XXXV: The DESTRUCTIVE and the CONSTRUCTIVE

As we’re about to ring out the old and ring in the New Year, let’s give some thoughts to December, the last month of our English calendar. December is from DECCA, which refers to the number ten, as in DECIMAL. A period of ten years, therefore, we call a DECADE. Even the term DECIMATION is linked to ten. The term once meant killing one out of ten people. Today, DECIMATION is used to mean TOTAL DESTRUCTION. All the following words also mean total destruction: DECIMATION EXTERMINATION EXTIRPATION ANNIHILATION DEVASTATION ELIMINATION ERASURE ROOTING OUT WIPING OUT Here is one of the old ANTONYM problems: PROPAGATION (the process of multiplying and spreading) x EXTIRPATION On another occasion, the following was given as the problem: PROPAGATE x FAIL TO MULTIPLY When we EXTERMINATE, we erase life. If our life is fire, we can say we EXTINGUISH our life when we erase it. If our life is a record, when we erase it we EXPUNGE the record. So, LIFE: EXTERMINATE RECORD: EXPUNGE FIRE: EXTINGUISH In all these cases, the second term is the process of erasing the second. When we EXTINGUISH fire, we SNUFF it OUT. When we IGNITE or KINDLE, we start the fire. When we REKINDLE, we restart what is EXTINGUISHED, just as when we REPAIR a building, we bring it back from DILAPIDATION (ruin). Hence, REKINDLED: EXTINGUISHED REPAIRED: DILAPIDATED Let’s look at some old ANTONYM pairs: EXTINGUISH x IGNITE REPAIR x IMPAIR (damage) ANNIHILATION x CONSTRUCTION In order to create something new, we, some times, have to annihilate certain things. As we bid ADIEU (farewell) to the old year and GREET the New Year, let’s annihilate our old animosities and construct new friendships. Before we finish this post, let’s take a look at a few ANALOGIES: ADIEU: GREETING INTRODUCTION: CONCLUSION SIGNATURE: SALUTATION The first term in the pairs suggest the ending and the second the beginning.