Answer: psyche, psych, or psycho
Today we're going to look at which of the following is correct, and why:
"Which one of us has a psych degree?" Dom demanded.
"Which one of us has a psyche degree?" Dom demanded.
The characters from Inception will help us distinguish between these.
Psych, psyche, and psycho all stem from the same Greek root word psykhe, which means "breath, spirit, soul." (Dictionary.com) In ancient times, breath was considered spirit or soul, which in turn was indistinguishable from mind. Psyche was also the name of the mortal woman in Greek mythology who became the bride of Eros, god of love. In current times, the term psyche refers to "the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious" or "the forces in an individual that influence thought, behavior, and personality." (Wikipedia)
Psychology is the study of the psyche, and it is often abbreviated as psych.
Dom met Mal while getting his master's degree in psych.
It can also be an abbreviation for the adjective "psychological."
She was a volunteer subject to get a psych eval.
As a verb, "psych" is slang short for "psychologically prepare" or "psychologically intimidate or fool." (Dictionary.com)
After her first dream experience, Ariadne had to psych herself up to go under again.
Eames' skill with manipulating dreamspace meant that he could usually psych out the mark before the projections caught on to his deception.
This verb form has also become a slang interjection, when someone expresses excitement at being psyched up or, more often, having psyched someone out.
Dom cried out "Psych!" and his face morphed into that of the new forger. Arthur despaired for dreamwork. He was sure Eames' new protege couldn't be a day over fourteen.
Another related word, which should not be confused with either of the above, is psycho, short for "psychopath"-someone who has a pathology of the psyche. A psychopath has a personality disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior. (Wikipedia)
It's a good thing long-term use of Somnacin suppressed natural dreaming, because every once in a while a team would find themselves in the mind of a psycho, and no one wanted those nightmares.
You can differentiate between these three words easily if you are looking for the verb or interjection-those will always be psych. You can also remember how to tell these three apart by both their spelling and their pronunciation.
Psyche is spelled with an "e" at the end, which is pronounced as a long "e": "sike-ee."
Psych and psycho are both spelled as the abbreviations they are: psychology and psychopath. Since "psychology" has a short "o" sound and "psycho" (sike-oh) has a long "o" sound, "psycho" must be short for "psychopath."
To answer our question from the start of the post, here are the correct uses:
"Which one of us has a psych degree?" Dom demanded.
"Which one of us got into the mark's psyche in five minutes flat, without having a degree?" Eames retorted.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't brag about being able to get into the mind of a psycho."
"Which one of us has a psych degree?" Dom demanded.
"Which one of us has a psyche degree?" Dom demanded.
The characters from Inception will help us distinguish between these.
Psych, psyche, and psycho all stem from the same Greek root word psykhe, which means "breath, spirit, soul." (Dictionary.com) In ancient times, breath was considered spirit or soul, which in turn was indistinguishable from mind. Psyche was also the name of the mortal woman in Greek mythology who became the bride of Eros, god of love. In current times, the term psyche refers to "the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious" or "the forces in an individual that influence thought, behavior, and personality." (Wikipedia)
Psychology is the study of the psyche, and it is often abbreviated as psych.
Dom met Mal while getting his master's degree in psych.
It can also be an abbreviation for the adjective "psychological."
She was a volunteer subject to get a psych eval.
As a verb, "psych" is slang short for "psychologically prepare" or "psychologically intimidate or fool." (Dictionary.com)
After her first dream experience, Ariadne had to psych herself up to go under again.
Eames' skill with manipulating dreamspace meant that he could usually psych out the mark before the projections caught on to his deception.
This verb form has also become a slang interjection, when someone expresses excitement at being psyched up or, more often, having psyched someone out.
Dom cried out "Psych!" and his face morphed into that of the new forger. Arthur despaired for dreamwork. He was sure Eames' new protege couldn't be a day over fourteen.
Another related word, which should not be confused with either of the above, is psycho, short for "psychopath"-someone who has a pathology of the psyche. A psychopath has a personality disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior. (Wikipedia)
It's a good thing long-term use of Somnacin suppressed natural dreaming, because every once in a while a team would find themselves in the mind of a psycho, and no one wanted those nightmares.
You can differentiate between these three words easily if you are looking for the verb or interjection-those will always be psych. You can also remember how to tell these three apart by both their spelling and their pronunciation.
Psyche is spelled with an "e" at the end, which is pronounced as a long "e": "sike-ee."
Psych and psycho are both spelled as the abbreviations they are: psychology and psychopath. Since "psychology" has a short "o" sound and "psycho" (sike-oh) has a long "o" sound, "psycho" must be short for "psychopath."
To answer our question from the start of the post, here are the correct uses:
"Which one of us has a psych degree?" Dom demanded.
"Which one of us got into the mark's psyche in five minutes flat, without having a degree?" Eames retorted.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't brag about being able to get into the mind of a psycho."