Don't Hate Gays Enough? No Communion For You!

OK honest question here, is this where we get the term hysterectomy for removing the babby-maker?

New pick-up line (working draft): "Hey babe, how's about we step out for a little hysterical paroxysm?"

Hystera is 'womb' and ektoma is 'to cut out'.

Which is also where we get hysteria and hysterical. Ladies have such conditions.

Huh, that's funny. I imagine that most people, like me, experienced them in reverse: hysteria/hysterical while younger and then once older hearing hysterectomy. Never put it together before. I can't decide if there are funny jokes in there just waiting to be discovered.

I'm surprised you didn't know this, actually. One of the notes in my files says, "most likely to be all up ons about Greek etymology." I will adjust your permanent record accordingly!

But, yep. From hystera, meaning "womb." Thus also hysterical, from hystericus (which should totally be a female-vocal-fronted metal band; Hysterical Paroxysm is both their best album and best track. Ironically, they faded and fell asleep after just the one) being "suffering of/in the womb." Or more idiomatically, WOMB MADNESS. (Which was also a good track, but not as good as Hysterical Paroxysm.)

Apparently I don't hate gays enough.

(Actually I get forest-for-the-trees lost in English language evolution and didn't know the Victorian connection between wombs and emotional agitation. I guess it would be accurate then to say that the modern GOP is hysterical?)

eta: Womb Agitators would be a good band name.

eta 2: In my penitential study, I have found these words do not appear to be related to histrionics (I thought there may have been a Y->I conversion at some point) which comes from the latin for theatrics, acting, pretense. Though Googling for both terms together does yield an interesting smattering of psych papers and discussions comparing and contrasting the two.

eta 3: OK my web history at the office today might raise some difficult questions so it's time to stop now.

A decade or so I slipped "paroxysmic" into my honours thesis on the grounds that it was perfectly cromulent even if it didn't appear in my dictionaries. This was a decade ago so I didn't have a slew of internet dictionaries informing me that both paroxysmic and paroxysmal are acceptable adjectives.

One of the ways you can get a lady feminist to REALLY narrow her eyes at you is to specifically call her hysterical. <3

Some lady feminists. The kind who think that because a word was defined a few millenia ago it's not undergone any changes since.

Eh, depends on the tone. You'd think "bitch" was reclaimed, but no. It can still sting if deployed properly. Same goes for "hysterical."

I didn't read this thread until just now and went right to page 2, and I'm so happy I did, since womb agitators are muuuuuch more fun than stick-assed Catholics.

I absolutely agree. It all depends on intent. I don't agree that any use of the word directed at a woman is misogynistic. I had a conversation with a woman I know who said that any use of "bitch" was wrong because it negatively portrayed a type of behaviour associated with women. And that associating that behaviour with women was denigrating. So by calling a man a bitch, you're just calling him a woman and the same goes for catty, etc. The thing though is that you have to give into the idea that any woman represents all women and I just don't buy into that.

Don't be absurd. Women are incapable of being funny.

I would retort by suggesting some womb agitation, post haste!

If you are interested in womb agitation, I highly recommend the film "the road to Wellsville", which is all around silly good fun set in the period Drastic mentioned (and about Kellogg).

Drastic, you forgot to mention all the enemas.

I don't know, that's a bit much I think. I learned the etymology of the word under a minute ago myself and I doubt people have that on their mind when they use the word today. Hysteria is a both a medical term and a colloquial one that is generally not used in any gender-specific way, so I don't think it really needs taking back. In general it doesn't do much good to find ways to get offended by a word based on its etymology rather than its present-day meaning. Besides, if you're going to start digging up ancient etymologies you're opening up a huge can of worms; hopefully you've never said the word "barbarian" because the etymology of that one is super racist against most of the European posters here.

YUP.

Sjofn said it "depends on the tone" and "if deployed properly." Which I think is certainly the case. It's all about context and intent, and some people do use it in a misogynistic way, I just don't think that that's the case 100% of the time.

I'll take your word for it I guess. I've literally never heard it used that way, but then again there are a lot of awful things that I'd never seen or heard until I did.

Sir, your wife is hysterical so I'll address this to you. This oven is lightning fast. It only takes five hours to cook a roast!

Post/avatar synergy.