Wednesday 1 June 2011

Kinetic Cinema


The other day, a chap asked me where cinema came from, and I had no idea. So I dashed home and looked it up. First, I found that it is not, of course, cinema, but cinematograph, which means moving picture, or more precisely it means kinetic picture, because it's exactly the same Greek root, kinemat, which meant movement.

This means that cinema and movie (or cinmatograph and moving picture) are exactly the same thing, except that one is Latin (via movere) and the other is Greek.

However, as the images don't actually move, but only appear to, a stickler for facts should really go to the pictures.

The other word that comes from kinema is cite, because if you bring a fact into your argument (something that I never do as I abhor facts and prefer my opinions) you cite it.

Now, run!

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