A belated confession

Just a small matter, really, but it has been troubling my conscience for some time.

A couple of years ago, as you may recall, I posted a detailed explanation for the origins of the word “sesquipedalian”, attributing it to the Indonesian language. 

An Entirely Gratuitous Circumlocutory Retrospective – The Lounge – The Diecast Zone Forums

Given the response at the time, I believe that some Forum members found it amusing and informative and may even have been tempted to pass on this gem of cultural and linguistic background to others in an attempt to impress.

Unfortunately, I now feel compelled to confess that it was a work of pure fiction. I really ought to know better than to deceive the more impressionable members of our community with wilful misinformation, and I now apologise unreservedly.

The word sesquipedalian actually comes from the world of cycling, and originally referred to individuals who became so obsessed with mechanical complexity for its own sake that they re-engineered their machines with six pedals (hence, sesqui-pedal-ian) where two would normally suffice.

Because these “sesquipedalian” victims of OCD also had a tendency to describe their mechanical overkill at enormous length, and using unnecessarily complex technical terms, the word gradually came to be applied to anyone habitually using several long words (six being a typical number) to make a statement where two short ones would do the job. It therefore become a term of abuse, which of course did NOT apply in cases where the use of additional pedals was probably a practical necessity.

And that is how the term gradually acquired connotations of intemperate verbosity, applicable to individuals who (unlike you or I) are obsessively inclined to disseminate their inner intellectual and temperamental ruminations in excessively polysyllabic fashion, to the detriment of brevity and fundamental comprehensibility.

Of course, some wannabe sesquipedalians took things even further.

Unfortunately some cyclists who attempted to adopt the sesquipedalian approach misunderstood the basic mechanical concept, with sometimes curious results.

And some of their more advanced designs, while displaying considerable ingenuity, never really got past the concept stage.

So, that sets the story straight. This belated amendment to my earlier post may not have been strictly necessary, but I couldn’t help feeling that the lounge lizards have been settling into a rather over-relaxed, laid-back state recently, and I thought a touch of invigorating bewilderment might provide a welcome stimulus.

But, as so often before, I may have misjudged the situation, in another desperate attempt to secure the  “Most Pointless Post of the Month” award.

I might just add,however, that even a lie may contain a grain of truth . . .

p.s. Some of you may feel moved to do a little research and you may find websites which suggest that “sesqui” means “one and a half” rather than “six”. But of course you know better than to believe the ignorant rubbish you find online. I mean, one and a half times normal would give you THREE pedals on a bicycle. That is just absurd.