addle (vb.): To confuse, but an extreme version; it's when your mind becomes so perplexed that it turns to "liquid filth" and you're robbed of your ability to think any further. To say you're addled is to joke that it's permanent, irreversible. The secondary definition is revealing: "goose egg addling" is a method to control the population of Canadian geese. They inject the egg with oil to prevent the embryo from developing, and it's done in a way to not arouse suspicion in the mother goose. Not only does this link mental disarray with physical spoilage, but it includes an external tamperer trying to go undetected. Being addled is a confusion more than "I don't get it," it's paranoid and exhausted sense of, "a big conniving force has ruined my mind through overwhelm." When your mind turns to mush after a 60 minute session on X, you've been addled.
aleatory (adj.): an art where some elements are left to chance (John Cage).
assay (vb.): to determine the quality of something. Even though we all use the word "essay," I think "assay" is an equally important but forgotten word. Both come from the same Latin root ("exagium"), but essay's brother-word came a hundred years before Montaigne, from an alchemist named Paracelsus. He was the founder of pharmacology, and assaying has more to do with analyzing melted materials than writing… but isn't editing an act of melting? The alchemists get a lot of flack: they're caricatured as hucksters who tried to turn lead into valuable metals to shill to kings. But their method–the alchemical process–is not just the precursor to the scientific method, but the perfect metaphor for the creative process. Alchemy is often simplified as "idea mixing," but it's more like a process of shifting between two opposite states (heating and cooling). An alchemist starts by taking an existing metal and melting it to see what's inside. Add heat. Dissolve the thing. Analyze the goo. Remove impurities. Refine proportions. Add new chemicals. Then they freeze it, binding everything into a new crystallized form. Once it's solid, melt it again. The constant diverging and converging turns raw materials into refined ones. Editing (or, restructuring) is the process of heating. You melt the seams that tie your prose together and analyze the ideas behind a draft. Like an alchemist, you rearrange the goo, add parts, delete parts, shape a new outline, and then rewrite it. Putting liquid ideas back into solid prose is a cooling process: you're crystallizing thought. So "essay" and "assay" represent the two halves of the writing process. One is about exploration, the other about examination. By honoring both halves, we can re-forge our goo until it's gold.
bathos (n.): when an essay unintentionally shifts mood from the sublime to the trivial. Something masterful suddenly becomes mired in cliche. Also: bathetic: when something of high quality descends into triviality.
capriccio (n.): a free-form work of art that comes from the imagination and defies formal conventions. Rules are bent for the sake of expression. It comes from a non-rational spirit of urgency and frenzy. In music, it could refer to experimental pieces that break key or time. In painting, it refers to "fantasy scapes" where ruins, landscapes, and buildings are assembled; where real fragments fuse with a dreamworld (think Piranesi).
chthonic (adj.): Related to the underworld or subterranean deities. Distinct from "underground" in its mythological context.
clarifying adverbs (diction.):
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A clarifying adverb is an adverb of epistemic correction. These are important words that guide the reader through complex thought because they let you label ideas in contrast to expectations. Some notion is not what the reader expects it is (X); it is unexpectedly another thing (Y).
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You could use a clarifying adverb on a word or a sentence: a) word: "Despite the limitations, the plan was theoretically solid." b) sentence: "Theoretically, <we weren't sure if A was possible because ... >"
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Each clarifying adverb has a distinct and antagonistic condition that the word operates against. There is some paradigm of confusion, where a word is used to reveal an unexpected reframe. Be mindful to pick the clarifying adverb that accurately connects the condition to the right reframe (ie: don't misuse "literally" for "actually").
- Amidst speculation, “actually” reveals the unexpected reality;
- Amidst appearances, "ostensibly" reveals the unexpected doubt;
- Amidst limitations, “theoretically” reveals the unexpected possibilities;
- Amidst complexity, “essentially” reveals the unexpected center;
- Amidst ambiguity, “technically” reveals the unexpected nuance;
- Amidst volatility, “fundamentally” reveals the unexpected anchor;
- Amidst erudition, "basically" reveals the unexpected ... ;
- Amidst aspirations, “effectively” reveals the unexpected function;
- Amidst ideals, "practically" reveals the unexpected constraints;
- Amidst journeys, “ultimately” reveals the unexpected destination;
- Amidst misusage, "literally" reveals the unexpected source.
