Solecism

Solecism (pronounced sol-uh-siz-uhm or soh-luh-siz-uhm)

(1) In language, a non-standard or ungrammatical usage.

(2) A breach of good manners or etiquette.

(3) Any error, impropriety, absurdity or inconsistency.

1570-1580: From the Latin soloecismus, from the Greek soloikismos, from soloikos (speaking incorrectly), the construct being Sólo(i) + -ic (from the Middle English -ik, from the Old French -ique, from the Latin -icus, from the primitive Indo-European -kos, formed with the i-stem suffix -i- and the adjectival suffix –kos.  The Ancient Greek form was -ικός (-ikós), the Sanskrit श (śa), क (ka) and the Old Church Slavonic -ъкъ (-ŭkŭ); doublet of –y; on noun stems, it carried the meaning “characteristic of, like, typical, pertaining to” and on adjectival stems, it acted emphatically) + -ism (ultimately from either the Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós), a suffix that forms abstract nouns of action, state, condition, doctrine; from stem of verbs in -ίζειν (-ízein) (from which English gained -ize), or from the related suffix Ancient Greek -ισμα (-isma), which more specifically expressed a finished act or thing done).  Solecism & solecist are nouns, solecistic & solecistical are adjectives and solecistically is an adverb; the noun plural is solecisms.

A solecism in sandals & socks, the look proscribed almost universally.

The meaning “gross grammatical error” or "any absurdity or incongruity" dates from the 1570s, a borrowing directly from the sixteenth century Middle French solécisme, from the Latin soloecismus (mistake in speaking or writing), which gained the word from the Greek soloikismos (to speak (Greek) incorrectly), from soloikos (an ungrammatical utterance), the literal translation of which was "speaking like the people of Sóloi, an Athenian colony in Cilicia (Mezitli in the modern-day Republic of Türkiye); there, the dialect spoken was a corrupt form of Attic Greek which Athenians condemned as barbarous.  The English, perhaps predictably, later extended the meaning to matters of etiquette, thus the sense of “awkward or rude in manners” and, by the late twentieth century, sins against fashion and good taste.

A solecism in blusher: Lindsay Lohan in court, Los Angeles October 2011.

The zombie-like look presumably wasn't intentional and it attracted some comment from professional make-up techs.  Speculation about how this happened ranged from the blusher being applied (1) in less than ideal lighting conditions, (2) in a car with only the rear-vision mirror available and (3) with bare fingers because a brush couldn't be found.  The consensus was the goal was a contoured blush look which, if applied with some delicacy, can accentuate the cheekbones but this was heavy handed and ended up as a smear across the cheeks.

Nicolás Maduro (b 1962; President of Venezuela 2013-2026 left meeting with Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (b 1939; Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989), the pair watched over by the official portrait of the Islamic Republic’s ever-unsmiling founder, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989; Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979-1989).

The socks & sandals combo is not not solecistical if on the Supreme Leader's feet.  It’s true that for men the pairing of sandals with socks is probably more than a mere solecism and constitutes an actual crime fashion but when one is (1) a grand ayatollah and (2) Supreme Leader, one sets the rules.  As a general principle, the Supreme Leader cannot make a fashion mistake because what the Supreme Leader does is the fashion.  Even if challenged (on a basis presumably not theological), the Supreme Leader could cite the precedent of Grand Ayatollah Khomeini having been photographed wearing shoes and sandals.

The Supreme Leader meets three wise men of the Hamas.

In the Middle East, everything is of course political and that includes clothing, what is in some places demanded of women (which can range from a minimalist (verging on symbolic) hijab to an enveloping burka) the best known but also of interest are the feet, shoes being of great significance.  This was in 2024 illustrated when the Supreme Leader met with Ismail Haniyeh (1962-2024; third chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau 2017-2024) and two members of his entourage; on a number of sites what attracted most interest was not the substantive matters discussed but the shoeless feet of the Hamas apparatchiks and in the ensuing debate what was pondered was whether this was merely Iranian protocols being followed or whether any disrespect had been created or intended.  One theory was the Supreme Leader was wearing “indoor” sandals with his socks while the Hamas operatives, travelling only with “outdoor” shoes, removed them in deference to local practice.  The alternative conjecture was the threesome were compelled by their hosts to appear in socks in an attempt to “undermine their dignity” and diminish their status as leaders of the Palestinian resistance, the rationale for that argument being The Islamic Republic of Iran a regime of the Shia tradition of Islam while the Hamas substantially was Sunni.  The consensus was it was less a conspiracy than an unexceptional example of the custom of removing shoes when entering indoor spaces, customary in homes and places of prayer and widespread also in many Islamic countries.  After the event concluded, Khamenei (Iran’s official news agency) reported that during the meeting the Supreme Leader had observed Iran” “…will not hesitate to support the Palestinian cause and the oppressed and resistant people of Gaza, praising the exemplary resilience of the Palestinian resistance forces and the people of Gaza.  The exemplary patience and steadfastness of the people of Gaza and the resistance forces during these six months, resulting from their strong faith, have prevented the Zionist enemy from achieving any of its strategic objectives in the Gaza war.”  Clearly, the “shoe incident” had not weakened Persian-Palestinian solidarity.

