Saturday, 7 July 2012

a word new to me

cover of 1st US edition

I've started reading Aldous Huxley's novel Point Counter Point of 1928. In chapter vii (on p. 106 of my Random House edition) I found this sentence:
One does not fall very desperately in love with a loud speaker, however pretty, however firmly plump [...], however attractively callipygous.
Callipygous (pronounced  /ˌkælɪˈpaɪɡəs/  (OED also offers /kælɪˈpɪdʒəs/)) means 'having well-shaped buttocks'. I wonder how often I shall be able to use this word in the future.
Update:There's a more extensive discussion of the topic by JWL in his PhonetiBlog No. 408.
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4 comments:

  1. Beatrice Portinari9 July 2012 at 07:35

    Callipygously beautiful! Tell me, please -What's the name of that statue?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beatrice Portinari9 July 2012 at 10:51

    I got her! It's Kallipygos Aphrodite, or something like that. Obvious.
    But what about the model?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kraut9 July 2012 at 12:01

    Yes, it's Ἀφροδίτη Καλλίπυγος - Aphrodite Kallipygos. She's a Greek goddess of love and beauty; the model is purely fictitious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JWL12 July 2012 at 11:29

    I began to make a comment but it got out of hand. For result see www.yek.me.uk Blog 408

    ReplyDelete

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