Word Trips - Dogmas, Catechisms and a few Antics

Grasp the subject and the words will follow - Cato the Elder

Tripping on words again on an empty Wednesday morning. Lot's of blood in the news. About time the dailies started printing their front pages in red. Opened an escape hatch into the world of words and discovered a world of animals  -- animals, insects and lesser creatures. 

Wondering what is the role played by a dog in a doggerel and why does a cat have to bear the burden  of a catatonic state? Isn't it marvellous that industrious ants, great social-networkers these little guys, have been recruited to perform antics for the benefit of the language or look for opposites (er antonyms) when a Thesaurus is not at hand. You say I am driven by a dogma, no Sir I am not! Look around yourself, there are hundreds of such words in the English language. 

By the way, a word of warning. If your best friend is an etymologist ( guys who tear apart words to look into their past) keep her away form this. Unless you are calling for a catastrophe!

A tasting sample:

Ant-antler antonym antique

Dog: dogmatic doggone dogma

Cat: cathartic catatonic catapult catastrophe catechism cataclysm

Cow: coward cowslip cower 

Bat-batted batter batten bath battle bathroom

Share with us what more such words you can find. Throw them here, under the Comments section below. If there are examples from Indian languages, post them here. Happy hunting!

Copyright 2010, Rajat Chaudhuri and rajatchaudhuri.net

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