Words of the Month (April 2024)

1. Etymological origin of rigmarole:

"alteration of obsolete 'ragman roll' (long list, catalog)

First Known Use: circa 1736"

Thanks, M-W!


2. Anosognosia.

Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran describes this phenomenon as a "curious disorder" that entails being unable to determine whether one's left arm or leg is paralyzed (Phantoms in the Brain, p. 128). The French neurologist Joseph Francois Babinski evidently coined this term after he observed it clinically in 1908.

"The term anosognosia now more broadly refers to a neurologically based denial of illness and unawareness of disability, not limited to patients with hemiplegia."

(Taken from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4140620/)

The etymology of anosognosia is ancient Greek, coming from nosos + gnosis.

Both of the next words are German terms:

3. Zeitschrift-"periodical, journal, magazine."

4. Wirkungsgeschichte-"historical consequences" or "reception history."

https://www.dict.cc/deutsch-englisch/Wirkungsgeschichte.html