I am so pleased that Douglas has revived, revivified, and revitalised the �Word of the Day� Game, with that delightful, delicious, delectable morsel, �demonym�.
I must congratulate my teacher-colleagues on their excellent, entertaining, erudite entries. If you will permit me, for a moment, to lapse into French --- �Superbe! Fantastique! Wunderbar!�
If this were a Forum for fallacies, fauxes passes, and faulty fake formulae, every one of the entries would have been awarded an A plus.
However, in the REAL WORLD, these child-like scribblings, these dozy drivellings, from unrelated siblings, would barely scrape a Z minus.
The famous Victorian detective, Sherlock Holmes, would often remark, whilst simultaneously teaching his assistant, Doctor Watson, the alphabet AND botany: �L, M, N, tree, my Dear Watson�.
Yes! The answer to this puzzle: �What is the meaning of demonym�, is indeed elementary.
The Greek professor implies that the word has Greek roots, but everyone knows that the soil in the mountains of the Aegean does not support plant-life.
Indeed, it is all a matter of semantics --- (these are tiny biting insects, uually found on sailors --- seaman-ticks).
The syllable �nym�, in �demonym�, comes from the land of Britannia, and means �name�. It was used in the ancient language of Londinium, called Cokneia, derived from the Celtic. Remnants of this language still remain, as is evidenced by the inedible felt-tip pen inscriptions scratched on the gargoyles of a male nude figure outside the Palace of Westminster.
�Statue?� it asks laconically, then continues, �Wossyornym?�
Those of you who have attended a Scottish Burns Night, or an Irish Cuts and Bruises Night, will instantly recognise the chat-up line: �Is that you?�, followed by: �What�s your name?�, (or in modern Cockney: �Woss yor nime?�)
A �nime� (or a �nym�), is a name!
So, an �antonym� is the name of an aunt; an unklnym is the name of an uncle. A �homonym� is the name of a man; a �feminym� is the name of a woman. An �anonym� is someone whose name you do not wish to know, because he has an �acronym�, which is the name of a particularly acrid odour. A �synonym� is the name of something rude, which no-one likes talking about, and includes a protruding �toponym� and a large �bottomonym�.
Before any other nationalities interrupt me, our Jewish colleagues have their own versions, which include �cherubim� and seraphim�. The USA Americans have �pseudonym�, which is the description of the money paid in a lawsuit for selling peas under a false name, (�pea-sue-dough-nym�).
�Waiter, Waiter! I ordered pea soup. What is this brown liquid?�
�It�s bean soup, Sir!�
�I don�t want to know what it�s BEEN; I want to know what it is NOW?�
This leaves me with almost nothing to say about �demonym�. Fortunately, I am able to write my message, so I will continue writing, and save myself the cost of exhorbitant telephone calls.
In Newcastle, where I live, there was a Doctors� Protest. A large group of Medical Doctors from a Newcastle hospital marched through the city to protest about their working conditions. They all carried hand-written banners. However, the protest was a disaster --- no-one in the streets looked at their placards. No-one supported them!
Eventually, the Doctors paraded outside a large shopping Mall, where there was a row of Pharmacist�s shops. All of the chemist�s staff came out and immediately supported the Doctors with rousing cheers. It was then that the Doctors realised their mistake. The Pharmacists were the only people who could read their bad hand-writing!
Yes! A �demonym� is the Name of a Demo --- the �The Name of a Demonstration�.
