Talk:Omphaloskepsis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

this is a real word, but probably belongs in wiktionary and not in wikipedia. >>sparkit|TALK<< 00:53, August 30, 2005 (UTC)

If omphaloskepsis does not belong here then neither does omphalology

Well, it has an actual application as a meditative technique, and is a source of much sophomoric humour at the expense of meditators, so it has potential to be a proper article. Fire Star 01:14, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

The first sentence on the article page is lifted right out of Merriam-Webster, word for word.

Forgive the idiocy, but having no idea what this term meant when I first heard it, I assumed it was a euphemism for someone giving a man a blow-job. Because that's where the eyes would look. Still, such silliness is to be expected with a silly phrase, I suppose. --El Pollo Diablo (Talk) 15:26, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


I'd like to know where the actual phrase "navel gazing" comes from. Who first coined it? I once thought it was from a science fiction short story (unfortunately I forget what it was) but later I realised that the story was referencing something already known - but what, exactly? The Bible perhaps, or another ancient text... or something more modern? Stuff like this would make the article more useful. 203.87.74.230 (talk) 22:35, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Merriam-Webster gives 1925 as the date of the first recorded use of omphaloskepsis. It's also a fact that Aldous Huxley uses it in his novel Those Barren Leaves, published in 1925. So my guess is that that's the origin of the word. Huxley did invent his share of new words, so I wouldn't be surprised if he coined it, but I'm not 100% sure. If somebody can confirm or deny this, that would be great. 67.171.39.251 (talk) 07:59, 11 January 2008 (UTC)