Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
By Barbara McAllister
Word of the Day: Enthusiasm
Know anyone in your life who is a sports enthusiast? Would they rather spend time Sunday with the NFL, NBA or at a ballgame than at church? That’s surprisingly appropriate. The noun “enthusiasm” is derived from the Greek “enthousiasmos,” which means “inspired or possessed by a god.” The “en” means “in” and “theos” means god, as in theology or atheist. As used in the Bible, the word enthusiasm literally means “god within” and describes individuals of strong god-inspired convictions.
For the 200 hundred years, the word used in English referred to beliefs or passions related to religion, mostly as a derogatory term for excessive religious zeal under the Puritans. The Puritans regarded that kind of over-the-top fervor as a conceit. Eventually the word came to mean a passion or excitement about anything, from sports teams to hobbies.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm,” a phrase often quoted for all occasions and activities although unclear as to whether Emerson referred to the Biblical or secular meaning of enthusiasm. Emerson had a puritanical upbringing in a strict Unitarian family and became an ordained Unitarian minister after earning a degree from Harvard Divinity School. He became a leading proponent of the Transcendental movement, which believes in individualism, idealism and the essential unity of all creation. He was later declared an atheist by his contemporaries for his radical beliefs. In his lifetime, Emerson was an enthusiastic poet, essayist, intellectual, popular speaker and philosopher.
