Cacoethes: Difference between revisions

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# Compulsion; mania; an often irresistible urge (especially toward something harmful or ill-advised).

#* ''The ''cacoethes scribendi''~~—the~~ itch to ~~write—has~~ ruined many a peaceful life.''

#* ''The ''cacoethes scribendi'', the itch to write, has ruined many a peaceful life.''

#* ''He spoke of an incurable ''cacoethes'' for contradiction.''

# ~~{{lb|en|~~medicine|obsolete}} A bad quality or disposition in a disease; a malignant tumour or ulcer.

# (medicine, obsolete) A bad quality or disposition in a disease; a malignant tumour or ulcer.

#* ''Physicians once used ''cacoethes'' for stubborn, malignant ulcers.''

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Rather than simple attraction, the lyrics dramatize a cultivated appetite for ruin, a compulsive surrender that aligns closely with the moral and psychological weight of ''cacoethes''.

=== In literature ===

==== "Cacoethes Scribendi" by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. ====

The term is the central theme of the 1891 poem [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44378/cacoethes-scribendi "Cacoethes Scribendi"] by '''Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.'''

<poem>

If all the trees in all the woods were men;

And each and every blade of grass a pen;

If every leaf on every shrub and tree

Turned to a sheet of foolscap; every sea

Were changed to ink, and all earth's living tribes

Had nothing else to do but act as scribes,

And for ten thousand ages, day and night,

The human race should write, and write, and write,

Till all the pens and paper were used up,

And the huge inkstand was an empty cup,

Still would the scribblers clustered round its brink

Call for more pens, more paper, and more ink.

</poem>

== Transliteration ==

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 # Compulsion; mania; an often irresistible urge (especially toward something harmful or ill-advised).
-#* ''The ''cacoethes scribendi''—the itch to write—has ruined many a peaceful life.''
+#* ''The ''cacoethes scribendi'', the itch to write, has ruined many a peaceful life.''
 #* ''He spoke of an incurable ''cacoethes'' for contradiction.''
-# {{lb|en|medicine|obsolete}} A bad quality or disposition in a disease; a malignant tumour or ulcer.
+# (medicine, obsolete) A bad quality or disposition in a disease; a malignant tumour or ulcer.
 #* ''Physicians once used ''cacoethes'' for stubborn, malignant ulcers.''
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 Rather than simple attraction, the lyrics dramatize a cultivated appetite for ruin, a compulsive surrender that aligns closely with the moral and psychological weight of ''cacoethes''.
+=== In literature ===
+==== "Cacoethes Scribendi" by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. ====
+The term is the central theme of the 1891 poem [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44378/cacoethes-scribendi "Cacoethes Scribendi"] by '''Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.'''
+<poem>
+If all the trees in all the woods were men;
+And each and every blade of grass a pen;
+If every leaf on every shrub and tree
+Turned to a sheet of foolscap; every sea
+Were changed to ink, and all earth's living tribes
+Had nothing else to do but act as scribes,
+And for ten thousand ages, day and night,
+The human race should write, and write, and write,
+Till all the pens and paper were used up,
+And the huge inkstand was an empty cup,
+Still would the scribblers clustered round its brink
+Call for more pens, more paper, and more ink.
+</poem>
 == Transliteration ==