February 17, 2004
Chrestomathy
A chrestomathy (accent on “tom”) in its true sense is “a collection of choice passages from an author or authors.” For the Greeks, it means “useful learning.” Whatever reference to these current tracts such a notion might have depends, I should think, entirely on one’s perspective.
Anyhow, looking to fill a few gaps in my bookshelves at a library sale the other day, “A Mencken Chrestomathy” practically leapt off the table. It was an entirely new word wrapped around an entirely old idol of mine, journalist H L Mencken.
When dwelling on Mencken, one thinks “curmudgeon,” which in its better sense means a gruff, blunt, but honest fellow with an encrusted heart of gold. But in its not so better sense suggests a mean, testy person. Scrooge before his conversion. W C Fields after his.
Some linguists think it comes from the French for “evil heart,” but that’s only an inspired guess. However, in the light shed by a couple of recent OoNs, I tend to prefer the notion that it derives from *cur-mudgel*, dialect for “dunghill dog,” but actually, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t.
Fields did make one of my favorite curmudgeonly pronouncements, however, when he said that anybody who doesn’t like kids or pets can’t be all bad. So much for today’s entry into my nascent chrestomathy.