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I somehow can't stand the word "idyllic." The first time I came across it, probably in junior high, I thought it had to do with "ideal." I looked into it and found that it actually has to do with an "idyll" which is a poem or something. But still, in every single context I've seen this word, it could easily have been replaced with "ideal." What's the deal (or what's the dyll)?
Here's what I found in the OED entry for "idyll":
etymology: Gr. {epsilon}{ilenis}{delta}{guacu}{lambda}{lambda}{iota}{omicron}{nu} a short descriptive poem, dim. of {epsilon}{ilenisfrown}{delta}{omicron}{fsigma} form, picture.
1. A short poem, descriptive of some picturesque scene or incident, chiefly in rustic life. prose idyll, a prose composition treating subjects of the same kind in a poetic style. (and derivs.).
2. transf. An episode or a series of events or circumstances of pastoral or rural simplicity, and suitable for an idyll.
I think you've got the general sense of the word, I could see where one might wish to relate it to idealistic, but I feel like that concept is tinged saccharine — as if the use of any form of “ideal” would serve to describe a scene that is unrealistically perfect or unnattainable, a false front.
I've always read idyllic as something more genuinely positive, closer to evocative or picturesque… Pastoral seems to be a good fit but is overly specific… Quaint is good but can also carry a negative connotation… Idyllic accepts beauty at face value, yes? Do we ever use it in this other tongue-in-cheek manner?
Excuse my erratic puntuation, trying to let the thoughts flow– Does this ring true to others? Does the “poetry” of this word eliminate the sickly sweetness? I'm not sure… Feels like a yankee word to me… Better than precious though… Makes me think of rolling hills and fluffy white sheep…
Does ideal seem like a very cynical word to anyone else or is it just me?
Kari, thanks for raising this interesting question, about which I've been ruminating. And yes, I am thinking about "ruminate" in both the sense of "thinking" and the sense of "chewing cud." As Etymology Fan mentioned, early in its history, the English word "idyll," like its Greek root, referred to life in the countryside, and specifically to poems written about that kind of life. So it connotes a bit of the pastoral (orignally having to do with shepherds, like the "pastor" who shepherds a church) and the bucolic (originally having to do with cowherds, a relative of "bovine").
I suspect you're right that in many people's minds, "idyllic" is probably reinforced by "ideal," and probably regarded as pretty much synonymous. But I think the history of the word gives it a more specific flavor, and it's worth distinguishing it. I'd tend to use "idyllic" when I want to add a certain amount of nostalgia and wistfulness to something that also happens to be ideal. Does that make sense? (I also think "idyllic" is often overused to the point of near-meaninglessness, particularly by travel writers. What do the rest of you think?)
In any case, Kari, I appreciate your raising this question. I hadn't really thought through the distinction before.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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