Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BUCOLIC

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connect today's word to others: Our word bucolic ultimately comes from a Greek word meaning "cowherd" or "herdsman," formed from bous, meaning "ox or cow." That means bucolic shares a root with words like buffalo, butter (which might literally mean "cow cheese"), bulimia (literally "ox-hunger"), and our word Boeotian. (Boeotian literally refers to a rural place in ancient Greece full of cattle pastures, which sounds nice enough, so could you recall why it's an insult to call someone Boeotian?) Getting back to bucolic, let's picture a bucolic scene, with lambs bleating quietly on a grassy hill, and soft sunlight shining through a red barn.  Images like this are rustic, peaceful, and pleasant. They're bucolic. They're also id___ic (happy, simple, and peaceful, like a pleasant day in the country) and hal__on (peaceful and happy, like a day with calm winds). (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "BUCOLIC" Something bucolic is simple and peaceful because it reminds you of life out in the country doing simple, peaceful things, like herding sheep in a pasture. Pronunciation: byoo CALL ick Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a bucolic thing." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was bucolic.") Other forms: bucolically, bucolicism How to use it: Use this word to be either serious or humorous as you talk about bucolic poems and poets; bucolic landscapes and images; bucolic places, features, settings, and atmospheres; bucolic peace, visions, and solitude, etc. You might also talk about bucolic people, perspectives, minds, etc. But be careful: to call people bucolic is to suggest that they're simple, backwards, stupid, or unsophisticated. examples: You know that bucolic Pepperidge Farm commercial, the one with the farmer, driving his wagon, talking about the good old days? It was spoofed by Family Guy and lives on in the form of an Internet meme, "Pepperidge Farm Remembers." "Although surrounded by bucolic winding roads and stunning vistas of the wooded foothills of the Catskill mountains, there are few stand-alone houses with big back gardens or picket fences."    —The Economist, 2 November 2017 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "bucolic" without saying "rustic" or "pastoral." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "Maybe we once (did, said, or believed a particular thing), but it's a (habit, practice, tradition, saying, belief, or phenomenon) long lost in the haze of the bucolic past." Example: "Maybe we once drove around in cars with no seat belts, but it's a practice long lost in the haze of the bucolic past." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing "Sleek Slogans." I'll take a familiar slogan from a company or a product, express that slogan in plain language, and tell you the specific qualities the slogan has (like rhyme or alliteration), and then you come up with the real slogan as well as the name of the company or product. From the previous issue: Rewrite this slogan by using parallelism (the use of balanced clauses or phrases) and antithesis (the side-by-side placement of contrasting ideas): "You can hold our product in your hand and it won’t become messy or sticky, but when you eat it, it’ll pleasantly dissolve." Answer: That's a slogan for M&Ms: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand."  Try this one today: Rewrite this slogan by using concision (the use of as few words as possible) and eye dialect (the use of nonstandard spelling for a humorous effect, also known as cacography): "Cows are cute and practically human in their ability to communicate, so perhaps you should do them a favor and eat fewer hamburgers, replacing those meals with the chicken that we sell." review today's word: 1. A close opposite of BUCOLIC is A. FACTIONAL. B. FRENETIC. C. FROWSY. 2. In _____, our chorus sang bucolic pieces, with lyrics about _____. A. the spring .. shepherds, daisied plains, and friendship B. the winter .. cherubim, bitter winds, bleakness, and frost C. the fall .. gold leaves, chilling breezes, and disappointment 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. A