Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CLANGOR
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connect this word to others:
Shout the word clangor, and you'll hear how it sounds like a bell: a loud, ringing, banging, clamoring bell.
Speaking of bells, see if you can recall these two words:
1. A t___in is an alarm bell, or a sign that something is very worrisome and that people need to pay attention and act.
2. To k___l something is to announce it (or indicate it) as if you're using a slow, sad bell. The thing being k___led is usually something's end or death.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"CLANGOR"
In Latin, clangere means "to ring, or to resound," and in Greek, klange means "a sharp sound." Clangere and klange were probably formed by imitating the sound of a bell, a bird, or a trumpet. And they probably gave us our English "clang," meaning "a loud sound" or "to make a loud sound."
We took the related Latin clangor, "the sound of birds or trumpets," straight into English, where it means a loud ringing sound, like the kind made by a bell, a trumpet, or pieces of metal being smashed together.
Pronunciation:
KLANG er
(rhymes with "hanger")
Part of speech:
Most often a noun, usually the uncountable kind ("all this clangor") and sometimes the countable, singular kind ("it raised a clangor").
Other forms:
Outside of the US, you'll see it spelled "clangour."
It's also a verb, but we rarely use it that way: "the city streets clangor during rush hour," "the church bells clangor into the morning air."
The adjective is "clangorous;" the adverb, "clangorously." If you prefer, use the adjective "clangoring" to suggest an ongoing sound. Here's Slate: "the clangoring, labyrinthine bazaars where we must choose from too many options, opinions, products, and possibilities."
How to use it:
Use the somewhat formal word "clangor" to describe any sound that's loud, repetitive, or echoing, especially in a harsh, metallic way. The sound of a clangor is rarely beautiful and often urgent or even chaotic.
We often talk about the clangor of something: the clangor of a gong, the clangor of machinery, the clangor of the church bells, the clangor of applause in a packed concert hall, the clangor of a thousand pigeons crowding the park.
Add an adjective, if you like: a metallic clangor, an industrial clangor, an ominous clangor.
You can also get figurative, and talk about the clangor of the news cycle, the clangor of social media, the clangor in one's soul, the clangor of war, etc.
examples:
"Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling.
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells—
Of the bells—
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!"
— Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells," 1850
"Great flocks of sandhill cranes passed overhead from time to time, the air resounding with their strange, musical, guttural clangor."
— Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting in Many Lands: The Book of the Boone and Crockett Club, 1895
has this page helped you understand "clangor"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "clangor" without saying "peal" or "blare."
try it out:
In their sketch comedy show, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele spoofed the musical Les Miserables with a hilarious song, "One At a Time." Their voices overlap as they belt out their lines:
"Do I let this fight end now?" / "Do not interrupt me."
"Just to end this life of pain." / "Let me finish what I need to say."
"Will the end be welcome now?" / "Fine, I'll let you finish first..."
"One at a time." / "Will he ever know his daughter?"
"Lady, seriously, please hang on."
It's a clangor of voices, and a clangor of storylines: an alarming assault on the ears that's not just loud but also full of echoes and repetitions.
Talk about another clangorous song, skit, scene, performance, or public event: one that assaults the ears with a clangor of voices, a clangor of instruments, or a clangor of storylines or perspectives. Did you find it all entertaining, irritating, or both? Why?
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.
This month, we're playing "What's the Word?"
On Reddit, r/whatstheword is a community of about 55,000 members: folks who gather to help each other out when they can't think of a particular word. "It's on the tip of my tongue," they say. Or, "This word might not even exist. Help!"
In each issue this month, check out a post from the community, and see if you can come up with the word or phrase in question. We'll work our way from relatively easy to extremely hard questions as the month goes on.
From the previous issue: A community member asked, "What’s the word for an act when you let out all the hidden emotion and pain from yourself either by speaking or doing?"
Answer: catharsis.
Try this today: A community member asked, "What's the word for when you think you're smarter than people from history because you know that the decisions made were mistakes? Like saying ‘Napoleon was stupid for invading Russia’ is obvious to us now, but it's only obvious because someone made that mistake. Is there a word for when someone acts smug, like they would have known better?"
I'll share the answer in the upcoming issue, but if you can't wait, you can view the whole original thread here.
review this word:
1. A near opposite of CLANGORING is
A. PASSIVE.
B. SUBDUED.
C. COOPERATIVE.
2. In I, Robot, Isaac Asimov wrote, "He rose, and walked the floor slowly. The _____ walls _____ the clangor of his steps."
A. dim .. reflected
B. padded .. enhanced
C. metal .. dinned back
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
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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.
Shout the word clangor, and you'll hear how it sounds like a bell: a loud, ringing, banging, clamoring bell.
"CLANGOR" In Latin, clangere means "to ring, or to resound," and in Greek, klange means "a sharp sound." Clangere and klange were probably formed by imitating the sound of a bell, a bird, or a trumpet. And they probably gave us our English "clang," meaning "a loud sound" or "to make a loud sound."
"Yet the ear distinctly tells,
Explain the meaning of "clangor" without saying "peal" or "blare."
In their sketch comedy show, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele spoofed the musical Les Miserables with a hilarious song, "One At a Time." Their voices overlap as they belt out their lines:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of CLANGORING is
|