OT: Re: "mnemonic possession"

W Brewer brewerwa at GMAIL.COM
Sun Oct 27 18:49:49 UTC 2013


Eenie meenie chili beanie, the spirits are about to speak. Must be Hallowe'en
is nigh, and I am being channeled by Eric Partridge ... He says that
me:mno:n is the present participle of mna~sthai, whence the adjective
mnemonic. Moment please, he is being drowned out by a spirit with heavy
Swedish accent ... yes, Hjalmar Frisk says that's a load of smorgasbord,
mnemonic derives from mne~mo:n 'medveten', and -mon- is a just a suffix.
Naja. Julius Pokorny has something to say, but all I can hear now are
screeching tram brakes. ... Their voices are a fading cacophony, as the
crystal-ball-o-meter reads empty.

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