# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/21 "2008-11-14T08:40:30Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, you see the phrase “terpsichorean harmonies” a lot. You do? In what spheres? Of course I could just be stoopid. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/22 "2008-11-14T09:05:14Z")
I knew it. Cole Porter wrote a song called “Queens of Terpsichore.” ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/23 "2008-11-14T09:31:04Z")
I’ll proudly stick my hand up and admit total ignorance 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/24 "2008-11-14T10:06:00Z")
Posting without reading thread so I don’t cheat: yes. Terpsichore was the muse of dance, so it means, uh, dancey. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/25 "2008-11-14T11:21:52Z")
Yes, I know what it means, and I know that it derives from the name of the muse of dance, but now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t know when I learned that. Hmmm … ---
**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, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/26 "2008-11-14T11:52:00Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > 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? Between this and your user name, you’re about Richard Simmons gay. I think I should work on a gay scale, kind of like the Richter scale but based on people. I’m thinking John Wayne and Freddie Mercury as being the two ends of the scale. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/27 "2008-11-14T11:52:50Z")
Put me in the group that thought music rather than dance–and didn’t know the muse connection off-hand. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/28 "2008-11-14T11:57:15Z")
Always takes me a few seconds–“That’s, uh, from one of the muses, not one I care a whole lot about, let’s see, what art form don’t I pay a lot of attention to?–oh, yeah, Dance. It’s Dance! It’s definitely Dance.” ---
**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, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/29 "2008-11-14T12:19:14Z")
You all are just piling the dumb on me. I thought it had something to do with reptiles, or turtles. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/30 "2008-11-14T12:22:34Z")
Yep, I knew that one. Not a really useful word, but I picked it up somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/31 "2008-11-14T12:36:14Z")
Yes, I knew it. You can’t spend a lifetime as a band and choir geek without coming across the term. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/32 "2008-11-14T12:59:00Z")
Or a Monty Python freak. > [@](#): > > I am one who delights in all manifestations of the terpsichorean muse. > > Ee, I like a nice tune, ya poor stooge. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/33 "2008-11-14T13:04:37Z")
Room for one more in the dunce corner, **Boyo**? I had no idea at all, even as a former choir geek. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/34 "2008-11-14T13:54:35Z")
Ehm Terpsichore is one of the muses, terpsichorean would be “related to whatever art she is the muse of”. Dance? Yay me! **Boyo Jim** , given that apparently Freddie batted both ways, maybe it should be Boy George. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/35 "2008-11-14T14:27:14Z")
Doesn’t it refer to [this guy?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Soo_Kim) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/36 "2008-11-14T14:42:58Z")
Everything I have learned comes from Monty Python. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/37 "2008-11-14T15:06:49Z")
Yes, and without any help from Monty Python. (One of my favorite books as a kid was [D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Mythology.](http://www.amazon.com/DAulaires-Greek-Myths-Ingri-DAulaire/dp/0440406943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1226675025&sr=8-1)) ---
**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, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/38 "2008-11-14T15:07:19Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Ee, I like a nice tune, ya poor stooge. Sure about that? I’ve always heard it as: “I like a nice dance, you’re forced to.” [Cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KBuQHHKx0). ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/39 "2008-11-14T15:19:19Z")
Without reading the spoiler or any other posts–wasn’t Terpsichore the Muse of Dancing? Anyway–Terpsichorean means “related to dancing.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/40 "2008-11-14T15:35:01Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > You do? In what spheres? Of course I could just be stoopid. I was going to ask the same question. Related question, what would said “terpsichorean harmonies” be? Terpsichorean rhythms makes sense to me, but dancing harmonies? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664.md?page=3)