How would you use cathexis in a sentence?

[The Backlash Cometh]

[DavidDvorkin]

1. "There are many words I never use - 'cathexis,' for example."

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Okay, now how would someone use it, if they actually knew how to use it?

[DavidDvorkin]

3. I just read the definition

and as is the case with so many terms in psychology (psychoanalysis?), the definition is a string of words and phrases that convey no meaning to me.

So my serious answer is that I have no idea.

[SheilaT]

4. I certainly wouldn't, so

why do you ask?

[Orrex]

5. No matter how you use it, you will likely come across as a pseudointellectual poseur

Unless you're Philip K Dick, in which case such words are your bread and butter.

[Ozymanithrax]

7. Actually, the characters may come across as Pseudoinellectual poseaur's...

and that would be a legitimate use of he word.

[Orrex]

8. Fair enough

:thumbsup:

[Ozymanithrax]

6. As a title of a Porn Novel, or in dialog spoken by a Freudian Pschoanalyst...

in love with his own mouth. "Wearing your mother's underwear while slashing photos of your father is a sign of Cathexis in your Oedipal longing..."

I could see it in a Harry Potter like novel to release the hidden energy of an object. Harry pointed his wand at the book unpublished love poems in Snape's hand and yelled, "Cathexis." releasing the pent up emotional energy of Snapes hidden love of Harry's mother into an explosion that blasted the hapless potions master across the room.

Really, some words are so specialized that there is no use in fiction. If 98% of your readers must reach for a dictionary to use a word, look for another.

[ceveritt]

9. cathexis, channeling Dorothy Parker

You can lead a whore to cathexis, but you can't make her think.