Lexis Novas - A Kind of Terra Nova

I love learning new words. A word is a kind of magic, capturing an object or a feeling in a single breath. Words are connections, bridges between chaos and understanding. 

Learning a new word is like discovering a new territory in the landscape of existence. 

Here are a few new words I’ve learned in the past few weeks:

Flippancy 

I’ve heard the word flippant, but this is new take on an old reality. It’s one thing to engage in the act of being flippant for a moment or two; it’s an entirely different thing to become flippant--to take 'flippant' on as a compositional element of one’s very essence. For me, discovering this word provoked a short journey from adjective to object; I love that. Bonus: in an act of embodying this word, the friend who introduced me to "flippancy" recently described me as “limitlessly competent.“

Localized Anthropology

This one came from a network connection who is trying to make the transition from pastor to consultant. She described the work of preaching as “localized anthropology." I love the idea that there is a necessary foundation to stand upon if one plans to provide kerygmatic direction to a community, and that the foundation has less to do with biblical mastery than it does a carefully studied understanding of the language, rituals, and organizational structures of the community. Good preachers know how to speak; great preachers know who they’re speaking to.

Histrionic

Signifies something that is theatrical or overdramatic. This one comes from the Latin root “hist-”, which is all about narrative. “History" is just a narrative of past events, whereas “histrionic" brings that narrative flair into the present. I have long enjoyed the term “hagiographic" in my lexicon, which is not unrelated to this word. What I really enjoy about histrionic is its radical attention to the present. Hagiographic gives us an embellishment of a life; histrionic is embellishment in real time.

Unsanity

A word created by psychological researchers in the 1950s, describing the effect of psychedelics on their patients. An experience common to a psychedelic trip is a disassociation from the self. This powerful experience of humility and transcendence often induces indescribable pleasures and mystical encounters with beauty, resulting in an expanded worldview, an increase in empathic responses, a calming of anxiety, and a cessation of addiction. Therefore, the researchers coined the term unsanity to mean “a state beyond the control of the ego.”



One thing to note: I have a pretty loose meaning for what exactly constitutes a “word." This comes from a healthy philosophical education, where folks like Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein taught my mind how to question the nature of language. For me, a word can be any thing that conveys meaning--that collects the abstract into a concrete exhalation.