A young lady in Birkenstocks and socks.

Although it has long been an orthodoxy that for men not ayatollahs, wearing sandals over sock is a solecism, that rule does not apply to attractive young women (upon who a different sub-set of rules is imposed) and for them, the fashionistas have declared the combo is now normcore (used in the attributive sense of describing a look which should be thought unremarkable).  There are still those who for any purpose reject the embrace of socks & sandals but, done well, matched with an over-sized blazer, the look is called “deconstructed business casual”.

Papilla

Papilla (pronounced puh-pil-uh)

(1) In anatomy, (1) a nipple-like protuberance on a part or organ of the body, (2) a vascular process of connective tissue extending into and nourishing the root of a hair, feather, or developing tooth, (3) any of the vascular protuberances of the dermal layer of the skin extending into the epidermal layer and often containing tactile corpuscles & (4) any of the small protuberances on the upper surface of the tongue often containing taste buds.

(2) In botany, a small fleshy projection on a plant; any minute blunt hair or process occurring in plants.

(3) In engineering and related fields, any small, nipple-like process or projection.

1400-1450: From the late Middle English, from the Latin papilla (a nipple, teat), the construct being papula (a pustule, pimple; a swelling) +‎ -illa (the diminutive nominal suffix).  Source of all was the primitive Indo-European imitative root pap (to swell).  From the anatomical beginnings, the meaning was extended to botany and mechanical engineering, the generalized meaning of a "nipple-like protuberance" attested from 1713, the sense of "a nipple of a mammary gland" documented from the 1690s.  The noun plural is papillae.

The derived forms include the noun papilloma (a tumor resembling a nipple) from 1866, a modern Latin hybrid, the construct being papilla (nipple) + the Ancient Greek oma (tumor), the adjective papillary (of, pertaining to, or resembling a nipple) from the 1660s, the noun papilledema (also papilloedema) (a non-inflammatory swelling of the optic disc) from 1908, from papilla + edema, from the New Latin edema, from Ancient Greek οἴδημα (oídēma) (swelling), from οἰδέω (oidéō) (I swell) and the noun pap (nipple of a woman's breast), a creation of the late twelfth century, a truncation of pappe, first attested in Northern and Midlands writing, probably from a Scandinavian source (not recorded in Old Norse but noted in the dialectal Swedish as pappe), from the primitive Indo-European imitative root pap (to swell), source also of the Latin papilla and the Lithuanian papas (nipple).  It’s speculative but pap is thought to be ultimately of infantile origin.

Variations of grease nipples.

Designed as entry points for lubricating oils, grease nipples are permanently installed by a threaded connection to which a grease gun attaches, the pressure supplied by the gun forcing a small captive bearing ball in the fitting to move back against the force of its retaining spring.  The valve that opens under pressure allows lubricant to pass through a channel and be forced into the voids of a bearing or whatever is to be lubricated and, when pressure ceases, the ball returns to its closed position.  The ball excludes dirt and functions as a check valve to prevent grease escaping back out of the fitting, functioning thus as a one-way, non-return valve.  The ball is almost flush with the surface of the fitting so that it can be wiped clean, reducing the debris which would otherwise be carried with the grease.  The convex shape of the fitting allows the concave tip of the grease gun to seal from many angles, yet with a sufficiently tight seal to force the pressured grease to move the ball and enter the fitting, rather than simply oozing past this temporary annular (ring-shaped) seal.  Grease nipples are commonly made from zinc-plated steel, stainless steel, or brass.

Lindsay Lohan static.

The patent for the first grease nipple was granted in 1929.  Before grease nipples existed, bearings were lubricated in ways that tended to be maintenance-intensive and often provided less effective lubrication.  For example, a typical machinery bearing of the nineteenth and early centuries was a plain bearing with a cross-drilled hole to receive oil or grease, with no fitting at its mouth, or at best a cap or cup.  Often lubricant was delivered under no more pressure than gravity or a finger push might provide; oil flowing into the hole, grease pushed in.  While grease guns existed to feed the grease with higher pressure, fittings were not as good and didn’t seal as well as those used than today, nor were they as widely used.

