encomium

news to me

Definition of encomium:
“n., pl. -mi·ums or -mi·a

1. Warm, glowing praise.
2. A formal expression of praise; a tribute.

[Latin encōmium, from Greek enkōmion (epos), (speech) praising a victor, neuter of enkōmios, of the victory procession : en-, in; see en–² + kōmos, celebration.” (answers.com).

Where I ran across it:
11/26/08 Time magazine article, “Bush’s Last Days: The Lamest Duck,” by Joe Klein.

“…Bush has that forlorn what-the-hell-happened? expression on his face, the one that has marked his presidency at difficult times. You never want to see the President of the United States looking like that.

So I've been searching for valedictory encomiums. His position on immigration was admirable and courageous; he was right about the Dubai Ports deal and about free trade in general. He spoke well, in the abstract, about the importance of freedom. He is an impeccable classicist when it comes to baseball. And that just about does it for me.…”

My two cents:
I thank my friend, Leanne, for sending me to Joe Klein’s spot-on, vocabulary-enriching article. Encomium is a perfectly wonderful word, but way too close in my mind to “meconium” which, how do I put this, is poo. My brain is now straining (sorry) to separate the praise from the poo. How hard should that be?

Perhaps I should just embrace this unlikely pairing and celebrate the birth of a new term I just made up: “meconium encomium.” I’ve decided it's akin to faint praise, only worse. Much worse. Downright poopy, in fact. Coined just in time for Mr. Bush’s exit.

How appropriate.