Monday, December 15, 2008

#2: Fides: trust, faith

Check out my Latin roots SAT word of the day: a must for those studying for the SAT, while you are waiting for my next post!

Welcome, etymology fans, to my second entry concerning the Latin root fides: trust, faith. You may perhaps recall that Billy is currently en route from Europe back to Green Mountain, VT, having gone there on the advice of Panfloss, who suggested that he discover a golden genealogical past with which to woo Morgan, his bepedestaled beloved. Billy, contentedly munching upon a chocolate bar as he is musingly agonizing over his beloved Morgan, is suddenly attacked by a flagitious chihuahua, hence known as the huahua. As we hear of Billy's dramatic psychomachia, keep in mind the following Latin roots, reminding yourself again about Latin root word origins:



Fides—trust, faith {faith, fealt}

Fidus—trustworthy, safe {fi, fy}

Fido, fidere, fisus sum—to trust {fi, fy}

Foedus, foederis—treaty, league {feder}



Yeah, the defiant huahua, "not being trusworthy" to the established code of ethics that should exist between all sentient creatures, began to munch away at the highly coveted 88% dark chocolate; the bedewlapped owner of said predatory beast, thinking it "oh quite too cute" that her little doggie-woggie employed some clever subterfuge by nabbing the socially unnabbable, defied all decorum by again "not being trustworthy" to good manners, and said, Frenchifyingly, to our now benumbed Billy: "ain't that jeest adorahhhhble" (stress on the penultimate syllable).
"Perfidious wretch," screeched Billy, hardly able to believe that someone could condone such treacherous conduct, even a misguided huahua lover. The huahuaphile, or owner of said quadrupedal midget, continuing to show the greatest fidelity, or loyalty, towards the love of her life, screeched "infidel," and began to batter our beleaguered Billy, who, taking offense at the intimation that he was a "faithless" one, attempted to confide in, or "thoroughly trust" his row neighbor; this would be confidant, however, remained heavily unconscious during the whole row, and therefor could both not swear fealty or "loyalty" to Billy's just cause, nor could he become a confederate, or in "league with" our Billy. Attempting to form a confederacy, or leaguer, of those allied against the heavy horrific huahuaphile, he only found apathy and, to tell the truth, a great deal of antipathy towards him; it was only later that Billy discovered, to his dismay, that most of the people on the plane were returning from a chihuahua cooing conference; yes, you guessed it, the champion becooed huahua was the dastardly chocolate-devouring huahua itself! Not even fiduciary enticements could suborn the fidelity of those huahua cooers, and hence Billy, knowing somewhat the effects of chocolate upon alimentary canine canals, supplicatingly ground his teeth in acquiescence to the doggie-woggier, until, a few hours later, a great ululation arose in first class--the huahua had hiccoughed once, and, in bona fide fashion to veterinary admonitions, had breathed its last, the chocolate having done it in.
Realizing that he had escaped sure death, Billy now, strengthened and no longer diffident, now fully "trusting" himself that he could approach Morgan, armed not only with the lambent manuscript of Franz Fontagerus Liszt but also a narrow escape from the clutches of chihuahua cooers, fell asleep, only to hear the captain announce it was time for landing.



For more interesting etymologies of English vocabulary words from Greek and Latin roots, please visit http://www.wordempire.com/. In addition to beautiful Greek and Latin root word trees, a striking Greek and Latin roots poster is available, and numerous other Greek and Latin root words, based upon Word Empire III: Clarity, the most comprehensive Greek and Latin roots dictionary available. To discover a daily SAT vocabulary word and a Onceler word, please check out Magister Brunner's Latin roots SAT word of the day, an entertaining and informative discussion on the wonders of word origin and the fun of the English language.