Lindsay Lohan moving.

Since the 1920s, the ever-growing dissemination of sealed bearings has made the use of grease fittings less common.  Sealed bearings are lubricated for life at the factory, sealed so lubricant is not lost or contaminated by fluids or anything abrasive.  Grease nipples however are far from obsolete; much machinery is built with them because, provided what is usually minimal maintenance is attended to, this type of bearing and lubrication setup is cost-effective, simple, and long-lasting.  However, neglect of maintenance does shorten a lifespan.  Grease fittings are rarely found on today's consumer goods because maintenance-free products have more sales appeal but they still exist on many automobiles and are more common still on industrial, agricultural, and mining equipment where shaft diameters exceed ¾ inch (19 mm) and in electric motors with an output greater than about 5 kw.  Grease nipples are particularly numerous on marine engines because, in addition to providing lubrication, pumping grease into a fitting on a motor or other unit exposed to water expels moisture that would otherwise cause corrosion.  This can be of critical importance in machinery exposed to salt-water.

Frazil

Frazil (pronounced frey-zuhl, fraz-uhl, fruh-zeel, frey-zil, fraz-il or fruh-zil (regionally variable)).

Ice crystals formed in turbulent water, as in swift streams or rough seas (moving enough to prevent the formation of a sheet of ice).

1885-1890: A borrowing in US English, from the Canadian French frasil, frazil & fraisil, from the French fraisil (forge (or coal) cinders), from the Old French faisil, ultimately from the Latin fax (torch, firebrand; fireball, comet; cause of ruin, incitement), from the primitive Indo-European ǵhwehk- (to shine) and cognate with facētus (elegant, fine; courteous, polite; witty, jocose, facetious) and the Lithuanian žvakė (candle) and there’s also a speculative link to the Etruscan word for face (which may also have meant torch).  Frazil is a noun and adjective and has been used as a (non-standard) verb; the noun plural is frazils.

The freezing point of water is 273.15 K (32^o F (0^o C)), but it can be super-cooled to almost 231 K if there are no nuclei for the ice crystals (ie the water is very pure).  Frazil ice forms in turbulent, very cold water and consists of small discs of ice as small as 1-4 millimeters in diameter and 1-100 microns in thickness (there can be one million ice crystals per m3 of water).   As the crystals grow, they will stick to objects in the water, tending to accumulate on the upstream side of objects and this can cause ice dams to form and serious flooding can result in unpredictable places because creeks and other waterways can change directions in response to the movement and accumulation of frazil ice.  Lovely to watch, frazil ice can pose a problem for hydroelectric power-plants because, in bulk, it can block turbine intakes or freeze open gates.   Fish can also suffer and in oceans, frazil ice forms around coastlines or ice packs found in open seas and the behavior of the substance (in this context an aspect of fluid dynamics) has required the development of protocols by the oil and gas industry for use when working in arctic regions.  For those who struggle to visualize frazil, it’s something like the slushies sold in convenience stores.

Available in more than a dozen flavors, Frazil is a brand-name of the slushie sold by US frozen drinks company Freezing Point.

As the crystals grow, they will stick to objects in the water, tending to accumulate on the upstream side of objects and this can cause ice dams to form and serious flooding can result in unpredictable places because creeks and other waterways can change directions in response to the movement and accumulation of frazil ice.  Lovely to watch, frazil ice can pose a problem for hydroelectric power-plants because, in bulk, it can block turbine intakes or freeze open gates.   Fish can also suffer and in oceans, frazil ice forms around coastlines or ice packs found in open seas and the behavior of the substance (in this context an aspect of fluid dynamics) has required the development of protocols by the oil and gas industry for use when working in arctic regions.  The actions of waves and currents creates a turbulent state which causes the water column to become super-cooled by the process of heat exchange between air and water, the temperature dropping below its freezing point.  In rivers and creeks, the vertical mixing induced by the turbulence generates sufficient energy to overcome the crystals' buoyancy, thus keeping them from floating to the surface while in oceans, the winds, waves and cold air combine to create a super-cooled layer.

Frazil ice, Yosemite National Park.

Piquant

Piquant (pronounced pee-kuhnt, pee-kahnt or pee-kahnt)

(1) Agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart.

(2) Agreeably lively or stimulating to the mind; interesting or attractive (someone who may attract “a piquant glance”).

(3) Of an interestingly provocative or lively character (someone sometimes described as “a piquant wit”.

(4) In food, producing a burning sensation due to the presence of chilies or similar spices; spicy, hot (sometimes applied figuratively (of remarks, concepts etc).

(5) Sharp or stinging, hurtful of one’s feelings (archaic).

