Root of the Week: CHRON (Friday)

FRIDAY Anachronism (noun)

The prefix “ana” means “against,” so something is called an anachronism if it is “against time,” violating the order in which things occur.  We might laugh at a person who holds onto outdated ideas as an anachronism.  Anachronisms also appear in works of art. Shakespeare’s plays are full of anachronisms because the Elizabethans did not subscribe to the idea that plays should be accurate renderings of historical realities. For example, in the tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra invites her waiting woman to join her in a game of billiards, a game which did not exist in ancient Egypt.  Anachronisms can also be unintentional.  If you are watching a movie set in 1945 but spot a 1965 Corvette parked on the street, you’ve caught an anachronism

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