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Geophagy = the eating of dirt, earth, soil pronounced: jee-OFF-uh-jee
Geophagy is a modern scientific Greek compound γεωφαγíα (geophagia) = γη ‘earth’ (combining form: geo-) + φαγíα ‘eating’ The clearest reference to geophagy in popular American culture is the title of one of the bestselling American novels of the 20th century, Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth. Set during the reign of the last emperor of China, the story depicts, among other realities of earlier Chinese life, a prolonged drought and period of starvation during which the heroine mother, O-Lan, serves her children something to eat. Her poor neighbours, clutched in famine’s claw, desperate for food, discover that she has fed the kids soil, “the good earth” itself, because, as O-Lan says, it is warm and gives life. Nowadays we know that dirt also contains intestinal worm larvae and a number of bacteria best left out of the human digestive tract. But, on another level, some worms and bacteria in eaten dirt may assist the developing immune system of a child! Yes, eating dirt may be good for kids, not, of course, as a mainstay of anyone's diet. But, as superb science writer Jane Brody points out in a recent New York Times popular science piece, “babies know that a little dirt is good for you. . . The hygiene hypothesis suggests that organisms that enter the body along with ‘dirt’ spur the development of a healthy immune system.” Read Jane Brody's piece by clicking on the link below: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27brod.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
Pearl Buck 1892- 1973 In China from childhood, Pearl spoke both English and Chinese. In 1931 The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize and became a major MGM film in 1937. In 1938, less than a decade after her first book had appeared, Pearl Buck won the Nobel Prize in literature, the first American woman to do so. Pica : A Synonym for Geophagy Among veterinarians and pediatricians, a common synonym for geophagy is pica. This term arose in late fifteenth century Latin as a word for the craving of pregnant women for odd foods. Pica in classical Latin was a bird name, a magpie. It was suggested to medieval physicians because of the magpie’s habit of dining on a wide assortment of foods. Some modern pediatricians still use the term pica to denominate a symptom cluster in certain cases of childhood malnourishment. Geophagy Today in Haiti Geophagy has reared its dirt-eating head in today’s Haiti, one of the poorest countries on earth.
English Words Containing the Gai-, Ge- and Geo- Radicals The Greek root for earth persists in the general and the scientific vocabularies of most European languages. Here is a list of some English -geo- words: Gaia The earth mother in ancient Greek mythology was Gaia. This Urmutter reappeared in the twentieth century as a icon and feminist symbol, and Gaia was then appropriated by earth-loving ecofreaks to remind us of how all creatures on earth are indeed pressed to Gaia’s nurturant breasts, a biological fact we forget at our peril.
“Big Momma” Gaia By George! The geo root is also in some surprising words, like our common given name, George. In Greek Georgos meant farmer, that is, earth-worker (ge + orgos ‘worker’). A georgic is a poem dealing with rural life, such as the Roman poet Virgil’s Georgics. Apogee – (Greek apo ‘away from’ + ge ‘earth’) The apogee is that point in the orbit of the moon at which the moon is farthest away from the earth. The apogee of a space satellite is also spoken of. Epigeal – (Greek epi ‘on’ + ge ‘earth’) In botany, an epigeal plant sprouts and grows on or above the ground after germination. Hypogeal – (Greek hypo ‘under’ + ge ‘earth’) In botany, a hypogeal plant develops or grows or matures underground. The peanut is hypogeal. Geography – literally: writing about the earth (Greek graphein ‘to write’) Geology – literally: study of the earth (logia – ‘study’)
English Words with the Greek -Phag- Root
phagos Greek ‘eater, eating’ and phagein ‘to eat’ and phagia ‘eating’
Sarcophagus = sarx, sarkos Greek ‘flesh’ + phagos ‘eater’ The first sarcophagus was possibly a limestone coffin said to assist in the disintegration of a human corpse and so employed in making coffins. Later, the word sarcophagus names any ornate coffin built of stone or rare wood and decorated with the usual clichés of funerary mopery. In days of yore, some British sacrophagi were adorned with weeping angels hiding their heads beneath tear-moistened winglets. Or the carved coffins might depict a chubby flock of volant putti flying over the deceased person and bearing banners emblazoned with messages of spurious hope like “Nigel hath joined the Choir Celestial.” Hardly likely, after Nigel had diligently applied an arsenic salt to Aunt Emily’s kippers.
Exquisite Roman sacrophagus of Italian marble, 3rd century CE, Getty Museum, California
Esophagus = oisophagos an anatomical name coined by the ancient Greeks from oiso- Greek, meaning not known + phagos ‘eater’ The esophagus is the muscular gullet tube, about nine inches long in an adult, that connects the pharynx to the stomach. Peristaltic contractions of encircling muscles pass food through the esophagus. Phagocyte = phagos Greek ‘eater’ + kytos Greek ‘cell’ A phagocyte is a scavenger cell that ingests foreign cells, debris and disease microorganisms. Some phagocytes are fixed in liver, spleen, and bone marrow. Others, such as leucocytes, circulate in the blood. They play a significant defensive role in immune reactions. Anthropophagi are cannibals, from anthropos Greek ‘man’ + phagos ‘eating’ Today the word is frequently used humorously to convey a pseudoscientific pomposity to what is more usually called cannibalism.
Anthropophagous shenanigans ensue; decorum evaporates; proceedings get quite out-of-hand at an Episcopalian Church Summer Camp after the cook yells, “Somebody ate all the hotdogs!”
Coprophagy is the literal eating of shit. From kopros Greek ‘dung, shit’ + phagia ‘eating’ Dung-beetles are coprophagous, dining on excrement with far too great an enthusiasm.
Hippophagy is eating horse meat. From hippos Greek ‘horse’ + phagia ‘eating’ The practice of consuming horseflesh is encountered in North America rarely but does arise at the cheaper hamburger stands. Among ancient wandering peoples of the Asian steppes and invaders of Europe hippophagism served a survival need.
Onychophagy is the biting and sometimes eating of one’s fingernails. From onychos Greek ‘fingernail’ + phagia ‘eating’ The word appears frequently in medical literature describing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorders and in textbooks of the dietary sciences.
Necrophagy is eating corpses. From nekros Greek ‘dead’ + phagia ‘eating’ Earthly creatures other than ghouls do eat the dead bodies of their fellow critters.
Theophagy is eating your god. It is by no means as yucky as one might surmise upon first encountrering the word or the practice. From theos Greek ‘god’ + phagia ‘eating’ Christians wax theophagous during Holy Communion, as they nibble piously on the dainty bread wafers of the Eucharist miraculously transubstantiated into the very flesh of Christ. That is Roman Catholic dogma. Some of the vegetarian protestant sects found this far too dégoutant. So they came up with consubstantiation, wherein the bread and wine don’t actually undergo a transformative abracadabera and turn into Jesus’ fingers and saviour plasma. Instead, a more seemly metamorphosis follows, in which the molecules of Wonder Bread and Thunderbird wine are said to “coexist” with the Christly bits. So much more tasteful, I always think. And, yes, brethren and cistern, I wish to blaspheme.
copyright © 2008 William Gordon Casselman
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