Trust me--I do not know how to spell this word. It's going to be right in the title by the time you see this, but I am really just taking a random guess as I'm thinking about it. Oh, I know what it means all right--roughly anyway. 'Without a scintilla of proof' is close enough to 'without a shred of evidence' as to make no difference. But where does it come from? Is it Spanish? Italian? Latin? And why do we use it?
Uh, I got it right. No, really--I swear. It comes from the Latin 'spark'. I remain curious as to why so many words for the infinitesimal remain in our language. Iota, smidgen, jot, tittle.
One difference of scintilla--it can mean 'a sparkling, glistening particle'. I was somewhat surprised to realize that the word 'scintillating' is actually related. Hardly surprising, you say? It's just that they appear in such different contexts that I never made the connection.
scintillate: to throw off sparks, to flash.
to sparkle or shine
to be animated or brilliant--as in a dinner table conversation
Scintillating, mais non?
On Thin Places
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Because two Irish saints are commemorated on June 9th, I’d lobby one of
their feasts be transposed to tomorrow and one retained today as this good
Abbot of...
12 hours ago
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Posts
Don't forget a whit! And does one ever see a jot without a tittle? A tittle without a jot?
ReplyDeleteMy v-word is what I would like to do if a compantion had sat down to dine, and I realized I was hungry as well: suptoo
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
I think you see a jot without a tittle (ie, 'not a jot of common sense')but not a tittle without a jot. Which doesn't make a whole lot of rational sense, unless there are a whole lot less tittles than jots, but there you have it.
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