How to talk about personality types by word power made easy

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What word best describes your personality if you :

·         Are interested solely in your own welfare ?

·         Constantly talk about yourself?

·         Dedicate your life to helping others?

·         Turn your mind inward ?

·         Turn your mind outward ?

·         Hate  humanity ?

·         Hate women ?

·         Hate marriage?

·         Lead a lonely, austere existence?

Every human being is , in one way or another ,unique.

Everyone’s  personality is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Let us examine ten personality types (one of which might by change be you r very own ) that result from the way culture growth ,family background ,and environment interact with hered-ity.

And of course, we begin not with the words ,but with the ideas.

Ideas

1 . me first

    Your attitude to life is simple, direct and aboveboard ­­–every decision you make is based on the answer to one question : “what’s in it for me?” if your selfishness , greed, and ruthless desire for self-advancement hurt others people. That’s too bad.  “ this is a tough world . pal , dog eat dog and all that, and I ,for one, am not going to be left behing!”

                                                                                                                                     An egoist

2. the height of conceit

  “ now , let’s see. Have you heard about all the money I’m mak-ing ? did I tell ou about my latest amorous conquest? Let me give you my opinion – I know , because I’m an expert at practically ev-evrything!” you are boastful to the point of being obnoxious – you  have only one string to your conversational violin, namely, your –self : and on it you play a number of monotonous variations ; what you think, what you have done, how good you are, how you would solve the problems of the world , etc . ad nauseam.

                                                                                                                                                  An egotist

3. let me help you

  You have discovered the secret of true happiness – concerning yourself with the welfare of others. Never mind your own inter-ests how’s the next fellow getting along?

                                                                                                                                                 An altruist

4. leave me alone

Like a biochemist studying a colony of bacteria under the microscope, you minutely your every thought , feeling and action. Probing , futile  questions life “ what do other people think of me ?” , “ how do I look ? “ , and “maybe I shouldn’t have said that ? “ are your constant nagging companions. For are unable to realize that other people do not spend as much time and energy analyzing you as you think.

You may seem unsocial. Yet your greatest desire is to be liked and accepted , you may be shy and quiet , you are often moody and unhappy, and you prefer solitude or at most the company of one person to a crowd. You  have an aptitude for creative work and are uncomfortable engaging in activities that require co-operation with other people. You may even be a genius, or eventually turn into one.

                                                                                                                                          An introvert

5.Let’s do it together

You would be great as a teacher , counselor , administrator in – surance agent, you can always become interested – sincerely , vi-tally interested – in other people’s problems. You’re the life of the party , because you never worry about the effect of your actions, never inhibit yourself with doubts about dignity or propriety , you are usually happy , generally full of high spirits; you love to be with people – lots of people. Your thoughts, your interests, your whole personality are turned outward .

                                                                                                                                    An extrovert

6. neither extreme

You have both introverted and extroverted tendencies – at different times and on different occasions. Your interests are turned , in about equal proportions, both inward and outward. In-deed, you’re quite normal – in the sense that your personality is like that of most people.

                                                                                                                                    An ambivert

                                                

7. people are no damn good

Cynical, embittered, suspicious, you hate everyone. (Especially, but never to be admitted, yourself?) the perfectibility of the human race? “nonsense! No way!” the stupidity, the meanness,  and the crookedness of most mortals ( “ most? Probably all!”) – that is your favorite theme.

                                                                                                                                           A misanthrope

8. women are no damn good

Sometimes in your dim past, you were crossed , scorned , or deeply  wounded by a woman ( a mother, or mother figure,perhaps?) . so now you have a carefully constructed defense against further hurt – you hate all women.                                                                                                                                                 A misogynist

9. “ marriage is an institution –– and who wants to live in an an institution?”

You will not make the ultimate legal commitment. Members of the opposite sex are great as lovers, roommates, apartments – or house- sharers, but not as lawfully wedded spouses. The ties that blind are too binding for you. May possibly believe , and possibly , for youself, be right , that a commitment is deeper and more meaningful if freedom is available without judicial proceedings.

                                                                                                            An misogamist          

10  “ .. that the flesh is heir to… “

Self-denial , austerity , lonely contemplation –these are the characteristics of the good life, so you claim. The simplest food and the least amount of it that will keep body and soul together , com-bined with abstinesce from fleshly, earnthly pleasures, will eventu-aaly lead to spiritual perfection– that is philosophy.                                                                                           An ascetic

SESSION 2

ORIGINS AND RELATED WORDS

Every word in the English language has a history–and these ten are no exception. In this selection you will learn a good deal more about the words you have been working with; in addition, you will make excursions into many others words allied either in meaning, from ,or history to our basic ten.

