Lecture 20: Words That Break and Words That Join

Words That Break and Words That Join

Lecture 20

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ou’ve probably heard Neil Sedaka’s hit song from 1962, “Breaking

Up Is Hard to Do.” Of course, that’s not the only pop song that deals

with the heartache of saying goodbye. In fact, breaking up, getting

back together, and breaking up again have been a staple of music for some

time. Where would songwriters be without this ongoing human tension

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for the rest of us—English has a number of rich vocabulary words that center

on the opposing concepts of breaking things apart and putting them together.

In this lecture, we’ll explore some of these target words.

Schism (noun)

A division among the members of a group into opposing factions because

of a disagreement.

z Although an informal club can experience a schism, this word is

often used in reference to divisions of a more serious nature, such as

a rift within a profession, a region, a political party, or a religion. For

example: “The high-stakes testing policies mandated by the federal

government have opened a schism in the education community.”

z Synonyms and related words for schism include split, rift, division,

parting of the ways, falling-out, fracture, rupture, ¿VVXUH, breach,

and cleft.

z Schism comes from the Greek schisma, meaning “division, cleft,”

and is related to two other words you already know that can help

you remember its meaning: scissors, which “cut or split” things in

two, and schizophrenia, literally, the “splitting of the mind.”

z You’ll also hear the term Great Schism for the division of the

Christian church during the period 1378–1417 into what would