Hi everyone and Welcome to Vocabulary TV.
This is our 33rd video lesson on Roots Prefixes
and Suffixes in English Vocabulary.
In this episode, we are going to cover the
prefix EU which is found in several words
of Greek origin, which can be seen hanging
on the tree braches, and this prefix lends
the meaning good, or well to the main word.
With this beautiful link that connects these
words starting with “eu” lets try to explore
and learn them further.
Perhaps the most popular word that starts
with ‘eu’ is Eureka.
Eureka! is an expression of joy or satisfaction
and literally means “I have found it”
. Like all words having the prefix ‘eu’,
it is of greek origin.
The exclamation 'Eureka!' is famously attributed
to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes.
The story goes that he had stepped into a
bath and noticed that the water level rose
whereupon he suddenly understood that the
volume of water displaced must be equal to
the volume of the part of his body he had
submerged.
As the realization dawned upon him that the
volume of irregular objects could be measured
with precision (which was previously an intractable
problem), he is said to have become so eager
to share his discovery that he leapt out of
his bathtub and ran through the streets of
Syracuse naked.
So its not uncommon to encounter the word
in daily usage… for instance , look at the
following sentence.
"The answer hit me.
‘Eureka!’
I cried“
Next word is euphoria.
Euphoria is a state of mind when you feel
extremely good, i.e. to say it’s a feeling
or state of intense excitement and happiness.
If we look at the word origin, around 17th
century the word denoted the well-being produced
in a sick person by the use of drugs…
So, Sometimes the word Euphoria denotes a
feeling of exaggerated, or unfounded well
being.
An example sentence is: “Radha has been
in seventh heaven ever since Shyam asked her
out,” said Meera, dismissing her friends
euphoria.
Similar phrases containing the came meaning
are: being on top of the world or being on
cloud 9…
And of course, in India we have a very popular
rock band by that name credited with beautiful
songs such as “Maaeri”…
Next word which is equally common and important
in English is Euphemism.
The word derives from the prefix eu meaning
‘well’ AND phēmē meaning ‘speaking’.
So, euphemism essentially refers to those
cases when one tries to use good words while
speaking instead of offensive or embarrassing
ones.
If you look up its meaning in Oxford Dictionary,
it goes like: a mild or indirect word or expression
substituted for one considered to be too harsh
or blunt when referring to something unpleasant
or embarrassing.
A simple example would be this boy referring
to himself as “hygienically challenged”
instead of dirty.
We use such expressions in English language
everyday.
Like for instance, instead of saying that
someone has died, we might use the phrase:
he “passed away”.
Instead of saying that someone is handicapped
or disabled, we might use the term “physically
challenged” or even “differently abled”
to refer to such a person.
Similarly, an employer might tell one of his
unwanted employees that “we have to let
you go” which is a milder term for the expression
“we are firing you; clean-your-desk-and-be-gone-the-next-morning”
which would obviously sound very blunt and
insensitive; though both expressions mean
that the guy has lost his job.
In daily conversations, when you ask someone
as to what his or her current occupation is,
you might get the response: “Oh!
I am between jobs now-a-days,” which is
nothing but a euphemism or less embarrassing
expression for “I am unemployed” and to
make one’s profession sound good one might
use and prefer the designation a “sanitary
engineer”, instead of being called a “garbage
collector”.
At last, let’s suppose two women are talking
to each other and one of them remarks: “you
seem to have gained a few extra pounds lately;
or even “you look quite full-figured.”
I think it’s a very kind thing to say but
what it actually means is that the other female
has become quite fat or even obese.
As you would have guessed by now, euphemisms
are so popular as these expressions sound
polite and help us avoid speaking something
that may be very harsh or unpleasant to hear.
To summarize, euphemisms make what you speak
sound good.
Then we have one word which is one of the
biggest ethical dilemmas for societies around
the world.
The question on euthanasia and whether it
should be allowed or not!
Derived from euthanatos, from prefix eu meaning
good AND thanatos meaning death, the word
euthanasia literally means a good or easy
death.
The term euthanasia is also understood as
mercy killing.
Euthanasia means painless killing of a patient
suffering from an incurable and painful disease
or in an irreversible coma.
