# Do you know what "terpsichorean" means without looking it up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664 "2008-11-14T04:11:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/1 "2008-11-14T04:11:36Z")
I can’t ever remember coming across this word before today, and I am pretty well read. If you guess turtles or terrapins, you are wrong. Damn New York Times articles, always trying to outsmart me. terpsichorean: referring to dance ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/2 "2008-11-14T04:29:14Z")
I was somewhat close. I knew it had to do with performing arts though I was leaning towards music. Half credit. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/3 "2008-11-14T04:31:36Z")
Sure I do… it means relating to terpsichory. I’m guessing a terpsichord is an organ, maybe. _checks spoiler_ Or not. I meant a music-type organ, not a bodily organ, so I was in the right library, if not on the same page. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/4 "2008-11-14T04:35:27Z")
Yes, but only because news reports on the Fanny Fox scandal referred to her as a “terpsichorean ecdysiast” because calling her a stripper might have offended the readers of a family newspaper in the 1970s. :rolleyes: So I learned a little latinized greek. I know I’m living up to my Dopername on “ecdysiast”, but you wanted it ff the top of my head, me **Boyo**! And how come I can remember this from decades ago, but I can’t remember what I had for breakfast today. Tarim, I’m old! ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/5 "2008-11-14T04:38:29Z")
I did indeed. Monty Python: The Cheese Shop sketch brought it into my vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/6 "2008-11-14T04:39:31Z")
Yup. Looked up terpsichore years ago after having heard it in Frank Sinatra’s song _Come Dance With Me_. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/7 "2008-11-14T04:57:32Z")
Relating to dance, derived from “Terpsichore”, the Greek muse who was…in charge (or however you refer to what muses did) of dance and dramatic choruses. Also, I’m cheating, because in my dorm complex all the dorms are named after muses, and I lived in Terpsichore over the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/8 "2008-11-14T05:01:14Z")
You are not cheating if you knew it. I knew it because it was on a spelling test once, somewhere around 1963. Is that cheating? (I’ve seen it since 1963. Not too often, though, and usually in conjunction with Fred Astaire.) ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/9 "2008-11-14T05:06:50Z")
Yep. Once upon a time I was a classics student. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/10 "2008-11-14T05:07:04Z")
I knew Terpsichore was one of the Muses, but I couldn’t remember which one, so no. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/11 "2008-11-14T05:16:26Z")
> [@Caught\_Work](#): > > I did indeed. > Monty Python: The Cheese Shop sketch brought it into my vocabulary. Yep, me too. Though I STILL don’t know what Cleese was saying when he put on that high, funny voice. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/12 "2008-11-14T05:17:07Z")
Well, you see the phrase “terpsichorean harmonies” a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/13 "2008-11-14T05:18:14Z")
Before I read the thread or spoiler box, my guess is: Having to do with dance, after the muse Terpsichore. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/14 "2008-11-14T05:20:11Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Yep, me too. > > Though I STILL don’t know what Cleese was saying when he put on that high, funny voice. same ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/15 "2008-11-14T05:28:18Z")
> [@Caught\_Work](#): > > I did indeed. > Monty Python: The Cheese Shop sketch brought it into my vocabulary. Same here. > [@astorian](#): > > Though I STILL don’t know what Cleese was saying when he put on that high, funny voice. After a few obscure synonyms, I think the high-pitched part is: “Eeh, I were all 'ungry, like.” ---
**Author:** ![PopeJewish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@PopeJewish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PopeJewish)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/16 "2008-11-14T05:32:46Z")
my dad uses words like that all the time. Though I’ll grant I didn’t know what “sartorial” meant :smack: (there’s a store near my old house (my parents’ house) called “sartorial designs” or something like) I threw Floccinaucinihilipilification at him once just to piss him off 😉 Only time I’ve stumped my dad’s vocabulary 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/17 "2008-11-14T05:35:44Z")
I only knew it because of _Xanadu_. The character that Olivia Newton-John plays calls herself Kira, but when pressed reveals herself as Terpsichore. How gay does that make me? ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/18 "2008-11-14T06:25:05Z")
I knew because of familiarity (both listening to and performing) Michael Praetorius’ enormous compilation of dance tunes which he entitled _Terpsichore_. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/19 "2008-11-14T06:30:51Z")
…and the one brave soul that strolls into the thread to admit she’s never heard the word before… ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/20 "2008-11-14T07:56:29Z")
Well, Terpsichore was the muse of Dance (Hi, Clio! Big ups to Polyhymnia!), so that seems pretty obvious, but this is the Dope, so it’s probably a trick question, but I’m egotistical enough to post on the SDMB, so I’d say that I knew what it was supposed to mean even if it didn’t mean what I thought it did, which it did. So, yes, but it was kind of complicated. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664.md?page=2)