• Asafum@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    7 days ago

    kak·i·sto·cra·cy

    noun

    Government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.

    • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 days ago

      On behalf of all the Welsh people I know would you have a problem with “cac” rather than the Dutch based (?) “kak” in this word?

      • samus12345@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        7 days ago

        “Kak” is from Greek. “Cac” is an alternate spelling coming from the same root via French, as in “cacophony” or

        • Klear@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          7 days ago

          I’ve recently started coming up with new words by changing eu- (meaning good) into caco-. You get some great ones like:

          • cacophoria
          • cacovangelium
          • cacogenics
          • cacology
          • cacophemism

          And my favourite, cacothanasia.

        • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          7 days ago

          Interesting. I know “kak” from Afrikaans and “cachu” from Welsh. I’ve never seen the word definitively derived from Greek; I always believed the root was from PIE language. What do I know?

          • samus12345@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            7 days ago

            I looked up the Dutch “kak” and that’s pretty funny. It means “bad” in Greek, but the Dutch meaning still works great - rule by the shittiest people.

            • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              7 days ago

              Yeah - I assumed “shit (people)” was what we were going for; “k” doesn’t exist in Welsh so I asked for the alt spelling. Cacophony then translated as “shit sound” in my head - which again, kind of, works. Language is difficult.