"accidie, n." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Ian Livingston]

Is denial transient? I rather thought that everyone was always in
denial and that only the Other being denied is transient, Protean as
suds of the sea wash. "S/he is the essence of Thee," as Patti Smith
always says.

On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 9:18 PM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
> That torpor can do some sneaky-ass malaisin, especially if your girlfriend dumps you.  So what's up if you feel better after denial? For my own part, I just want to say that at his time my client  neither denies nor affirms the he or she is either troubled or untroubled by the existence, non-existence, parallel existence, or existential existence pertaining to the exchange of bodily fluids or sudsiness at this or any other car wash.
> On Jan 5, 2012, at 10:42 PM, David Morris wrote:
>
>> Happy might be your torpor in disguise.
>>
>> On Thursday, January 5, 2012, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I deny the existence of Gasteriskd, Ghyphend, and Gunderscored, and I
>> > welcome anyone who believes in any of them to demonstrate that they
>> > are happier than I am. Spiritual malaise rarely troubles me, except
>> > sometimes when I don't get enough sunlight. But I really don't think
>> > that's the same as accidia.
>> >
>> > On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 6:12 PM, Charles Albert <cfalbert at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> I first came across it in an Irving Howe essay on Fathers & Sons in which he
>> >> defined it as "that torpor of the spirit which derives its strength from the
>> >> denial of the existence of G*d."
>> >>
>> >> For some reason it has stuck with me for more than 30 years...
>> >>
>> >> love,
>> >> cfa
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 6:15 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> And it seems Mr. Sacred & Profane Durkheim raised awareness
>> >>> of this word/concept high in his book Suicide.....
>> >>>
>> >>> ----- Original Message -----
>> >>> From: Dave Monroe <against.the.dave at gmail.com>
>> >>> To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> >>> Cc:
>> >>> Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 7:49 PM
>> >>> Subject: Fwd: "accidie, n." - Word of the Day from the OED
>> >>>
>> >>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> >>> From:  <oedwotd at oup.com>
>> >>> Date: Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 7:30 PM
>> >>> Subject: "accidie, n." - Word of the Day from the OED
>> >>> To: OEDWOTD-AMER-L at webber.uk.hub.oup.com
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> OED Online Word of the Day
>> >>>
>> >>> The December 2011 quarterly update is now available. New words from
>> >>> across the dictionary include bibimbap, chermoula, earworm,
>> >>> posilutely, and traceur. Find out more...
>> >>>
>> >>> ________________________________
>> >>>
>> >>> Your word for today is: accidie, n.
>> >>>
>> >>> accidie, n.
>> >>> Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈaksᵻdi/,  U.S. /ˈæksədi/
>> >>> Forms: α.   ME accedie,   ME accidy,   ME accidye,   ME–15 accydye,
>> >>> ME– accidie.  β.   ME accide,   ME accyde.
>> >>> Etymology: <  Anglo-Norman accidie (13th cent.), Anglo-Norman and Old
>> >>> French, Middle French accide (13th cent.; French accide, now arch.) <
>> >>> post-classical Latin accidia (8th cent. in a British source; also in
>> >>> an undated glossary; occasionally also as acidia and accedia),
>> >>> alteration (see below) of acedia spiritual sloth, mental weariness
>> >>> (5th cent., as also as name of one of the deadly sins: see acedia n.).
>> >>> Compare accidia n., and later acedia n. and acedy n.
>> >>> The post-classical Latin form accidia probably results either from
>> >>> folk-etymological association with accidere (see accident n.) or from
>> >>> a Greek sound change, or may partly reflect both causes. The rare form
>> >>> acidia probably reflects the (folk-etymological) association with
>> >>> classical Latin acidus sour (see acid adj.) recorded by Caesarius of
>> >>> Heisterbach (13th cent.).
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> In Middle English and early modern English the position of the main
>> >>> stress apparently varied between the first and second syllables.
>> >>>  Now chiefly arch. and literary.
>> >>>   Physical or mental slothfulness, esp. as a condition leading to
>> >>> listlessness and lack of interest in life; apathy, lethargy, torpor;
>> >>> (also) †an instance of this (obs.).
>> >>> Regarded esp. in early use as characteristic of or equivalent to the
>> >>> ‘deadly sin’ of Sloth, and in Christian asceticism as a condition to
>> >>> which monks and hermits were particularly liable.
>> >>> ?c1225 (1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 155 Þenne is hit
>> >>> scheomeles [read ȝemeles] under accidie, þet ich slauðe cleopede, þe
>> >>> ne warneð oðer of his lure oðer of his biȝete.
>> >>> c1330 (1300) Speculum Guy (Auch.) l. 121 Accedie is as sleuþes broþer,
>> >>> Wicke on and wicke oþer.
>> >>> a1393  Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 539 To serve Accidie in
>> >>> his office, Ther is of Slowthe an other vice, Which cleped is<--
>> > "Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
>> > creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
>> > trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
>> > of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
>> > than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant
>> >
>



-- 
"Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant