Curiosity unsated...
Feb. 2nd, 2012 06:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpWrong story.
There I was, figuring it was high time I start to systematically look at the one book I bought during the Costa Rica trip in 2009, titled Desarrolla una mente prodigiosa, by one Ramón Campayo.
Sight translation gives me Develop a Prodigious Mind, but one of the first things that I learned in the translation business is to double-check what you think are cognates (roughly speaking, words in two languages that share similar meaning and appearance, and yes, "prodigious" is what I found in the dictionary for "prodigioso," along with "marvelous").
There is a moment in the 1999 film October Sky (based on the book Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam, Jr.) where one of Homer's friends, Roy Lee, stumbles over the work "prodigious" (a favorite expression of their common pal Quentin), pronouncing it "prodigenous." Close upon the heels of double-checking cognates is the task of making sure you have a solid grip on the English word!
According to the OED, "prodigious" is one of those tricky words that pulls double-duty, as it can be used to describe something ominous or monstrous, or something large, vast, or causing wonder or amazement.
At which point, I digressed, as it had never before occurred to me to wonder about the link, if any between "prodigious" and "prodigal" (as in the parable of the prodigal son), which has a fairly straightforward meaning of "wastefully lavish."
Looking at the etymology didn't help much:
prodigiousStill, the exercise did help nail down the nature of "prodigious," and although "marvelous" fits right in there with "causing wonder or amazement," if I were translating the title—hey! I am!—I'd render it as: Develop an Amazing Memory.
[ad. L. prōdigiōs-us marvellous, prodigious: see prodigy...]
prodigal
[a. obs. F. prodigal (16th c. in Godef.), ad. late L. *prōdigāl-is ..., f. prōdig-us wasteful, lavish]
The fun never stops.
Cheers...