1520s: From the Middle French piquant (stimulating, irritating (literally “pricking”)), present participle of piquer (to prick; sting, nettle) which replaced pickante from the Italian piccante.  The ultimate source in French may have been the Old French pikier (to prick, sting, nettle).  The original sense in the 1520s was “something said that was scathing, sharp or stinging, hurting one’s feelings”, a use now obsolete.  By the 1640s the word was being used of an “agreeable pungency or sharpness of taste or flavor”, that by the 1690s extending to someone or something “smart, lively or racy in nature” which, under poetic influence, was from the early seventeenth century generalized to mean “stimulating to the senses; engaging; charming” and in parallel with this the foodies used it to mean “favorably stimulating to the palate; pleasantly spicy; tangy”.  That latter use still exists although some (especially in commerce) use piquant as a synonym merely for “very hot or spicy”; the comparative is “more piquant”, the superlative “most piquant”.    Piquant is an adjective, piquantness & piquancy are nouns and piquantly is an adverb; the noun plural is piquancies.

Piquant glances: Lindsay Lohan & Bader Shammas (b 1987).

The noun piquancy (created by appending the abstract noun suffix -cy) has endured while the companion noun piquantness is now rare.  The synonyms (applied variously to food, drink, ideas, music, literature, people etc) include spicy, pungent, poignant, racy, savory, peppery, tangy, zesty, interesting, lively, provocative, sharp, snappy, sparkling, spirited, stimulating, tart, intriguing & zestful while the most common antonyms seem to be insipid, bland & vapid.  The most neglected synonym is probably sapid (tasty, flavorsome or savory), from the Latin sapidus (savoury, delicious, tasty (and in the Late Latin “prudent, wise”) the construct being sap(iō) (to taste) +‎ -idus (the suffix used to form adjectives in the sense of “tending to”), from the Proto-Italic -iðos, from the primitive Indo-European -dhos, a thematized formation from dheh- (to put, place).  The attraction of reviving “sapid” is one can compliment another on their sapidity or tell them how admirable is their sapidness; as a pick-up line in a bar, it would have some novelty and sapid is an anagram of “iPads” which may appeal to some.

Hellfire Piquant Herbal Gin.

The Hellfire Distillery is located at Boomer Bay, on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia’s island state.  Despite the modern association of the word, the name of the place has nothing to do with the post-war “baby boom” (“boomer” (as an ellipsis of “baby boomer”) now an often disparaging term applied to those born between 1946-1964).  The source of the name is obscure but the most supported theory is as a reference to the large waves which crash ashore, the geography of the place lending a acoustic quality which amplifies the sound under certain climatic conditions.  “Boomer” is also old Australian slang for heavy waves which produce the loud “crashing” sounds.  There’s less support for the notion the name could be tied to the kangaroo; that the marsupial also is in some places known by the slang “boomer”, this is thought a coincidence.  The Hellfire Distillery provided the recipe for a Sloe gin (a gin made from blackthorn fruits) slushie:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, shredded
250 grams fresh strawberries
¼ cup sugar syrup
500 grams watermelon, cubed and frozen
¼ cup Hellfire's Sloe Gin

Instructions

(1) Place strawberries, mint and sugar syrup in a blender; blitz until really smooth.
(2) Strain to remove seeds and pour the mixture into ice cube moulds; then freeze.
(3) In blender, add strawberry ice cubes, watermelon and gin; blend until smooth and slushy.
(4) Spoon into glasses and garnish with extra mint leaves (if desired).

The word “piquant” is widely used in the products of the industrial food industry.  It’s an exotic or gentrified way of denoting something as “pungent”, “hot” or “spicy”.

Lush

Lush (pronounced luhsh)

(1) Of vegetation, plants, grasses etc, luxuriant; succulent; tender and juicy; characterized by luxuriant vegetation.

(2) Of fruit (especially tropical varieties), succulent and fleshy; of food in general, savory, delicious (now rare).

(3) Characterized by luxuriousness, opulence etc.

(4) A habitual drinker of alcohol who is frequently intoxicated, applied usually as disparaging and offensive term and applied disproportionately to women.

(5) Alcoholic drink (archaic).

(6) In musical criticism (of sopranos in Opera), a notably rich, expressive voice; in music generally an antonym for austere or sparse, a use also extended to literature.

(7) In internet slang (of the young of any gender), beautiful, sexy; used also as a synonym generally for amazing, cool, fantastic, wicked (should be used only by the youthful).

(8) Of ground or the soil, in dialectal use, mellow; soft; easily turned; fertile.

