4 ms·

Even the title is a creative jest, as Lunacy literally means "Looking at the moon" (via "Lunatic" which is someone who looks at the moon - Luna).

• thaumasiotes 2y ago
  > as Lunacy literally means "Looking at the moon" (via "Lunatic" which is someone who looks at the moon Literally? There is no "looking" element in the word. You'd need something like "lunavident". In the most literal terms, lunacy is the noun form of "lunate", which is a shape. ("C" is the "lunate sigma", the sigma in the shape of a moon.) Outside of the shape meaning, "lunacy" is just a relationship to the moon; the form of the relationship is not specified by the form of the word.
  • dotancohen 2y ago
    At the time that the word was coined, there was nothing that one could do with the moon other than observe it.
    • thaumasiotes 2y ago
      Considering the sense of the word comes from the idea that the phase of the moon affects people's minds whether they're looking at it or not, this is obviously false. You can look at the moon, you can look away from the moon, you can hide from the moon, you can worship the moon, you can love the moon, you can describe the moon... but the relationship actually being expressed was just "being affected by the moon". Looking at the moon is no more necessary to this process than it is for the ocean as it's drawn in and out by the tide.
      • dotancohen 2y ago
        Point being that Moon is the root of the word Lunacy as used in the title.
  • lucianbr 2y ago
    So "moonness"?