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Anathema
(Gr. anathema -- literally, placed on high, suspended, set aside).
A term formerly indicating offerings made to the divinity which were suspended from the roof or walls of temples for the purpose of being exposed to view. Thus anathema according to its etymology signifies a thing offered to God. The word anathema is sometimes used in this sense in the Old and New Testaments: In Judith, xvi, 23, it is said that Judith, having taken all the arms of Holofernes which the people had given him and the curtain of his bed which she herself had brought, offered them to the Lord as an anathema of oblivion. In II Mach., ix, 16, Antiochus promises to adorn with precious gifts (anathemata) the temple he has pillaged; and in Luke, xxi, 5, mention is made of the temple built of precious stones and adorned with rich gifts (anathemata). As odious objects were also exposed to view, e.g. the head of a criminal or of an enemy, or his arms or spoils, the word anathema came to signify a thing hated, or execrable, devoted to public abhorrence or destruction. "
From Catholic Encyclopedia
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Carpal Tunnel
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Anathema sit!
You have a dog named Anathema?
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Actually Anathema is my lobster which I walk every day down the Champs Elysee. My dog's name is Piraña, but everybody calls her Fish.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh great! Thanks, too much, nuncle; now I'll be spending all day trying to imagine a lobster sitting.
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Not a problem, nephew. Though, I can well imagine a lobster sitting in my plate, but not Anathema. BTW, I did have a pet wolf spider, when I was high school, named Hincmar after a French bishop.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Y'all jes a couple o heretics, if ya ax me.
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Pooh-Bah
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now I'll be spending all day trying to imagine a lobster sitting.
It'd certainly take dogged determination to teach it!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oscar Wilde had a pet lobster he used to walk. What's so much fun about walking a lobster? Seems it would be a rather annoyingly slow walk.
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Funny. I allus 'eard it was Gerard de Nerval, not Oscar Wilde.
Why should a lobster be any more ridiculous than a dog ... or any other animal that one chooses to take for a walk? I have a liking for lobsters. They are peaceful, serious creatures. They know the secrets of the sea, they don't bark, and they don't gnaw upon one's monadic privacy like dogs do. And Goethe had an aversion to dogs, and he wasn't mad.
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Well, thank you very much for the correction, jheem. I have believed for over three decades now that Oscar Wilde did walk a lobster and it is very good to learn today that it was de Nerval instead. I wonder how affectionate a lobster may become.
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Well, thank you very much for the correction, jheem. I have believed for over three decades now that Oscar Wilde did walk a lobster and it is very good to learn today that it was de Nerval instead.
You're welcome, Wordwind. OTOH, Oscar did do some funny things. I've been waiting on a friend who has the French original and its provenance. I'll post when I get it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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> when I get it
[patiently waiting]
tap. tap. tap.
[/patiently waiting]
> placed on high, suspended, set aside
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