agog

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KatyBr
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agog

Postby KatyBr » Sun Feb 19, 2006 5:15 pm

a·gog (-gg)
adj.
Full of keen anticipation or excitement; eager.

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[Middle English agogge, from Old French en gogue, in merriment : en, in (from Latin in; see in-2) + gogue, merriment.]

a·gog adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words AntonymsAdj. 1. agog - highly excited
excited - in an aroused state
no, not that kind of aroused, Larry

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Slava
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Postby Slava » Tue May 04, 2010 7:16 pm

Hm, I've always taken this word to be along the lines of agape, as in "with mouth agape." Perhaps it's just the similarity, but when I think of agog, I think of an open mouth, or wide open eyes. As in "eyes agog with excitement."

So, what I'm getting at is the physical appearance of the open thing here, not the fact of arousal. "Eyes agog" sounds to me like an adjectival description of the state of the eyes, not the emotion driving the state, if that makes sense.

I'd also include a usage for incredulity, too. "He did what? she asked, eyes agog with amazement."
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Stargzer
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Postby Stargzer » Fri May 07, 2010 12:54 am

...So, what I'm getting at is the physical appearance of the open thing here, not the fact of arousal. "Eyes agog" sounds to me like an adjectival description of the state of the eyes, not the emotion driving the state, if that makes sense.
...
Well, unless you have a medical or genenitic condition, your eyes would not be agog without the emotion driving them.
Regards//Larry

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Postby Audiendus » Fri May 21, 2010 6:26 am

Hm, I've always taken this word to be along the lines of agape, as in "with mouth agape." Perhaps it's just the similarity, but when I think of agog, I think of an open mouth, or wide open eyes. As in "eyes agog with excitement."
Maybe it's the association with "goggle" (which has a different etymology - from old English gogelen, to squint).

The mention of "excitement" also reminds me of the French expression à gogo (galore), which came into English popular culture as "a-go-go" about 1965. Not to be confused with "agogo", which is a type of musical bell.


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