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#188638 - 01/09/10 03:51 PM origin of the phrase " sea (sp?) change" I hear it used in political discussions.
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Posts: 1 Letia![]()
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Posts: 1 I would like to know the origin of the phrase "sea change". Thanks.
#188640 - 01/09/10 04:21 PM Re: sea change [Re: Letia]
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R'lyeh It comes from a song in Shakespeare's The Tempest (link).[Fixed misspelling.]Quote:Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
into something rich and strange,
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell,
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
#188642 - 01/09/10 06:07 PM Re: sea change [Re: zmjezhd]
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Posts: 13,803 Originally Posted By: zmjezhdIt comes from a song in Shakespeare's The Tempast
That's fine for Tempast, but what about Tempresent?
#188643 - 01/09/10 07:15 PM Re: sea change [Re: Faldage]
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Netherlands, the Hague Zmjezhd's sea-change for tempest. So from the original meaning
' a change caused by the sea' it is more generally used as 'transformation'?
link
#188645 - 01/09/10 10:29 PM Re: sea change [Re: BranShea]
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Posts: 13,803 Generally it seems to me it means a major change. Transformation might be a good definition.
#188646 - 01/10/10 12:30 AM Re: sea change [Re: Faldage]
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Vermont a paradigm shift.
formerly known as etaoin...
#188650 - 01/10/10 02:31 AM Re: sea change [Re: Buffalo Shrdlu]
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British Columbia, Canada I had assumed it was a sailor's term for the complete change in sailing conditions that you sometimes get very quickly on the ocean.
#188653 - 01/10/10 03:28 AM Re: origin of the phrase " sea (sp?) change" I hear it used in political discussions. [Re: Letia]
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Louisville, Kentucky Welcome, Letia. zmjezhd is right; however, here is a more reliable source than that dumb old Wikipedia.
#188654 - 01/10/10 04:01 AM Re: origin of the phrase " sea (sp?) change" I hear it used in political discussions. [Re: Jackie]
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Australia I must admit that I have never heard the phrase used as a generic "transformation"; only ever to describe the move from the rat-race of the city to relaxed sea-side living (most commonly applied to middle-aged couples who move once the nest is empty). The general meaning may well have been (mis-)appropriated by the real-estate industry for all I know. However, I suspect many people would think the general meaning of transformation derived from the concept of a drastic change of lifestyle. cf "tree-change"
#188656 - 01/10/10 10:32 AM Re: sea change [Re: Zed]
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Netherlands, the Hague The Shakespeare line is clear enough, but maybe he uses it as a metaphor from a real sailors' term.
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