Revised as of
4 July 2023
Well shit, I’ve been saving this word confusion up for hunting season . . . and it’s got nothing to do with hunting . . . huh?
Eschatology is theological and is a doctrine about or the study of the ultimate end of anything: death, the soul, the earth, etc.
In a clinical or scientific situation, scatology can simply mean the study and/or analysis of fecal material. More often, though, it is used metaphorically to refer to an interest in or treatment of obscenities.
Scatology and coprology are both concerned with feces, but the former is more concerned with literature, humor, and psychology while the latter is only used in reference to medicine, biology, and paleontology.
For a simultaneous (and probably unhealthy) dose of both scatological and eschatological humor, check out Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s movie This is the End.
Better yet, don’t.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Eschatology | Scatology |
|---|---|
The Doughboy, Bringing Home Victory by KPortin is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via VisualHunt. — All that fire looks like the end times are a’coming, and how eschatologically appropriate in the middle of a cemetery. |
Ancient Ephesian Toilets is Bsmalley‘s own work, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: eschatologies |
Noun
Plural: scatologies A.k.a., coprology (sort of) |
| [Theology] Any system of doctrines concerning last, or final, matters, as death, the Judgment, the future state, the final destiny of the soul and of humankind, etc.
The branch of theology or biblical exegesis concerned with the end of the world |
The study of or preoccupation with excrement, excretory functions, or obscenity
Obscenity, especially words or humor referring to excrement
[Paleontology] The study of fossil excrement [Pathology] The study and analysis of feces for physiological and diagnostic purposes [Psychiatry] The psychiatric study of such an obsession |
| Examples: | |
| “Chávez imported more than just personnel and advice; he imported the Cuban Revolution’s eschatology virtually whole” (Green).
“Upon the whole our sources say very little about the Gnostic eschatology” (Harnack). “We can only say that secularism, like other religions, needs an eschatology, and has produced one” (Inge). “The primary scriptures used for the study of Eschatology include the books of Daniel and Revelation, and Jesus’ teachings regarding the End Time (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)” (Eschatology). “Greater constructive engagement in Pneumatology and eschatology, however, would have been useful” (Fergusson). “Israel awaits a political eschatology when a lasting and just political order would be established by God” (Coming). |
They aren’t always polite in their writings; sometimes they use parody, satire and occasionally even scatology.
The subtle interweaving of scatology and death is positively Freudian. With their propensity for schoolboy humor and scatology, they deal with the subject by uproarious laughter. But Sharon caught me off guard when she started to talk with some approval about scatology, a fetish whose adherents use feces to enhance sexual activity. As Geoffrey Roche points out, the works of Bataille and Sade were marked by “a great deal of scatology, sex scenes in churches, blasphemy, humiliation, rape, torture, and necrophilia” (Beattie, 158). A scatology of the oldest known fossilized human excrement offers valuable scientific insight into the life of Neanderthals who lived in Spain about 50,000 years ago. Studying a creature’s biological information through scatology can reveal quite a bit about its diet, health, and any diseases it may have suffered. There appears to be a scatology of Mozart that is more of an attempt to disguise criticism as diagnoses. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: eschatological Adverb: eschatologically Noun: eschatologist |
Adjective: scatologic, scatological, scatophagous Noun: scat, scatologia, scatologist, scatophagy |
| History of the Word: | |
| Mid-19th century, from the Greek eskhatos meaning last, furthest, uttermost, extreme, most remote + -logy.
Originally in theology, the study of the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell. |
1876, from the Greek skat-, a stem of skor (genitive skatos), meaning excrement, dung (cf. Latin stercus meaning dung), literally meaning to cut off. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Eschatology versus Scatology
Apple Dictionary.com
Beattie, Debra. “The Potential for Excess in the Toxic Nature of Gendered Power in the Production of Cinema.” The Free Library. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Potential+for+Excess+in+the+Toxic+Nature+of+Gendered+Power+in+the+…-a0518741397>.
“The Coming of the Son of Man.” Manila Bulletin. The Free Library. 14 Nov 2015. Web. n.d. <https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+coming+of+the+Son+of+Man.-a0511075505>.
Dictionary.com: eschatology, scatology
“Eschatology Definition.” Christian Terms. BibleStudy.org. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/definition-of-christian-terms/eschatology.html>.
Fergusson, David. Creation. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014. Print. <Creation>.
Green, Justin. “Where Chavez Learned to Chavez.” The Daily Beast. 5 March 2013. Web. n.d. <https://www.thedailybeast.com/where-chavez-learned-to-chavez?source=dictionary>.
Harnack, Adolph. History of Dogma, vol 1 (of 7). Project Gutenberg, 2006. Web. n.d. <http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19612>.
Inge, William Ralph. “Outspoken Essays.” Project Gutenberg, 2005. Web. n.d. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15249/15249-h/15249-h.htm>.
Oxford Living Dictionaries: scatology
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Pooping Pony on Assateague National Park Island . . . by Kristian Bjornard is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr.
