Academic journal article English Journal
A Lesson in Etymology
Article excerpt
Going back to the Latin root,
the word insincere means "not not wax."
Let's replace this double negative
with the positive assertion "with wax."
The insincere have got wax in their ears.
Which is why they cannot not hear unclearly.
The not not wax clogs their instrument
of understanding, which means
just what it says-standing under.
If you are sincere, or without wax,
you stand under the waterfall of knowledge.
The pressure of all that smart water pouring down
on your head clears any lingering wax from your ears,
which otherwise builds up when you stay
high and dry in your own opinions.
Pinions are wings, or wing tips.
They are also a way of binding and shackling.
O-pinions are how we bind and shackle
the wings of truth. Truth is what was already there
before all of that wax started building up
in the ear of clear understanding. …