Word-play ... or Sword-play?

I like words.  Especially I like words that are unusual, discovering not only their meanings, but their origins as well.  Also fascinating are pairs of words that have some similarity and yet in all practical terms are totally distinct.  Often they can be the key to a slick joke or pun, or to an amusing exchange between people who find they are talking at cross-purposes.

Two such words that crossed my path the other day were ‘cudgel’ and ‘cajole’.  The first is a short thick stick used as a weapon, while the other is an act of persuasion, often with flattery or by deceit.  On the face of it, there is no connection between the two – certainly not in meaning – nor in origin, either, since one is Old English and the other French.  And yet, there is an element of opposition there.  If you want to get your own way in a situation, you might use force, or you might try persuasion.  It’s unlikely that you would attempt both!

This winter has seen the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill, arguably Britain’s finest prime minister.  In the thirties, he was certainly no appeaser when it came to an appreciation of what the Nazis were up to, and maybe it was this reputation that contributed to his being moved as Chamberlain’s successor in 1940.  However, he may have mellowed in later years for, at a White House luncheon in June 1954, he is reported to have said that, “It is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war.”  This saying also came to mind as I was musing about ‘cajole’ and ‘cudgel’, for doesn't it put rather poetically what I have tried to say above?

Jesus told his followers to love their enemies (Luke 6:27), and the verses that follow put the same instruction in many different ways, culminating in the effect that such love would have (vv. 28-36).  This teaching had its origin in the Old Testament (Proverbs 25:21-22), and St Paul echoed it in his letter to the Romans (12:18-20), where he exhorted his readers to “live at peace with everyone”, and then explained why, using this along with another Old Testament quotation, “‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Deut. 32:35). 

This is where my thoughts come full circle, for here is a place where I love the Authorised Version, which says “Vengeance is mine ...”.  We rarely hear of vengeance these days, and it seems so much more powerful, and echoes the great power of God Himself.

When you next come across one of the language’s museum pieces, don’t just look it up in the dictionary and then, enlightened, carry on reading.  Take advantage of the interruption; remember God’s vengeance, and question whether there is any situation in your life where you might be storing up some hatred or resentment that ought to be passed to a Higher Power.