Hey! I’m here in a professional capacity today to teach you about Greek and Latin roots and affixes. Breaking down words you don’t know for their parts, a skill I practice with my students daily, helps build vocabulary because 60 percent of the English language is built with those roots and affixes.
I’ve noticed a bit of confusion surrounding three words in particular this week: asymptomatic, presymptomatic, and defund. Lucky for you, these three words are easily broken down. Are you ready for your vocabulary lesson?
| Vocab Word Number 1: Asymptomatic (adjective) |
| A–a Greek prefix that means without or no |
| Symptom—a word from Greek and Latin that means showing signs of illness |
| Atic/ic–a Latin and Greek suffix that means characteristic of and makes words adjectives |
| Put It All Together and What Do You Get? Showing no signs of illness |
| Why does it matter? Because you can test positive for an illness, like COVID-19, but show no symptoms. You should still wear a mask in public because you still could spread the disease. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/health/asymptomatic-presymptomatic-coronavirus-spread-explained-wellness/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/12/health/coronavirus-mask-wellness-trnd/index.html |
| Vocab Word Number 2: Presymptomatic (adjective) |
| Pre–a Latin prefix that means before |
| Symptom–a word from Greek and Latin that means showing signs of illness |
| Atic/ic–a Latin and Greek suffix that means characteristic of and makes words adjectives |
| Put It All Together and What Do You Get? Before signs of illness start |
| Why does it matter? Because you can show no signs of being sick before becoming ill with COVID-19. You should still wear a mask in public because you still could spread the disease. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/health/asymptomatic-presymptomatic-coronavirus-spread-explained-wellness/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/12/health/coronavirus-mask-wellness-trnd/index.html |
| Vocab Word Number 3: Defund (verb) |
| De–a Latin prefix that means to take away or to remove or reverse |
| Fund–a word from Latin that means to finance |
| Put It All Together and What Do You Get? To take away or remove money |
| Why does it matter? Because taking away money doesn’t necessarily mean abolishing the police force or taking away all of the money. Look at education, the government has been defunding education for years–but often, like I saw on the news this morning, instead of using the word defund because of its negative connotation, taking money away from education is often described as the euphemistic “deep budget cuts.” Choosing to use the word defund instead of a word or phrase with a more positive connotation is divisive, creating even more controversy around rethinking traditional law enforcement. |
If the potential money defunded from the police were redirected to education, maybe there:
1. Wouldn’t be so much confusion over what words mean or how they can be chosen so carefully to inflame either side of the aisle to react based on their emotions instead of looking at the facts and participating in rational discourse. After all, it’s common knowledge that words are powerful, and often they are loaded with biased emotions. (Sorry for the cliché.)
2. Wouldn’t be so much confusion about which news sources are reliable.
3. Wouldn’t be such a distrust of science.
4. Wouldn’t be such a stigma surrounding admitting that you were wrong.
5. Wouldn’t be such a reluctance to rethink our many societal establishments steeped in racism.
6. Wouldn’t be so many people who lack empathy.
7. Wound’t be . . . . (You fill in the blank. The possibilities are endless because more education and change are the only answers. We need to start SHOVELING money, from all directions–not just rerouted money from police departments, into the public education system instead of continuing to take it away.)
