Nail

Nail (pronounced neyl)

(1) A slender, typically rod-shaped rigid piece of metal, usually in many lengths and thicknesses, having (usually) one end pointed and the other (usually) enlarged or flattened, and used for hammering into or through wood, concrete or other materials; in the building trades the most common use is to fasten or join together separate pieces (of timber etc).

(2) In anatomy, a thin, horny plate, consisting of modified epidermis, growing on the upper side of the end of a finger or toe; the toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail.

(3) In zoology, the basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera; the basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera; the terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds; the claw of a mammal, bird, or reptile.

(4) Historically, in England, a round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business.

(5) A measure for a length for cloth, equal to 2¼ inches (57 mm) or 1⁄20 of an ell; 1⁄16 of a yard (archaic); it’s assumed the origin lies in the use to mark that length on the end of a yardstick.

(6) To fasten with a nail or nails; to hemmer in a nail.

(7) To enclose or confine (something) by nailing (often followed by up or down).

(8) To make fast or keep firmly in one place or position (also used figuratively).

(8) Perfectly to accomplish something (usually as “nailed it”).

(9) In vulgar, slang, of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with (as “I nailed her” or (according to Urban Dictionary “I nailed the bitch”).

(10) In law enforcement, to catch a suspect or find them in possession of contraband or engaged in some unlawful conduct (usually as “nailed them”).

(11) In Christianity, as “the nails”, the relics used in the crucifixion, nailing Christ to the cross at Golgotha.

(12) As a the nail (unit), an archaic multiplier equal to one sixteenth of a base unit

(13) In drug slang, a hypodermic needle, used for injecting drugs.

(14) To detect and expose (a lie, scandal, etc)

(15) In slang, to hit someone.

(16) In slang, intently to focus on someone or something.

(17) To stud with or as if with nails.

Pre 900: From the Middle English noun nail & nayl, from the Old English nægl and cognate with the Old Frisian neil, the Old Saxon & Old High German nagal, the Dutch nagel, the German Nagel, the Old Norse nagl (fingernail), all of which were from the unattested Germanic naglaz.  As a derivative, it was akin to the Lithuanian nãgas & nagà (hoof), the Old Prussian nage (foot), the Old Church Slavonic noga (leg, foot), (the Serbo-Croatian nòga, the Czech noha, the Polish noga and the Russian nogá, all of which were probably originally a jocular reference to the foot as “a hoof”), the Old Church Slavonic nogŭtĭ, the Tocharian A maku & Tocharian B mekwa (fingernail, claw), all from the unattested North European Indo-European ənogwh-.  It was further akin to the Old Irish ingen, the Welsh ewin and the Breton ivin, from the unattested Celtic gwhīnā, the Latin unguis (fingernail, claw), from the unattested Italo-Celtic əngwhi-;the Greek ónyx (stem onych-), the Sanskrit ághri- (foot), from the unattested ághli-; the Armenian ełungn from the unattested onogwh-;the Middle English verbs naile, nail & nayle, the Old English næglian and cognate with the Old Saxon neglian, the Old High German negilen, the Old Norse negla, from the unattested Germanic nagl-janan (the Gothic was ganagljan).  The ultimate source was the primitive Indo-European h₃nog- (nail) and the use to describe the metal fastener was from the Middle English naylen, from the Old English næġlan & nægl (fingernail (handnægl)) & negel (tapering metal pin), from the Proto-Germanic naglaz (source also of Old Norse nagl (fingernail) & nagli (metal nail).  Nail is a noun & verb, nailernailless & naillike are adjectives, renail is a verbs, nailing is a noun & vern and nailed is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is nails.

