Ventriloquy

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Ventriloquy

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:38 pm

• ventriloquy •


Pronunciation: ven-tril-ê-kwiHear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass (No plural)

Meaning: Speaking without moving the lips, the voice in sync with the mouth movements of a dummy, so as to leave the impression that the ventriloquist is throwing his or her voice.

Notes: Today's Good Word has been around at least since the 16th century and has since picked up quite a family of derivations. A person capable of ventriloquy is a ventriloquist. What such a person says is either ventriloquistic or ventriloquous (the adjective). When they speak with their accomplice, the dummy with the wiggly lips, they are said to ventriloquize (the verb).

In Play: The ventriloquist actually does not throw his or her voice but simply speaks without moving the lips while moving those of his dummy, who is always close at hand. This leaves the impression that that the dummy is talking. A heckler at a ventriloquy show said, "I think your performance stinks!" The ventriloquist replied, "I'm sorry you feel that way." The heckler retorted, "I wasn't talking to you; I was talking to the little jerk on your knee!"

Word History: Ventriloquy was borrowed and reshaped from Latin ventriloquus "speaking from the belly". This noun is made up of venter "belly, womb" + loqui "to speak" plus a noun ending. Where venter came from is something of a mystery but we do know that it went on to become ventre in French, Italian, and Portuguese, and vientre in Spanish. We know less about the origins than the destinations of loqui, too. We find loqui in many borrowings from Latin, such as loquacious, eloquent, and our recent Good Word obloquy. Russian has an old verb tolkovat' "talk, interpret" related to English talk. The L and K in that word might relate it to loqui (pronounced [lokwi]) but the loss of the initial T is inexplicable. (At this point I have to express my gratitude to Ralph Mowrey for suggesting today's Good Word—without moving my lips.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:38 am

I prefer la dance de vent over ventriloquy, but admit that Sherry Lewis and Lambchop had some charm.
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Re: VENTRILOQUY

Postby Stargzer » Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:11 am

... Word History: Ventriloquy was borrowed and reshaped from Latin ventriloquus "speaking from the belly". This noun is made up of venter "belly, womb" + loqui "to speak" plus a noun ending. Where venter came from is something of a mystery but we do know that it went on to become ventre in French, Italian, and Portuguese, and vientre in Spanish. ...
And the English medical/biological term ventral, the opposite of dorsal?
Last edited by Stargzer on Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:21 pm

Dorsaloquy- The act of talking behind another's back.
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

User avatar
gailr
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1945
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:40 am
Contact:

Postby gailr » Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:36 pm

Cranialoquy- The act of talking over someone's head.

Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Postby Stargzer » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:27 pm

Two good ones there!

Speaking of Cranialoquy, I had one go over my head today. We had some computer trouble which the vendor resolved. I sent a thank-you, saying that trouble seems to find me. A short while later I got a one-word email from one of the techs that I thought was a geek-to-geek jibe, sort of like a PEBKAC or ID10T error or an "Operator Headspace Problem" as we would say long ago. Shortly after that came the email with the securtity certificate I was waiting for. When I went to the system down the hall to install it, it asked me for a password. Then it hit me. Turndle back down the hall to retrieve the password from the first email ...

It's been a long half-week.
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Dorsaloquy, cranialoquy

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:44 pm

Larry't right--great ones. They're on tap for next April Fool's Day.
• The Good Dr. Goodword


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Semrush [Bot] and 45 guests