Posted on 09/26/2013 4:26:21 AM PDT by secret garden
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
shibboleth (SHIB-uh-lith, -leth) noun
1. The use of a word or pronunciation that distinguishes a group of people.
2. A slogan, belief, or custom that's now considered outmoded.
Example sentences:
"Kurdish Iraq's two dominant parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, fought a civil war in the 1990s. Ordinary words turned into shibboleths. Using the word afrat for 'woman' revealed a link with the KDP; the PUK used the word zhin. Today, the two parties share power. This has resulted in an attempt at linguistic fusion that makes Ferhadi shudder: whenever political leaders refer to women, they say 'afrat and zhin' to show that they have overcome old divisions."
--Sophie Hardach; 'Professor, You're Dividing My Nation'; The Chronicle of Higher Education (Washington, DC); Jun 23, 2013.
"Osborne's allies say his urge to win is greater than his eagerness to parrot Thatcherite shibboleths."
--Rafael Behr; The Politics Column; New Statesman (London, UK); Jun 28, 2013.
Etymology:
According to the Book of Judges in the Bible, the Gileadites used the Hebrew word shibboleth (ear of corn; stream) to identify the fleeing Ephraimites who couldn't pronounce the sh sound. 42,000 Ephraimites were slaughtered. Earliest documented use: 1382.
Some massacres in which the pronunciation of a word played a key part: Parsley Massacre, Battle of the Golden Spurs, Sicilian Vespers. The meaning of the term has now widened. It could be applied to anything, not just the pronunciation of a word, that distinguishes people. It could be a way of eating, dressing, etc.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
Review Thread One: Word For The Day, Thursday 11/14/02: Raffish
Review Thread Two: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/14/03: Roister
Review Thread Three: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/28/03: Obdurate
WFB's attempt to emulate us ; ) No pushing at the door please!
I do love watching punks who pick on kids get their comeuppance. Cowards.
You stalking me? ;-) That was like a month ago.
Gregs OK. Provides The Soup with plenty of material.
That beatdown was one of those “now I am hooked” moments.
So many of us have believed
That “misery index” and such
Were shibboleths of Carter’s time
And now they don’t mean much
Why are we amazed these terms
Have become relevant once more
When idiots voted for a jerk
And haven’t shown him the door?
Now these fools have angered
The rest of us with their greed-
When their emperor basks in Hawaii
No one will care about their “need”
It was funny, too. The pilot and early episodes, I mean.
Hawaii has tons of poverty, according to members of my family who lived there. Not that the idiot and his family will be anywhere near it. A+ for you.
thread was on today’s scroll, i didn’t check the date, it just struck me as evangelicals having the same discussion we had last friday. and then i saw your pedantic jagoff self doing what you do best, right in the middle of it.
i’m not either.
Read more: http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/24/vatican-court-head-no-communion-nancy-pelosi/#ixzz2g0zJk76J
As I was saying......
that has always been canon law, yet no one is denying them. again, the problem is the ones standing in the pulpits.
Oy!
Someone from the Vatican, naming them directly, and publicly, is the point.
But you already knew that.
That’s a major pet peeve of mine. That and people who try to use “whom” but don’t know how. And people who use “enormity” to mean “big” instead of “tremendously evil.”
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/4770340-74/duck-pittsburgh-hofman#axzz2g19Uy06R
Coming to see the duck?
how unchristian of you to judge someone’s grammar ; )
What about people who use impact as a verb(it is a noun) when they mean affect? And the ones who don’t know the difference between affect and effect? I could go on ALL DAY!
i don’t find your concern impactful in the least.... ROR!
I didn’t judge, I corrected. Teach a man to fish...
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