Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#148742 10/07/05 10:06 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
I
Pooh-Bah
OP Offline
Pooh-Bah
I
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
In the para. 2 of vol. 1 of his "History of England," David Hume writes: "I was born the 26th of April, 1711, old style, at Edinburgh." Does "old style" refer to the calendar, to the birth, . . . ?

It is the method of reckoning dates by the Julian calendar.

Last edited by inselpeter; 10/07/05 10:43 PM.
#148743 10/08/05 12:06 AM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
"When the Pope Gregory revised the calendar in 1582, a certain number of days were omitted from the calendar at a particular time, resulting in two separate styles of dating. England persisted in using the "Old Style" until 1752, because of religious differences. The Old Style also often dated the beginning of the year from March 25 rather than January 1, and this area of the site takes this difference into account. Thus March 8, 1735, Old Style is really March 19, 1736 in the New Style! Occasionally, particularly in dating material between 1582 and 1755 or so, it becomes necessary to convert back and forth."

Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,533
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,533
Likes: 1
I believe that's referring to the calendar change about that time that added eleven days, to rectify "equinox creep" that happened before astronomers realized that 365.25 was not the exact number of days in a year. It was corrected by having leap year be observed on even-century years ONLY if they were divisible by 400, as opposed to all other years which require being divisible by 4. The accumulated error also had to be corrected, though, hence the eleven-day jump forward.

As you can imagine, arbitrarily skipping eleven days like that caused all kinds of problems, and not everyone took the change graciously. The old and the new calendars ran side by side for a while in different localities, sometimes adjacent geographically but eleven days apart.

Edit: You beat, by five minutes So where's the button that says "A new post has been added to this thread since you looked last - you may wish to check before you post!"

Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 10/08/05 12:14 AM.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
I
Pooh-Bah
OP Offline
Pooh-Bah
I
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Since I don't know the publication date, I wonder if he was referring to the style then no longer current, or addressing an international audience in English., which leads to another question. Around when did Latin stop being coine among European scholars?

Last edited by inselpeter; 10/08/05 01:23 PM.
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Around when did Latin cease being coine among European scholars?

I have seen late 19th century dissertations in Latin, but I believe the rise of nationalism and the vulgar tongues happened during the 17 century. Could be wrong; just a guess.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
What's coine, please?

EDIT: apologies to the threadnodists; this should have been a reply re: insel., but once again I unthinkingly clicked on Reply in the bottom post.

#148748 10/08/05 02:23 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Koine Greek was a dialect of Classical Greek which became the common language of the larger Hellenistic world. It is the Greek in which the New Testament is written. The term "koine" came to mean any dialect of language which becomes a language in its right.

#148749 10/08/05 02:27 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Cool! Thanks, Father Steve. I do know koin...uh oh, I don't know how to spell it: it is pronounced something like koh-ih-no-nee-uh (koinonia?); it means community, anyway, right?

P.S.--Is koine where we got "coin" a word?

Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
I assume coine is a typo for koine. It means 'common' in Greek and is used as the name of the Greek dialect (or amalgam of dialects) commonly spoken throughout the Eastern Mediterranean after the conquests of Alexander the Great (died 323 BC). Literary figures imitated the usage of the classical writers of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, but koine is what people actually spoke. It is the language the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) and the New Testament are written in.


Bingley
#148751 10/08/05 03:42 PM
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Is koine where we got "coin" a word?

Koine is, as others have said, from Greek and means common or vulgar (in the old sense). It's pronounced coy-neigh. Coin is from French coing 'wedge' from Latin cuneus 'wedge' (whence English cuneiform).


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
#148752 10/08/05 04:29 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Quote:

Is koine where we got "coin" a word?




Nuncle is, of course, right, but your guess is a popular mistaken notion.

Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
I
Pooh-Bah
OP Offline
Pooh-Bah
I
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
>>I assume it's a typo<<

No one can say you're not a gentleman, Bing.

Last edited by inselpeter; 10/09/05 02:33 PM.
Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,316
Members9,182
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 441 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,533
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5