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genial - word of the day

From: Charles Hodgson
Length: 00:03:44

The story behind the word "genial" Read the full description.
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Piece Description

Charles Hodgson's "Etymology Moment" is a series of two to three minute pieces exploring the history of common English words. Intended to be played as a series, either daily or less frequently, each episode talks about a single word, the different meanings it might have had through history and related trivia such as an interesting historical character who used the word early on. The series already has hundreds of episodes to choose from and more are being added each week. Listener endorsements for Charles Hodgson's work include: "A staple of my daily listening, always interesting, kind of relaxing and educational to boot! I love it." (Russell Jenkins) "Mr Hodgson's dry wit and gentle delivery entertain, inform, and calm me down a bit after a hard day's work. A treasure I found months ago and it keeps on giving." (Hamilton UCI) "This is a daily must-listen." (Laurence Simon) "We love this program. It is a great way of learning, one word at a time. Charles has a unique way of pronouncing and interpreting the words. And we love his soothing voice." (Roland Popp) In addition to his "Etymology Moment" Charles Hodgson has written a book (publication August 2007) entitled CARNAL KNOWLEDGE - A Navel Gazer's Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Trivia. Richard Lederer, host of NPR's A Way With Words says of the book: "Master etymologist Charles Hodgson offers a passionate lesson...illuminates how just about every part of the amazing human chassis got its name." Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves says: "Delight your friends (or lose them rapidly) with this fabulous new knowledge presented with deftness and wit."

Broadcast History

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Transcript

This is the etymology moment, and I'm Charles Hodgson. Today we'll hear the story behind the word genial.
I did a search on the Washington Post's website on the word genial to see what would come up. Evidently Richard Causey, who was an Enron accountant and just got sent to prison for five and a half years, is a genial guy. By this I take it that he was a pretty nice guy, even if he turns out to have been a bit crooked. This meaning concurs with the meaning I see in the New American Oxford Dictionary which defines genial as "friendly and cheerful." But the first citation we have for the word genial in the Oxford English Dictionary relates to something that was anything but "friendly and cheerful." In that first citation the meaning of genial isn't "friendly and cheerful," but instead, something having to do with marriage. So that a genial bed was the marriage bed. The Latin root...
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