Nail is modified or used as a modifier in literally dozens of examples including finger-nail, toe-nail, nail-brush, nail-file, rusty-nail, garden-nail, nail-fungus, nail-gun & frost-nail.  In idiomatic use, a “nail in one's coffin” is a experience or event that tends to shorten life or hasten the end of something (applied retrospectively (ie post-mortem) it’s usually in the form “final nail in the coffin”.  To be “hard as nails” is either to be “in a robust physical state” or “lacking in human feelings or without sentiment”. To “nail one's colors to the mast” is to declare one’s position on something.  Something described as “better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail” is a thing, which while not ideal, is not wholly undesirable or without charm.  In financial matters (of payments), to be “on the nail” is to “pay at once”, often in the form “pay on the nail”.  To “nail something down” is to finalize it. To have “nailed it” is “to perfectly have accomplished something” while “nailed her” indicates “having enjoyed sexual intercourse with her”.  The “right” in the phrase “hit the nail right on the head” is a more recent addition, all known instances of use prior to 1700 being “hit the nail on the head” and the elegant original is much preferred.  It’s used to mean “correctly identify something or exactly to arrive at the correct answer”.  Interestingly, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes there is no documentary evidence that the phrase comes from “nail” in the sense of the ting hit by a hammer.

Double-headed nails are used for temporary structures like fencing.  When the shaft is hammered in to the point where the surface of the lower head is flat against the surface of that into which it's being hammered, it leaves the upper head standing proud with just enough of the shaft exposed to allow a claw-hammer to be used to extract nail.  There is a story that as part of an environmental protest against the building or demolition of some structure (the tales vary), activists early one morning went to the temporary fencing around the contested site and hammered in all the double-headed nails.  This is believed to be an urban myth.

The sense of “fingernail” appears to be the original which makes sense give there were fingernails before there were spikes (of metal or any other material) used to build stuff.  The verb nail was from the Old English næglian (to fix or fasten (something) onto (something else) with nails), from the Proto-Germanic ganaglijan (the source also of the Old Saxon neglian, the Old Norse negla, the Old High German negilen, the German nageln and the Gothic ganagljan (to nail), all developed from the root of the nouns.  The colloquial meaning “secure, succeed in catching or getting hold of (someone or something)” was in use by at least the 1760; hence (hence the law enforcement slang meaning “to effect an arrest”, noted since the 1930s.  The meaning “to succeed in hitting” dates from 1886 while the phrase “to nail down” (to fix in place with nails) was first recorded in the 1660s.

As a noun, “nail-biter” (worrisome or suspenseful event), perhaps surprisingly, seems not to have been in common use until 1999 an it’s applied to things from life-threatening situations to watching close sporting contests.  The idea of nail-biting as a sign of anxiety has been in various forms of literature since the 1570s, the noun nail-biting noted since 1805 and as a noun it was since the mid-nineteenth century applied to those individuals who “habitually or compulsively bit their fingernails” although this seems to have been purely literal rather than something figurative of a mental state.  Now, a “nail-biter” is one who is “habitually worried or apprehensive” and they’re often said to be “chewing the ends of their fingernails” and in political use, a “nail biter” is a criticism somewhat less cutting than “bed-wetter”.  The condition of compulsive nail-biting is the noun onychophagia, the construct being onycho- (a creation of the international scientific vocabulary), reflecting a New Latin combining form, from the Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux) (claw, nail, hoof, talon) +‎ -phagia (eating, biting or swallowing), from the Ancient Greek -φαγία (-phagía).  A related form was -φαγος (-phagos) (eater), the suffix corresponding to φαγεῖν (phageîn) (to eat), the infinitive of ἔφαγον (éphagon) (I eat), which serves as aorist (essentially a compensator for sense-shifts) (for the defective verb ἐσθίω (esthíō) (I eat).  Bitter-tasting nail-polish is available for those who wish to cure themselves.  Nail-polish as a product dates from the 1880s and was originally literally a clear substance designed to give the finger or toe-nails a varnish like finish upon being buffed.  By 1884, it was being sold as “liquid nail varnish” including shads of black, pink and red although surviving depictions in art suggests men and women in various cultures have for thousands of years been coloring their nails.  Nail-files (small, flat, single-cut file for trimming the fingernails) seem first to have been sold in 1819 and nail-clippers (hand-tool used to trim the fingernails and toenails) in 1890.

Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) at the funeral of Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023), St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, January 2023.

