Hi, I’m Marc Franco,
and this is Word of the Week with Snap Language.
bellicose / 'bɛl ɪˌkoʊs /
Do you sometimes get in the mood to fight and argue over something
and you just can’t stop yourself?
Well, at that moment you’re being bellicose.
bellicose / 'bɛl ɪˌkoʊs /
Teenagers can be bellicose by nature.
They feel passionate about things
and are ready to snap back at people who disagree with them.
Bellicose teenagers are ready to fight
anyone who gets in the way of what they want to do.
It’s a natural developmental stage, which can be kind of fun.
But people of any age can have the impulse to be combative, or bellicose.
They have a bellicose attitude when they defend their beliefs.
When they respond to criticism, they don’t just say, “Well, I disagree with you.”
No, no, no... they push back hard with bellicose remarks.
“What are you thinking?”
“You have no right to say that.
“This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!”
They’re ready to fight...
They become combative... defensive.
The become defensive and respond to anything you say with acrid remarks.
They’re either triggered by something you said,
or they just have a bellicose nature.
Sometimes being bellicose is not really in your nature,
but a situation may trigger a bellicose response.
You know... when you bite someone’s head off...
and it surprises even you.
You cop a bellicose attitude, and all bets are off...
... and so are other people’s heads.
“Bellum” means “war” or “struggle” in Latin.
“Bellicose”... “warlike, combative.”
So, a bellicose person is ready to engage in combat
sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally.
Countries can be bellicose.
They’re ready to go to war
to solve disputes or disagreements with other countries.
When people or countries do get into combat, they’re belligerent.
bellicose / ˈbɛl ɪˌkoʊs /
belligerent / bəˈlɪdʒ ər ənt /
There’s the root word “bellum” again, giving us some awesome words.
Belligerent countries are those that are at war with each other.
Peace treaties are agreements between belligerent powers
to cease hostility.
Figuratively, you can say a toddler who’s screaming, kicking, and crying
is being belligerent.
I’m sure you’ve seen a belligerent child at the grocery store before
(throwing a fit at a very embarrassed parent).
Sometimes children don’t want to turn off the TV or go to bed,
so they throw a fit...
they start kicking things and crying.
They become belligerent.
People say children go through
a belligerent phase when they’re around two years old.
They call it “the terrible twos.”
[chuckles] Maybe you should call it “the belligerent twos.”
There is another fun phase in human development.
Children at that age start rebelling.
against their parents.
To rebel /rɪˈbɛl/
In their terrible twos, children are learning to push their boundaries.
They rebel against rules.
They want things their way.
“Bellum” ... war, combat...
“Rebellion...”
Are you a rebel? /ˈrɛb əl/
If so, you rebel against authority. /rɪˈbɛl/
That’s what rebels do.
Rebels rebel. /ˈrɛb əlz rɪˈbɛl/
You see the root word “bellum” there, right?
A rebellious child is sometimes belligerent.
“Bellicose” and “belligerent” are very close in meaning...
Bellicose countries or people are warlike.
They’re ready to fight.
Belligerent countries or people are already fighting.
They’re engaged in combat... like... a belligerent couple.
Sometimes these words are used interchangeably, though.
“Rebellious people” are those who fight against an existing situation...
like... rebellious teenagers,
who rebel against what their parents or society expects them to do.
Sometimes adults rebel, too,
against what they perceive as social injustice or
an unfavorable political situation.
“Bellum”... “war.”
The root word “bellum” also gives us
the expression “antebellum.” / ˈæn tiˈbɛl əm /
Literally, it means “before the war.”
In American history,
“antebellum” refers to the period before the American Civil War,
particularly referring to the South.
“An antebellum house” then is a house from that period.
The Southern economy of the Antebellum era was directly tied to
cotton production by slaves.
bellicose / ˈbɛl ɪˌkoʊs / (having a combative disposition)
bellicosity / ˌbɛl ɪ ˈkɒs ɪ ti / (that’s the quality of being bellicose)
belligerent / bəˈlɪdʒ ər ənt / (related to those at war or fighting)
belligerence / bəˈlɪdʒ ər əns /
rebellious / rɪˈbɛl yəs / (defiant, refusing to obey)
to rebel / rɪˈbɛl /
a rebel / ˈrɛb əl /
You can support Snap Language so we can continue making videos.
If you can’t or won’t, that’s fine, too.
Hey, just trying to make a living here.
No need to be bellicose about it.
The YouTube algorithm pays more attention to longer videos, but
I’ll rebel against the algorithm and keep this one short.
Thank you!
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