full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Virginia Postrel: On glamour

Unscramble the Blue Letters


And there is, of course, this gualomr. This is very, very glamorous: the glamour of outer space — and not the alien-style glamour, but the nice, clean, early '60s version. So what do we mean by glamour? Well, one thing you can do if you want to know what glamour means is you can look in the dictionary. And it actually helps a lot more if you look in a very old dictionary, in this case the 1913 dictionary. Because for centuries, glamour had a very particular meaning, and the word was actually used differently from the way we think of it. You had "a" glamour. It wasn't glamour as a quilaty — you "cast a glamour." Glamour was a literal magic spell. Not a metaphorical one, the way we use it tdaoy, but a literal magic spell associated with wchites and gypsies and to some extent, Celtic migac. And over the years, around the turn of the 20th ctrneuy, it started to take on this other kind of depitceon — this dtfneioiin for any atcfiraiil isertnet in, or association with, an object through which it appears dlseeuvily magnified or glorified. But still, glamour is an illusion. Glamour is a magic spell. And there's something dangerous about glamour throughout most of history. When the witches cast a magic spell on you, it was not in your self-interest — it was to get you to act against your interest.

Open Cloze


And there is, of course, this _______. This is very, very glamorous: the glamour of outer space — and not the alien-style glamour, but the nice, clean, early '60s version. So what do we mean by glamour? Well, one thing you can do if you want to know what glamour means is you can look in the dictionary. And it actually helps a lot more if you look in a very old dictionary, in this case the 1913 dictionary. Because for centuries, glamour had a very particular meaning, and the word was actually used differently from the way we think of it. You had "a" glamour. It wasn't glamour as a _______ — you "cast a glamour." Glamour was a literal magic spell. Not a metaphorical one, the way we use it _____, but a literal magic spell associated with _______ and gypsies and to some extent, Celtic _____. And over the years, around the turn of the 20th _______, it started to take on this other kind of _________ — this __________ for any __________ ________ in, or association with, an object through which it appears __________ magnified or glorified. But still, glamour is an illusion. Glamour is a magic spell. And there's something dangerous about glamour throughout most of history. When the witches cast a magic spell on you, it was not in your self-interest — it was to get you to act against your interest.

Solution


  1. glamour
  2. century
  3. interest
  4. artificial
  5. quality
  6. today
  7. magic
  8. witches
  9. delusively
  10. deception
  11. definition

Original Text


And there is, of course, this glamour. This is very, very glamorous: the glamour of outer space — and not the alien-style glamour, but the nice, clean, early '60s version. So what do we mean by glamour? Well, one thing you can do if you want to know what glamour means is you can look in the dictionary. And it actually helps a lot more if you look in a very old dictionary, in this case the 1913 dictionary. Because for centuries, glamour had a very particular meaning, and the word was actually used differently from the way we think of it. You had "a" glamour. It wasn't glamour as a quality — you "cast a glamour." Glamour was a literal magic spell. Not a metaphorical one, the way we use it today, but a literal magic spell associated with witches and gypsies and to some extent, Celtic magic. And over the years, around the turn of the 20th century, it started to take on this other kind of deception — this definition for any artificial interest in, or association with, an object through which it appears delusively magnified or glorified. But still, glamour is an illusion. Glamour is a magic spell. And there's something dangerous about glamour throughout most of history. When the witches cast a magic spell on you, it was not in your self-interest — it was to get you to act against your interest.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
magic spell 4
hedy lamarr 4
extremely glamorous 3
real world 3
glamorized picture 3
sex tips 2
literal magic 2
morning glamorous 2
nicole kidman 2
architectural photography 2
lara croft 2
perfect world 2
spiral staircase 2
glass block 2
perfect kitchen 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
literal magic spell 2

Important Words


  1. act
  2. appears
  3. artificial
  4. association
  5. case
  6. cast
  7. celtic
  8. centuries
  9. century
  10. clean
  11. dangerous
  12. deception
  13. definition
  14. delusively
  15. dictionary
  16. differently
  17. early
  18. extent
  19. glamour
  20. glorified
  21. gypsies
  22. helps
  23. history
  24. illusion
  25. interest
  26. kind
  27. literal
  28. lot
  29. magic
  30. magnified
  31. meaning
  32. means
  33. metaphorical
  34. nice
  35. object
  36. outer
  37. quality
  38. space
  39. spell
  40. started
  41. today
  42. turn
  43. version
  44. witches
  45. word
  46. years