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The Blogging From A to Z April Challenge: S is for Shibboleth

Saturday, 21 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 ...


S is for Shibboleth

A shibboleth sounds like it could be an Outer God from the Cthulhu mythos ("Iä! Shibboleth! The Black Goat with a Thousand Young!") or a mystical stone in an Indiana Jones movie ("Behold! The Shibboleth of Akran!") or maybe, I don't know, a fizzy, boiled sweet ("A bag of lemon shibboleths please, mister!")

But, of course, it isn’t any of these. It refers to a word or a phrase that indicates belonging to a particular group. A code word used only by members of that group. It originates from the Hebrew, where it originally referred to an ear of corn. But it was a difficult word to pronounce for some cultures, and so was used to test whether an individual belonged or was an imposter.

I almost went for "syzygy". Maybe next year ...



Archaeopteryx Blunderbuss Chthonic Dreadnought Entropy Fulgurite Gargantua Humbucking Ichthyic Juggernaut Kappa Labyrinthine Megrim Numinous Ophidian Pandemonium Quark Ragnarök Shibboleth

Posted by Simon Kewin at 08:00

13 comments:

  1. Rebecca Alexander21 April 2012 at 09:12

    There's a word I could spell but didn't know what it meant. Thanks for that. I didn't know the other one either, so, next year!

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  2. Simon Kewin21 April 2012 at 09:36

    Glad it was of interest. Will try and do syzygy next year!

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  3. Hilary Melton-Butcher21 April 2012 at 11:42

    H Simon .. interesting to know its origins .. I hadn't realised that - belonging to a group; while originally referring to an ear of corn .. fascinating .. cheers Hilary

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  4. Simon Kewin21 April 2012 at 11:44

    Hilary - Glad it was of interest!

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  5. Tara Tyler21 April 2012 at 14:28

    cool! could alsobe the name if someone's sword. tho tongue twisting...
    where's my sword shibboleth.
    shibboleth is sheathed, sir.

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  6. S. L. Hennessy21 April 2012 at 14:40

    It's a really beautiful word, isn't it. I love finding beautiful words for perhaps mundane or simple concepts.

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  7. Simon Kewin21 April 2012 at 15:53

    Tara - Oh yes, that would work too!

    S. L. - It is. I like saying it.

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  8. Tracy Moore21 April 2012 at 16:41

    Simon, I like your definitions of the word much better. This word just sounds exciting!

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  9. Michelle aka Naila Moon22 April 2012 at 01:52

    I am humored by your definitions before you give the definition.
    I learn something every day.

    Coming over from A-Z.

    ~Naila Moon

    http://yaknowstuff.blogspot.com/2012/04/s.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. Simon Kewin22 April 2012 at 10:02

    Thanks, Naila. Glad it was of interest!

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  11. Unknown22 April 2012 at 10:50

    Great post, and that illustration...

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  12. Simon Kewin22 April 2012 at 10:59

    Thanks, Fiona. I couldn't resist illustrating the "wrong" meaning!

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  13. Nicole23 April 2012 at 01:17

    That is quite an interesting history for the word!

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I'd love to know what you think.