Recently an old friend of mine mentioned that he has undergone a sea change. Other than in Shakespeare, I hadn't heard this used much before. Does sea change imply a positive or negative change? Is it used regionally or have I just been living in a cave too long?

Thanks!
Dawn the Hermit

I've always thought positive, but don't know that I've thought about it...

OneLook says: noun: a profound transformation

Interestingly enough, sweet hermit, the last time this came up some people seemed to think if anything it was overused!

Perhaps in the interim there has been a sea change in us(e)age yet again... sea what you think of the previous discussion here, if you want:

http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=31542

It seems to me the price of a "sea change" is far too high:

ARIEL sings

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell

I performed an AWAD search and didn't find it listed, so thought (silly me) that it hadn't been discussed. Oh, the life of an embryo member...

Seriously, thank you for the link, sir maverick. I'll read the thread now.

It seems to me the price of a "sea change" is far too high:

Indeed! It's almost an advertisement for constancy. Personally, I think sameness is under-rated.

And thank you for including the quote. It's been ages since I read that. All I could recall was, "Those are pearls that were his eyes". Lovely imagery.

"Those are pearls that were his eyes". Lovely imagery. Ick...ick--no it isn't! It means he's dead, horribly dead. Brings up mental images of scavengers eating his eyeballs. [I still hate Shakespeare e]

gift horse wrote:
"Those are pearls that were his eyes". Lovely imagery.

Then Jackie wrote:
Ick...ick--no it isn't! It means he's dead, horribly dead. Brings up mental images of scavengers eating his eyeballs. [I still hate Shakespeare e]

Yes. Okay, perhaps I misused 'lovely' here. But I still maintain that it's terrific imagery, in the sense that it brings a distinct and unflinching image to the mind.

I love Shakespeare. He gave the equivalent of the cinema to his day...and to ours for that matter. Much better than Hollywood.

Dear Dawn ~

I apologize for those situations where a new member of the board uses our highly-unreliable search function to ascertain that a topic has not previously been "done" and then gets pounced on for posting about such a topic, which turns out to have been "done" but not so's the search function reveals it. To the extent that such pouncing is inhospitable, please forgive us all. We don't mean to be mean ... we just are, sometimes.

Thank you, Father Steve.

No offense taken at all, though, really. I see now that I didn't switch to "all posts" on the search engine. I'm still learning; slowly to be sure, but learning, at any rate.

Best Regards,
Dawn

I didn't switch to "all posts"
yeah, it's funny what you won't find in Animal Safari...

I didn't switch to "all posts"
yeah, it's funny what you won't find in Animal Safari...

Actually, I used All Forums, which took me out of Animal Safari. What I didn't do is switch the time frames, so I was only looking at what happened in the last week.
Feet of clay here, folks.

It takes a while, Sweetie. Feel free to ask me or 'most anyone for help. (I still haven't figured out the Search Options, myself.)

Thank you, Jackie. You're very kind.

I hope there is no way my earlier post can be construed as 'pouncing' on anyone, least of all inhospitably - just a simple invite to look at some other comments offered to date, with a clear acknowledgment that no such discussion can ever be the "last word".

Hi Maverick

No offense taken by me. All is well.

I was glad to read the other discussion, though there seems to be some glitch that makes it impossible to look at the entire thread. When I click on "show all" or page 2 or 3, the thread changes entirely. But I did get to read the first page at least.

Never a dull moment.

Take care,
Dawn

There's a trick to being able to read the entire thread, Dawn, but I forget what it is. Someone will tell you, I'm sure.

From the FAQ:

Becoming Unthreaded

When accessing old thread you might find that you can only view them in threaded mode, once you get past
page 1 of flat mode they seem to cross-link to other threads. I tend to find this a little disconcerting but it
seems to be part of the amusement of the board.

When accessing old thread you might find that you can only view them in threaded mode, once you get past
page 1 of flat mode they seem to cross-link to other threads.

This is exactly what's happening with the link maverick gave me. This time it cross-linked to a thread on undecorate. Glad to know it's not just me. Whew!

Thanks Father Steve.

re:once you get past page 1 of flat mode they seem to cross-link to other threads.

which is why we old timers set up our preferences to veiw 99 post per page, so all the post are one one page..
for the same reason, thread are deliberately ended (and sometime have a part 2 or 3)at 98 post (original and 98 replies/etc=99)...

you can set your preferences to 99 and zip through long threads, and not have to 'reload pages as you read thread that got long when you weren't looking.

we old timers set up our preferences to veiw 99 post per page...

You're so smart! Thanks for that tip. I just modified my preferences. That's going to save a lot of time and end some frustration. Thank you, of troy!

You can change the typeface in which the board is displayed at the same location. I chose Garamond because it is elegant and refined .. sorta like me.

you can change the typeface PAH, I should be so lucky. Linux laughs at any attempt to change font, it smiles sweetly and ignores me completely, but it is worth it, it is, it is, I just have to keep telling myself that.