The expression "nail down the lid" is a reference to the lid of a coffin (casket), the implication being one wants to make doubly certain anyone within can't possible "return from the dead".  The noun doornail (also door-nail) (large-headed nail used for studding batten doors for strength or ornament) emerged in the late fourteenth century and was often used of many large, thick nails with a large head, not necessarily those used only in doors.  The figurative expression “dead as a doornail” seems to be as old as the piece of hardware and use soon extended to “dumb as a doornail” and “deaf as a doornail).  The noun hangnail (also hang-nail) is a awful as it sounds and describes a “sore strip of partially detached flesh at the side of a nail of the finger or toe” and appears in seventeenth century texts although few etymologists appear to doubt it’s considerably older and probably a folk etymology and sense alteration of the Middle English agnail & angnail (corn on the foot), from the Old English agnail & angnail.  The origin is likely to have been literally the “painful spike” in the flesh when suffering the condition.  The first element was the Proto-Germanic ang- (compressed, hard, painful), from the primitive Indo-European root angh- (tight, painfully constricted, painful); the second the Old English nægl (spike), one of the influences on “nail”.  The noun hobnail was a “short, thick nail with a large head” which dates from the 1590s, the first element probably identical with hob (rounded peg or pin used as a mark or target in games (noted since the 1580s)) of unknown origin.  Because hobnails were hammered into the leather soles of heavy boots and shoes, “hobnail” came in the seventeenth century to be used of “a rustic person” though it was though less offensive than forms like “yokel”.

Colors: Lindsay Lohan with nails unadorned and painted.

The Buick Nailhead

In the 1930s, the straight-8 became a favorite for manufacturers of luxury cars, attracted by its ease of manufacture (components and assembly-line tooling able to be shared with those used to produce a straight-6), the mechanical smoothness inherent in the layout and the ease of maintenance afforded by the long, narrow configuration.  However, the limitations were the relatively slow engine speeds imposed by the need to restrict the “crankshaft flex” and the height of the units, a product of the long strokes used to gain the required displacement.  By the 1950s, it was clear the future lay in big-bore, overhead valve V8s although the Mercedes-Benz engineers, unable to forget the glory days of the 1930s when the straight-eight W125s built for the Grand Prix circuits generated power and speed Formula One wouldn’t again see until the 1980s, noted the relatively small 2.5 litre (153 cubic inch) displacement limit for 1954 and conjured up a final fling for the layout.  Used in both Formula One as the W196R and in sports car race as the W196S (better remembered as the 300 SLR) the new 2.5 & 3.0 litre (183 cubic inch) straight-8s, unlike their pre-war predecessors, solved the issue of crankshaft flex (the W196's redline was 9500 compared with the W125's 5800) by locating the power take-off at the centre, adding mechanical fuel-injection and a desmodromic valve train to make the things an exotic cocktail of ancient & modern (on smooth racetracks and in the hands of skilled drivers, the swing axles at the back not the liability they might sound).  Dominant during 1954-1955 in both Formula One & the Sports Car Championship, they were the last of the straight-8s.

Schematic of Buick “Nailhead” V8, 1953-1966.

Across the Atlantic, the US manufacturers also abandoned their straight-8s.  Buick introduced their overhead valve (OHV) V8 in 1953 but, being much wider than before, the new engine had to be slimmed somewhere to fit between the fenders; it would not be until later the platform was widened.  To achieve this, the engineers narrowed the cylinder heads, compelling both an conical (the so-called “pent-roof”) combustion chamber and an arrangement in which the sixteen valves pointed directly upwards on the intake side, something which not only demanded an unusual pushrod & rocker mechanism but also limited the size of the valves.  So, the valves had to be tall and narrow and, with some resemblance to nails, they picked up the nickname “nail valves”, morphing eventually to “nailhead” as a description of the whole engine.  The valve placement and angle certainly benefited the intake side but the geometry compromised the flow of exhaust gases which were compelled through their anyway small ports to make a turn of almost 180^o on their way to the tailpipe.

