Forbidding the use of “husband,” “wife,” “dad,” “mom”
A professor at the University of Florida is forbidding her students to use words like “husband,” “wife,” “dad,” and “mom” as being insufficiently inclusive. From Peter Hasson, Students Banned From Saying Mom or Dad | The Daily Caller: In the syllabus for her “Creativity In Context” class — a required course for any student pursuing a [Read More…]
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Have a merry Christmas and a happy Christmas
Two years ago, I did a post on the difference between “merry Christmas” and “happy Christmas.” (It has mainly to do, I argued, with the difference between American English, which tends to retain older constructions, such as “merry,” and British English, which favors “happy,” supposedly due to Victorian-era qualms against carousing at Christmas, which “merry” [Read More…]
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Clinton accuses Sanders of sexism and racism
Hillary Clinton and her organization are fending off the threat from the left by accusing Bernie Sanders–avowed socialist with impeccable leftist credentials–of sexism and racism! This is because of these two statements he made during the debate: In the debate, Sanders began by saying, “As a senator from a rural state, what I can tell [Read More…]
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Changing language taboos
Some words are taboo, so that when they are used they constitute the “bad language” of socially inappropriate “swearing.” Those taboo words used to consist of the irreverent use of religious language. Then words about sex an…
From a little eggcorn. . . .
The dictionary has added a new word: “eggcorn.” Read what it means after the jump. And then supply eggcorns of your own. From ‘Eggcorns’: The Gaffes That Spread Like Wildflowers : The Two-Way : NPR: Please pause if you’re about to tell us our headline should say “spread like wildfire.” We intentionally slipped an eggcorn [Read More…]
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Asserting vs. Explaining
On Trinity Sunday yesterday, I worshipped at the church of my son-in-law, the Rev. Ned Moerbe, who made a useful distinction between “asserting” and “explaining.” The Athanasian Creed, he observed, asserts the doctrine of the Trinity. It does not explain it. Confessions of faith, doctrinal formulations, and Scripture itself have that same revelatory quality. They [Read More…]
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America’s most “churchless” and “dechurched” cities
The Barna group has data about which American cities are the most “unchurched,” breaking that category down further into “churchless” (people never having been involved in a church) and “dechurched” (people who used to be involved in a church but aren’t now). English teacher that I am, I disapprove of the twisted grammar that went [Read More…]
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Everybody’s a populist
Just about everybody in politics is claiming to be a “populist” these days–leftwinger Elizabeth Warren, rightwinger Ted Cruz, establishment icon Hillary Clinton, the Christian right’s Mike Huckabee, Occupy Wallstreeters, Tea Partiers, and on and on. Rutgers history professor David Greenberg points out that the term once had a very specific meaning, relating to the farmer/labor [Read More…]
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Scientists Learn More About Monkey ‘Language’
Studies show their communication system compares to human language in at least five ways.Scientists have discovered how some West Africa monkeys can communicate. The male Campbell’s monkey apparently uses six main sounds: boom-boom, krak, krak-oo, hok, hok-oo and wak-oo. A key to this communication is the suffix “oo.” By adding that sound to the end of their calls, these monkeys have created a “surprising rich ‘vocabulary’” which both males and females of the species, as well as related species, can understand.The new study confirms how these calls had previously been translated. For instance, “krak” means leopard, “krak-oo” suggests a non-leopard threat such as a falling tree branch, and “boom-boom-krak-oo” then means something like “watch out for that falling . . . Read All
Hillary says “religious beliefs. . .have to be changed”
Hillary Clinton says that “religious beliefs. . .have to be changed” when they interfere with “reproductive health care” (that is, abortion). And pro-abortion laws “have to be backed up with resources and political will.” Notice that she doesn’t say “religious beliefs have to change.” That would arguably be bad enough, but it allows for religions [Read More…]
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Access to the Bible
So what percentage of the world’s 6,101 languages do you think have translations of the Bible? WRONG (probably)! The Barna Group has conducted a study of Americans’ perceptions of how accessible the Bible is globally. Most Americans think the Bible is more available than it really is. See the findings–as well as the correct statistics–after [Read More…]
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Language as “Darwin’s problem”
Noam Chomsky is not a conservative Christian but is rather a leftwing radical. But in his day job, he is a pioneering linguist, having shown how all languages depend on “deep structures”–complex grammatical processes that are built into the human mind–that all languages have in common and that children can master almost without effort. He [Read More…]
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Making dismemberment abortion sound better
Kansas has banned late-term abortions that dismember the child. Other states are considering passing the same law. You have got to read the news story in the Washington Post, excerpted after the jump. You might notice some bias in the story. But notice to what extent the journalist has to twist her language–to the point [Read More…]
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Supremes hear case on Obamacare language
The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on the most serious legal challenge to Obamacare so far. At issue in King v. Burwell is whether the language in the Affordable Care Act that provides for federal subsidies for health insurance policies purchased in exchanges “established by the state” applies also to the policies purchased in the [Read More…]
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Righteous eating
“Orthodoxy” means “right belief.” Now there is a new word, “orthorexia,” meaning “right eating.” The National Eating Disorders Association defines it as “fixation on righteous eating.” From Orthorexia Nervosa | National Eating Disorders Association: Those who have an “unhealthy obsession” with otherwise healthy eating may be suffering from “orthorexia nervosa,” a term which literally means [Read More…]
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Epiphany as both theological and literary term
Today is Epiphany, a day and a season in the church year that I especially appreciate, old English teacher that I am, since the name is both a theological and a literary term. I explain that after the jump in a post from four years ago. From Epiphanies: When I first became a Lutheran, it [Read More…]
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Happy Circumcision & Name of Jesus Day!
