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prettygoodwordsardonic (sahr-DON-ik) - adj., scornfully or cynically mocking; disdainfully or ironically humorous.
Not that anyone around here would act that way. Per Wikipedia, "being sardonic often involves expressing an uncomfortable truth in a clever and not necessarily malicious way, often with a degree of skepticism." However, it also encompasses outright scorn. Adopted in 1638 from French sardonique, from Latin sardonius, from Ancient Greek sardónios/sardánios, but here the trail gets confused, as the word means both "bitter or scornful laughter" and "of Sardinia," and no one is sure what the connection is -- one story is a supposed poisonous plant of Sardinia that, when ingested, caused the eater's face to contort in a look resembling scorn, but others include a possible connection to saírō, I grin, and sesērenai, to show one's teeth. So nice to know etymologists are spending their efforts to such good effect.
---L.
Not that anyone around here would act that way. Per Wikipedia, "being sardonic often involves expressing an uncomfortable truth in a clever and not necessarily malicious way, often with a degree of skepticism." However, it also encompasses outright scorn. Adopted in 1638 from French sardonique, from Latin sardonius, from Ancient Greek sardónios/sardánios, but here the trail gets confused, as the word means both "bitter or scornful laughter" and "of Sardinia," and no one is sure what the connection is -- one story is a supposed poisonous plant of Sardinia that, when ingested, caused the eater's face to contort in a look resembling scorn, but others include a possible connection to saírō, I grin, and sesērenai, to show one's teeth. So nice to know etymologists are spending their efforts to such good effect.
---L.