1400–1450: From the late Middle English lusch (slack, relaxed, limp, loose), from the Proto-Germanic laskwaz (weak, false, feeble), from the primitive Indo-European lēy- (to let; leave behind).  It was akin to the Old English lysu (bad) & lǣc (lax), the Middle Low German las & lasch (slack), the Middle High German erleswen (to become weak), the Middle Low German lasch (slack, languid, idle),the Low German lusch (loose), the Old Norse lǫskr (weak, feeble) and the Gothic lasiws (weak, feeble).  A doublet of lusk.  Source was probably the Old French lasche (lax, lazy) from the Latin laxus (loose), from the Late Latin laxicare (become shaky) from the primitive European root sleg- (be slack, be languid).

Lindsay Lohan, on holiday in the tropical lushness of Thailand, 2017.

It began to be applied to dense vegetation circa 1600 when used that way by Shakespeare who was alluding to the languid appearance of foliage and the modern sense “luxuriant in growth" developed organically from there.  The Shakespearian origin is generally accepted but some etymologists have noted a link to a word in Gypsy (Romany) or Shelta (tinkers' jargon).  The use relating to alcoholic drink dates from circa 1790, the origin unknown but presumed to be a facetious link to the idea of juicy vegetation, saturated with liquid.  The early slang referred to the drink itself; in 1790 a “lush ken” was an alehouse but by 1890 had come to mean "drunkard" and as early as 1811 was used as a verb meaning “to drink heavily”, the adjective being lushey.    In 1823, Lushington was recorded as a humorous generic name for a heavy drinker which was perhaps unfortunate for some, it being a real surname.  It was in the twentieth century, perhaps in reaction to the greater social acceptability of women taking drink, that lush came to be an almost exclusively female descriptor; the linguistic shift part of the long (and continuing) tradition of men finding new ways to disparage women.  Lush is a noun & adjective, Lusher & lushest are adjectives, lushness is a noun and lushly an adverb.

Martha Mitchell, who got a bit of fun from life

John and Martha Mitchell, Washington DC, 1971.

Martha Mitchell (1918-1976) was the wife of John Mitchell (1913–1988; US attorney-general 1969–1972) who served under Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974) as attorney general.  She gained a not undeserved reputation as a lush, Richard Nixon’s chief of staff (HR Halderman 1926-1993; chief of staff to the president 1969 1973) noting in his diary early in 1970 that “Martha’s behavior was sometimes outlandish, due to both emotional and drinking problems”.  More than once in the White House there was discussion about her being an embarrassment to her husband and the administration and a term emerged: "the Martha problem”.

Martha Mitchell, Time magazine cover, 30 November 1970.

The attorney-general’s wife being a lush not good but was tolerated, her husband actually attracting some sympathy, but, as the Nixon administration proceeded along its historic course, Martha’s drunken ramblings, including to journalists, raised real concerns.  Pillow-talk being a thing, she raised concerns about the dirty tricks and actual illegalities in which the administration was involved, especially the conduct of the 1972 election campaign which included the famous Watergate building break-in.  Figures in the administration then arranged to kidnap her so she could be kept incommunicado, the idea being the cover-up that was the Watergate affair would be better conducted without her around, part of the kidnapping having her forcefully sedated and locked up.  However, her accusations soon emerged and in little more than a year, Nixon would be forced to resign.  Martha had raised many of matters in an attempt to defend her husband who she believed was being set-up as the administration's “fall-guy” but, early in the scandal he resigned, later to be convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy and jailed for some two years.  Soon after his resignation, the couple separated; they would never meet again.  To his dying day Nixon blamed Martha for the Watergate scandal, insisting she was such a distraction for the attorney-general that he neglected the oversight of the 1972 campaign, allowing others in the team to do bad things.

The Martha Mitchell Effect

The "Martha Mitchell Effect" is from the literature of psychiatry and refers to instances where a clinician labels a patient's accurate description of actual events as delusional, resulting in a misdiagnosis.  The significance of the Martha Mitchell Effect is that, strictly speaking, its application should be limited to those instances of misdiagnosis which arise because the clinician either relied upon or was unduly influenced by factors particular to the patient but not directly relevant to case being discussed.  Thus, because Martha was a notorious lush given to rambling, drunken accusations and claims of conspiracies, she was erroneously assumed to be displaying symptoms of mental illness.

New York Daily News, 26 June 1972.