It wasn't the last time the head design of a Detroit V8 would be dictated by considerations of width.  When Chrysler in 1964 introduced the 273 cubic inch (4.5 litre) V8 as the first of its LA-Series (that would begat the later 318 (5.2), 340 (5.5) & 360 (5.9) as well as the V10 made famous in the Dodge Viper), the most obvious visual difference from the earlier A-Series V8s was the noticeably smaller cylinder heads.  The A engines used as skew-type valve arrangement in which the exhaust valve was parallel to the bore with the intake valve tipped toward the intake manifold (the classic polyspherical chamber).  For the LA, Chrysler rendered all the valves tipped to the intake manifold and in-line (as viewed from the front), the industry’s standard approach to a wedge combustion chamber.  The reason for the change was that the decision had been taken to offer the compact Valiant with a V8 but it was a car which had been designed to accommodate only a straight-six and the wide-shouldered polyspheric head A-Series V8s simply wouldn’t fit.  So, essentially, wedge-heads were bolted atop the old A-Series block but the “L” in LA stood for light and the engineers wanted something genuinely lighter for the compact (in contemporary US terms) Valiant.  Accordingly, in addition to the reduced size of the heads and intake manifold, a new casting process was developed for the block (the biggest, heaviest part of an engine) which made possible thinner walls.  Still, "light" is a relative term and the LA series was notably larger and heavier than Ford's "Windsor" V8 (1961-2000) which was the exemplar of the "thin-wall" technique.  This was confirmed in 1967 when, after taking control of Rootes Group, Chrysler had intended to continue production of the Sunbeam Tiger, by then powered by the Ford Windsor 289 (4.7 litre) but with Chrysler’s 273 LA V8 substituted.  Unfortunately, while 4.7 Ford litres filled it to the brim, 4.4 Chrysler litres overflowed; the Windsor truly was compact.  Allowing it to remain in production until the stock of already purchased Ford engines had been exhausted, Chrysler instead changed the advertising from emphasizing the “…mighty Ford V8 power plant” to the vaguely ambiguous “…an American V-8 power train”.

322 cubic inch Nailhead in 1953 Buick Skylark convertible (left) and 425 cubic inch Nailhead in 1966 Buick Riviera GS (with dual-quad MZ package) (right).  Note the “Wildcat 465” label on the air cleaner, a reference to the claimed torque rating, something most unusual, most manufacturers using the space to advertise horsepower or cubic inch displacement (cid).

The nailhead wasn’t ideal for producing ultimate power but it did lend itself to prodigious low-end torque, something much appreciated by Buicks previous generation of buyers who has enjoyed the low-speed responsiveness of the famously smooth straight-8.  However, like everybody else, Buick hadn’t anticipated that as the 1950s unfolded, the industry would engage in a “power race”, something to which the free-breathing Cadillac and Chrysler’s Hemis were well-suited.  The somewhat strangulated Buick Nailhead was not at all suited and to gain power the engineers were compelled to add high-lift, long-duration camshafts which enabled the then magic 300 horsepower number to be achieved but at the expense of smoothness and tales of Buick buyers returning to the dealer to fix the “rumpity-rump” idle became legion.  Still, the Nailhead was robust, relatively light and offered what was then a generous displacement and the ever inventive hot-rod community soon worked out the path to power was to use forced induction and reverse the valve use, the supercharger blowing the fuel-air mix through the exhaust ports and the exhaust gases through the larger intake ports.  Thus the for a while Nailhead enjoyed a career as a niche player although the arrival in the mid 1950s of the much more tuneable Chevrolet V8s ended the vogue for all but a few devotees who continued use well into the 1960s.  Buick acknowledged reality and, unusually, instead of following the industry trend and drawing attention to cubic inch displacement and horsepower, publicized their torque output, confusing some (though probably not Buick buyers who were a loyal crew).  The unique appearance of the old nail still retains some appeal for the modern hot-rod community and they do sometimes appear, a welcome change from the more typical small-block Fords or Chevrolets.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (1964-1999).

Not confused was the United States Air Force (USAF) which was much interested in power for its aircraft but also had a special need for torque on the tarmac and that briefly meant another small niche for the Nailhead.  The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (1964-1979) was a long-range, high-altitude supersonic (Mach 3+) aircraft used by the (USAF) for reconnaissance between 1966-1998 and by the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) for observation missions as late as 1999.  Something of a high-water mark among the extraordinary advances made in aeronautics and materials construction during the 1950s & 1960s, the SR-71 used the Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engine which used an innovative, secondary air-injection system to the afterburner, permitting additional thrust at high speed.  The SR-71 still holds a number of altitude and speed records and Lockheed’s SR-72, a hypersonic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is said to be in an “advanced stage” of design and construction although whether any test flights will be conducted before 2030 remains unclear, the challenges of sustaining in the atmosphere velocities as high as Mach 6+ onerous given the heat generated.

