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Jan. 24th, 2010 04:46 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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1word1dayHappy Sunday, people! I trust you're all doing well!
Today's word, from the OED, is:
Kankedort [kan-keh-dort, kan-keh-dor]
noun
Definition
An awkward situation or affair, often in a catch-22/'damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
Etymology
Like many of the OED's best words, it's listed as 'of uncertain etymology,' however its first use is thought to be apparently coined by Chaucer to describe the seemingly insoluble dilemma faced by Troilus, the love-sick knight in the great romance Troilus and Criseyde, as he attempts to make his true feelings known to Criseyde.
Usage
Troilus was faced with a hell of a dilemma. If he told Criseyde the truth, she might reject him, and that would be a fatal blow to the greatest knight in Troy. If he doesn't tell her, he'll continue to suffer, and he's sure he'll never recover from his love-longing. If he tells her and she accepts his love (and she is, after all, the daughter of a traitor to Troy), what then? What will his friends, the town elders and his uncle Pandarus think? It was a heck of a kankedort, he thought!
Today's word, from the OED, is:
Kankedort [kan-keh-dort, kan-keh-dor]
noun
Definition
An awkward situation or affair, often in a catch-22/'damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
Etymology
Like many of the OED's best words, it's listed as 'of uncertain etymology,' however its first use is thought to be apparently coined by Chaucer to describe the seemingly insoluble dilemma faced by Troilus, the love-sick knight in the great romance Troilus and Criseyde, as he attempts to make his true feelings known to Criseyde.
Usage
Troilus was faced with a hell of a dilemma. If he told Criseyde the truth, she might reject him, and that would be a fatal blow to the greatest knight in Troy. If he doesn't tell her, he'll continue to suffer, and he's sure he'll never recover from his love-longing. If he tells her and she accepts his love (and she is, after all, the daughter of a traitor to Troy), what then? What will his friends, the town elders and his uncle Pandarus think? It was a heck of a kankedort, he thought!
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Date: 2010-01-24 01:03 pm (UTC)