1.      Egotist and egotist are built on the same Latin root –the pronoun ego, meaning I . I is the greatest concern in the egoist’s mind, the most overused word in the egotist’s vocabulary. (keep the words differentiated in your own mind by thinking of the t in talk, and the additional t in egotist.) Ego itself has been taken over from Latin as an important English word and is commonly used to denote one’s concept of oneself, as in, “what do you think your constant criticisms do to my ego?” Ego has also a special meaning in psychology –but for the moment you have enough problems without going into that.

If you are an egocentric (ee’-go-SEN’-trik) .you consider your-self the center of the universe–you are an extreme form of the egoist. And if you are an egomaniac (ee’-go-MAY’-nee-ak) , you carry egoism to such an extreme that your needs, desires, and in-terests have become a morbid obsession, a mania. The egoist or egotist is obnoxious , the egocentric is intolerable,and the egoma-niac is dangerous and slightly mad.

            Egocentric is both a noun (“what an egocentric , add –al , a common adjective suffix. Say the adjective aloud:

                        Egomaniacal   ee’-go-me-NI’-e-kel

2.      Others

In Latin , the word for other is alter, and a number of valuable English words are built on this root.

            Altruism (AL’-troo-iz-em), the philosophy practiced by altru-ists, comes from one of the variant spellings of Latin alter , other, Altruistic (al-troo-IS’-tik) actions look toward the benefit of others. If you alternate (AWL’-ter-nayt’) , you skip one and take the other, so to speak, as when you play golf on alternate (AWL’-ter-net) Saturdays.

            An alternate (AWL’-ter-net) in a debate, contest, or conven-tion is the other person who will take over if the original choice is unable to attend. And if you have no alternative (awl-TUR’netiv), you have no other choice .

            You see how easy it is to understand the meanings of these words once you realize that they all come from the same source. And keeping in mind that alter means other, you can quickly un-derstand words like alter ego , altercation, and alteration.

            An alteration (awl’-te-RAY’shen) is of course a change –a making into something other. When you alter (AWL’-ter) your plans, you make other plans.

            An altercation (awl’-ter-KAY’-shen) is a verbal dispute. When you have an altercation with someone, you have a vuikebt disagree-ment, a “fight” with words . and why? Because you have other ideas, plans or opinions than those of the person on the other side of the argument. Altercation, by the way, is stronger than quarrel or  dispute –the sentiment is more heated, the disagreement  is likely to be angry or even hot-tempered , there may be recourse, if the disputants are human, to profanity or obscenity .  you have altercations, in short, over pretty important issues, and the word implies that you get quite excited.

            Alter ego (AWL’-ter EE’-go) , which combines alter , other , with ego, I , self, generally refers to someone with whom you are so close that you both do the same things , thinks alike, react similarly, and are, in temperament, almost mirror images of each other. Any such friend is your other I , Your  other self, your alter ego.  

 

Session 3

ORIGHINS AND RELATED WORDS

 

1.      Depends how you turn

Introvert, extrovert, and ambivert are built on the Latin verb verto, to turn. If your thoughts are constantly turned inward (intro-) , you are an introvert; outward (extro-), an extrovert; and in both , is also directions (ambi-) , an ambivert. The prefix ambi-, both , is also found in ambidextrous (am’-be-DEKS’-tres), able to use both hands with equal skill. The noun is ambidexterity (am’-be-deks-TAIR-e-tee).

            Dexterous (DEKS’-te-res) means skillful, the noun dexterity (deks-TAIR’-e-tee) is skill. The ending – ous is a common adjective suffix (famous, dangerous ,perilous, etc.) ;- ity is a common noun suffix (vanity, quality ,simplicity,etc).

(spelling caution: Note that the letter following the t-in am-bidextrous is –r, but that in dexterous the Latin word for right hand–in the am-bidextrous is –r person, both hands are right hands so to speaks.

The right hand is traditionally the more skillful one; it is only within recent decades that we have come to accept that “lefties” or “southpaws” are just as normal as anyone alse –and the term left-handed is still used as a synonym of awkward.

The Latin word for the left hand is sinister. This same word, in English , means threatening, evil, or dangerous , a further com-mentary on our early suspiciousness of left-handed persons. There may still be some parents who insist on forcing left-handed chil-dren to change (though left-handedness is inherited, and as much na intergral part of its possessor as eye color or nose shape),with various unfortunate results to the child–sometimes stuttering or an inability to read with normal skill.

