# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/41 "2008-11-14T15:39:11Z")
I did, thanks to some M_A_S\*H novels from the 70s. There was someone whose profession was described as “terpsichorean ecdysiast” (stripper). ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/42 "2008-11-14T15:43:24Z")
Wow, I knew it but I feel stupid because I learned it from the show **Roseanne**. The guys are all sitting around playing poker in one episode and they are talking about musical theater and Bob says, “That Damn Yankees was a terpsichorean delight!” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/43 "2008-11-14T16:12:04Z")
Ballet, right? ::reads spoiler:: oh, _all_ dance? Really? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/44 "2008-11-14T16:16:20Z")
> [@Caught\_Work](#): > > I did indeed. > Monty Python: The Cheese Shop sketch brought it into my vocabulary. Postin’ “me too,” like some brain-dead AOLer. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/45 "2008-11-14T16:17:51Z")
I knew it. I don’t know why I knew it, but I did. Probably from that wonderful teacher who taught (Latin and Greek) word origins as part of our English studies, God love her. ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/46 "2008-11-14T16:28:19Z")
Really? I did not know that! How totally fascinating! Put me down in the turtle group. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/47 "2008-11-14T16:37:44Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Yep. Once upon a time I was a classics student. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/48 "2008-11-14T16:47:32Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > news reports on the Fanny Fox scandal referred to her as a “terpsichorean ecdysiast” I recognized the word, associating it with this usage, but I couldn’t remember which one meant “dancer” and which meant “nekkid,” so the honest answer is, no, not exactly. (And yes, I know ecdysiast is Mencken’s coinage, so go find some other nit to pick. :p) ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/49 "2008-11-14T16:58:25Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > If you guess turtles or terrapins, you are wrong. Au contraire! Betting on turtles is _never_ wrong. I’ve heard the phrase but didn’t remember what it meant. I would have guessed either sadness or something to do with a musical instrument. ---
**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, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/50 "2008-11-14T17:11:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > 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). I believe it’s different on the record _Matching Tie and Handkerchief_. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/51 "2008-11-14T17:34:24Z")
Although I enjoy reading about Greek mythology and have read about the muses, I don’t have their domains memorized, in general. Terpsichore, on the other hand, has been mentioned in a bunch of old movies, so I remember her. I vaguely remember on old black and white movie (although that could have been a color movie seen on a black and white set, I guess) that featured Terpsichore, herself, coming down to earth. The other muses kind of run together. Was Urania in charge of history? Polyhymnia (sp?), lyric poetry. Shoot, now I’m going to have to look them up again. \>\> Nope. It was Clio for history and Euterpe for lyric poetry. Polyhymnia was muse of sacred song, oratory, and rhetoric; and Urania was muse of astronomy. Seeing astronomy listed with the other arts causes the Sesame Street “One of these things is not like the other” song to ring in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/52 "2008-11-14T17:39:53Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Wow, I knew it but I feel stupid because I learned it from the show **Roseanne**. The guys are all sitting around playing poker in one episode and they are talking about musical theater and Bob says, “That Damn Yankees was a terpsichorean delight!” If it makes you feel any better, I picked it up in my “Cats” phase. There’s a line in one of the songs where they “…practice their terpsichorean powers to dance by the light of the Jellicle moon…” Though I can’t recall if I figured it out by context or looked it up. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/53 "2008-11-14T20:08:02Z")
Yup. But again, I’m a classicist/ancient historian. So it’s not exactly proof that I’m supremely informed or anything, just that I know what I specialize in. ---
**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, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/54 "2008-11-14T20:11:07Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Although I enjoy reading about Greek mythology and have read about the muses, I don’t have their domains memorized, in general. Calliope, Homer’s muse, was in charge of epic poetry and fairground music. And the little-known Turpsichore was the muse of huffing paint thinners. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/55 "2008-11-14T20:12:38Z")
nope, sure didn’t, had to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/56 "2008-11-14T20:36:55Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m thinking John Wayne and Freddie Mercury as being the two ends of the scale. I think it’s more of a circle: like the opposite ends of the political spectrum start to converge back again, John Wayne and footballer types start to seem a little gay 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/57 "2008-11-14T21:08:40Z")
Yes, I know the word, and even remember how I learned it. In eighth grade, I was taking a course in mythology, and the teacher was pointing out how many English words were related to Greek myths. She explained that Terpsichore was the muse of dance, and that “Cyd Charisse is a _terpsichorean_.” Not the most relevant example for the time (1972-73 school year), but understandable given the teacher’s age… ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/58 "2008-11-14T21:19:05Z")
No one has yet mentioned Michael Prætorius’s seminal work on instrumental dance music from 1612, _Terpsichore_? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/59 "2008-11-14T21:26:44Z")
You just beat me to it. This bourrée is probably the most well-known excerpt (starts at 1:20). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eicxEAhOxYc&NR=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eicxEAhOxYc&NR=1) I think that cemented the meaning in my mind, but I had run across the Muses before in Edith Hamilton’s _Mythology_. ---
**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, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664/60 "2008-11-14T21:28:03Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > No one has yet mentioned Michael Prætorius’s seminal work on instrumental dance music from 1612, _Terpsichore_? I did, back in post #18. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-what-terpsichorean-means-without-looking-it-up/472664.md?page=4)