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Try not to use the same clarifying adverbs multiple times in a single paragraph.
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Caveats: a) You could use fundamentally and basically synonymously, but use fundamentally to capture the actual core of the matter, where basically can represents how a thing is typically understood, but possibly incorrect; the fundamentals aren't necessarily legible or easy.
(2025-12-03, 1:01PM)
ersatz (adj.): a 19th-century (1875) German “loanword,” pronounced “air-sahts,” it means artificial/inferior/imitation/substitute. But when actually use this word instead of the synonym? It was used to describe units of the German army reserve, so I wonder if the word should be reserved for connotations of violence/attack? Ersatzreserve was actually the original word. So “reserve” makes me think it’s about backups and rationing. Something is ersatz when the real thing was unavailable, so a substitute was cobbled together out of necessity, and while it technically works it lacks the soul of the original. So it’s an adjective. An ersatz smile is given no emotional energy is available to give a genuine one. It might be wrong to say “China is building an ersatz Paris,” because that project wasn’t done because of a shortage, but because of excess. Ersatz requires scarcity, and potentially suffering. Ersatz is “makeshift” precipitated by a crisis. (2025/12/02, 12:09PM)
exaptation (n.): when a trait arises through evolution, but then is later co-opted for a different use. For example, the tongue evolved for eating, but later become fundamental for speech. The word is about surveying what exists and questions what new combinations are possible.
Faustian (adj.): When you're granted a superpower that might lead to your own self-destruction. The uncertainty is what makes a Faustian Bargain different from the traditional and clear-cut "deal with the devil" (where you become a superhuman guitar player at the cost of guaranteed damnation). Faust is a play with almost a dozen versions dating back to 1593. In most versions Faust is dragged into hell at the end, but Goethe's version (1832) has different nuances, a different ending, and changes the interpretation of the word. Faust is a disgruntled scholar, and is tempted by Mephistopheles (an agent of the devil), who offers him knowledge, pleasure, and power beyond human limits. The catch is, if at any moment these experiences give him a moment of such complete satisfaction that he wishes to freeze time, only THEN, will his soul be brought to hell. So a Faustian bargain is when an external agent empowers you to fulfill your desires in unimaginable ways, but leaves your fate in your hands. It's up to your ability to not get so addicted that you lose sight of everything else. It speaks to the danger, intoxication, and unpredictability of paranormal power. The play shows the upgraded Faust grasping with the metaphysical secrets of the universe, crazy sex, and the ability to turn swamps into land to build a new empire in his name. In each scenario, he's tempted to freeze time, but ultimately there is some emptiness or moral dilemma that stops him. Faust becomes altruistic by the end. He has a vision of a utopian society that ends human suffering, and feels such bliss that his diabolical pact is triggered. However, since he froze time on something noble instead of something selfish, angels come to fight off Mephistopheles and his demons. Faust ends up in heaven, redeemed and purified. Emerging technology has a faustian nature; it augments the human to incredible but near self-destructive heights if we become short-sighted. A faustian issue means there's an inner or public debate on whether something should be maximized to it's ultimate limits, or if we should strive forward from a place of wisdom.
figural adverbs (diction.): If I were to say something is “Freudian,” you'd know what I mean because most people know who Freud is. But I were to say something is "Mephistophelean," you'd be confused unless you knew him as the devil figure from Goethe's Faust. David Foster Wallace throws in these figural adverbs everywhere ("-ean" and "-ian"), but if you're not in the club, reading the same books as him, you're left out. I suppose it's a decision for how demanding you want to be of your readers, which is a type of pretentiousness, unless you include clues of footnotes.
googesia (n.): when you go to Google and forget what you wanted to search (or, when you type the wrong thing, like "google," "search," or something else on your mind.
hypnopompic (adj.): Relating to the state immediately before waking up. Distinct from "hypnagogic" (relating to the state before falling asleep).
imbroglio (n.): when something is "fucked"; layered quagmires; permanently entangled and interconnected; unsolvable without an explosion.
innies (punctuation.): There are two ways the writer can break through the fourth wall and invite the reader into an inner world of knowledge, parenthesis ( ) and em-dashes ( - - - or —). Each come in pairs. While the usage rules are loose on when to use which, I tend to default to em-dashes for injecting phrases into the middle of a sentence. Parenthesis are for post-sentence (or post-phrase) clarifications, references, meta-commentary, single-word modifiers, and expansions within a list. An essay without innies is dishonest since it ignores the reader-writer relationship. Without them, the writer disappears.
