{"id":6989,"date":"2025-06-17T14:53:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=6989"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:58:12","slug":"word-of-the-day-torpor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2025\/06\/17\/word-of-the-day-torpor\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Torpor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to the WordGuru daily email, is torpor<\/em>. Torpor, pronounced \/ \u02c8t\u0254r p\u0259r \/, is a noun that means \u201csluggish inactivity or inertia,\u201d or \u201clethargic indifference; apathy,\u201d or \u201ca state of suspended physical powers and activities,\u201d or \u201cdormancy, as of a hibernating animal\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/torpor<\/a>). Samuel Johnson, in his 1755 dictionary, said it means this: \u201cDulness; numbness; inability to move; dulness of sensation\u201d (https:\/\/johnsonsdictionaryonline.com\/views\/search.php?term=torpor<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etymonline.com says that it appeared in English \u201cc. 1200, from Latin torpor<\/em> \u2018numbness, sluggishness,\u2019 from torpere<\/em> \u2018be numb, be inactive, be dull\u2019 (from PIE root *ster-<\/strong><\/a> (1) \u2018stiff\u2019) (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=torpor<\/a>). Regarding that PIE root, \u201cIt might also be the source of: Greek stereos<\/em> \u2018solid,\u2019 sterizein<\/em> \u2018to support,\u2019 sterphnios<\/em> \u2018stiff, rigid,\u2019 sterphos<\/em> \u2018hide, skin;\u2019 Sanskrit sthirah<\/em> \u2018hard, firm,\u2019 Persian suturg<\/em> \u2018strong;\u2019 Lithuanian storas<\/em> \u2018thick,\u2019 str\u0117gti<\/em> \u2018to become frozen;\u2019 Old Church Slavonic trupeti<\/em>, Lithuanian tirpstu, tirpti<\/em> \u2018to become rigid;\u2019 Old Church Slavonic strublu<\/em> \u2018strong, hard,\u2019 staru<\/em> \u2018old\u2019 (hence Russian stary<\/em> \u2018ol\u2019); Old English starian<\/em> \u2018to stare,\u2019 stearc<\/em> \u2018stiff, strong, rigid,\u2019 steorfan<\/em> \u2018to die,\u2019 literally \u2018become stiff,\u2019 styrne<\/em> \u2018severe, strict\u2019\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merriam-Webster adds to the etymology, \u201cEarly use of the English word is found in a 13th-century guide for religious recluses<\/a>, where it refers to a spiritual or intellectual lethargy, but scant evidence of the word appears between that point and the 1600s, when the word began to be used in reference to both mental and physical sluggishness. The related adjective torpid<\/a><\/em> (from the Latin adjective torpidus<\/em>, meaning \u2018numbed\u2019 or \u2018paralyzed\u2019) has since the 15th century been used to mean \u2018numb,\u2019 but today it more often means \u2018lacking in energy or vigor\u2019\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/torpor<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to On This Day, on this date in 1978 \u201c\u2019Cheeseburger In Paradise\u2019 by Jimmy Buffett peaks at #32\u201d (https:\/\/www.onthisday.com\/events\/june\/17<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jimmy Buffett (1946-2023) grew up in Mobile, AL, and learned to play guitar in order to pick up girls. The About page of his website says, \u201cWhen Jimmy saw how a fraternity brother in college with a guitar garnered the attention of the girls, he quickly learned a few basic chords and started playing himself. Suddenly Jimmy’s world opened up – while he still attended classes, he quickly had his first band and went from busking the streets of New Orleans to playing 6 nights a week at Bourbon Street clubs\u201d (https:\/\/www.jimmybuffett.com\/about<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The page says that the big influence on Buffett\u2019s music happened in 1971 when he went to Key West, FL, with Jerry Jeff Walker (I kind of think that Walker was a big influence on a lot of successful singer\/songwriters). \u201cIt was there that the young musician thrown into the midst of this eclectic mix found his true voice as a songwriter – telling the stories of the wanderers, the adventurers and the forlorn\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw Buffett at Carowinds in Charlotte, NC, in 1976, before he became really famous. \u201cAnd then in 1977 came \u2018Margaritaville.\u2019 A laid-back anthem about escapism and life in the tropics, the song spent 22 weeks on the Billboard chart, peaking at number 8. It catapulted Jimmy to national fame and, nearly a decade later, inspired Jimmy to launch a business empire\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While \u201cMargaritaville\u201d is about a broken relationship, it\u2019s also about torpor. Here\u2019s part of the lyrics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I blew out my flip-flop<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stepped on a pop top<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there’s booze in the blender<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And soon it will render<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That frozen concoction that helps me hang on<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasting away again in Margaritaville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people claim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That there’s a woman to blame<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I know, it’s my own damn fault. (https:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/jimmybuffett\/margaritaville.html<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCheeseburger in Paradise\u201d is sort of about a different kind of torpor, the kind that frustrates good (?) intentions. The speaker says that they wanted to become a vegetarian, but they just couldn\u2019t do it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tried to amend my carnivorous habits<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made it nearly seventy days<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losin’ weight without speed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eatin’ sunflower seeds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drinkin’ lots of carrot juice and soakin’ up rays<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But at night I’d have these wonderful dreams<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some kind of sensuous treat<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not zucchini, fettuccini, or bulgur wheat<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a big warm bun and a huge hunk of meat<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheeseburger in paradise<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heaven on earth with an onion slice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not too particular, not too precise<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m just a cheeseburger in paradise. (https:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/jimmybuffett\/cheeseburgerinparadise.html<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuffett said of this song: \u2018The myth of the cheeseburger in paradise goes back to a long trip on my first boat, the Euphoria. We had run into some very rough weather crossing the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and broke our new bowsprit. The ice in our box had melted, and we were doing the canned-food-and-peanut-butter diet. The vision of a piping hot cheeseburger kept popping into my mind. We limped up the Sir Francis Drake Channel and into Roadtown on the island of Tortola, where a brand-new marina and bar sat on the end of the dock like a mirage. We secured the boat, kissed the ground, and headed for the restaurant. To our amazement, we were offered a menu that featured an American cheeseburger and pi\u00f1a coladas. Now, these were the days when supplies were scarce \u2013 when horsemeat was more plentiful than ground beef in the tiny stores of the Third World. Anyway, we gave particular instructions to the waiter on how we wanted them cooked, and what we wanted on them \u2013 to which very little attention was paid. It didn\u2019t matter. The overdone burgers on the burned, toast buns tasted like manna from Heaven, for, they were the realization of my fantasy burgers on the trip. That\u2019s the true story. I\u2019ve heard other people and places claim that I stopped or cooked in their restaurants, but that is the way it happened\u2019\u201d (https:\/\/genius.com\/Jimmy-buffett-cheeseburger-in-paradise-lyrics<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m retired, but I worked in higher education for 40 years after getting my degrees. And I still stay pretty busy. But I have to say that Jimmy Buffett\u2019s portrayal of the laid-back life, eating the food that isn\u2019t good for me, and having a frozen drink from time to time, seems attractive. Maybe I\u2019ll go on a cruise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is the 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor<\/em>, which contains the track of \u201cCheeseburger in Paradise\u201d (https:\/\/www.jimmybuffett.com\/music<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to the WordGuru daily email, is torpor. Torpor, pronounced \/ \u02c8t\u0254r p\u0259r \/, is a noun that means \u201csluggish inactivity or inertia,\u201d or \u201clethargic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[238,395,802,284,801],"class_list":["post-6989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-dictionary","tag-etymology","tag-jimmy-buffett","tag-linguistics","tag-torpor","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6991,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions\/6991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}