Word of the
Day for Sunday 2nd March 2014
Sciamachy \sahy-AM-uh-kee\, noun:
an
act or instance of fighting a shadow or an imaginary enemy.
No,
our man walks out of choice, and walks because only on foot can he engage in
the sciamachy essential to his trade: fencing with the shadows
of hat brims, gun muzzles and arms flung across brickwork by the beams of
Kliegs.
-- Will Self, Walking to Hollywood: Memories of Before the Fall, 2010
-- Will Self, Walking to Hollywood: Memories of Before the Fall, 2010
It
further tends to leave the self in disarray, without an orientation. And it
risks remaining wastefully engaged in psychological sciamachy –
a struggle with shadows or imaginary enemies.
-- Eric Sigg, The American T.S. Eliot: A Study of the Early Writings, 1989
-- Eric Sigg, The American T.S. Eliot: A Study of the Early Writings, 1989
Sciamachy is derived from the Greek skiamakhia,
which translates literally to "fighting in the shade," giving name to
the practice in ancient Greece of instructors teaching in shaded public places,
such as porches and groves.
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
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