- Here’s string 1—an aside within a dash—and a continuation of string 1.
- Here’s string 1 (parenthesis are ending asides).
- But if string 1 has a separate point (use parenthesis), then string 2 stands alone.
- Sometime's a sentence paragraph needs an aside. (In which case the first word is capitalized, and it closes with a period inside the parenthesis—worth noting here you can even have a whole paragraph in parenthesis to note it is tangential from the flow of ideas.)
- When constructing a list (first point), you can use parenthesis (second point), to expand on each point (third point, though this example needs work!).
kowtow (n.): "an act of slavish submission. (1804) … [the] Chinese custom of touching the ground with [your] forehead to show respect or submission … borrowing from 'k'o't'ou,' literally, 'knock the head.'" Related to the words "fawn" and "truckle."
Kunstlerroman (n.): "a type of narrative that traces the development of an artist either from childhood or from artistic immaturity; from "artist novel" (German). Ex: 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' [James Joyce]."
lemma (n.): a family of words that all share the same words (ie: develop = development, developing, developmental, underdeveloped, redevelop, etc.)
metanoia (n.): a transformation; a change of heart; it means "beyond mind," a profound change in thinking and perspective.
model (n.): a theoretical configuration of the world; it is a provisional attempt to map complex relationships in a simplified, tangible, sometimes allegorical way; architectural models are scaled-down representation; role-models have a configuration of traits you strive to emulate in yourself. (Verb): to create such a configuration. (12:18 AM)
nickelodeon (n.): the name of a theatre in 1888, and by 1909 it meant "motion picture theatre." For a nickel, you could enter an "odeon," which is a "building for musical performances."
pandemonium (n.): 1667, "in Paradise Lost," this was the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, the "high capital of Satan and all his peers;" Coined by John Milton; daemonium = evil spirit" — place of uproar and disorder; wild, lawless confusion; actual anarchy, the collapse of harmonious order; literal translation is "all demons."
platonic (adj.): A "platonic relationship" has come to mean a non-sexual one, which is revealing. Google it. It's seen as a second-rate, friend zone situation ("you mean you're spending all that time together and not fucking?"). "Platonic," comes from Plato, who sought to break things down into their purest forms. Any realm is composed of invisible underlying components. In the same way "the platonic solids" refer to the elementary 3D shapes, Plato's writing on love outlined the full range of dimensions that could exist within a relationship. Through this lens, you might think a "platonic relationship," is one that includes all possible facets (compatibility, trust, respect, vulnerability, coevolution, insider slang, shared values, shared stakes, a common history, etc.). By re-defining platonic as "not sexual," we've not only declared sex as the pinnacle of what a relationship can and should be, we've not only collapsed the rich nature of a human bond into "sex" or "not sex," but we've lost the word to describe Plato's method of thinking. The word "platonic" could refer to things outside of relationships, but when I tell people that my Essay Architecture project is platonic, they look at me funny. Horniness hijacked the name of our best philosopher.
pyrrhonism (n.): a radical form of skepticism from Ancient Greece; it suspends judgment of everything and sees all knowledge as dogmatic; stems from the Indian influence on Greek thought; extreme doubt as a guide to mental peace; compared to the truth-centric mentality of science, pyrrhonism assumes the world to be ambiguous and unknowable.
rudiment (n.): rudimentary is often seen as an insult for being "novice-like," but rudiments are fundamental skills; building blocks that compile into bigger units of design; "rudis" = raw; an ingredient; snare drum rudiments combine to make complex and improvisational patterns.
valetudinarian (n.): A person who is unduly anxious about their health. Distinct from "hypochondriac" in its connotation of weakness or self-indulgence.