This blog is for everyone who uses words.

The ordinary-sized words are for everyone, but the big ones are especially for children.



Sunday 1 April 2018

Sunday Rest: monostrophe. Word Not To Use Today.

A monostrophe isn't, as it name seems to imply, a catastrophe with a mighty single cause. So it's not like an earthquake, or an avalanche, or electing a paranoid liar to the political leadership of a country.

No, a monostrophe is a poem in which the whole thing jogs along in the same rhythm.

Gosh, the marketing guys had a stroke of genius when they named that one, didn't they?

Unless it was a misprint for monotony.

Sunday Rest: monostrophe. The mono- bit means single, and the strophe bit comes from the Greek word strephein to twist. In Ancient Greek plays the chorus used to walk across the stage when performing the bit of the verse called the strophe, and then walk back again.


No comments:

Post a Comment

All comments are very welcome, but please make them suitable for The Word Den's family audience.