alter ego (awl-tuhr ee-goh)


1. One's other self, an intimate friend, considered another side of oneself: “He was my alter ego; we were always picking up each other's thoughts.”

2. (psychology) a second self, a second personality or persona within a person.

Alter ego is Latin for “another I.”

1537, from L. phrase (used by Cicero), "a second self, a trusted friend" (cf. Gk. allos ego);

Could be an evil twin, eh?

So Dave, tell me- who is your alter ego?

I know of several around here who need to alter their egos.

How does that work dAb ?

Evil twin? Like Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde.

Mine? I have several. My wife and I are always together and very close. My prayer partner was 'til he moved far away; and he still is a soul-mate. There is some special connection. Would it be blasphemy to say God is an alter ego?

How about you?


It's a big overhaul!
Best to just dump it!

John Frederick Lewis, British (1805-1876)Head of a Spanish Girl Wearing a Mantilla, ca. 1838

mantilla (man-TIL-eh), noun

1. a woman's veil or scarf worn over the hair and shoulders, as in Spain, Mexico.
2. a short mantle, cape or cloak.

The word was imported into English from Spanish where it is a diminutive of manta, blanket.

In Spanish, there is an extra letter in the alphabet, which is LL. The Double L is pronounced like Y. So the world mantilla would be pronounced man-TEE-ya.

Now I realize that in Italy, the double L is pronounced as your source cites it ["man-TIL-la"]. So I guess it all depends upon whether your mantilla is Italian or Spanish.

[Not finding fault, D.Allan, just enjoying the play on words and having fun with pronunciation variances....]

The source was Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language. So it is neither an Italian nor a Spanish pronunciation, but an American pronunciation. Perhaps it did come from Italian rather than Spanish. The Dictionary said it came from Spanish, however, so evidently the 'ya' sound didn't survive in American usage.

Another loanword from French is

accolade (ack-eh-LAID, ACK-eh-laid), (french pronounciation: ah-keh-lahd), noun

1. an embrace (or kiss) formerly used in conferring knighthood.
2. a touch on the shoulder with the flat of a sword blade now used to confer knighthood.
3. hence, a mention of approval or praise; award.
4. a line joining two or more staves of music.
-Websters New World Dictionary

"Word History: People usually have to stick their necks out to earn accolades, and this is as it should be. In tracing accolade back to its Latin origins, we find that it was formed from the prefix ad-, "to, on," and the noun collum, "neck," which may bring the word collar to mind. From these elements came the Vulgar Latin word *accollāre, which was the source of French accolade, "an embrace." An embrace was originally given to a knight when dubbing him, a fact that accounts for accolade having the technical sense "ceremonial bestowal of knighthood," the sense in which the word is first recorded in English in 1623." -dictionary.com

According to a 1973 computerised study of 80,000 English words from the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, Germanic languages, including Old and Middle English provide the origin of 25% of our English vocabulary. This week Word of the Day will look at some of the direct importations of German words. Number one is:

Gestalt (guh-SHTAHLT, -SHTAWLT, -STAHLT, -STAWLT), noun, plural Gestalts, Gestalten

A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts. -American Heritage Dictionary

1922, from Ger. Gestaltqualität (1890, introduced by Ger. philosopher Christian von Ehrenfels, 1859-1932), from M.H.G. gestalt "form, configuration, appearance," abstracted from ungestalt "deformity," noun use of adj. ungestalt "misshapen," from gestalt, obsolete pp. of stellen "to place, arrange." As a school of psychology, it was founded c.1912. -Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

In the german language the meaning of the word is more general, simply a "form", or "shape"; and is related to the verb gestalten, "to shape", "to form." -Collins German Dictionary

Götterdämmerung (got-er-dam-uh-roong, -ruhng; Ger. gɶt-uhR-dem-uh-Roong), noun

1. in German mythology, the end of the world; time when the gods war with their enemies until all are destroyed
2. an opera by Richard Wagner on this theme which premiered Aug. 1876

The term Götterdämmerung is occasionally used in English, referring to a disastrous conclusion of events.

from German, twilight of the gods : Götter, genitive pl. of Gott, god (from Middle High German got, from Old High German; see gheu(ə)- in Indo-European roots) + Dämmerung, twilight (from Middle High German demerunge, from Old High German demerunga, from demar, twilight.

- Webster's New World Dictionary
- American Heritage Dictionary
- Dictionary.com
- wikipedia.com