Chrysti The Wordsmith: Dys- Prefix

Greetings I'm Christie the wordsmith. D Why s Three little letters that always spell trouble attached to root elements of words. D.S. forms a prefix that means bad abnormal impaired or difficult in the diffs d y s entries of your dictionary you'll find a churlish little troop of terms for the next 87 seconds I'll be your tour guide through some cranky dist words a malady characterized by severe abdominal pain and other symptoms dysentery is no fun and the word itself tells us why prefixed by dis us meaning abnormal or bad. The root of the term is the Greek and to Ron meaning intestine dysentery bad intestine. You've heard of Utopia a place of ideal perfection. Well consider its antithesis dystopia which refers to a place in which the condition of life is grim from starvation or hardship. The topia of dystopia comes from a Greek word meaning simply place or location. Well euphoria is a state of

elation or delirious happiness. It's unpleasant opposite is dysphoria a state of feeling unwell or unhappy dysphoria literally means hard to bear. Dyslexia is a learning disability involving difficulty in acquiring and processing language. The Davis prefix here means difficult and the lexia part comes from a Greek term that means word or speech. I'm Christi the wordsmith Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.