Make Your Point > Archived Issues > LOTUS-EATER & LOTUSLAND

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connect today's word to others: Today's exotic-looking words come from The Odyssey, the ancient epic poem. It should remind us of these other words: 1. Homeric. Homer wrote The Odyssey. What does it mean when you say "their adventures were Homeric"? 2. Odyssey. What does it mean to go on an odyssey? How is it different from any other trip? 3. Nepenthean. In The Odyssey, nepenthe is "a drug to quiet all pain and strife, and bring forgetfulness of every ill." So today, what's an example of something you'd call nepenthean? make your point with... "LOTUS-EATER" & "LOTUSLAND" Like I mentioned above, these words come from the story of The Odyssey by Homer. In one part of that story, a group of people who live on an island are always eating the fruit of the lotus plant, which makes them lazy, sleepy, and forgetful. They don't do any work--they just laze around eating those plants. A lotus-eater, then, is a person who lives a lazy, dreamy, luxurious, and forgetful life. And a lotusland is a place (or a situation) where people can live lazy, dreamy, luxurious, and forgetful lives. Pronunciation: Just like you'd expect: "lotus-eater" is pronounced "LOW dis EE der" and "lotusland" is pronounced "LOW dis land." Part of speech: Both are countable nouns. (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 lotus-eater, one lotusland, multiple lotus-eaters, or multiple lotuslands.) Other forms: You've also got "lotus-eat" and "lotus-eating." How to use it: Although we should always think for a moment before using a word based on literature that not everyone is familiar with, I believe that the terms "lotus-eater" and "lotusland" will be easy for your listeners to understand, based on the context and tone you use. The interesting thing about the lotus-eaters in Homer's story is that, while they were lazy and self-indulgent, they were also deeply forgetful and unaware. Their food was drugging them. So, pick the words "lotus-eater" and "lotusland" when you need to emphasize not only laziness and indulgence but also numbness, apathy, or a total lack of awareness. Let's look at how we use the word "lotus-eater." We often make it plural, as in "those lotus-eaters on the cruise ship." When we use the singular, although we might simply call someone a lotus-eater ("she's such a lotus-eater"), more often we talk about someone acting like a lotus-eater, feeling like a lotus-eater, or living the life of a lotus-eater. Now let's look at "lotusland." Talk about people living in lotusland (or living in a lotusland). Or, say that a particular place is lotusland (or, again, that a place is a lotusland). If you prefer, you can capitalize it: "They're dreaming their lives away in that Lotusland." examples: My phone may have turned me into a lotus-eater; I'm content to sit idly, tapping, scrolling, reading, and just barely thinking. In our childhood and early teen years, we'd drift leisurely from the theater to the Tilt while breathing in the scent of Chick-fil-A nuggets: it was a time when the shopping mall was still a lotusland. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definitions in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "lotus-eater" means when you can explain it without saying "stargazer" or "oblivious person." And you’ll know you understand what "lotusland" means when you can explain it without saying "easy street" or "paradise." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "I was lotus-eating (at a particular time or place), (doing something in particular that was lazy, luxurious, and effortless)." Example: "We were lotus-eating that summer, spending our days by the pool, paging through Teen Magazine." 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. Our game this month is "A Vocabulary of Movie Quotes." Jean Picker Firstenberg at the American Film Institute (AFI) says, "Great movie quotes become part of our cultural vocabulary." I believe it! I bet you can recall, verbatim, any of the AFI's "100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time" if all I give you is a single word from the quote. For example, if I give you the word KANSAS, I bet you can recite this: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," from The Wizard of Oz (1939). I'll share each answer in the following issue. And we’ll work our way forward in time, starting with the oldest movies. Let’s play! From the previous issue: From a 1995 film, what's the famous quote that includes the word HOUSTON? Answer: From Apollo 13: "Houston, we have a problem." Try this today: From a 1996 film, what's the famous quote that includes the word HELLO? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of LOTUS-EATER is A. HARD WORKER B. CARNIVORE C. SKEPTIC 2. Even as early as 1953, we fretted over _____, fearing it would turn us all into lotus-eaters. A. television B. each new exercise craze C. the looming threat of nuclear war 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. A 2. A