Talk:teratology

Quote request
N. Bailey, An Universal Etymological English Dictionary, Twentieth Edition doesn't have it. Twenty-first Edition mentions the word but doesn't use it: "TERATOLO'GY [Τερατος and λεγω Gr.] Bombaſt." -84.161.16.137 16:41, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

RFV discussion: December 2015–April 2017
From Bailey's  (1721), via Webster 1913. Bailey does give this definition (though it's a bit longer and stylistically different) but no examples. Any usage? Equinox ◑ 14:23, 4 December 2015 (UTC)
 * What I get from this is that Bailey's original definition was of writing that was unnecessarily great or prodigious.  This would fit with the "monstrous" etymology of the word.  Johnson's contraction of Bailey's wordy definition has somehow lost the original meaning and our entry has followed Johnson.  It seems to me that there is a valid third meaning but it needs rewriting.  Richard Kearney seems to think that this is a medieval term (study of monsters - all too credible for that era) and he is re-coining it with a new purpose;
 * This third approach I term—borrowing from medieval parlance—a teratology of the sublime in that it focuses on the "monstrous" character of God.
 * ...I would identify a more recent and widespread tendency to remove evil from the realm of a properly human interpretation: what I call a postmodern teratology of the sublime.
 * With "study, or writing, of monsters" as a definition, or even Bailey's "monstrous writing", there are more cites available;
 * Mieville's fictions as sublime backwash, inclusive of teratological angels and teratological shit, inclusive of the language of flowers and of the solar anus...
 * In this way, this analysis has aimed at expanding gaga feminism by undertaking a critical teratology, that is, of course, the study of monsters. (they're talking about Ladu Gaga!)
 * In Jack London's urban gothic, the city's teratological economy comes to light in grotesque animal allegories.
 * A Final Teratology (section heading)
 * Miranda Francus notes that in the West, the image of the fecund female has often been associated with monstrosity: 'misogyny and teratology have always met in the image of the maternal monster'.
 * Despite being productive in embodying and critiquing human problems, however, teh incorporation of the cyborg into teratology overlooks one important aspect that distinguishes this cybernetic creature from the rest of the monster phylum: we are able to choose how to fabricate and use the cyborg.
 * Spinning Spark  20:21, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

RFV failed for the specified sense. I have added the study of monsters as a definition, with the quotes given here. Kiwima (talk) 20:22, 7 April 2017 (UTC)