What's the difference between tarantella and tarantism?
Tarantella
Definition:
(n.) A rapid and delirious sort of Neapolitan dance in 6-8 time, which moves in whirling triplets; -- so called from a popular notion of its being a remedy against the poisonous bite of the tarantula. Some derive its name from Taranto in Apulia.
(n.) Music suited to such a dance.
Example Sentences:
(1) Ben Emmerson QC, the lawyer acting for Litvinenko's widow, Marina, said Hague and David Cameron were "dancing to the Russian tarantella" and seeking to "cover up" evidence that the Russian state was behind Litvinenko's polonium poisoning in 2006.
(2) It was delightful to explore the modernised, easier to navigate site and listen again to Tennyson reading his The Charge of the Light Brigade, Sylvia Plath reciting Parliament Hill Fields , Hillaire Beloc singing Tarantella .
(3) He said he only listened to tarantella [the traditional Calabrian folk music].
(4) Both Hague and Cameron were shamelessly "dancing to the Russian tarantella", he told a pre-inquest hearing.
(5) He accused Hague and David Cameron of "dancing to the Russian tarantella" and of colluding with the Kremlin in a cover-up.
(6) "We cannot allow Her Majesty's government, by misusing the PII system, to use this inquest to dance to the Russian tarantella," he said.
(7) The government, he told the hearing, was in effect "dancing to the Russian tarantella".
Tarantism
Definition:
(n.) A nervous affection producing melancholy, stupor, and an uncontrollable desire to dance. It was supposed to be produced by the bite of the tarantula, and considered to be incapable of cure except by protracted dancing to appropriate music.
Example Sentences:
(1) Historically the names of the specific 'diseases' have evolved from demonic possession, tarantism, hysteralgia, hystero-epilepsy, neurasthenia, hypochondriasis and nervousness to neurosis, but several key features remain static.