Switch off

Notoriously, the act of extinguishing involves remaining in the dark. Coincidence with the small enigma of this word, because of light, around its origins, there is little and flickering. Some hypotheses can be traced in this regard, perhaps not even really debated, as if this word did not deserve attention from insiders. Yet it is basic, of daily use and of wide application. It seems that at the roots of extinguishing there is the idea of discolouring, or of canceling, or even of extinguishing: one would go back to the Latin verbs expingere, extingere, extinguere. Dante, just to say, uses extinguish in all these most ancient meanings: perhaps he knew something more about the connections of this word with its origins. Often different meanings and stories that come together in a single word give it strength and make it a fortune. In our case, to make the mix even more fitting, the sound of blowing on the candle to put it out is added. Be that as it may, words are tools for communicating and for building the future, and so it is welcome that the different superimposable meanings are reinforced, but knowing them better makes them more effective.


Fabio Arduini
NP October 2022