Word every Gracious Individual should know: Accismus
Definition: Accismus (pronounced: ak-‘siz-mus); Greek; noun
1. Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.
Why I love this word:
I took in this word in two ways; first I associated it with almost being modest. For example, let's say for Christmas you desperately wanted a brand new laptop and your uncle actually buys one for you. Inside you're freaking out because everyone else in your family got clothes for Christmas and you got a computer! You're reaction to the kind gesture is, "I couldn't possibly accept this lavish gift." But you can, you can accept this lavish gift. Accismus is showing no interest in something while secretly wanting it. It's a form of irony where one pretends indifference and refuses something while actually wanting it.
The second way, which I think was probably the more obvious version of interpreting it, is in the complicated subject of love. You love and care for this person, but there are many roadblocks in the way, or perhaps you simply aren't comfortable with expressing your emotions, so you keep them to yourself. You feign your disinterest in him, when on the inside, you're dying to talk to him and to simply hear his voice.
Photograph by Bethany Marie
Definition: Accismus (pronounced: ak-‘siz-mus); Greek; noun
1. Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.
Why I love this word:
I took in this word in two ways; first I associated it with almost being modest. For example, let's say for Christmas you desperately wanted a brand new laptop and your uncle actually buys one for you. Inside you're freaking out because everyone else in your family got clothes for Christmas and you got a computer! You're reaction to the kind gesture is, "I couldn't possibly accept this lavish gift." But you can, you can accept this lavish gift. Accismus is showing no interest in something while secretly wanting it. It's a form of irony where one pretends indifference and refuses something while actually wanting it.
The second way, which I think was probably the more obvious version of interpreting it, is in the complicated subject of love. You love and care for this person, but there are many roadblocks in the way, or perhaps you simply aren't comfortable with expressing your emotions, so you keep them to yourself. You feign your disinterest in him, when on the inside, you're dying to talk to him and to simply hear his voice.
Photograph by Bethany Marie
