Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
It's the Word of the Day podcast for June 2nd.
Today's word is Herculean, spelled capital H-E-R-C-U-L-E-A-N. Herculean is an adjective. Something described as Herculean, which is often uncapitalized, is characterized by extraordinary power, extent, intensity, or difficulty. Here's the word used in a sentence from The Ringer by Mirren Fader. Strong doesn't even properly describe Ashton Ginty's Herculean, how is he doing that kind of strength.
Before his sophomore year in college, he squatted 575 pounds. Coach James Montgomery thought that Junte had maxed out. He was wrong. Now Junte easily squats 605 pounds like a hot knife through butter, Montgomery says. The hero Hercules, son of the god Zeus by a human mother, was famous for his superhuman strength.
To pacify the wrath of the god Apollo, he was forced to perform 12 enormously difficult tasks or labors. These ranged from descending into the underworld to bring back the terrifying dog that guarded its entrance, to destroying the many-headed monster called the Hydra. The feats he accomplished explain how the word Herculean in the 16th century came to be used for any job or task that's extremely difficult or calls for enormous strength.
With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit Merriam-Webster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.