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#130134 07/06/2004 7:05 PM
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A chum of mine, a Linconlnshireman with a wry sense of humour, wished me a Happy Saint Sexburga's Day today. Never having heard of the old dear, I was quite certain that he was pulling me leg. But no. There was such a saint and today is her feast day.

http://www.britannia.com/bios/saints/sexburga.html



#130135 07/06/2004 10:07 PM
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Whew--buncha strange names there, Father Steve! Though I was pleased to see the ref. to Kent, as I have a fondness for it. But--is the following use of the word 'translated' correct?
...during her rule, she translated her sister's body into an old Roman sarcophagus brought from nearby Grantchester.
Also--mayhap I'll do a bit of research on Grantchester. If it's the same one Rupert Brooke wrote about 1300 years later--wow.


#130136 07/06/2004 10:31 PM
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is the following use of the word 'translated' correct?

Pretty much. Translate etymologically means to 'carry over; transfer'. In fact translatus is the perfect passive participle of transfero 'to carry over, convey, transplant'. If you read hagiographies, those saints' bones are always getting translated somewhere: like from the Holy Land to Europe.


#130137 07/06/2004 11:05 PM
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oops but my reaction to sexburga-- was WOW, SEX and Burgers in one.. two of my favorite experiences together.. Mmmm, sex burgers....(dooling like Homer while at the same time leering salatiously...)


#130138 07/06/2004 11:15 PM
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In physics, translate means to move from one place to another. In ecclesiology, translate means to move from one see to another, as in "the Bishop of Boston was translated to New Orleans." In hagiology, translate means to carry the bones of a deceased saint from one burial site to another.



#130139 07/06/2004 11:20 PM
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WOW, SEX and Burgers in one..

You want fries with that?


#130140 07/06/2004 11:35 PM
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Ok; thanks. So what are hagiographies and what is hagiology, please? Something to do with saints, I'll bet. Hagi...magi? Is there a relationship there?


#130141 07/07/2004 12:37 AM
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hagio- = saint or holy
hagiocracy = government by the priesthood
hagiographer = someone who writes about saints
hagiolatry = the worship of saints
hagiologist = someone who studies saints
hagiophobia = fear of or aversion to saints or holy things
hagioscope = an opening in an interior church wall to afford a view of the high altar
hagiotherapy = medical treatment involving prayer, visits to shrines and/or contact with relics or holy objects



#130142 07/07/2004 12:38 AM
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In ecclesiology, translate means to move from one see to another

Thanks, Padre. I'd forgotten about the diocesan meaning of translate.


#130143 07/07/2004 12:44 AM
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hagiography

My favorite hagiographer, and a best seller during the middle ages, is Jacobus de Voragine of Genoa. He wrote the Golden Legend: full of saints and all things saintly. Bill Caxton edited an early English edition in the late 15 century. Should be available online. Yup:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/voragine/goldleg1.all.html



#130144 07/07/2004 12:12 PM
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Not connected with 'hag' of course, although a hag might be unholy!

HAG:

NOUN: 1. An old woman considered ugly or frightful. 2a. A witch; a sorceress. b. Obsolete A female demon. 3. A hagfish.

ETYMOLOGY: Middle English hagge, perhaps short for Old English hægtesse, witch.


(from AHD)



#130145 07/07/2004 12:40 PM
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Middle English hagge...

So, of course, the male of the species is the haggis.


#130146 07/07/2004 12:44 PM
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That's offal!


#130147 07/07/2004 12:56 PM
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Thank ewe.


#130148 07/07/2004 1:41 PM
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Das ist gut, liebling.


#130149 07/07/2004 1:57 PM
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Oh, ewe-all are so baa-ad.


#130150 07/07/2004 1:59 PM
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I agree. I can't stomach it any longer.


#130151 07/07/2004 2:04 PM
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Well, that's scotched that line of humour then.


#130152 07/07/2004 2:13 PM
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I just looked this up in Gurunet:
hagio– or hagi–
pref.

1. Saint: hagiography.
2. Holy: hagioscope.
[Greek hagios, holy.]

I had a feeling it came from Greek.

Also:
ma·gus (mâ'gəs)

n., pl. ma·gi (mâ'jî').

1. A member of the Zoroastrian priestly caste of the Medes and Persians.
2. Magus In the New Testament, one of the wise men from the East, traditionally held to be three, who traveled to Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus.
3. A sorcerer; a magician.
[From Middle English magi, magi, from Latin magî, pl. of magus, sorcerer, magus, from Greek magos, from Old Persian maguð.]


Number 1 made me give an inward sigh: I guess all down through the ages, mankind has made sure that there was a distinction between the haves and the have-nots.

Anyway--I thought that was a really interesting def. of translate (thank you again). Is it only used for saints? That is, if I took a trip to Europe, would I have translated myself over there?


#130153 07/07/2004 2:39 PM
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if I took a trip to Europe, would I have translated myself over there?

No. But you might need to be* translated.



#130154 07/07/2004 2:55 PM
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Hagi(o)-

The Greek hagios 'holy, sanctified' only has cognates in the Indic branch: Skt yajati 'revered with prayer and offering/sacrifice'; Skt yajas 'veneration, adoration' and Gk hagos 'guilt, maculation, sacrifice' (both of which are neuter nouns). From PIE *jag- 'venerate religiously'.

Haggis

From ON höggva, related to haggle, hew, hay, etc.

From PIE kau- 'to hew, hoe; to beat, hit'.

http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE208.html

Not sure whence hag, other than the OE hægtesse.

