lexical query

[John M. Spartz]

It might be too far afield, but how about "pharmakon" from Plato's Phaedrus (he
refers to writing as a pharmakon), as discussed in Derrida's Plato's Pharmacy to
mean both "remedy" and "poison"...?

John
__________________________________________
John M. Spartz
jspartz at purdue.edu
Graduate Instructor
English Linguistics
Purdue University


Quoting Michael H Covarrubias <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU>:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Michael H Covarrubias <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: lexical query
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> It might have too specific a meaning in that a solution would become the
> very
> problem that it is trying to solve. And it doesn't necessarily mean a
> blessing
> or a curse. But how about enantiodromia? It's a nice word for any situation
> that
> becomes its opposite.
>
> Michael
>
>
> Quoting "Arnold M. Zwicky":
> -----------
> > so, for the record: my friend was
> > looking for a generic (not specific)
> > term, covering a class of situations
> > (not speech acts or expressions).
> >  any candidates?  (as i said
> > earlier, "mixed blessing" comes
> > close.)
> >
> > arnold
> >
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