Drawing from user manual for AG330 starter cart (left) and AG330 starter cart with dual Buick Nailhead V8s.

At the time, the SR-71 was the most exotic aircraft on the planet but during testing and early in its career, to fly, it relied on a pair of even then technologically bankrupt Buick Nailhead V8s.  These were mounted in a towed cart and were effectively the turbojet’s starter motor, a concept developed in the 1930s as a work-around for the technology gap which emerged as aero-engines became too big to start by hand but no on-board electrical systems were available to trigger ignition.  The two Nailheads were connected by gears to a single, vertical drive shaft which ran the jet up to the critical speed at which ignition became self-sustaining.  The engineers chose the Nailheads after comparing them to other large displacement V8s, the aspect of the Buicks which most appealed being the torque generated at relatively low engine speeds, a characteristic ideal for driving an output shaft.  After the Nailhead was retired in 1966, later carts used Chevrolet big-block V8s but in 1969 a pneumatic start system was added to the infrastructure of the USAF bases from which the SR-71s most frequently operated, the sixteen-cylinder carts relegated to secondary bases the planes rarely used.

Physiognomy

Physiognomy (pronounced fiz-ee-og-nuh-mee or fiz-ee-on-uh-mee)

(1) The face or countenance, especially when considered as an index to the character.

(2) The art of determining character or personal characteristics from the form or features of the body, especially of the face (also called anthroposcopy).

(3) The outward appearance of anything, taken as offering some insight into its character.

(4) Estimation of one's character and mental qualities by a study of the face and general bodily carriage.

1350-1400: From the Late Middle English phisognomie or phisiognomie (art of judging characters from facial features), from the Medieval Latin physionomi from the Late Latin physonomia, from the Late Greek physiognōmía, a syncopated variant of physiognōmonía (art of judging a person by his features).  The construct in Greek was physio- (from physios (nature) + gnōmōn (genitive gnōmōnos) (a judge, interpreter, indicator) from the primitive Indo-European root gno- (to know).  The word soon replaced the earlier Middle English forms fisenamie, fisnamie & fisnomie (from the Middle French fisonomie & the Old French phizonomie).  There was also the strange medieval linguistic cul-de-sac phusiognōmia, an erroneous form of phusiognōmonia (from phusis (nature) + gnōmōn (judge)).  The related form still occasionally used in technical literature is physiognomical.

There’s nothing in science which proves physiognomy can’t be anthropomorphic.  The website Cats that look like Hitler accepts submissions from owners, victims and others who contribute photographs of führeresque felines.  Everyone knows one can tell if a cat is evil by looking into its eyes.

In the same way astrology was once respectable science taught in universities, physiognomy was well accepted by ancient Greek philosophers though it fell into disrepute in medieval times when practiced by crooks and con-men.  As a pseudo-science, it was later revived and briefly popularized by the Swiss theologian Johann Kaspar (1741–1801) who actually enjoyed a friendship with Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; 1749–1832) until the author distanced himself, finding the priest just too weird and superstitious.  There was a revival of interest in the late nineteenth century when people started to apply their own interpretations of Darwin’s theories and observations, physiognomy and physical anthropology among the techniques used as a basis for “scientific” racism.  This period of its popularity, not uncoincidentally, happened during the height of European colonialism.  Of late, there’s been a revival of interest because of the rapid improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for facial recognition.  With big data-sets, it becomes, at least theoretically, possible to determine if correlations really do exist between facial appearance, personality and behavior.

Using just an image of Lindsay Lohan downloaded from Wikipedia, the analysis engine used by physiogomicia.com was able to determine she "practices self-denial" and "gets inspired and fantasizes".  The promotional material for the website physiognomica.com begins by asking: "Do you want to learn more about the people surrounding you?"  It promises to "open all the secrets of identity" so that:

"All human secrets will be accessible to you. Is someone capable of lying, is he/she kind, likely to get rich, intelligent or lazy? After analyzing just one photo, we will tell you about the personality and the motives that lead this person. Everything is spread before the eyes. And it is absolutely free of charge.  Nothing stays buried forever!  You will be literally reading people’s minds.  Even before having a conversation with the person you will know exactly how to behave.  From now on it will be easy to evaluate motives of the person.  No more lie detectors and without long discussions with the psychologist."