In the profession, the Martha Mitchell Effect is something which can affect many (cognitive bias, misdiagnosis, diagnostic overshadowing, iatrogenic & over-diagnosis) of the circumstances which can produce false positives, a particular problem in psychiatry, where there are few objective clinical tests for most disorders, diagnosis relying so often on the subjectivity of both the patient report and interpretation of these symptoms by clinicians.  In real-world conditions, there’s no obvious way to create protocols to ensure the Martha Mitchell Effect doesn’t infect a diagnosis.  However, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, 2013) did change some of the criteria for delusional disorders, notably no longer requiring that delusions must be non-bizarre, a change which while obviously not removing subjectivity from the process, did offer some equality between patient and clinician.  The specifier for bizarre type delusions carried over from DSM-IV (1994), the demarcation of delusional disorder from psychotic variants of obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder augmented with a new exclusion criterion, which required the symptoms must not be better explained by conditions such as obsessive-compulsive or body dysmorphic disorder with absent insight/delusional beliefs.  In DSM-5, a delusional disorder is no longer separated from a shared delusional disorder.  In theory, the changes in DSM-5 might have gained Martha a more sympathetic diagnosis, one she'd doubtless have celebrated with a drink.

Antinatal

Antinatal (pronounced ant-t- neytl)

A philosophical position that asserts a negative value judgment towards birth.

1968:  The construct was anti- + natal.  Anti was from the Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti).  Natal was from the Latin nātālis (natal), from nātus, the perfect active participle of nāscor (I am born),from the earlier gnāscor, from the Proto-Italic gnāskōr, from the primitive Indo-European ǵenh.  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek γεννάω (gennáō) (to beget).  The first use of antinatal appears to be by the Belgium author Théophile de Giraud (b 1968) in L'art de guillotiner les procréateurs: Manifeste anti-nataliste ((The Art of Guillotining Procreators: An Anti-natalist Manifesto, 2006) although forms of anti-natalist thought appear in ancient Greek philosophy, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Manichaeism. It was also espoused by heretical gnostic Christian sects, such as the Bogomils, Cathars, Encratites, and Marcionites.  As an etymological point regarding the play on words, the reference is antenatal (before birth); ante a borrowing from the Latin.  As prefixes, anti- (against) should not be confused with ante- (before) but, anti- does exist as a variant spelling of ante- in some borrowed words, such as anticipate and antipasto, but cannot be used to coin English words.  Antinatal is an adjective and antinatalism & antinatalist are nouns; the noun plural is antinatalists.

Strains

Although nihilists are predictably drawn to antinatalism, it’s really not a fork of nihilism.  Instead, it’s the position that bringing someone into existence will always harm the person created, but failing to bring that person into existence will only deny them pleasures they’ll never know. Therefore, the only guaranteed way to avoid increasing the harm quotient of sentient life is for human procreation to be discontinued as a moral imperative. The inevitable consequence of this would be to hasten the extinction of the human species and within the internal logic of the counter-intuitive formulation that is antinatalism, it’s the only ethical outcome.  A legal basis has also been suggested (drawn from the traditions of natural law), which holds that giving birth to children is inherently wrong because the child can never consent to being born.

Structuralists call that a “consent-based deontological argument” but in common use it’s a variant of the “non-consensual harm argument”.  The structure is deontological (of or relating to ethics in the sense of “the study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct” rather than consequentialist because the focus primarily is not on outcomes (suffering, welfare, utility), but to a violation of a moral constraint (in this case the proscription on imposing a condition on another individual without their consent).  At the structural level, it may be compared with concepts such as non-consensual medical procedures (or those in which consent is deemed to be “not informed”), non-consensual risk imposition, or coercive contracts.  The general principle is that if an act in any way affects and individual in a morally significant way and the individual cannot consent, then the act should be held to be impermissible (there will in some circumstances be exceptions to this, many of them related to medical treatment).  However, as used by the antinatalists, the argument exists more as a way of drawing attention to their cause than a serious intellectual point, simply because it will always be defeated by the “impossibility-of-consent objection”, an individual prior to the point of conception being no more able to consent to being born than Oliver Cromwell’s (1599–1658; Lord Protector of the Commonwealth 1653-1658) horse.  In that sense it’s something well-beyond the legal issue of asymmetrical consent.  Given all that, it’s an interesting way to draw attention to the cause rather than a serious argument because both consent and refusal are impossible to gain and those who bother to work things to their logical conclusion tend to conclude one or both parents may be presumed to possess the power of consent by proxy.

Views do change.  In July 2023, Lindsay Lohan became a mother.

