"'It wasn't really a gyroceph thing to do...'" (p. 11)
I googled this unfamiliar word and found another use of the same word in the same novel (see here) and it is not in our Chambers Dictionary so does anyone else have any suggestions while I meditate in our attic for half an hour because the weather is too wet for a walk?
(My current policy when at home is to reread Anderson long enough to get three or four blog posts each day, then to revert to reading or rereading John Grisham, with the help of the Public Library, or Alan Moore, with the help of shelves upstairs. An Annotated Ulysses is also on order at the Library.)
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Ha! Just trying to keep up with this blog is a major part of my days! But I don't mind.
"Gyroceph" is a strange word which I admit passed over my head whenever I read HARVEST OF STARS. But I will google it.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul and Sean!
I think that “not a gyroceph thing to do” means “not a crazy thing to do.” Gyro refers to spinning, as in gyroscope and gyrate, and “ceph” is from the Greek word for head, as in cephalopod, or “cephalic appendage” (which, if I recall correctly, is an expression which Clark Ashton Smith once used to mean “head”); also, I trust that everyone knows about the battle of Kynoskephalae, dog’s head, in which an army of Roman legions defeated a Macedonian phalanx. Therefore, not a headspinning thing to do.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Nicholas,
The context also suggests that meaning.
Paul.
Kaor, Nicholas!
Thanks for the detailed explanation of "gyroceph." Anderson, of course, was trying to both suggest futuristic slang and making sure some readers, like you, would understand it.
Maybe I should try using "gyroceph"! E.g., "that's a gyroceph thing to do." Or, "That's not a totally gyroceph idea."
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Sean!
Using “gyroceph” in conversation seems to be a splendidly fannish thing to do. If anyone inquires, you can use the opportunity to recommend the works of Poul Anderson.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Kaor, Nicholas!
That is a very un-gyroceph idea! I like it! I've even sometimes thought of using Crown Prince Josip's line from Chapter 1 of ENSIGN FLANDRY, "How dreadfully serious and constructive" if I wanted to be humorous or sardonic. (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
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