#188913 - 01/25/10 06:13 AM
"The Legos of language"
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newbie
Registered: 07/28/08
Posts: 25
Loc: Ireland
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First of all, gotta be pedantic here and point out that the plural of Lego is....Lego. Not "Legos". It is a collective conceptual noun, a brandname for a type of toy. In the same way that one does not use "Scrabbles" for a series of Scrabble games or a collection of Scrabble letter tiles. But sure, one can say "Lego bricks" or "Lego pieces" if one wants to convey the sense of plurality, which is what I think Anu was trying to do.
Anyway, I rose to this week's fascinating challenge and instantly came up with this word: "Theopoly - the selling of God". A very prevalant practice around the world, particulary in the environs of religious shrines, and on American TV.
But imagine my chagrin when I then googled theopoly, only to find that the word was already out there! But with a different meaning: it's been proposed as a religious spoof of the Monopoly game.
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#188914 - 01/25/10 06:48 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: RayButler]
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stranger
Registered: 01/25/10
Posts: 1
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Heliodactyl: twinkle toes
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#188915 - 01/25/10 06:50 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: RayButler]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13653
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First of all, gotta be pedantic here and point out that the plural of Lego is....Lego. Not "Legos". Maan! I knew someone was gonna do that! No one listens to the Red Queen. Meanwhile I came up with theodactyl to describe the focal point of Michelangelo's Creation fo Adam.
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#188917 - 01/25/10 08:05 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: RayButler]
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stranger
Registered: 01/25/10
Posts: 1
Loc: Ohio, USA
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Ray, pedantic or not "Legos" is in common usage these days; just ask any kid.  I thought I had a good word in hagiogony ("the origin of saints"), but I found it was already used when I Googled it and found it in the Biobliotecha Indica: "There is, clearly, no countenance, in the analogy of the Hindu hagiogony, for the else plausible surmise, that a complete history of the mdnasa sons of Brahma, might, if recoverable, possibly go to show that the term by which they are known, may originally have borne a less mystical signification than that of mind-born. Its intention could never have been to discriminate the literate portion of the Brahmanidae from their less learned kinsmen." Bibliotecha Indica, page 16, from Google. I wonder if I could get away with oligotheolotry (worship of a few gods). Any thoughts? Robert
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Robert H. Woodman
Columbus, Ohio
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#188918 - 01/25/10 08:20 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: BranShea]
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stranger
Registered: 01/25/10
Posts: 1
Loc: Virginia
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heliodactyl-n-sunbeams that reach out and massage your skin on a warm day.
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#188919 - 01/25/10 08:35 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: llcallis]
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stranger
Registered: 01/25/10
Posts: 1
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How about "Heliotheodactylatry", literally, worshipping the fingers of the sun god: loving those little stripes of light that sneak between the clouds on a bright day.
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#188920 - 01/25/10 09:05 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: RossBracco]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 7184
Loc: Vermont
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How about "Heliotheodactylatry", literally, worshipping the fingers of the sun god: loving those little stripes of light that sneak between the clouds on a bright day.
I love crepuscular rays! welcome everyone!
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formerly known as etaoin...
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#188921 - 01/25/10 09:26 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: Buffalo Shrdlu]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3269
Loc: R'lyeh
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How about hagiodactylopoly and the subsequent hagiodactylolatry?
_________________________
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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#188922 - 01/25/10 11:07 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: RayButler]
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stranger
Registered: 01/25/10
Posts: 1
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Drinking water is now sold everywhere in bottles. Before long we will see heliopoly -- the selling of the sun. Oh, wait -- I guess that's what Florida vacations are.
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#188923 - 01/25/10 11:10 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: PiedType]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 7184
Loc: Vermont
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from whence poly = selling? I thought poly was "many"?
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formerly known as etaoin...
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#188924 - 01/25/10 11:28 AM
Re: polypoly
[Re: Buffalo Shrdlu]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3269
Loc: R'lyeh
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from whence poly = selling? I thought poly was "many"?Greek distinguishes between long and short vowels. Greek πωλη ( pōlē) 'sale', πωλέω ( pōleō) 'to exchange, sell' ( link) and πολύς ( polus) 'many' ( link). The - y in the English words comes from the Greek -ια (- ia).
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Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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#188927 - 01/25/10 12:11 PM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: Faldage]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 6511
Loc: lower upstate New York
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Meanwhile I came up with theodactyl to describe the focal point of Michelangelo's Creation fo Adam.
Love this.
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#188928 - 01/25/10 12:33 PM
Re: polypoly
[Re: zmjezhd]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3269
Loc: R'lyeh
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I was curious about what cognates for the Greek πωλη (pōlē) 'sale' existed in other Indo-European languages. Ther are a few: an older German word, feil, Old Norse falr 'venal, for sale', Russian полон (polon) 'captivity; booty', Lithuanian pelnas 'earnings', from PIE *pel- 'to sell; to earn'.
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Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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#188932 - 01/25/10 01:55 PM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: PiedType]
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stranger
Registered: 01/25/10
Posts: 1
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Wonderful topic! Here's something I've wondered about for years, help me out. A "lego" word for the process whereby reality/god/the cosmos/ whatever it is appears to answer questions in the exact vernacular in which they were posed. Kepler mentions this in his writings, but doesn't coin a word for it. He calls it something like "God speaks to us in the language we can understand."
Examples are why/how so many diverse "religions" (or inquiries) seem to "work" : voodoo, Shakerism, Shamanism,the I Ching, reading cowrie shells, Platonism, reading bird's entrails, etc., etc. Why/how so many cosmologies seem to be the only reasonable answer. And so on.
Can anyone come up with a word for what "God/Nature/Guidance/Whatever" is doing?
LOU
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#188934 - 01/25/10 02:13 PM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: lou63629]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 5281
Loc: Land of the Flat Water
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Keeping us guessing???
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#188944 - 01/25/10 08:05 PM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: zmjezhd]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 7184
Loc: Vermont
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from whence poly = selling? I thought poly was "many"?Greek distinguishes between long and short vowels. Greek πωλη ( pōlē) 'sale', πωλέω ( pōleō) 'to exchange, sell' ( link) and πολύς ( polus) 'many' ( link). The - y in the English words comes from the Greek -ια (- ia). okey doke. thanks. so, thee ah puh lee and thee ah poh lee?
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formerly known as etaoin...
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#188961 - 01/26/10 10:54 PM
Re: polypoly
[Re: Faldage]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3269
Loc: R'lyeh
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Greek ergon, "work".
Yup, and the Greek word is cognate with English work, the past tense of which verb is wrought.
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Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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#188962 - 01/27/10 04:30 AM
Re: "The Legos of language"
[Re: RHWoodman]
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newbie
Registered: 07/28/08
Posts: 25
Loc: Ireland
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Ray, pedantic or not "Legos" is in common usage these days; just ask any kid. Robert, it probably depends on the country. I have NEVER heard anyone, child or adult, say "Legos" here in Ireland. I was an obsessive Lego collector as a child (every Christmas and birthday, it's all I ever wanted)...and now my little girls are really into it too, along with their friends and cousins. BTW, your "oligotheolotry" is really good!
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#188997 - 01/29/10 01:30 PM
Re: ok
[Re: BranShea]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3269
Loc: R'lyeh
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So, the words are: And they are linked to their entries in OneLook. I leave it to tsuwm to calculate their indices.
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