Dealing with Realia

My friend Mary has turned out to be a veritable fountain of interesting information about words and the larger general topic of language. Last week she sent me a link to a fascinating article titled My Sammelband has Frisket-Bite, subtitled "A Short Glossary of Delightful Library Terms." Never having worked as a librarian (although I have spent countless hours in the visiting and enjoyment of libraries), I'm not familiar with all of these terms, some of which are pretty esoteric*. Here are a few of my favorites:

Realia - objects and material from everyday life. As nowadays opposed, probably, to virtualia or fakia.

Inherent Vice - the tendency in physical objects to deteriorate because of the fundamental instability of the components of which they are made. I suspect the term can also apply to the deterioration of non-physical objects which are inherently unstable, like economic theories based on hugely optimistic assumptions of future conditions.

and ...

Palimpsest - a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain. I suspect that Donald Trump views former President Obama's record as a palimpsest for his attempts at governance.

I think there are probably some other library terms that didn't make the list, such as:

Bibliotormentor - a person who folds down the corner of a page to mark his place, or who cracks the binding of a book to make it lay flat.

Biography - also known as "fiction" when applied to many political figures.

and ...

Science Friction - the grating sound made when closed minds reject accepted science.

Any other terms? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. Support your local library. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* "Esoteric" does not mean, "Of or relating to Standard Oil of New Jersey, currently known as Exxon."