full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel: Mysteries of vernacular Sarcophagus
Unscramble the Blue Letters
andera McDonough, Translator
jsciesa Ruby, Reviewer
Mysteries of vernacular: Sarcophagus, a sotne coffin typically adorned with decorative cagrnvis or inscriptions. The history of the word sarcophagus
is so skin-crawlingly grotesque, it seems to come right out of a low-budget horror film. Rather than having a B-movie origin, however, its roots can be traced back to the early Roman eipmre where the Greek word sarkophagus was used to describe the limestone that a cfoifn was made of, not the coffin itself. According to the Roman soalhcr Pliny the Elder, citizens of the Empire believed that limestone from a qurray near Troy would dlisvsoe flesh. For this reason, it was quite desireable in the construction of coffins. Though it's unclear if the belief was widespread or even accurately reported by Pliny, what is certain is that sarkophagus came from the gerek words sark, meaning flesh, and phagein, a verb meaning to eat. From flesh-eating stone to stone coffin, it's a fitting elygomtoy for the final resting place of the deceased.
Open Cloze
______ McDonough, Translator
_______ Ruby, Reviewer
Mysteries of vernacular: Sarcophagus, a _____ coffin typically adorned with decorative ________ or inscriptions. The history of the word sarcophagus
is so skin-crawlingly grotesque, it seems to come right out of a low-budget horror film. Rather than having a B-movie origin, however, its roots can be traced back to the early Roman ______ where the Greek word sarkophagus was used to describe the limestone that a ______ was made of, not the coffin itself. According to the Roman _______ Pliny the Elder, citizens of the Empire believed that limestone from a ______ near Troy would ________ flesh. For this reason, it was quite desireable in the construction of coffins. Though it's unclear if the belief was widespread or even accurately reported by Pliny, what is certain is that sarkophagus came from the _____ words sark, meaning flesh, and phagein, a verb meaning to eat. From flesh-eating stone to stone coffin, it's a fitting _________ for the final resting place of the deceased.
Solution
- empire
- quarry
- coffin
- dissolve
- jessica
- greek
- stone
- scholar
- etymology
- carvings
- andrea
Original Text
Andrea McDonough, Translator
Jessica Ruby, Reviewer
Mysteries of vernacular: Sarcophagus, a stone coffin typically adorned with decorative carvings or inscriptions. The history of the word sarcophagus
is so skin-crawlingly grotesque, it seems to come right out of a low-budget horror film. Rather than having a B-movie origin, however, its roots can be traced back to the early Roman Empire where the Greek word sarkophagus was used to describe the limestone that a coffin was made of, not the coffin itself. According to the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, citizens of the Empire believed that limestone from a quarry near Troy would dissolve flesh. For this reason, it was quite desireable in the construction of coffins. Though it's unclear if the belief was widespread or even accurately reported by Pliny, what is certain is that sarkophagus came from the Greek words sark, meaning flesh, and phagein, a verb meaning to eat. From flesh-eating stone to stone coffin, it's a fitting etymology for the final resting place of the deceased.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
Important Words
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