Talk:Apocolocyntosis

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Pumpkinification?

A poor choice of title as Pumpkin, as commonly understood, could not possibly be what Seneca intended as punpkins were unknown in Europe before 1492.

"Gourdification" is one of the alternatives, but "pumpkinification" is a pretty venerable translation. Consider the example of the "Apple" in the Garden of Eden. It is absolutely certain that whatever fruit is being referred to, it is NOT an apple. Pumpkinification has the advantage of being similar to the original word in sound and construction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.23.106.49 (talk) 15:30, 2 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Greek word refers to the lagoenaria siceraria which is a vegetable of the ancient world. In the Far East it is commonly connected to the passage from life to death and viceversa. Cf. Chinese "Book of Odes" Da Ya: Mian.Aldrasto11 (talk) 05:06, 24 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The word is English in origin. Though in American English it refers to a North American cultivar, it doesn't have to. I'm therefore not quite sure why the article says this is "anachronistic." - Eponymous-Archon (talk) 22:04, 8 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The element -κολοκύντ- in Ἀποκολοκύντωσις would appear to refer to the colocynth, which is not referred to as a pumpkin – it's a laxative. I would guess the word is used because it's more familiar to an English reader while being somewhat similar (they are both gourds), and also, subjectively, to some extent an inherently funny word (which 'colocynth' is not). In any case, we should use whatever translations are used by English-language sources, and not comment on what it may refer to without reference to sources. Hairy Dude (talk) 14:19, 9 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]