(Appendix to the century journal “Successes of Etymology”).

Once again, that restless lampoonist Esprit de L’Escalier sent a provocative question to the editor, listing the above-mentioned words and allegedly “asking” to clarify to him, the “ignoramus”, what semantic connection unites such different concepts?

Sarcasm is a highly satirical, and not even satirical, but extremely piercing remark or statement.

A sarcolemma is a kind of shell of connective tissue covering muscle fibers.

Sarcoma is a malignant neoplasm of connective tissue.

A sarcophagus is a massive coffin, often made of wood and stone.

So, WHAT unites these different concepts, which for some reason sound phonetically too related?

We answer:

Yes, not only phonetically related, but also in meaning!

SARCOS is meat in Greek.

Sarcolemma means “skin on meat”. A lemma is also a mathematical concept, a kind of additional conclusion CONNECTING (connective tissue!) into a logical chain of reasonings to prove a theorem!

Sarcoma is a “growth of meat”.

A sarcophagus is a “meat devoureso; not a very good term for a coffin (so should rather be called “meat eaters”!) The coffin should be called the “container of meat” – Sarcodokhelo or Sarcoidokhi.

By the way, perhaps the Russian word “SDOKHNUT’ – to CROAK” comes from these two Greek words “Dokhelo” and “Idokhi”.

Sarcasm is “tearing meat” – that is, to wound with the words “to the point of blood”, literally, to tear a person apart with just words. (A well–known proverb is the translation of “Sarcasm”: “The word HURTS, the word heals!”

So the editors replied to this boring Esprit, de –they say, “there’s something stair.”

Shut up!

FOR HOW LONG???

2 VII 2026