A Conversation for Writing Right with Dmitri: Chipping Away at the Writer's Block
akrasia
~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum Started conversation Oct 22, 2012
Had to look that one up.
Never heard of it before.
It really is a word we need to describe
such conflicts of conviction and action.
I wonder if the word 'crazy' comes from akrasia.
Dagnabbit! Dicdotcom is so bent on giving all the
variations of 'crazy' as a slang expression that
they fail to say much about the etymology. They
do suggest a link to 'craze' which has many of the
same root meanings and implications but is said to
come from Old Swedish. 
It may have.
But I suspect the Greeks got to Sweden first. 
~jwf~
akrasia
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Oct 22, 2012
I think it has more to do with the '-cracy' words, like 'democracy'. From 'a' + 'kratos', meaning 'without power'. 
I think 'crazy' had more to do with energetic motion in the wrong directions. In the US, we say 'crazy as a bedbug', meaning running all over the place. 
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