Motherhood definitely changed how Lindsay Lohan saw things but others didn’t allow the arrival of their offspring much to change their world view and sense of the place their children occupied in the hierarchy of their “possessions”.  In his diary, (edited by edited by Michael Davie (1924-2005) and published in 1976), the novelist Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) on 13 November, 1943 noted:

“There is a great deal of talk at the moment about the rocket guns which the Germans are said to have set up in France, with a range to carry vast explosive charges to London.  The fear is seriously entertained in the highest quarters.  I have accordingly given orders for the books I have been keeping at the Hyde Park Hotel to be sent to Piers Court [Waugh’s country house Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire, a wedding present from his second wife’s grandmother].  At the same time I have advocated my son [Auberon Waugh (1939–2001)] coming to London.  It would seem from this that I prefer my books to my son.  I can argue that firemen rescue children and destroy books, but the truth is that a child is easily replaced while a book destroyed is utterly eternal; but most that I have a sense of absolute possession over my library and not over my nursery.”

The “rocket guns” mentioned were the first of the Vergeltungswaffen (retaliatory weapons), the first see the earliest type of cruise missile (the V-1, later to be dubbed “buzz-bomb” or “doodlebug” by those at which they were aimed).  The early Allied speculation was novel weapons were likely to be more destructive than they proved but even so, when deployed they caused considerable damage and loss of life; they also forced the high command to alter their immediate strategic plans after the D-Day (6 June, 1944) landings in an attempt to counter the threat.  The V-1 was one of war’s most economical delivery systems, the post-war British analysis calculating that at a unit cost of Stg£125 it was able to deliver (with reasonable accuracy for its purpose), about the same bomb load as a medium bomber which (including crew) cost some Stg£10,000, men and machine both subject to damage or death.  Had more resources been devoted to developing the cruise missile to ensure it was ready for deployment by 1940, the early years of World War II (1939-1945) would likely have unfolded differently; as it was, although the V-1 and V-2 (the first ballistic missile) were the most obvious of the Nazi’s many Wunderwaffen (wonderweapons), for a variety of reasons they were not decisive although their influence in the post-war years was profound.

Wedding day: Leonard (1880-1969) & Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), St Pancras, London, 10 August 1912; the couple did not have children.

Philanthropic anti-natalism is the position that humans should not have children for the good of the (unborn) children because, in bringing children in the world, parents are subjecting them to pain, suffering, illness, and finally death.  Virginia Woolf, in Mrs Dalloway (1925) explored the idea through the character of Septimus Warren Smith who said “One cannot bring children into a world like this. One cannot perpetuate suffering, or increase the breed of these lustful animals, who have no lasting emotions, but only whims and vanities, eddying them now this way, now that.”  Of the two main strains of the philosophy, misanthropic anti-natalism is the position that humans have a presumptive duty to desist from bringing into existence new members of our species because they cause harm.  Ecological anti-natalism (sometimes called “environmental anti-natalism”) is a subset of this in that it holds procreation is wrong because of the environmental damage caused by human beings and the suffering we inflict on other sentient organisms.  Its quasi-political manifestation is the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement.

Butyraceous

Butyraceous (pronounced byoo-tuh-rey-shuhs)

Of the nature of, resembling, or containing butter.

1660–1670: A compound word, the construct being the Latin būtȳr(um) + -aceous.  Butyro-, a combining form of Latin būtȳrum (butter) was borrowed from the Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron) and -aceous was from the New Latin, derived from the Classical Latin -aceus (of a certain kind) and related to –ac & -ax, the Latin adjectival suffixes.  The construct of the Ancient Greek βούτῡρον was βοῦς (boûs) (cow) +‎ τυρός (turós) (cheese).  Synonyms include buttery, waxy, slippery, creamy, oiled, lubricant, lustrous, polished, rich, sleek, smooth, soapy, soothing, swimming, unctuous, adipose, oleaginous, lardy, lubricative & lubricous.

Making fake Sizzler cheese toast

Ingredients

(1) Thick sliced bread.

(2) Butter (room temperature).

(3) Pecorino cheese (shredded or grated).

Instructions

(1) Combine equal amounts of butter with parmesan and mix to create a paste.

(2) Using suitable knife, spread the butter/cheese paste on one side of bread.

(3) Pan-fry the bread paste-side down in frying pan over a medium heat and place a lid or flat plate over bread so it can steam while cooking.  Cook until golden brown and serve.

Notes

Sizzler use Pecorino cheese but toast can be made with Parmesan, the original using shredded cheese but grated or shaved can also be used, the latter able to produce a slightly chunky effect some prefer.

Sizzler has always used only white bread but it works with wholemeal or wholegrain varieties.  The recipe is best in its simple form but garlic powder, dried herbs or small quantities of sliced or grated onion can be added to the mix.  Some recommend beating the butter before adding the cheese.  This doesn’t affect the taste but is said both to reduce the cooking time and produce a toast with a slightly different texture.  Margarine should not be used.

Lindsay Lohan, Butter Nightclub, New York City, 2006.

