Why this word is great
SEMIBARBARISM — [Noun] A condition of partial or intermediate civilization, characterized by a coarse admixture within an ordered society. From the English prefix semi- ("half, partially") and barbarism (from Latin barbarismus, ultimately from Greek barbaros, "foreign, non-Greek, uncivilized"). Unlike "barbarism," which implies a total absence of refinement, or "savagery," which connotes untamed, primitive wildness, semibarbarism describes an uneasy amalgamation. It is the grand opera house in a frontier town, its crystal chandeliers lit by kerosene; the scent of woodsmoke clinging to a silk gown in a gaslit salon; the polished formal speech delivered in a court where the cutlery is still used as a weapon. It is the tragedy of reaching, but never quite arriving—the ache of almost-civilization.