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"kairos"

From Richard Nordquist,
Your Guide to Grammar & Composition.
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Definition:

The opportune time and/or place, the right or appropriate time to say or do the right or appropriate thing.

"Kairos is a word with layers of meaning; most usually, it is defined in terms of its Classical Greek courtroom nuances: winning an argument requires a deft combination of creating and recognizing the right time and right place for making the argument in the first place. However, the word has roots in both weaving (suggesting the creation of an opening) and archery (denoting the seizing of, and striking forcefully through, an opening)."
(Eric Charles White)

Example:

Dear Mother and Dad:

It has now been three months since I left for college. I have been remiss in writing this, and I am very sorry for my thoughtlessness in not having written before. I will bring you up to date now, but before you read on, please sit down. YOU ARE NOT TO READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU ARE SITTING DOWN. OKAY!

Well then, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture and the concussion I got when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory when it caught fire shortly after my arrival are pretty well healed now. I only get those sick headaches once a day.

. . . Yes, Mother and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents, and I know you will welcome the baby and give it the love, devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child. . . .

Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or a skull fracture. I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant, I am not engaged. I do not have syphilis and there is no man in my life. However, I am getting a D in history and an F in science, and I wanted you to see those marks in the proper perspective.

Your Loving Daughter
(Anonymous, "A Daughter's Letter Home")

Pronunciation: KY ross or KAY-ross
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