Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CHTHONIC

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connect today's word to others: With its absurd and maybe illegal number of consonants at the beginning, our word chthonic is poetic, literary, and dramatic--deeply. Yup, it's deep: chthonic means "living under the surface of the earth" or "characteristic of the underworld." It's from the Greek khthon, meaning "the earth; the surface of the earth." Notice how the first two consonants in chthonic are silent: "THON ick." (By the way, if you're a fan of H. P. Lovecraft and Cthulhu, don't miss Shana Mlawski's post on why we should pronounce the beast's name as "THOO loo." But then we'd lose the alliteration in "The Call of Cthulhu." I digress!) Okay, so chthonic things are way down deep: they're hidden, shrouded, buried, and maybe hellish, beastly, and monstrous. What's the poetic word for the opposite idea: for things that are way up high, lovely, angelic, other-worldly? E____eal.  (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "CHTHONIC" Literally speaking, chthonic things are living under the earth's surface. And figuratively, chthonic things remind you of the mythic underworld, because they're deep, dark, hidden, hellish, and/or monstrous. Pronunciation: THON ick (rhymes with "sonic") Part of speech: Adjective: "a chthonic thing," "it was chthonic." Other forms: An alternate adjective that means the same thing is "chthonian," pronounced "THONE ee un." How to use it: This poetic word calls attention to itself, so use it for dramatic emphasis. Talk about chthonic characters, figures, or spirits; chthonic depths, gloom, energy, mysticism, or superstition; something with a chthonic mood, tone, feel, or aura, etc. examples: With a nod to the chthonic Morlocks from H. G. Wells's "The Time Machine," Futurama features a race of mutants, deformed, ghastly, and of course, dwelling in New New York's sewers. "To talk honestly about football today is to drill down into all kinds of wormy layers where national self-identity, masculine value systems, peer validation and aspirational behaviors wallow in a chthonic haze."    — Michael Lindgren, The Washington Post, 2 September 2014 study it: Explain the meaning of "chthonic" without saying "subterranean" or "unfathomable." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Some book, show, song, album, work of art, artist, writer, or musician) plumbs the chthonic depths of _____." Sarcastic example: "Pretty Little Liars plumbs the chthonic depths of high school cliques." Serious example: "T. S. Eliot plumbs the chthonic depths of the fragmented soul." before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game is "TV Tropes!" This month, we're playing with tropes from TVTropes.org. TV tropes are storytelling devices, which can come from any source of fiction—TV, movies, books, you name it. They're the archetypes, the story patterns, the plot devices, the cheap tricks, the situational clichés that we see over and over throughout fiction.  Examples of TV tropes include "Skyward Scream," "Banister Slide," "Caught on the Jumbotron," "Burp of Finality," "City People Eat Sushi," "Dance Party Ending," "Clean Pretty Childbirth," "Come Back to Bed, Honey," "Even the Subtitler is Stumped," and tens of thousands more. Naming a trope can be a straightforward business, as in the "Skyward Scream." But often it demands precision, inviting the use of humorously sophisticated terms. Enter our Make Your Point words.  In each issue this month, consider the name of a TV trope, and try to define it or even give an example from a TV show or other work of fiction. From the previous issue: In fiction, what is the trope known as a Crapsaccharine World? Answer: It's when some setting brims with whimsy and sweetness on the surface--but dig deeper, and find that it's actually quite dark or even evil. For example, in Shrek, the city-state Duloc seems neat, orderly, and peaceful, until you discover that it's run by an angry, insecure, power-crazed little man bent on banishing anyone he deems freakish or abnormal. Try this today: In fiction, what is the trope known as a Hurricane of Euphemisms? review today's word: 1. One opposite of CHTHONIC is A. AUDIBLE. B. SLUGGISH. C. CELESTIAL. 2. TIME Magazine poked fun at the Michigan town of _____, reporting that its "chthonic moniker" dates back to 1841. A. Hell B. Aloha C. Paw Paw Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. A