Is it only used for saints? That is, if I took a trip to Europe, would I have translated myself over there?

I'm sure you can say it, though it's usually used of saints and bishops. Has a nice old fashioned sound to it, though it does sound permanent, not like you're coming back.


#130155 07/07/2004 4:00 PM
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Yeah, well Jackie gave up on sainthood about eighteen months ago, if I remember correctly!


#130156 07/07/2004 11:32 PM
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Nope. 'Bout 42...years.

#130157 07/07/2004 11:44 PM
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'Bout 42...years.

Now, how could she give up sainthood thirteen years before she was born!?




#130158 07/07/2004 11:54 PM
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Psst, Father Steve--42 years ago, I was 9.


#130159 07/08/2004 3:49 PM
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I'd ask you how old you are, but I know that ladies never can tell ...


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>Das ist gut, liebling

More alimentary humor: And I thought I was the vili-an here! Of course I'm the only one so far who has a visual pun in my post.

I'll put the next one in the appendix. To go a little lower, I'm certain it won't make a vas deferens to anyone.




TEd
#130161 07/09/2004 11:33 AM
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ladies never can tell Gee, thank you SO much, CK...


#130162 07/10/2004 1:47 PM
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would I have translated myself over there? I'm sure you can ... though it's usually used of saints and bishops.

I found it wryly interesting, given current events, that in chess Bishops can move only diagonally- or so I've been told.
When a player moves a Bishop is the Bishop being translated? Hmmmm ?





#130163 07/10/2004 1:57 PM
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When a player moves a Bishop is the Bishop being translated?

They'd have to change sides wouldn't they? Also, the bishop was originally an elephant. Still is in Chinese chess (xiang qi): an interesting variant.


#130164 07/10/2004 7:29 PM
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In the original, Shatranj, the elephant moved diagonally, but only two squares. It could jump, but not capture, an intervening piece. In Xiang Qi the elephant is also limited to the two square move but may not jump an intervening piece.


#130165 07/10/2004 9:49 PM
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In the original, Shatranj, the elephant moved diagonally, but only two squares.

I thought the jury was still out on which chess was original? Not that I know. Anyway, Xiang Qi also has less pawns, cannons and mandarins, but no queen. The king and mandarins cannot leave the palace. There's also a river that runs across the board which some pieces cannot cross. Interesting game: I've only played it a couple of times. Watched it a bunch.


#130166 07/11/2004 1:10 PM
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I suppose I should have included the line according to Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations by R. C. Bell. There was an earlier game, Shaturanga, which had four sides, each consisting of Rajah, an Elephant, a Horse, a Ship and four Pawns.


#130167 07/11/2004 2:30 PM
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There was an earlier game, Shaturanga, which had four sides

Also called caturanga which means 'four limbs (i.e., armies)' in Sanskrit. Skt catur 'four' is related to our four, L quattuor, Gk tettares, Russian chetverka, &c. Skt angam is cognate with Gk aggos (pronounced angos) 'vessel, bucket, wine-bowl, shell; womb', Middle Irish aigen 'pan', English ankle.

Byline: or so says Pokorny ...


#130168 07/11/2004 9:39 PM
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That caturanga is pronounced <chaturanga>, ¿qué no?


#130169 07/12/2004 2:03 AM
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That caturanga is pronounced <chaturanga>, ¿qué no?

Yes, sorry about that. I'm used to the standard Devanagri transcription system. There's both an unaspirated {c} ~ /tS/ and an aspirated {ch} ~ /tS^h/ alveolar fricative. I've never been able to hear the difference, but then IANP (I ain't no pandit).


#130170 07/13/2004 1:36 AM
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The connection of 'agios with the Sanskrit becomes more apparent if you know that in modern demotic Greek the word is pronounced "hayyos" (the gamma being soft, instead of hard as in ancient and Koine Greek). Hence, the name of the great church of Byzantium, now a mosque, 'Agia Sophia, is generally pronounced now as Hayya Sofia. The Greek church in East Baltimore, 'Agios Nikolaos, (St. Nicholas) is Hayyos Neekolouse.

There is a parallel softening of the letter 'g' in Old English, where it is often pronounced something like our 'y'. For instance, the OE "He segde" (he said) is pronounced "hay say-de"; hence the spelling became "sayde", "saide", "said" in succesive ages.


#130171 07/13/2004 1:35 PM
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de·mot·ic (dĭ-mŏt'ĭk)
adj.
1. Of or relating to the common people; popular: demotic speech; demotic entertainments.
2. Of, relating to, or written in the simplified form of ancient Egyptian hieratic writing.
3. Demotic
Of or relating to a form of modern Greek based on colloquial use.
n.
Demotic Greek.

[Greek dçmotikos, from dçmotçs, a commoner, from dçmos, people.]

(from Gurunet)



#130172 07/15/2004 2:11 AM
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Just found this last night, re-reading one of my old Mary Stewarts (Madam, Will You Talk?):
I chuckled through a bite of croissant, aware of a miraculous spring-time lift of the heart, a champagne-tingling of the blood: the nightmare had gone; this fresh sun of morning rose on a different world where the last gossamer rag of fear and uncertainty must shrink and vanish in the superfluity of light. I said: "I was--translated."


I see now that I missed the meaning completely, the first n times I read it.


#130173 07/15/2004 11:50 AM
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Mary Stewart

I enjoyed the first three books in her Arthurian cycle, but I've not read any of her other books.



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