World Wide Words -- holiday special 2

[Michael Quinion]

WORLD WIDE WORDS

The editor of the Ross Guardian of South Island, New Zealand,
apologised to his readers in the issue of 30 December 1876: "Our
staff have been picnicing during the past two days and as it is
impossible to work and play at the same time the reports of
sports and other items are held over until the next issue."

The editor of World Wide Words feels much the same way. He
is currently taking a much-needed holiday break and the next issue
of the newsletter is scheduled for 25 March. Meanwhile, here's a
little something to be going on with:

Weird Words: Nychthemeron  /nIk'TEm at rQn/ or (nik-THEM-er-on)
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A day and a night, a period of 24 hours.

Most dictionaries define it in this way, but they ought strictly to
say that it's "a night and a day", because the Greek roots of the
word are "nyktos" (night) and "hemera" (day). It's not infrequently
spelled "nycthemeron" instead and the usual pronunciation, with a
"th" in the middle (as in "thin"), blurs the join between the two
Greek elements.

It was written that way round because in classical times a new day
began at sunset, a rule perpetuated in some religions today. Though
"nychthemeron" seems terminally obscure, it is still around, as is
its adjective, "nychthemeral". Those scientists who study the ways
in which the body's physiological activity varies hour by hour, as
in sleep research, make a distinction between "nychthemeral" and
the more common Latin-derived "circadian" (from "circa", about, +
"dies", a day).

"Circadian" refers to daily cycles that are driven by an internal
body clock, while nychthemeral rhythms are imposed by the external
environment. We suffer jet lag because the two cycles get out of
step. ("The major zeitgeber [time giver] for our sleep and wake
cycle is the nychthemeral alternation of dark and light that occurs
on the planet we inhabit." - William H Moorcroft, Understanding
Sleep and Dreaming, 2005.)


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