Anorexia

Anorexia (pronounced an-uh-rek-see-uh)

(1) In clinical medicine, loss of appetite and inability to eat.

(2) In psychiatry, as anorexia nervosa, a defined eating disorder characterized by fear of becoming fat and refusal of food, leading to debility and even death.

(3) A widely-used (though clinically incorrect) short name for anorexia nervosa.

1590–1600: From the New Latin, from the Ancient Greek ἀνορεξία (anorexía), the construct being ἀν (an) (without) + ὄρεξις (órexis) (appetite; desire).  In both the Greek and Latin, it translated literally as "a nervous loss of appetite".  Órexis (appetite, desire) is from oregein (to desire, stretch out) and was cognate with the Latin regere (to keep straight, guide, rule).  Although adopted as a metaphorical device to describe even inanimate objects, anorexia is most often (wrongly) used as verbal shorthand for the clinical condition anorexia nervosa.  The former is the relatively rare condition in which appetite is lost for no apparent reason; the latter the more common eating disorder related to most cases to body image.  Interestingly, within the English-speaking world, there are no variant pronunciations.

Anorexia Nervosa and the DSM

The pro-ana community has created its own sub-set of standard photographic angles, rather as used car sites typically feature certain images such as the interior, the odometer, the engine etc.  Among the most popular images posted on "thinspiration" pages are those which show bone definition through skin and, reflecting the superior contrast possible, there's a tendency use grayscale, usually converted from color originals.  The favored body parts include the spine, hip bones, clavicles (collar bones) and the shoulder blades.     

Although documented since antiquity, the condition in its modern form wasn't noted in western medical literature until an 1873 paper presented to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) called “Anorexia Hysterica”, a description of a loss of appetite without an apparent gastric cause.  That same year, a similar condition was mentioned in a French publication, also called “l’anorexie hystérique”, and described food refusal combined with hyperactivity.  Although the author of the earlier work had within a year changed the descriptor to “Anorexia Nervosa”, the implication in all these papers was of an affliction exclusively female, something very much implied in “l’anorexie hystérique”, hysteria then a mainstream diagnosis and one thought inherently "a condition of women".

A slight Lindsay Lohan demonstrates "an anorexic look" which is something distinct from the clinically defined condition "anorexia nervosa" although there's obviously some overlap.

After its acceptance as a psychogenic disorder in the late nineteenth century, anorexia nervosa (AN) was the first eating disorder placed in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).  In the first edition (DSM-I (1952)), it was considered a psycho-physiological reaction (a neurotic illness).  In the DSM-II (1968), it was listed with special symptoms & feeding disturbances, which also included pica and rumination.  In DSM-III (1980), eating disorders were classified under disorders of childhood or adolescence, perhaps, at least in part, contributing to the under-diagnosis of later-onset cases.  At that time, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) created two specific categories that formally recognized the diagnosis of eating disorders: AN and binge eating (called bulimia in DSM-III and bulimia nervosa (BN; the obsessive regurgitation of food) in both the revised DSM-III (1987) and DSM-IV (1994).  In the DSM-IV, all other clinically significant eating disorder symptoms were absorbed by the residual categories of eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and binge-eating disorder (BED), noting the disorders were the subjects for further research.  Subsequently, When the DSM-IV was revised (2000), eating disorders moved to an independent section.  The DSM-5 (2013) chapter for eating disorders added to the alphabet soup.  In addition to pica, AN, BN and BED, DSM-5 added  avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED), the latter including some other peculiar pathological eating patterns, like atypical AN (where all other criteria for AN are met, but weight is in the normal range).

Chthonian

Chthonian (pronounced thoh-nee-uhn)

(1) In Classical mythology, of or relating to the deities, spirits, and other beings dwelling under the earth.

