Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SISYPHEAN

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connect today's word to others: Sisyphus, that king from Greek mythology, was the one who irked the gods and paid for it with a hideous punishment: to roll a heavy rock up a hill, only to see it roll back down, over and over, for all eternity.  His task was la___ious (demanding hard work), purposeless, and endless: it was Sisyphean. Let's recall two more mythic terms for tedious work: A job that takes a ton of strength, bravery, or work is H_____ean. And a problem that's hard to work on or resolve because it's so complicated and so persistent is a h___a. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "SISYPHEAN" Something Sisyphean involves pointless, endless hard work. Pronunciation: SISS uh FEE un Part of speech: Proper adjective.  You always capitalize proper adjectives, like "Korean," "Shakespearean," and "Christian." (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a Sisyphean task." 2. After a linking verb, as in "The task was Sisyphean.") Other forms: An alternate, less common spelling of our adjective "Sisyphean" is "Sisyphian." Here are the nouns: the person who does pointless, endless hard work is a Sisyphus or a Sisyphist, and the idea or act of pointless, endless hard work is Sisyphism. Finally, y'all, we need to talk about the adverb. No dictionaries (that I know of) recognize "Sisypheanly," but some people use it anyway, and wow, it's ugly! "We labored Sisypheanly." "We're Sisypheanly doomed." Let me suggest we just use the phrase "like Sisyphus:" "We labored like Sisyphus," "Like Sisyphus, we're doomed." How to use it: When you need to be dramatic, or highly emphatic, refer to some ongoing task as Sisyphean. (Examples of Sisyphean tasks include homework, housework, farming, parenting, accounting, social reform, pain management, and keeping up with the Joneses.) Although we most often talk about Sisyphean tasks, we can also talk about Sisyphean work, labor, effort, and attempts; Sisyphean struggles, progress, tedium, monotony, and futility; Sisyphean methods, strategies, mindsets, and so on--or, if we're feeling melancholy, the Sisyphean nature of life. Sometimes we reference the myth of Sisyphus even more specifically by talking about a Sisyphean stone, boulder, or hill: "he keeps on rolling those Sisyphean stones," "she feels relief now, but she's just reached the top of her Sisyphean hill." examples: As her brothers bolt down their dinner, consuming in five minutes what took her three hours to prepare, Cal watches the dirty dishes pile up and curses her Sisyphean life in the kitchen. "But striving for inbox zero is, of course, a Sisyphean effort at best. Just when you think the task is complete—ping!—a new message rolls in. And then another. And another."    — Jocelyn K. Glei, TIME Magazine, 29 September 2016 study it: Explain the meaning of "Sisyphean" without saying "useless" or "exhausting." try it out: Fill in the blank: "_____ seems, at times, like a Sisyphean trudge." Example: "Straightening the impulse displays seemed, at times, like a Sisyphean trudge." before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, Jeopardy!" In each issue, I'll create three "answers" for you, and you supply the "questions." (That is, you'll respond in the form of a question, like "What is...?" or "Who is...?") From the previous issue: 1. Category: Spicy Spelling. Answer: This, and not the phonetic "KORE ee an dur," is how you spell the aromatic flavoring element made from a plant native to Southern Europe, which in the 1700s served as a slang term for "coin" or "money." Question: What is C-O-R-I-A-N-D-E-R? 2. Category: Hear-Saying. Answer: To "listen to this" is to accept advice that's sensible. Question: What is reason? 3. Category: Words in "January." Answer: As the joke goes, when a door stands open, it's no longer a door: it's this. What is "ajar"? Try these today: 1. Category: Hear-Saying. Answer: It wasn't one of his Fourteen Points: this 28th president once said that "the ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people." 2. Category: Words in "January." Answer: It's a fiber for knitting, or a tale told.  3. Category: Where Did the Soda Go? Answer: Useful all around the house, sodium bicarbonate is better known as this. review today's word: 1. A near opposite of SISYPHEAN TASK is A. HELPING HAND. B. PIECE OF CAKE. C. STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. 2. Frédéric Bastiat decried the practice of creating economic scarcity, labeling it Sisyphism, "_____." A. a grand faux pas B. labour infinite, product nil C. easily embraced, easily discarded Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. B