Well it just goes to show you. A few weeks ago I thought it might be fun to look up blaspheme. And before I did that I knew I’d also have to check out heretic. But I expected blaspheme to be the more interesting of the two words.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

They both come from the Greek language. I’ll admit I studied it at Cal 40 years ago, and I still have my lexicon.

Blaspheme comes from blasphēmein, (to speak evil of) and means especially to revile, curse or abuse sacred subjects. The blas part comes either from βλάζ (slack, stupid) or βλάπτω (distracted) and the pheme comes from φήμη (voice, fame).

Ho hum.

Heretic, on the other hand, is one who engages in heresy, which comes from the Greek hairesis (a taking, selection, school) which is a form of the verb hairein (to take). Heresy is a doctrine or opinion at variance with established or generally received views. Heretic (αἱρετικός) means one who is able to choose.

See? It’s rude to be a blasphemer. It may be desirable to be a heretic.