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#95739
02/16/2003 12:33 AM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 20
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 20 |
hi everyone.I'd like to post another burden bared in my mind for ages: Try in vain
Does this phrase reveal a negative outcome or just mean "try my best" or " i've done as humanly possible as i could" ?
thanks for helping me so much in these few days!
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#95740
02/16/2003 12:42 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
it would mean a negative outcome. you tried, but unsuccessfully. one might naturally assume that you tried your best, but that's not necessary for it to be in vain.
formerly known as etaoin...
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#95741
02/16/2003 12:57 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I agree with etaoin about "try in vain". But one usage that still puzzles me a bit it the Biblical
injunction "Thous shalt not take the bame of the Lord in vain." I have a hazy recollection of
reading many years ago that it prohibited using the name of the Lord in cursing, as "God damn
you!" I ;have been unable to find substantiation for "vain" having etymological association
with "wehen", German for "wind".
Edit: I just remembered the word "inveigh" Look at its etymology:
inveigh
vi.
5ME invehen < L invehi, to assail, attack with words, pass. of invehere, to bring in < in3, in, to + vehere, to carry: see VEHEMENT6 to make a violent verbal attack; talk or write bitterly (against); rail
Brewer says:To take God's name in vain. To use it profanely, thoughtlessly, or irreverently.
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#95742
02/16/2003 1:18 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I think it has connection with "vanity"; so as to not say it for personal gain. a thought anyway...
formerly known as etaoin...
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#95743
02/16/2003 1:48 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
thanks for helping me so much in these few days! You're welcome, Sweetie. Yes, if you try in vain, you do not succeed. How hard you try has nothing to do with it. We have a saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again". This is to inspire one to continue the effort and not to give up. But sometimes the second, third, and nth. attempts are still in vain.
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#95744
02/16/2003 2:56 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
If you use God's name "in vain", as a curse or profanity, then you are using His name contrary to it's nature (as in prayer or to summon healing or soothing energies). Therefore, you're "taking the Lord's name in vain," empty and devoid of it's Lordly purpose.
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