That word

So the other day I was walking in the woods and something popped into my head, and I thought, “Oh, it’s like a … like a … oh, what’s the word?” And I couldn’t think of the word. It was driving me nuts. I spent about 45 minutes trying to come up with the word, to no avail. Though I did manage to come up with five or six other words that I felt pretty sure were somehow related to the word I was trying to think of. (One of them was “chiaroscuro.”) I finally got home and googled the definition and got the word: palimpsest. Oh course! Palimpsest, how could I ever forget you?

I first started noticing this word a few years ago in some books I read. I didn’t know it, and was too lazy to go look it up, so I just started guessing based on context that it had something to do with light shining through or around something or maybe making shadows. I think this is because somehow “palimpsest” reminds me of the phrase “penumbras and emanations” from Supreme Court jurisprudence. This misimpression became so fixed in my mind that I still have to remind myself sometimes that this isn’t what the word means. (And hence the association with “chiaroscuro.”)

What it actually means is: “A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible.” I remember the first time I looked it up my first thought was, “What a ridiculously pretentious word. Who would ever use that in a conversation? Give me a break.” (Okay, I guess actually my very first thought was, “Huh? There must be some mistake. I was sure it had something to do with light, etc.”) But I’ve subsequently been surprised at how often that word captures exactly what I’m trying to say. So then I can say, “Hey, it’s like a palimpsest!” and whoever I’m talking to can say, “What the #@%! is a palimpsest?” Which limits the word’s communicative value somewhat.

But it occurred to me that if I blogged about it, that would probably double the number of people I’m ever likely to run into who know what a palimpsest is. So next time I use it you’ll know what I’m talking about. Just don’t go spreading it around. It’ll be our little secret.

Or maybe you all knew it already and I’m just way behind the curve.