20. The amount of money you make in a year depends on the number of deals you close.
21. I am annoyed that my bad back seems to be aggravated by tension.
22. It’s difficult to anticipate things that one doesn’t expect.
23. She wanted a good lawyer, so I told her about my attorney.
24. I’ll be back in a while. Can you wait awhile?
25. He told a funny anecdote about mixing up his soda with the snake-bite antidote.
26. The eager audience awaited the anxious, sweating performer.
27. She felt bad about his behaving badly at the conference.
28. She was afraid of him after seeing his bizarre behavior at the county’s annual bazaar.
29. Besides my unphotogenic aunt and uncle, there were fourteen other people standing beside the train station.
30. He has divided the money between Carlos and his daughter. He has divided the rest of his property among his three brothers.
31. The economy seemed to slide backwards thanks to the backward government policies.
32. She brought with her all the Diwali gifts she had recently bought.
33. He will break the car brake if he keeps pushing on it like that.
34. The breech of the gun slammed into his shoulder as he fired into the breach of the wall.
35. Every breath counts, so breathe deeply now.
36. The entire bridal party took a long and pleasant walk along the bridle path.
37. We wore canvas shoes while we tried to canvass the entire neighborhood.
38. We went over to the capitol to see the legislators. The capital of India is New Delhi. The state is running out of capital.
39. If a bride wants a diamond that weighs a carat, it will cost more than a carrot or a caret.
40. The Board of Education has censured the high-school principal because he tried to censor the student newspaper.
41. The Pilgrims acted with certitude on matters of faith; others required more certainty.
42. Some people thought he was sweet and childlike in his innocence, but I always thought he was boorish and childish.
43. I chose the red balloon. Now you choose a balloon of another color.
44. The climactic moment of a lightning storm, nature’s most dramatic climatic event, is a deafening roll of thunder.
45. His clothes were made of cloths of many different colors.
46. We used a coarse sandpaper, of course.
47. She complimented her sister on the way her scarf complemented her blouse.
48. Connecticut comprises eight counties. The system is constituted of twelve separate campuses.
49. She was confident that her confidant had given her good information.
50. Confounded by the instructor’s ambiguous instructions, the students’ problems were compounded by a lack of time to do the exam.
51. The word guts denotes one’s viscera, one’s intestines, but it also connotes determination, fortitude, persistence, and courage.
52. There was a terrible dinning noise coming from the dining room.
53. Since no one offered any dissent, we waited a decent interval and then began our descent to the lower floors.
54. She didn’t seem conscious of the fact that her husband has no conscience.
55. Her family grew contemptuous of her contemptible behavior.
56. These continual changes in our weather seem to be related to our continuous emissions of carbon-monoxide into the atmosphere.
57. My mother will convince him that she is right. She will persuade him to keep working.
58. She decided to seek the counsel of the Dorm Council.
59. It didn’t seem credible that such a creditable person would say such a horrible thing.
60. At first there was only one criterion for becoming Chairperson, but then, suddenly, the Party imposed several other criteria.

From the usage guess the meanings of the highlighted words and post the meanings of the same in the comments section of this post.

EngQuizzitive-1.29 (vocab):Quiz

You can take the quiz from the following link : Quiz

EngQuizzitive-1.29 (vocab):French phrases in English

This week’s vocab quiz was based on french words or phrases used in English language.

Hope you enjoyed solving the same.

Answers :

1. The cafe is a favourite rendezvous for artists.The meaning of rendezvous is :a prearranged meeting place
2. We gave the contractor carte blanche to modernize the kitchen.The meaning of carte blanche is : unconditional authority
3. Her family is all doing well with the eldest two girls having worked this year as au pair girls in Germany.The meaning of au pair is: both 2 and 3
4. Her book presents an interesting mélange of ideas.Melange means:both 1 and 3
5. Old-timers watched the stock-market crash with a distinct sense of déjà vu.The meaning of the french word deja vu is a feeling that one has been in a place or had a specific experience before

If you know any other french phrases or words used in the English language please post them with their meanings in the comments section of this post.

Ciao!