Words of the Day 22/6/10

You've heard of pathos (related to pathetic) but did you know its opposite is bathos ?

pathos

pa·thos [pey-thos, -thohs, -thaws] 
–noun
1. the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.
2. pity.
3. Obsolete . suffering.

Origins,
"quality that arouses pity or sorrow," 1660s, from Gk. pathos "suffering, feeling, emotion," lit. "what befalls one," related to paskhein "to suffer," and penthos "grief, sorrow;" from PIE base *kwenth- "to suffer, endure" (cf. O.Ir. cessaim, Lith. kenciu "suffer").

bathos

ba·thos [bey-thos, -thaws, -thohs] 
–noun
1. a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.
2. insincere pathos; sentimentality; mawkishness.
3. triteness or triviality in style.

Origin:
"anticlimax, a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous," 1727, from Gk. bathos "depth," related to bathys "deep;" introduced by Pope.

—Can be confused:   bathos, pathos.

—Synonyms
2.  maudlinness, tearfulness; mush, gush, schmaltz. 3.  insipidity, inanity.

Answers to Which Words 016

Fraternal (b)brotherly
Goby (a)a rock-clingling fish
Haberdashery (a)buttons, needles and ribbons etc. 

Which Words 017

Interger (a)honestly (b)a covering (c)a whole number 
Kayak (a)an Eskimo canoe (b)a Polynesian intoxicating drink (c)a Malaysian village
Ascribe (a)attribute (b)go back in time (c)criticise

The answers will appear in the next word of the day

< previous words- ruthless and ruthful

And so someone may be bathetic.

I never hear this usage. I'm sure I'd be laughed at if I tried "bathetic."

bathos

(from Greek bathys, "deep"), unsuccessful, and therefore ludicrous, attempt to portray pathos in art, i.e., to evoke pity, sympathy, or sorrow. The term was first used in this sense by Alexander Pope in his treatise Peri Bathous; or, The Art of Sinking in Poetry (1728). Bathos may result from an inappropriately dignified treatment of the commonplace, the use of elevated language and imagery to describe trivial subject matter, or from such an exaggeration of pathos (emotion provoked by genuine suffering) as to become overly sentimental or ridiculous.

btw Google doesn't seem to be working ?

Let's see if I get this right