The best example that comes to my mind is
the role played by Hritik Roshan in the movie
Guzaarish.
The protagonist meets with a terrible accident,
as a result of which he is forced to spend
the rest of his life with a total body paralysis,
confined to his wheel-chair, and is so helpless
that he is not even able to remove a fly from
his nose.
In the movie, the main character pleads to
the court that his life is not worth living
and so he be allowed to die, i.e. he be allowed
euthanasia.
Next word is Eupepsia… and sometimes remembering
the meaning of the other root becomes a challenge,
but it would be quite cool if you try and
link these words to some common things that
you already know.
I am pointing towards the brand Pepsi…
Did you know that the drink Pepsi was first
introduced as "Brad's Drink" in United States,
in 1893 by Caleb Bradham, who made and sold
it at his drugstore.
Bradham renamed it Pepsi Cola in 1898, as
he believed that the drink was more than a
refreshment but a “healthy” cola, aiding
in digestion, and getting its roots from the
word dyspepsia, meaning indigestion.
So, there goes the connection: eu means good
and pepsi means digestion so the word means
good digestion.
The opposite of eupepsia is dyspepsia meaning
bad digestion.
Then we have the word euphony and its opposite
word cacophony.
The greek root phone means sound, it’s the
same root that is shared by several other
words like telephone (named so because it
can send sounds over a long distance).
So euphony literally means a good sound and
euphony refers to the quality of being pleasing
to the ear.
Like, I can perhaps say that the sound of
a nightingale singing is euphony.
A related adjective is euphonious and an example
for usage would be: The boss seemed visibly
flattered by the stream of fine, euphonious
phrases uttered by his secretary.
Cacophony, on the other hand, means bad sounding.
Any sound, hearing which you would want to
shut your ears to block it out can be described
as a cacophony.
Our next word based on the prefix EU is eugenics.
The prefix EU means good and the base word
‘genos’ means race or stock or kin.
The base word is the same as the one from
which we derive several other words like genes
which we all know is the basic unit of heredity
which determines certain characteristics in
the offspring.
Eugenics refers to the science or rather a
social philosophy of improving human population
by controlled breeding; the aim is to increase
the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.
You would be surprised to know that around
1920’s and 1930’s there were many takers
and proponents of such eugenic ideals and
in some countries people with less-desired
or undesired traits were reportedly forced
to undergo sterilization so that they could
not reproduce and pass on their (so called
)“unwanted traits” . But, the movements
lost steam later.
Now-a-days, with advancements in gene-editing
and assistive reproductive technologies; eugenics
has again become a relevant issue.
Time is not far when parents might desire
fairer, healthier babies, ones with more IQ
- perhaps a girl who looks like Priyanka Chopra
- or a boy who is as intelligent as Einstein,
and actually get one.
Then we have the word Eulogy which literally
means “good words” and hence words of
praise, though its meaning could be traced
to the Greek word “elegy” or the Latin
word “elogium” meaning inscription on
a tomb.
Well, In today’s English: eulogy, which
is a noun, refers to any speech or piece of
writing that praises someone or something
highly, especially a tribute to someone who
has just died.
For instance
At Martha’s memorial service, instead of
delivering a spoken eulogy, Nick sang a song
he had written in her honour.
The corresponding verb is Eulogize.
To eulogize is to praise someone highly in
speech or writing.
Here, I will quote an example from recent
news: The media around the world eulogized
the great boxer Muhammad Ali -one of the most
significant and celebrated sports figures
of the 20th century- as he passed away on
June 3, 2016.
Though the word eulogize can easily be used
in other contexts as well (i.e. apart from
praising someone who has died) , like in the
following sentence: Critics everywhere have
eulogized her new novel.
A related word is eulogistic which is an adjective.
Notice how it is used in the following sentence:
The newspapers were filled with dozens of
eulogistic articles in his memory.
Our last words that are a little rare and
yet are based on the prefix are: Eucrasia
AND eudaemony.
They are quite similar actually.
While eucrasia means a normal state of health
and  physical well-being, the opposite word
for which would be dyscrasia;
eudemony means happiness or welfare so something
that is eudaemonic is conducive to happiness.
Now test your understanding of the words learnt
in this lesson by filling the blank below…
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