The French word for the left hand is gauche , and , as  you would suspect, when we took this word over into English we invested it with an uncomplimentary meaning . call someone gauche (GOSH) and you imply clumsiness, generally social rather than physical. (we’re right back to our age-old misconception that left-handed people are less skillful than right-handed ones.) a gauche remark a tactless; a gauche offer of sympathy is so bumbling as to be em-barrassing; gaucherie (GO’-she-ree) is an awkward, clumsy , ract-less, embarrassing way of saying things or of handling situations ,

The gauche person is totally without finesse.

And the French word for the right hand is droit, which we have used in vuilding our English wor adroit (e-DROYT’) . needless to say, adroit, like dexterous, means skillful, but especially in the exercise of the mental facilities. Like gauche, adroit, or its noun adroitness, usually is used figuratively. The adroit person is quick-witted , can get out of difficult spots cleverly, can handle situations ingeniously. Adroitness is , then , quite the opposite of gaucherie.

2.      Love , hate, and marriage

 

Misanthrope, misogynist, and misogamist are built on the Greek root misein, to . the misanthrope hates mankind ( Greek an-thropos, mankind); the misogynist hates women (Greek gyne,woman); the misogamist hates women (Greek gyne, woman marriage (Greek gamos, mar-riage).

 

Anthropes, mankind , is also found in anthropology ( an-thre-POL’-e-jee), the study of the development of the human race, and in philanthropist (fe-LAN’-thre-pist) ,one who loves man –kind and shows such love by making substantial financial contri-butions to charitable organizations or by donating time and energy to helping those in need.

 

The root gyne, woman , is also found in gynecologist (gi-ne-KOL’-e-jist or jin-e-KOL’-e-jist), the medical specialist who treats female disorders. And the root gamos, marriage, occurs also in monogamy  (me-NOG’ –e- mee),bigamy ( BIG ‘-e-mee), and polygamy (pe-LIG’-e-mee).

(as we will siscover later, monos means one, bio-means two, polys means many).

 

So monogamy is the custom of only one marriage (at a time).

Bigamy ,by etymology, is two marriages–in actuality, the un-lawful act of contracting another marriage without divorcing one’s current legal spouse.

 

And polygamy, by derivation many marriages, and therefore ety-mologically denoting plural marriage for either makes or females, in current usage generally refers to the custom practiced in earlier times by the Mormons, and before them by King Solomon, in which the man has as many wives as he can afford financially and /or emotionally . the correct, but rarely used ,term for this custom is polygyny ( pe-LIJ’-e-nee) –polys, many, plus gyne, woman.

 

What if a woman has two or more husbands, a form of marriage practiced in the Himalaya Mountains of Tibet? That custom is called polyandry (pel-ee-AN’-dree) , form polys plus Greek Andros, male.

 

3.       MAKING FRIENDS WITH SUFFIXES

English word have various forms, using certain suffixes for nous referring to persons, other suffixes for practices ,attitudes, philosophies, etc,and still others for adhectives.

Consider:

 

S.NO	PERSON	PRACTICE,ETC.	ADJECTIVE
1	Misanthrope pr misanthropist	Misanthropy	Misanthropic
2	Misogynist	Misogyny	Misogynous or misogynistic
3	Gynecologist	Gynecology	Gynecological
4	Monogamist	Monogamy	Monogamous
5	Bigamist	Bigamy	Bigamous
6	Polygamist	Polygamy	Polygamous
7	Polygynist	Polygyny	Polygynous
8	Polyandrist	Polyandry	Polyandrous
9	Philanthropist	Philanthropy	Philanthropic
10	Anthropologist	Anthropogy	anthropological

 

 You will note ,then ,that –ist is a common suffix for a peson; -y for a practice, attitude, etc; and –ic or –our for an adjective.

 

4.      LIVING ALONE AND LIKING IT

 

Ascetic is from the Greek word asketes, monk or hermit.

A monk lives a lonely life –not for him the pleasures of the fleshpots, the laugher and merriment of convivial gatherings , the dissipation of high living. Rather, days of contemplation ,study and rough toils, nights on a hard bed in a simple cell, and the kind of self-denial that leads to a purification of the soul.

That person is an ascetic who leads an existence, voluntarily of course ,that compares in austerity, simplicity, and rigorous hard-ship with the life of a monk. The practice is asceticism ( e-SET’-e-siz-em) ,the adjective as- cetic.