(2) Dwelling in, or under the earth

1840–1850: From the Greek chthóni(os), the construct being chthon (stem of chthṓn (earth) + -ios (the adjectival suffix, accusative masculine plural of –ius) + -an (from the Latin -ānus, which forms adjectives of belonging or origin from a noun.  It was akin to the Latin humus (earth).  The alternative spelling in Ancient Greek was khthonios (in or under the earth), from χθών (khthṓn) (earth, ground, soil).

The Furies (Erinyes)

In Greek mythology, the Furies were the three chthonic female deities of vengeance; known also as Erinyes (the avengers), their counterparts in Roman mythology, the Dirae.  The names of this grumpy triumvirate were Alecto (the angry one), Tisiphone (the avenger) and Megaera (the grudging one).  In the literature, they’re sometimes called the infernal goddesses.

In Internet mythology, three chthonic female deities of vengeance.  Opinion might be divided about the allocation of the labels Angry, Avenging & Grudging. 

There are several myths of the birth of the Furies.  The most popular is they were born simultaneously with Aphrodite but in Hesiod’s Theogony, he claimed the Furies were born out of Uranus’ blood while Aphrodite was being born from sea foam when Titan Cronus castrated his father Uranus and cast his genitals to the sea; implicit in this version is the Furies preceded the Olympian Gods.  Another myth suggests they were born of a union between air and sea while according to Roman Poets (Ovid's (Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BC–17 AD) Metamorphoses and Virgil's (Publius Vergilius Maro (70–19 BC)) Aeneid, they were the daughters of Nyx (the Night). In some old Greek hymns and Greco-Roman poet Statius' (Publius Papinius Statius (circa 45-circa 96) Thebaid they were the daughters of Hades and Persephone, serving them in the kingdom of underworld.  Furies listened to the complaints and callings of victims in the world when these people cursed the wrongdoers.  Those who murdered their mothers or fathers were especially important for Furies because (at least according to the Ancient Greek poet Hesiod (7-8^th century BC)), they were born of a child’s wrongdoing to his father.  They punished people who committed crimes against gods, crimes of disrespect, perjury and those who broke their oaths, but they thought murder the most vile crime and one demanding the most cruel punishment.

Virgil pointing out the Erinyes (1890), engraving by Gustave Doré (1832–1883).

The Furies served Hades and Persephone in the underworld.  When souls of the dead came to the kingdom of Hades, firstly they were judged by three judges; that done, the Furies purified souls the judges deemed good and permitted their passage. Souls deemed wicked were condemned to the Dungeons of the Damned in Tartarus to be subjected to the most awful torture, overseen by Furies.  Descriptions of the Furies (almost always by male writers or artists) varied in detail but mostly they were depicted as ugly with serpents about their hair and arms, wearing black robes with whips in their hands.  Some claimed they also had wings of a bat or bird with burning breath and poisonous blood dripping from their eyes.

Denunciate & Denounce

Denunciate (pronounced dih-nuhn-see-yet or dih-nuhn-shee-yet)

To denounce; openly to condemn.

1585-1590: From the Latin dēnuntiātus (announced), past participle of denuntio (I declare) & dēnunciāre (to declare) and, in English, the same word as denounce except directly from Latin.  It’s a strange word in that as a verb it’s rare to the point of obscurity yet is common as the noun denunciation.  Denunciate is a verb (used with or without object), denunciated & denunciating are verbs, denunciable is an adjective, denunciator & denunciator are nouns and denunciatory is an adjective.

Denounce (pronounce dih-nouns)

(1) To condemn or censure openly or publicly; to deplore, vehemently or openly to condemn.

(2) To make a formal accusation against an individual or institution, usually to the authorities.

(3) In law and international relations, to give formal notice of the termination or denial of a treaty, pact, agreement etc (rare except in technical use).

(4) To announce or proclaim, especially as something evil or calamitous (archaic in a secular context, still used in religious circles).

(5) To portend (obsolete).

1250–1300: From the Middle English denouncen, from the Old French denoncier (to speak out; to proclaim), from the Latin dēnuntiāre (make an official proclamation, to threaten), the construct being dē- (from) + nuntiāre (to announce), from nuntius (messenger).  Denounce (used with object), denounced & denouncing are verbs, denouncement & denouncer, noun and denounced is an adjective.

