Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)

Crapulous

Posted by "GrrlScientist" on November 28, 2006
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A friend and fellow inmate here at the nuthouse learned that I am in search of special words, so she donated this special word for me from her readings. Even though she could not find the precise sentence it came from, the word was so spectacular that I have to share it with you despite the fact that it did not come from my own reading. Afteryou see this under-used but underused word, you will agree that it is a very very worthy word for the day, desite the fact that it is breaking my rules.

This word came from Swann’s Way: In Search of Lost Time, Volume I by Marcel Proust (Moncrieff & Kilmartin translation).


Crapulous (kra-pyu-lus) [Origin: late Latin crapulosus from Latin crapula intoxication, from Greek kraipalE]

adj

  1. marked by intemperance especially in eating of drinking.
  2. sick from excessive indulgence in liquor.

Usage: But to suppose that she went to bad houses, that she abandoned herself to orgies with other women, that she led the crapulous existence of the most abject, the most contemptible of mortals–would be an insane wandering of the mind, for the realisation of which, thank heaven, the chrysanthemums that he could imagine, the daily cups of tea, the virtuous indignation left neither time nor place.

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Comments

  1. #1 jtdub
    November 28, 2006

    “With the retirement home out of the way, I was free to wallow in my own crapulence.”-Mr. Burns

    That quote is an approximation, but the point is (old, good) Simpsons episodes are both edifying and hilarious.

  2. #2 rjb
    November 28, 2006

    I’ve been using the word “crapulence” for a while. Don’t know if I heard it somewhere or read it somewhere, or just made it up. I wasn’t using it in its approved manner, though. I was using it colloquially, more like “the crapulence at this place makes me wretch.”

  3. #3 Aaron M
    November 28, 2006

    jtdub: that’s where I learned the word, too, though if memory serves, it was Smithers who was out of the way, in the ‘Who Shot Mr. Burns?’ episode.

  4. #4 jtdub
    November 28, 2006

    You’re half right Aaron: I’m pretty sure the quote is “With Smithers out of the way, I was free to indulge my sweet tooth.”
    I realized this soon after posting, and I can’t remember the actual context for the ‘crapulence’ quote. Still- funny.

  5. #5 Mike
    November 28, 2006

    It’s a perfectly cromulent word. You can hear the quote here:

    http://www.earthstation1.com/simpsons.html

  6. #6 jtdub
    November 28, 2006

    I stand corrected! Thanks for the link.