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Posted By: suededevil Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 06:46 AM
Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness
Which word do u think is better?
Well when i write narrative essays,i like using stiffneckedness,it's a quite descriptive
I first read this word from the book of Morman
but i've never seen any author using this word
Is this word ordinary in comptemporary English?
wat is the appropriate way of using it?

Posted By: Bingley Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 07:00 AM
I associate stiffnecked(ness) with religious language, particularly the Bible. I'm not sure, but I think it may be a loan translation from the Hebrew. I think it would only be used where both speaker and listener had a good knowledge of the Bible. For more ordinary language I'd use stubborn(ness).

Bingley
Posted By: Faldage Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 11:07 AM
Stiffneckedness is not, in my experience, a commonly used word. Its meaning is readily understandable but it isn't commonly used. Stubbornness would be the better choice in normal writing. You should wait until you don't have to ask this question before you use stiffneckedness.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 11:27 AM
Does stiffneckedness have anything to do with having an air of superiority? Don't know why I'm thinking this, but.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 12:05 PM
having an air of superiority?

I would agree with this, and add that it also, to me, shows a bit of stupidity...
I had never connected stiffnecked to anything biblical, what's that all about?

Posted By: wwh Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 01:25 PM
Stiffnecknedness is refusal to bow the head to authority.Stubbornness is the refusal
to yield, but does not include the token of refusing to bow. I can be
stubborn in refusing to give up a bad habit.

Posted By: dxb Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 01:33 PM
The Bible uses the word a number of times in different books in the sense of stubborn or obstinate, both of which are substituted for it in some books.

This is typical:

The Lord said to Moses, “I see this is a stiffnecked people. Now let Me be, that my anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them...” (Exodus, 32: 9, 10)

Plus ça change, plus c'est la meme chose.


Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 01:42 PM
what version of Bible are we talking? wouldn't the translation of that be dependent on when the translation was made? King James vs. a later one?

Posted By: dxb Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 02:03 PM
There are later ones?

Posted By: of troy Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 02:21 PM
Re: There are later ones?

spoken like a true blue englishman! yes, there are later ones, and earlier ones, and other translations. the Catholic Church (Roman) does not accept the KJV of the bible to be a "true" translation...and various other religions would not accept the KJV either.

it it the most widely known translation, and certainly, the english in the translation is very poetic, and flowing. one only has to google to find hundreds of different translations.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 05:28 PM
hehe.
I think most mainline American Protestant churches probably use the Revised Standard Version, and in the 50's and 60's(and still today) churches might use "the Good News" Bible. (a New Testament translation into more current language).

Posted By: dxb Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 06:26 PM
OK, I had my tongue in my cheek. There it is, see.

I'm an unashamed traditionalist anyway and I need no other excuse.

Posted By: birdfeed Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/18/03 08:44 PM
"Plus ça change, plus c'est la meme chose."

Hey, shouldn't the first e in meme have a roof over it?

Posted By: Faldage Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/19/03 12:56 AM
a roof over it?

Hwæt? You don't care if the other one gets all wet in the rain?

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/19/03 02:54 AM
I had my tongue in my cheek.

ah, those dang cheeky tongues. get me every time...



Posted By: dxb Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/19/03 08:07 AM
Hey, shouldn't the first e in meme have a roof over it?

Yep. But my circum was too stiff to flex just then.


Posted By: Jackie Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/20/03 12:51 AM
My 2 cents' worth: I have never particularly associated stiffnecked with religious writing, just old-fashioned writing.

Posted By: wow Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 02/20/03 02:57 PM
Around New England we use stiffnecked fairly often. It is often connected with a superior attitude or snob-iness.
"Mrs Potter is very stiffnecked about her position in society."
Stubborn is used more in connection with someone who will not yield a point or perform an action.
"Five-year-olds can be very stubborn when asked to share toys."
"Even faced with proof, he was too stubborn to admit the point."
I do not consider them interchangeable, or use them interchangeably.

Posted By: Esmeralda Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 06/26/13 06:59 AM
Hi Suededevil, I am aware that my response is ten years overdue but I happen to be a Mormon, and this morning as i was studying my scriptures, I came across the word as used in 1 Nephi 20: 4 in the footnotes. It was not the first time I was encountering it but my interest was piqued because verse 4 describes the House of Israel as having their necks made of iron sinew and their brows being brass, which is explained in the footnotes as stiffnecked. additionally, the verse uses the term obstinate and so this is the meaning of stiffnecked. It has an element of stubbornness and foolish pride, as well as being unteachable. This makes more sense when understood from the concept of the Jews having rejected their redeeemer....
Posted By: BON_MOT Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 06/28/13 02:34 AM
LDS here.
Posted By: BON_MOT Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 06/28/13 02:36 AM
What's that "roof" called?
Posted By: tsuwm Re: Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness - 06/28/13 03:41 AM
dxb gave a BIG hint back in 2003.
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