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The Blogging From A to Z April Challenge: G is for Gargantua

Saturday, 7 April 2012

My posts in the The Blogging From A to Z April Challenge are all about interesting words. Words that are weird, intriguing, poetic or just plain cool.



G is for Gargantua

These days, this word is mostly used as an adjective, gargantuan, to mean something enormous. It also has the specific sense of someone with a vast appetite for food.

The word was coined in the sixteenth century by the French writer Rabelais. Gargantua was a giant, the father of Pantagruel, described in a series of satirical, fantastical, outlandish and often obscene books. Among other traits, Gargantua is described as having an enormous appetite for food and drink ...



Archaeopteryx Blunderbuss Chthonic Dreadnought Entropy Fulgurite Gargantua

Posted by Simon Kewin at 08:00

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous7 April 2012 at 09:09

    Now this is the kind of A-Z I like.

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  2. sulekkha7 April 2012 at 12:14

    I like this idea of interesting words, and the history behind them.

    http://sulekharawat.com/2012/04/07/familiar-is-for-cowards/

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  3. Cate Gardner7 April 2012 at 12:25

    Awesome and inspiring.

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  4. Tracy Moore7 April 2012 at 15:09

    Love the picture in this post...it's hilarious! Another great entry in the challenge. I'll definitely be back again.

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  5. Simon Kewin7 April 2012 at 15:15

    Glaf you like it, Donna.

    Cate - Thanks!

    Sulekkha - Me too. Always new words to discover.

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  6. Guilie Castillo7 April 2012 at 16:04

    The Spanish word for "throat" is "garganta"--I'm pretty sure there's a relationship in etymology :)

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  7. Golden Eagle7 April 2012 at 18:43

    Interesting! I've never heard of this word before--but I guess if there's gargantuan, there must be gargantua!

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  8. Nicole7 April 2012 at 22:33

    Another good one!

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  9. Anonymous8 April 2012 at 01:16

    What wonderful words! When I get my browser to behave, I will bookmark your blog and come back again ...

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  10. Simon Kewin8 April 2012 at 03:32

    Tracy - hilarious but gross too. Thanks for dropping in.

    Guilie - Interesting! I'm sure you're right.

    Golden Eagle - There was!

    Nicole - Glad you liked it.

    Susezine - Thanks. Hope the browser is sorted soon.

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  11. Hilary Melton-Butcher8 April 2012 at 13:32

    Hi Simon .. reminds me of our King George IV .. who loved to do everything in excess - gargantuan he was in everyway ..

    Cheers Hilary

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  12. Simon Kewin8 April 2012 at 15:20

    Hilary - Agreed, although I don't think even he was quite that bad!

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  13. Anita9 April 2012 at 00:35

    Love this word & thanks for sharing!

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  14. Simon Kewin9 April 2012 at 01:36

    Thanks, Anita!

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  15. Timothy S. Brannan9 April 2012 at 01:43

    I never knew the origin of this word. How interesting!
    I am trying to read all the A to Z blogs, but coming back to the ones I really like.
    Looking forward to seeing what you do all month!

    Tim
    The Other Side
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

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  16. Simon Kewin9 April 2012 at 02:03

    Timothy - delighted you dropped by! I'll be on over to yours now.

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I'd love to know what you think.