Thursday, September 1, 2011

truculent



truculent [ˈtrʌkyələnt] a.

1.) Characterized by or exhibiting ferocity or cruelty; fierce, cruel, savage, barbarous.
2.) Of speech or writing: Violent; rude; scathing; savage; harsh.
3.) transf. Of a disease: Destructive; deadly. Obs. rare.
4.) (In catachrestic use, associated with truck, truckle) Mean, base, mercenary (O.E.D. 2nd Ed.).

Etymology: Latin truculentus, from trux, truc-, fierce.

"But Zeus who masses cloud
regarded him with frowning brows and said:
'Do not come whining here, you two-faced brute,
most hateful to me of all the Olympians.
Combat and brawling are your element.
This beastly, incorrigible truculence
comes from your mother, Hera, whom I keep
but barely in my power, say what I will'".
(The Iliad by Homer, Robert Fitzgerald (trans.), 1974)

(The Ludovisi Ares, Roman copy of Greek original, ~200)

17 comments:

GMSoccerPicks said...

Here we say "Truculento" hahaha sounds better huh?

mamtc said...

Good one. So you would call my post today as truculent one?

shari said...

I've heard of "truculent sneers" or "truculent expressions"... at least in modern day verbiage. I deduced what it meant on my own. Cool picture of you climbing! Have you ever done any climbing in Yosemite?

D4 said...

I'm pretty sure I've read this before.

Unknown said...

Personally I prefer belligerent or bellicose.

Meri said...

always blaming the mother...

Unknown said...

It's a word to describe my students. Well, not all of them. But some of them...

themajessty said...

That dude is cute.

And you know I've been reading your blog for wayyy too long when I start to feel guilty for using mundane words like "dude" and "cute."

nowaysj said...

I am somewhat of a truculent father. Working on it.

Mai Yang said...

I'm most of the time "truculent" towards my classmates.

whoa.

re your comment: (that's how it works in the Philippines? you just drive your motorbike over to a girl's house and wave at them? seems pretty great.)
-I actually said yes after a few days :P

DEZMOND said...

ah, those Olympians are like people in Latin soaps :)

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Love that quotation!

A Beer for the Shower said...

I actually knew this word before you posted it, mostly because I am this word. My wife, however, doesn't so much like to call me 'truculent.' She prefers 'asshole.'

Admin said...

Nice post mate, i have herd the phrase on Tv and in some movies but never really properly understood it, had always thought it just meant bad lol

Bibi said...

I feel like lately, I've been rather truculent when talking to a lot of people, including myself. It's not something I enjoy.

coneforce said...

I knew this all...but always god to remind :) keep it up!

MRanthrope said...

There's something wrong with me...I read this word and keep picturing flatulent!

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