Unctuous

Unctuous (pronounced uhngk-choo-uhs)

(1) Characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor, especially in an affected manner; excessively smooth, suave, or smug; one who affects an oily charm; profusely polite, especially unpleasantly so and insincerely earnest.

(2) Of the nature of or characteristic of an unguent or ointment; oily; greasy.

(3) In mining, a mineral having an oily or soapy feel.

(4) Of a liquid or substance, oily or greasy.

(5) Of food and beverage (applied typically to wine, coffee, sauce, gravy etc), rich, lush, intense, with layers of concentrated, soft, velvety flavor (a use with a positive association).

1350-1400: From the Middle English, from the Old French unctuous (oily, having a greasy or soapy feeling when touched), from the Medieval Latin ūnctuōsus (oily; greasy) from unctus (act of anointing), from the past participle stem of unguere (to anoint).  The most familiar form appears to have been unctum (ointment). The literal meanings endured for centuries and are still used today in specialist medical and geological texts but the figurative sense of "blandly ingratiating" dates from 1742, perhaps in part with a literal sense, but more in the sarcastic sense drawn from unction in the sense of "deep spiritual feeling" (a meaning in use since the 1690s, the idea of having been anointed in the rite of unction).  Unctuous has also been favored by food critics, comprising the sense of something pleasingly juicy with the more abstract notion of a food which seems “anxious to please”.  The spelling (as an adjective) unctious was used between circa 1600 and the 1720s.  Unctuous is an adjective, unctuousness & unctuosity are nouns, unctuously is an adverb; the  noun plural is unctuosities.  The form "ununctuous" (not unctuous) seems to be used (1) of food or substances and (2) of people usually unctuous not being so (those of the "kiss-up, kick-down" type said to switch between their "unctuous" & "ununctuous" modes depending on the dynamic of the power-relationship).  

Uriah Heep, very ’umble

Literature’s archetype of the unctuous is Charles Dickens' (1812–1870) Uriah Heep from the novel David Copperfield (1849-1850)  Heap is famous for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, insincerity and frequent references to his own "'umbleness"; his name has become synonymous with being a sycophant.  With plenty of time to contemplate the past while serving the twenty year sentence he was lucky to receive for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Albert Speer (1905–1981; Nazi court architect 1934-1942; Nazi minister of armaments and war production 1942-1945, recalling a former subordinate,  noted the type in his prison diaries Spandauer Tagebücher (Spandau: The Secret Diaries (1975)), musing it was the combination of fawning obedience and dynamism in its functionaries on which totalitarian states depended for their success.

Depiction of Uriah Heep by Frederick Barnard (1846–1896) and former speaker Peter Slipper.

The characteristics of grasping manipulation and insincerity render Uriah Heep a popular label for critics to use against politicians, somthing sometimes fair, sometimes not.  Robert Caro (b 1935) applied it to Lyndon Johnson (LBJ, 1908–1973; US president 1963-1969), Philip Roth (1933–2018) to Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974), Tony Judt (1948-2010) to Philippe Pétain (1856-1951), Paddy McGuinness (1938-2008) to Paul Keating (b 1944; Prime Minister of Australia 1991-1996) and Conrad Russell (1937-2004) to Tony Blair (b 1953; UK prime-minister 1997-2007).

Some years ago, in Australia, many were taken by the resemblance of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Peter Slipper (b 1950), to depictions of the Dickens character.  Since leaving parliament, Mr Slipper has been ordained Bishop of Australia by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira (ICAB)), the latest appointment in his ecclesiastical career.  Mr Slipper qualified as a lawyer and as far as is known he has never received any formal theological training but in 2008 he was ordained as a priest of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia, a part of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) one of a number of schismatic forks of the Anglican communion which emerged after the 1968 Lambeth Conference when issues to do with sex first began to dominate the church.  Later, he would become chancellor (and subsequently vicar-general) of the Church of Torres Strait (CTS) another member of the TAC.  The final step in his denomination journey seems to date from 2016 when, in Brazil, he was ordained as a deacon and priest of the ICAB.  In 2018, Bishop Slipper was accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) as Brazil’s honorary consul in the state of Tasmania.

The original gatefold sleeve for the Uriah Heep album ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble  (1970).

Formed in 1969, Uriah Heep was one of a number of English rock bands of the era which produced the templates which would come to define genres like “heavy metal” and “hard rock”.  Their contemporaries included Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin but unlike them, Uriah Heep gained little critical acceptance, many reviews often in the vein of Rod Stewart’s (b 1945) critique of Grand Funk Railroad (in many ways their US counterpart): “Loud white noise”.  Despite that, more than fifty years on, Uriah Heep remain active, releasing material and still performing live.  Few would describe their sound being any way unctuous.