Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PHANTASMAGORIA

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connect today's word to others: Sources conflict, but as best I can tell, in 1798 the inventor Étienne-Gaspard Robertson first presented his fantasmagorie, a lantern that threw on the walls a series of quickly-changing, quickly-moving shapes, which he used to entertain the crowd as he told stories, often spooky ones. You can see why, then, the "phanta-" in our word phantasmagoria definitely comes from the Greek phantasma, "a ghost or an apparition," as in phantom, phantasm, and phantasmal. As for the "-agora" part, we're not sure. Robertson might have chosen it because it sounds cool, or it might be based on the Greek agora, "assembly," in which case a phantasmagoria would be, literally, an assembly of ghosts. So, imagine a dream or a movie scene that's phantasmagorical, full of quickly shifting shapes. Now make it less frightening and more colorful: it's ka_______opic. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "PHANTASMAGORIA" A literal phantasmagoria is a light display of rapidly shifting shapes. And a figurative phantasmagoria is a scene, a vision, or a situation in which things change and shift rapidly in a scary, unreal, or dreamlike way. Pronunciation: FAN tazz muh GORE ee uh Part of speech: Noun, usually the countable kind ("a phantasmagoria," "these phantasmagorias"). Other forms: An alternate noun is "phantasmagory." (It means the same thing as "phantasmagoria.") You can talk about phantasmagorists: people who create phantasmagorias. For an adjective, take your pick: "phantasmagorical" (my preference), "phantasmagoric," "phantasmagorial," or "phantasmagorian." And, whew, the adverbs: "phantasmagorically" or "phantasmagorially." How to use it: Pick the long, flashy "phantasmagoria" when you need to emphasize the dreamlike, ghostly, frenzied, or unnatural way in which some scene or situation changes. Talk about someone seeing, witnessing, or experiencing a phantasmagoria; about someone being hurled into or trapped inside a phantasmagoria; about images, shapes, people, vehicles, sounds, thoughts and so on creating or forming a phantasmagoria, melding into a phantasmagoria, etc. Often we add "of:" the phantasmagoria of the marketplace, a phantasmagoria of squealing tires and shattering glass, the phantasmagoria of rock music videos plastered on screens around the restaurant, etc. And sometimes we treat "phantasmagoria" like an uncountable noun: "the stories are full of phantasmagoria," "the show went full phantasmagoria." examples: "Grey Seal" opens in a phantasmagoria of rollicking piano notes, perfect for introducing the shifting, abstract images in the lyrics: "Why's it never light on my lawn? / Why does it rain / And never say good-day to the new-born? / On the big screen they showed us the sun. / But not as bright in life as the real one." "Beth Lipman's spectacular 'Laid (Time-) Table with Cycads'...definitely needed friendly local cooperation to be practicable. It's a tabletop phantasmagoria of shattered crystal that, after being packed into 138 boxes, was reassembled by the artist herself."    — Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times, 5 August 2016 study it: Explain the meaning of "phantasmagoria" without saying "shifting scene" or "hallucinative mishmash." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Something) (does something) in a phantasmagorical whirl." Example: "Bats cloud the sky in a phantasmagorical whirl." before you review, play: 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 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 the Dangerous Device Disposal Debacle? Answer: Although I first imagined this one as a cartoonish dash to destroy a ticking bomb, only to have it blow up in one's face à la Looney Tunes, the trope actually occurs when some dangerous device that could have been competently disposed of just, you know, wasn't, and later causes a terrible disaster. For example, in Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph tosses a Cy-Bug into taffy, never confirming that it's dead, so it goes on to wreak havoc. Try this today: In fiction, what is the trope known as Idiosyncratic Episode Naming? review today's word: 1. A close opposite of PHANTASMAGORICAL is A. TRANQUIL. B. DREAMLIKE. C. CONSISTENT. 2. The scene devolves into a phantasmagoria of _____. A. soft, regretful whispers B. glitter, lipstick, champagne, balloons, and fireworks C. total darkness, as if the viewers, too, must feel their way through the cave 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. B