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#74402 06/29/02 09:14 PM
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But the question was to Spanish.

<<with hebrew being learned, i can't help but think other words have entered english, too>>

"Sandal" may be one.


#74403 06/29/02 10:12 PM
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sandal - 1382, from O.Fr. sandale, from L.
sandalium, from Gk. sandalion, dim. of
sandalon "sandal," probably from Persian.


#74404 06/29/02 10:12 PM
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sandal - 1382, from O.Fr. sandale, from L.
sandalium, from Gk. sandalion, dim. of
sandalon "sandal," probably from Persian.


#74405 06/30/02 01:40 PM
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IP, you have posed an interesting question. If I understand correctly, you are asking about words that have been incorporated into the Spanish language from the Arabic. I am quite sure that after 800 years of Arabic occupation the influence on Spanish was considerable. I'll dust off my Pequeño Larrousse Ilustrado when I get home and see if I can come up with some for you that might be of interest.


#74406 06/30/02 02:37 PM
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i found one-- you can find it in Wordplay, my thread about cloth... (all dressed up in )


#74407 07/01/02 10:23 AM
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Table of the Year for Wiccan and Pagans

Thanks wow - knew some but by no means all of this. All good stuff.

Just heard recently about how the Venerable Bede had a major change of heart regarding bringing Christianity to England. Rather than just wiping out all of the temples to "idols" they would be emptied, consecrated, then made into churches. He also didn't overdo the imposition of language, e.g. Easter (dedicated to the goddess Eostara, I believe) was never renamed, although there was a Christian equivalent. Paganism (more specifically the worship of Norse gods) lived happily alongside Christianity for many years, all the local kings wisely hedging their bets.

There was also a recreation of the Saints as Norse-style heroes who slew beasts and dragons and performed heroic feats. Hence the story the English patron saint St George and the Dragon, I imagine. The priests would probably have argued that symbolically speaking, the Saints did conquer dragons and serpents, these being representations of evil.

Very good salesman, was Bede.

Fisk


#74408 07/01/02 10:40 AM
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Smithers ... does come up again and again, as a "name" for incompitennt handy man. (tho, in Fawlty Towers, they used O'Reilly)

Interesting one, Helen - so does that mean Smithers in The Simpsons is meant to represent an incompetent aide, or does that meaning only apply to men doing "real" work?

As far as I know we don't have a Britlish equivalent, i.e. a name applied to all incompetent handymen (though all contributions gratefully received, fellow Brits). The incompetent handyman in Fawlty Towers may have been an Irishman called O'Reilly, but neither fact is particularly significant, any more than the fact that the long-suffering, slightly incompetent but much-maligned waiter happens to come from Barcelona and is called Manuel.

- or, of course, the fact that the incompetent, dysfunctional and often deranged hotel owner is an Englishman called Basil.
Well, I tell a lie there. He could only be English.

Fisk


#74409 07/01/02 10:52 AM
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I think they are parables for men : look beyond the facade to the woman beneath. Never lose your gentlemanly demeanor regardless of her whims and your rewards -- well!

Not being mislead by appearances is, of course, an excellent parable for everyone. I remember an episode of Lost in Space (showing my age here )which summarised it in as basic a manner as you can get. The ugly looking, slightly cantankerous alien was actually the goody, whereas the good-looking, reasonable-sounding human was the baddy. Of course it took the (errm) Robinsons a little while to see beyond appearances.

I remember being obliged to visit an old woman when I was a schoolboy. She was full of fascinating stories and obscure knowledge. I learned a lot, even if she never did change into a goddess.

And why, do you think, that Anu made a woman of Irish descent his High Priestess?
Indeed. But in that case she was already a goddess.


#74410 07/01/02 11:13 AM
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to this day, celts, and even most anglo saxons, refrain from eating horse meat

We do indeed. But I'd always put it down to the fact that people build relationships with horses, and they're seen in a similar (though much more emotional) way to dogs and cats. Excellent if there's also a mythical basis, and if it's survived from before the Angles and Saxons came on the scene, that's something quite rare and precious.

all of the most powerful god were female, and gave birth.. giving birth is the most god like thing humans can do
I agree. This is where I fall out with Christianity - not only does the Mother get relegated to the back of the list (Father, Son and Holy Ghost/Spirit), but she also gets turned into a ghost . Oh, or a virgin, of course.

Enough on that subject I think!

Fisk


#74411 07/02/02 05:25 AM
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muzhik - man - muzhichok (small man)

How does one pronounce the "zh"? Just curious...

---------

Feeling a little "Johnnie come lately", but...

"Old Man" refers directly (when I say it) to my father, and when a "motorcycle mama" (hello rhuby) speaks the words she is talking about her current "partner" (possibly, but not necessarily, her husband).


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