I like old things. I like old books, buttons and bric-a-brack...aka knick-knacks. I like looking for old odds and ends at second hand stores. I like to dig deep into the bottom shelves because you never know what your going to find. I call it gently used or rediscovered treasure. Other people call it ephemera. Although the word ephemera usually describes paper I find in my blog surfing that ephemera is used to describe just about anything old that is renewed again. Is the word being used out of text? Technically yes it is but the word does add a bit of mystic to an otherwise old, musty thing of the past. Antique makes me think of something old and worth a lot of money, ephemera sounds mysterious, old and something with a bit of a romantic tinge to it. What do you think?
Main Entry: ephem·era
Pronunciation: \i-ˈfe-mər-ə, -ˈfem-rə\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural ephemera also ephem·er·ae \-mər-ē, -rē\ or ephemeras
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek ephēmera, neuter plural of ephēmeros
Date: 1650
1 : something of no lasting significance —usually used in plural
2 ephemera plural : paper items (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles
Ooooh I like this word! Now if I can only hold it in my head long enough to use it once or twice it may just stick.
ReplyDeleteI love the word "ephemera." And, I love ephemera itself. :)
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