A Word With Moshammer's Ghost

epic

Function: adjective, noun

Etymology: Latin epicus, from Greek epikos, from epos word, speech, poem

Date: 1589, 1706

01: [adj, 1589] of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an epic; "Connie was holding court in the kitchen, talking some nonsense about William Carlos Williams' Paterson being a modern epic poem, and I mistakenly snickered loud enough for her to hear me, so naturally she asked why I was snickering, and all I could think to say was 'Yeah, Paterson might be Williams' epic, but you can't seriously believe it's an actual Epic Poem - it was originally published as five separate books, for chrissakes, and ultimately attempts to make grand statements by focusing on small moments and common people in the city of Paterson, New Jersey, of all places, instead of telling big stories of heroic men spanning decades and sweeping across whole continents," to which she kicked me in the balls and stormed off into the living room, most likely to try hate-fucking Tom The Tool."

02: [adj] extending beyond the usual or ordinary especially in size or scope; "The girth of his potato finger was truly epic."

03: [noun, 1706] a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or historical hero; "The way he was talking about his lunch with the CTO, you'd think he was retelling an epic."

04: [noun] a work of art that resembles or suggests an epic; "Now, The Changing Light At Sandover by James Merrill is truly a modern epic poem."

Hotcha! Hank