I chose Garamond because it is elegant and refined .. sorta like me ...

... in an 18th Century sorta way.

Sorry, Father Steve. I couldn't resist that after you described your sweet bride's creative use of "undecorate" as a "barbarism".

Perhaps you meant "BarBQism". She might(?) find that more palatable.

"Decorating" a Christmas tree sounds like a lot more fun than "dressing" one. That may explain why no-one ever "dresses" a Christmas tree.

It would also explain why no-one ever "undresses" a Christmas tree.

If we can "dress" and "undress" a Christmas tree [which no-one is much interested in doing ... and who can blame them, it does sound stuffy, doesn't it?]. why shouldn't we be allowed to "decorate" and "undecorate" a Christmas tree?

I said: "I chose Garamond because it is elegant and refined .. sorta like me>"

And Grapho said: "... in an 18th Century sorta way."

And I reply: That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me all week, perhaps in a fortnight.

That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me all week, perhaps in a fortnight.

My pleasure, Father Steve.

Those were simpler, perhaps even nobler, times.

Sometimes, I wish I could go back there myself.

My sweet bride and I just watched a DVD of "Man of the Century" -- the story of a young man in 1999 who lives (dresses, speaks, eats, smokes, romances) as if it were 1928. It was quite good, really.

simpler, perhaps even nobler, times

Ah, yes. As my old pappy used to say, "Whatever became of the good old days, when we used to say, 'Whatever became of the good old days?'?"

Those were simpler, perhaps even nobler, times. Sometimes, I wish I could go back there myself.


have you never read Dickens? or had a storm or electic failure leave you with out power for a day or two? or worse yet, not have running (CLEAN) water available to you for 48 hours?

there are plenty of things wrong with society today... but i don't think times past were kinder, gentler or nobler.. they were harsher, more brutal, and lives were shorter.

i know for myself, my family lived in relative luxury. (in dublin 150 years ago) which is why i am alive today.. they escaped the worst of the potato famine because they were employed (as stock men and house servants to rich english)

they were smart--my g.grandfather was a stock broker in the days when that meant he bought and sold stock, (ie, cattle, sheep,horses!) he wasn't independant, but smart enough to get work for an english/company family, and he travelled to the continent, and lived well.--his father was also a stock broker, but only in ireland..

of course living well at the time meant very little, (even the british crown wasn't exempt from the ravages of cholara,) and as house servants, the distaff side had it better than the bulk of the irish populace, but still, as a family, they were bared from owning property in their own right,(men and women both) and could look forward to short, sickly lives (my grandfather died from complications of TB-in the relitively easier times of the second half of the last century.)

and my children can also look to their fathers side and not find lives much easier or nobler
one of their paternal g.grandparents was 'left behind'(she was sick with measles) when the family emigrated west on the oregon trail (before civil war). she was supposed to follow her family, and travel with the next west bound wagon train, but the civil war interupted.. after the war, her 'step parents' alleged they had lost track of the family, and there was no one to send her too.

she was kept on, in virtual sevitude till she was 21 and married. years later when her step parents died, she found a stack of letters from her family in Oregon, begging for her to be sent west.. but many years had past, and she though her parent would likely be dead as well.. she tried, but had no success in finding any siblings.

an other paternal g.grandparent was born to a civil war veterian-one who survived Andersonville prision, (but lost a leg) --obviously these people were grand scale survivors.. times were hard, life was tough...and i for one, am please to have running water, and good lighting, and personal liberty, and all the other perqs of modern day life!

i don't think the southern inflicted any 'special' treatment on the union soldiers at andersonville, the south was suffering, and many were starving.. but there is nothing noble out what happened there!

(you could be one of those people (i think not) who believe they are reincarnated.. have you ever noticed, all those that do, were always a lord or lady, or king or queen in their past lives? i suspect if i had a past life, i would have been a barefoot, illiterate milk maid, who died young and foolishly)

Hi of troy

Those are great family stories you have there. I hope they are all written down in detail somewhere for your own kids.

there are plenty of things wrong with society today... but i don't think times past were kinder, gentler or nobler.. they were harsher, more brutal, and lives were shorter.

Agreed. Plus there is that little matter of dying in child-birth; one of the major killers of women before the advent of birth-control, antibiotics, sterile surgical practices and anesthesia.

Actually, just being a woman before women were allowed to vote, own land, make a decent wage (has that happened yet?) or have any kind of control over their bodies would be a real bummer for me. Of course, women in some societies now still don't have those options.

I suppose if I could go back to the 18th century as a rich man of property in a fairly temperate climate, I might consider it. Then again, probably not.

BTW, have you watched the PBS documentaries where they transport real families into different times?

Frontier House
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/project/speakout.html

1900's House
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/1900house/

My favorite so far:
Manor House
http://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/

And the newest one coming up is Colonial House:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/

What eye-opening experiements in socio-psychology. Also, better them than me.