This week's Word is something I don't think even my most learned friend knows. Then again, Mephistopheles could be wrong.

Deipnosophist- noun.

A person who is very good at table talk, or knowledgeable in trivial chitchat.

Said as Dype (think Skype), Nos (like the Spanish Nosotros), Sophist (as in Sophisticated). Dype+Nos+Sophist. It dates back to the second century AD, a literary work by Atheneus of Naucratis in Egypt. The book(s) is called Deipnosophistae and it comes from the Greek words, Deipnon and Sophistai. Dinner, and Professor*, respectively. One could say that Deipnophistae translates to "Dinner of Professors". Wikipedia says "Philosophers at Dinner". The work narrates a series of feasts, with the great Sophistai of the day (like Plutarchus) talking about grammar, literature, the arts.

I'm sure you can understand why then Deipnosophist means what it means. If not, read the latter part of the above paragraph again. Though its meaning generally means the same as it did, Deipnosophist has evolved out of the sophisticated and has since included informal talk. I suppose we, as the grammatical revolutionaries we are, can even start to use it "outside the table", per se, to simply mean an expert conversationalist. Meaning, not only an "adept conversationalist at table" (as Dictionary.com says), but wholly adept in conversation, including but not limited to table talk.

Proper usage:

Well as it is a specific noun, it has very little value for versatility. It can only mean one thing. In the case of Deipnosophist the best usage will be in a scenario of describing someone to a friend, for example. And it's best when used to specifically say that someone is sophisticated or complex, by not using simple words. I summon again Persons A, B, and C.

[A knows B and C. B and C do not know each other. A is telling B about C.]

A: I met C.

B: Oh, yeah? What's he like?

A: Oh, he's smart, he's sophisticated, he's a good talker.

Above: the simple way. It's effective, but notice that it requires two more adjectives (smart and sophisticated) to express that C is what A says he is.

Now:

A: I met C.

B: Oh, yeah? What's he like?

A: He's a real deipnosophist.

Above: Sophisticated and effective. It expresses the point precisely: C is a skilled conversationalist in all things literary, grammatical and/or artistic.

Mephistopheles' usage recommendation: Use it carefully. Use it when you know the person you're talking to knows what it means. Otherwise, you may come out seeming pretentious. Remember: there's no need to try to be sophisticated when you're dealing with people who are not. You do not have to degrade yourself by dumbing yourself down, however, take equal action; there's no need to degrade them, by making yourself seem smarter.