Welcome

My name is David Burrows and I am a freelance translator of Spanish into English. This blog contains some of my favourite words, a (mostly) amusing explanation of said words as well as some of my musings about translation. I hope you enjoy it.

Monday 13 December 2010

Terpsichorean

Adjective: relating to dancing
Noun: a dancer
Origin: From Terpsichore, used in the 18th century to denote a female dancer or the art of dance.


I like this word as it sounds really hard while describing something that is presumably beautiful, depending on how you dance of course. The combination of 'terps' (also used to scrub graffiti off walls) and 'chore' (as in hardcore punk) give a tough-sounding word which has a soft centre (kind of like an armadillo).
Perhaps the best thing about this word is the source from which I heard it: the one and only Lemmy Kilminster from Motörhead. Despite consuming "a bottle of Jack Daniels a day, whether I need it or not" the man's wit and wisdom is clearly only surpassed by the noise level at his concerts. Let's face it, you would never hear a band like the Killers asking 'Are we human or are we terpsichorean?' would you.

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