Make Your Point > Archived Issues > GOLEM

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explore the archives: "Golem," a being made of clay or other materials and given supernatural life--or more generally, an automaton or robot--comes from Jewish legend. In Hebrew, golem means "shapeless mass," but it also means "e_____"--the noun form of our very recent adjective "e________," which describes things in a very early stage of development.   But back to that Jewish legend: it tells that a rabbi created the golem to protect all the Jews in Prague. Does that remind you of ge____ lo__, our two-word term for a magical guardian of a place or, more generally, the atmosphere or character of a place? make your point with... "GOLEM" Strictly speaking, a golem is a human figure made of clay or other materials that's been magically brought to life. This is the meaning used in Jewish mythology as well as in popular video games today. More generally, a golem is, first, a machine or robot in the form of a human, or second, an actual person who acts like a robot controlled by someone else. Also, because some versions of the Jewish myth about the golem involve this protective spirit turning evil, folks also use "golem" with this third meaning: "something we created that we lost control of when it turned evil or turned against us." Please note that no dictionaries recognize this meaning--it's simply how some people are using the word. Use it or avoid it at your discretion. Pronunciation: GO lum Part of speech: Countable noun. (Countable nouns, like "bottle," "piece," and "decision," are words for things that can be broken into exact units. You talk about "a bottle," "three pieces," and "many decisions." Likewise, talk about one golem or multiple golems.) Other forms: Just the plural, "golems." How to use it: Though I listed three general meanings for "golem," I'll focus on only the more useful second and third ones. For the meaning "person who acts like a robot," refer to people as golems when they're molded and controlled by someone or something else. You might talk about someone shaping golems, raising golems, breathing life into golems, summoning golems, commanding their golems, hiding behind their golems, etc. For the meaning "something that turns against its creator, or something that becomes bad or evil after being created," talk about coming to terms with your golem, vanquishing your golem, killing your golem, and so on. Some folks even use "golem" to describe any powerful thing they're struggling to take control of: a disease, a losing streak, a sense of the futility of life. Is this usage wildly loose? Yup. Take it or leave it. examples: I wonder if Tolkien meant to invite comparisons between a golem, a spirit endowed with humanity by magic, and Gollum, his character robbed of humanity by magic. (Yes, Gollum was a hobbit and not a human, but you know what I mean.) If you let it, television turns you into its golem: an obedient, passive viewer and consumer. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "golem" means when you can explain it without saying "body without a brain of its own" or "Frankenstein." try it out: What's something (or someone) that's too powerful? What is it (or who is it) that's making people act mindless these days? Fill in the blanks: "(Someone or something) is raising a (generation / horde) of golems."  Example: "That 'politician' is raising a horde of golems." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Language Techniques: When language sounds beautiful or memorable, often there’s some particular technique responsible for that effect. Each day this month, I’ll give you a specific stylistic technique or quality, and I’d like you to recreate (as closely as you can) the quote that I’ve botched by removing it. We’ll work our way from the easiest to the hardest techniques. Enjoy! From yesterday: Just like ending a sentence with a preposition, splitting an infinitive is totally acceptable in modern English despite the lingering myth that it isn't. ("Splitting an infinitive" is sliding a word in between "to" and the verb it belongs with, as in "to happily play" or "to never discover.") On Star Trek, the crew's mission isn't "to go where no man has gone before, boldly." What's the proper, more powerful word order here? Answer: "To boldly go where no man has gone before." Try this one today: Accumulation is a gathering of lots of words or phrases into a big impressive heap. Here's an example from E.B. White: "...under the floor boards the same freshwater leavings and debris--the dead helgramite, the wisps of moss, the rusty discarded fishhook, the dried blood from yesterday's catch." A book for kids by Judith Viorst isn't titled Alexander and the Bad Day. Restore the title's accumulation, and you get...? review today's word: 1. The closest opposite of GOLEM is A. GHOST IN THE MACHINE B. BENEVOLENT RULER C. HUMAN BEING 2. In their 1982 publication, Babad and Inbar examined how our low expectations for others can lead to their correspondingly low achievement. They called this phenomenon "the Golem effect" in reference to the mythological _____, which for the field at that time represented _____. A. man with the winged shoes .. the struggle to remain safely in between two extremes B. sirens ..  the ease with which the lazy could be enticed from on-task to off-task behavior C. mechanical creature who transforms into a monster .. distortions, biases, and stereotypes Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C