A Lexicon of
Neologisms. Mikhail Epstein (Emory University)
chronocide n (Gr
khronos, time + Lat cidum, from caedere, to slay; cf. genocide, homicide,
parricide) - the murder of time, the violent interruption of historical succession and
continuity.
Any revolution is a form of chronocide: the past and present are sacrificed to the
future. Any counterrevolution is also a chronocide: the present and the future are sacrificed to
the past.
Communism is a chronocide: it destroys traditions in its leap to the
chimeric future. Fascism is a chronocide: it brings society under the spell of the
mythic past.
* * *
chronocracy n (Gr khronos, time + Gr kratia, power or rule) – rule by the laws of time and by the force of temporality; a form of government imposing time constraints on all authorities and stipuLatg the necessity for periodic change of leaders and transfer of powers on all levels.
Under chronocracy, social life is determined by the regular replacement of political, scientific, economic, and cultural trends, methods, fashions, and personnel in certain periods of time. Presidents, computers, car models, artistic trends, dress cuts, textbooks have to change periodically to maintain their authoritative status as "new."
Who rules in America, demos or chronos? America
is a chronocracy no less
than a democracy, with a rigid system of enforced change on all levels, from
political leaders to dress fashions and technological designs.
* * *
chronomania n
(Gr khronos, time + Gr mania, obsession,
madness; cf. megalomania, balletomania) - obsession with time
and speed; inclination to
utilize every moment and to submit one's life to a total time control.
America suffers from chronomania. Faster, faster, faster! Why not pause in
tranquility to see where we stand and consider the future to which we have been
rushing headlong?
Chronomania may become dangerous for your mental health. Try to find a
different focus of life, apart
from schedules and deadlines.
chronomaniac n (Gr khronos, time + Gr mania, obsession, madness; cf. nymphomaniac) - a person obsessed with time and speed;
one who attempts to live faster and to control time up to the smallest units.
A synonym: timenik n (time + suffix –nik; cf. peacenik)
He is a chronomaniac. He looks at his watch every minute.
All my colleagues are crazy timeniks. No one has a minute for a human conversation.
* * *
chronopathy n
(Gr khronos, time + Gr patheia, suffering) – a temporality disorder,
a deficiency of time sense;
inability to manage time, to comply with schedules, etc.
Chronopathy is the undiagnosed cause of many social disorders and career
failures.
Chronopathy can be compared to blindness or dyslexia. As a severe impairment
of the time orientation ability, it should be treated as a psychological
condition rather than a moral deficiency.
chronopath n
(Gr khronos, time + Gr patheia, suffering) – a person who suffers from
chronopathy, a disorder of time sensibility.
chronopathic
adj. – characterized by chronopathy.
Why are you always late? Are you a chronopath?
He has no ill intentions or disrespect when he
misses one appointment after another.
Since childhood, he has been severely chronopathic.
* * *
chronosome n
(Gr khronos, time + Gr soma, body; cf. chromosome) – a unit of historical heredity, in
contrast with a chromosome as a unit of
biological heredity; a mental code
of a historical period that is transmitted to subsequent generations through
styles, traditions, and
"cultural air."
The chronosomes of the early 20th c. avant-garde
reached the generation of the 1960s and shaped its political views and artistic styles.
This generation of the 2000s has different chronosomes than we had in the 1990s.
The chronosomic analysis of Finnegans Wake lays bare multiple mythological sources and images of ancient chronicles in Joyce's enigmatic prose.
* * *
uchronia n (Gr ou, not + Gr khronos, time; literally
"no time"; cf. utopia,
"no place) – a historical
condition when "nothing happens," a time of stagnation.
As
soon as utopia finds its fulfilment in history, it turns into uchronia, a disruption of history itself.
PreDictionary. A Lexicon of Neologisms