Denunciate & Denounce

Technically, the difference between the two is that denounce is a synonym of denunciate and denunciate is a related term of denounce.  As verbs, the historic difference was that denunciate meant “openly to condemn” while denounce meant “to make known in a formal manner; to proclaim; to announce; to declare”, a use long obsolete.  By inclination a reductionist and polished by the party pros in the practice of delivering easy-to-understand slogans and messages using simple words, repetitively recited, Scott Morrison (b 1968; Australian prime-minister 2018-2022) wasn't noted for linguistic flourishes but, late in November 2021, chose to say he was “…denunciating any violence…”.  The context was an earlier public protest against certain COVID-19 measures and what he said was a clarification his of earlier remarks which some had claimed were in the spirit of Donald Trump's (b 1946; US president 2017-2021)  “…good people on both sides” comment when discussing a protest in the US at which a fatality occurred.  That hadn’t gone down all that well and Mr Morrison probably wanted to avoid the accusation of being "neutral in the battle between the fire and the fire brigade", Winston Churchill's (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) vivid evocation of what he thought the BBC's nihilistic attitude to things he though bad.

While the noun denunciation is in common use, the verb denunciating is so rare there were some who mistakenly assumed he’s conflated denouncing with enunciating, either misunfortunistically (in the George W Bush (George XLIII, b 1946; US president 2001-2009) way) or, as one tweet more ominously observed: “You don’t need Freud to understand the mixed message.”  Whatever might be the take on the politics, grammatically, the prime-minister was correct but the use was so unusual that one might wonder if it was tossed in as a linguistic distraction.  Mr Morrison was often denouncing things, individuals and ideas he found abhorrent, whether it be anti-corruption bodies which look a little too closely as how politicians operate or the CEOs of public corporations being a bit generous with bonuses not served in the politicians' troughs.  If again he needs to seek inspiration, he may turn to the Bible, both the King James Version (KJV; 1611) and New International Version (NIV; 1978-2011 and said to be most popular with Pentecostal preachers) often using the word and, if ever things seem a bit obscure, there’s always Leviticus and Ezekiel, both offering plenty about what demands some denunciating.

Balaam proclaimed his poem:Balak brought me from Aram;the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:“Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;come, denounce Israel!”  (Numbers 23:7)

How can I curse someone God has not cursed?How can I denounce someone the Lord has not denounced?  (Numbers 23:8)

I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. (Deuteronomy 30:18)

Hannah prayed, "My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted high because of the Lord. I loudly denounce my enemies, for I am happy that you delivered me. (1 Samuel 2:1)

Who would denounce his behavior to his face?Who would repay him for what he has done? (Job 21:31)

Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”—people will curse him, and tribes will denounce him; (Proverbs 24:24)

I will denounce your righteousness and your works, for your collections of idols will not benefit you. (Isaiah 57:12)

Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet. Come, let’s denounce him and pay no attention to all his words.” (Jeremiah 18:18)

Indeed, I hear many people whispering, "Terror on every side. Denounce him, let's denounce him!" All my close friends watch my steps and say, "Perhaps he will be deceived, and we can prevail against him and take vengeance on him." (Jeremiah 20:10)

Just then, certain influential Chaldeans took this opportunity to come forward and denounce the Jews. (Daniel 3:8)

Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent: (Matthew 11:20)

Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people hate you, and exclude you [from their fellowship], and insult you, and scorn your name as evil because of [your association with] the Son of Man. (Luke 6:22)

The world cannot hate you [since you are part of it], but it does hate Me because I denounce it and testify that its deeds are evil. (John 7:7)

Therefore you have no excuse or justification, everyone of you who [hypocritically] judges and condemns others; for in passing judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, because you who judge [from a position of arrogance or self-righteousness] are habitually practicing the very same things [which you denounce]. (Romans 2:1)

This testimony is true. Therefore sternly denounce them, that they may be robust in their faith (Titus 1:13)

However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:16)

The film Mean Girls (2004) was based on Rosalind Wiseman's (b 1969) book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence (2002) which explored the interaction of the shifting social cliques formed by schoolgirls.  A tale of chicanery & low skullduggery, once deconstructed, Mean Girls can be understood as a series of denunciations which act as the pivot points, both within and between scenes.