Friday, October 27, 2017
Misoneism
Conall Cearnach (i.e. Frederick William O'Connell),"On Early Rising," The Age of Whitewash (Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son Ltd., 1921), pp. 108-111 (at 108):
Newer› ‹Older
I am a misoneist. Men of genius, Conservative politicians, lunatics, and savages are afflicted with misoneism. Therefore, since modesty will not permit of my claiming for myself a place among the first class, I prefer to include myself among the last. But what is misoneism? It is the Greek for "hatred of novelty"; an instinctive reluctance to adopt new-fangled notions, or to take advantage of modern inventions and conveniences.Greek has many compounds beginning with μισο-, but none of those compounds (so far as I can tell) end with elements meaning new (νέος, καινός). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, misoneism comes from Italian misoneismo (itself of course inspired by Greek).
