ostrichism
Sep. 12th, 2018 07:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordostrichism (AW-strich-izm) - n., the habit or policy of refusing to face unpleasant facts.
The act of burying one's figurative head in the sand, much as the ostrich has been popularly believed to do by way of hiding its whole self, thinking that if it can't see the lion, the lion can't see it. This is not a recent coinage -- it dates back to at least the 1830s. Ostrich itself is Latin strūthiō with an initial vowel added on passing through Old French, from Greek, shortened from strouthiokámēlos, literally sparrow-caeml.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
The act of burying one's figurative head in the sand, much as the ostrich has been popularly believed to do by way of hiding its whole self, thinking that if it can't see the lion, the lion can't see it. This is not a recent coinage -- it dates back to at least the 1830s. Ostrich itself is Latin strūthiō with an initial vowel added on passing through Old French, from Greek, shortened from strouthiokámēlos, literally sparrow-caeml.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
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