Sunday, February 25, 2007
Hecatomb
Hecatomb is actually a word from ancient Greek meaning a great public sacrifice. The dictionary refers to the meaning translating from the words which mean 100 oxen. So there you go. Another piece of information that I have no guarantee of retaining. The invented meanings held a lot more intrigue for me and I particularly enjoyed the winning entry on the poll, written by Ron. Congratulations, Ron.
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Hecatomb n. - Male feline capable of bearing offspring. A rare creature found only on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. At night, after all the tourists have left, the hecatombs can be heard baying at the moon.
Hecatomb is where the tooth fairies keep all the teeth that they take.
The definition in the dictionary would read.
hecatomb-slang-meaning "Heck of a tomb!"
You see back in the 1700's average people were just getting into making grand arrangements for their burials! People would ride by and see the elaboorate tombs and comment "That's a heck of a tomb!" As the centuries passed, the phrase was condensed and is now simply "Hey! Hecatomb!!". And now that phrase has been relegated into the details of history.
oops! "elaborate".
Well Calie, you're on the right track, but the origin is latin, derived from the Greek word "hekkaideka", where hek is the root for number 16, and kaideka the suffix for enclosure. The Romans abopted the word and modified it to describe a Burial Place of Honor, reserved for members of their Senate, which numbered 16. They changed the "k" to "c" and converted "enclosure" to "tomb", forming "a tomb for 16" or hecatomb.
n. a make shift desk, made out of pieces of old wood and cinder blocks.
"I am sick of my hecatomb, I wish I had a nice amoire desk, I saw one in the new Pottery Barn catalog"
A hecatomb is the place where witches were once thought to store the ingredients for their magic brews. Named after Hecate from Shakespeare's Macbeth.
In Australia, University students who do not pay their fees in advance accrue a HECS debt (Higher Education Contribution Scheme) which must be paid off after the person graduates and starts earning some real money.
A Hecatomb is when a Hecs debt drives a graduate into an early grave, working themselves to death trying to pay it off.
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