INCULCATE

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Dr. Goodword
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INCULCATE

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:02 am

• inculcate •

Pronunciation: in-kêl-kayt, in-kêl-kaytHear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, transitive

Meaning: To thoroughly teach by frequent repetition or other strong measures; to firmly embed a concept in someone's mind.

Notes: Today's Good Word bears a slight tinge of pejorativity, though it may be used quite positively in the right context. It has produced a large and illustrious family of derivations: inculcator, someone who inculcates, inculcation, the process itself, and both inculcatory and inculcative serve as adjectives.

In Play: Inculcation implies very thorough training: "My mother inculcated good table manners in me so thoroughly that even today I cannot enjoy a meal if I see a salad fork inside the dinner fork." Inculcation also implies thorough, permanent learning: "I don't think anyone can inculcate Gladys Friday with the importance of coming to work on time and finishing out the day."

Word History: The pejorative sense of this Good Word comes from its Latin ancestor: inculcatus, the past participle of inculcare "to force upon". This verb was created from the preposition in "in, on" + calcare "to trample", itself derived from calx (calc-s) "heel". (Teachers were once much more forceful in their methods than today.) The root of the Latin word for "heel", kalk-, shows up in Lithuanian kulnas "heel" and a few others but with no spectacular results. (We have thanked Mark Bailey, a Grand Panjandrum at the Alpha Agora, for Good Words like this one enough that our gratitude by this time should be well inculcated.)
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Perry
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Postby Perry » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:17 am

We have thanked Mark Bailey, a Grand Panjandrum at the Alpha Agora, for Good Words like this one enough that our gratitude by this time should be well inculcated.
And he has tried to inculcate in us the belief that he is a chimp. :wink:
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
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