I hope you had a big celebration last night and stayed up past midnight to see in the big holiday today. Namely, the commemoration of the circumcision and naming of Jesus, a ceremony that took place one week after His birth. To honor the occasion–and, oh, yes, it’s also New Year’s Day, isn’t it?–I am [Read More…]
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Cow Talk More Complex Than One Might Think
Research has shown that cow-calf pairs have their own individualized and distinctive calls.People might think that all moos are alike, but scientists in England have discovered much more meaning in cow talk than what has been commonly assumed. “This is the first time that complex cattle calls have been analyzed using the latest and best techniques,” said Dr. Alan McElligott from Queen Mary University of London, a co-author of a study on mooing.The scientists spent 10 months recording sounds from two herds of free-range cattle on a farm in Nottinghamshire. Then the researchers took several months to analyze the acoustic data. They determined that mother cows use two types of calls when trying to contact their calves–a quiet . . . Read All
The #2 most popular Cranach post of the year
Why do Americans say “merry Christmas,” while the British and denizens of its Commonwealth say “happy Christmas”? Those who Googled that question were directed to this post, which was written for Christmas of 2013: Merry Christmas vs. Happy Christmas. This post was number 3 for most of the year, but for the last few weeks, [Read More…]
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Feminine And Masculine Words?
Dear WE:
I am taking an introductory Hebrew course. The first chapter teaches vocabulary and grammar using Genesis 1. I learned that in Hebrew, the word “spirit” can be either feminine or masculine. In Genesis 1:2, “Spirit” is a feminine noun and the associated verb “hovered” is conjugated in the feminine form. What does this mean? Is there any commentary on this by church fathers or Lutheran theologians?
Thanks, J.
J:
Great question!
Quite often the gender of a word in Hebrew has absolutely nothing to do with whether the thing is actually male or female. Participles and verbs in general must agree with their subject in gender of the word (which again, does not necessarily have anything to do
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Pun control
The Chinese government is forbidding the use of puns in state-supported media. Alexandra Petri objects. (If you are one of those, like Chinese communists, who can’t stand puns, do NOT read her punitive words after the jump. I invite you, though, to respond in kind in the comments.) From Alexandra Petri, Chinese media banning puns? [Read More…]
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Party riots
An essay in the Washington Post about the non-spontaneous riots in Ferguson, Missouri, included a digression on another kind of uprising: the “party riot,” what some college students do when they lose or win a big game or what breaks out at Mardi Gras or other festivals when revellers just want to have a good [Read More…]
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Human ecology
A useful concept and a clarifying name from Pope Francis: People worry about the state of the natural environment, he observed. But they also need to worry about the social environment. Family breakdown, rampant immorality, and materialistic hedonism damage what he calls the “human ecology.” From Kathleen Parker, Pope calls for family resurrection – The [Read More…]
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Not naming the holidays on the school calendar
The school board in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D. C., has voted not to name the holidays associated with religions on the school calendar. School will still be dismissed for Christmas, Easter, and the major Jewish holidays. But when Muslims wanted time off for their holidays, the school board decided to think [Read More…]
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1,000 Bible translations on your phone
In church, when you seem people staring at their smart phones, they aren’t necessarily texting, surfing, or playing games. They may well be using their Bible apps, allowing them to read the Scriptures and follow along with the text of a sermon on their mobile devices. They can also switch translations so that they can [Read More…]
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