Posts

Showing posts with the label religious language

What is Lent?

Image
Lent is the word Christians use to describe the forty days leading up to  Easter .

When did we start saying Merry Christmas?

Image
The first commercially produced Christmas card - 1843

Where does the word nativity come from?

Image
Nativity derives from the Latin 'natal' meaning birth. 

What is Advent? Where does the word come from

Image
‘The arrival of a notable person or thing’ Oxford English Dictionary. Photo by  Grant Whitty  on  Unsplash Advent  derives from the Latin root, adventus. This approximates as ‘arrival’ through advenire , with ad meaning ‘to’ and venire ‘come’. When used in general English, advent describes a 'starting point' as in the advent of  mobile phones.  The word itself is not biblical - the first reference to it in Christian teaching is in the late sixth century. By around the year 800 CE mid winter festivals were adapted to the Christian calendar. Advent became an umbrella term to describe the immediate period leading up to the celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas Day.  An extend version of the post is available here   (3 minut Medium free read) Where does the world Nativity come from?

Why do we say 'Good' Friday?

It may seem odd that Christians call their day  of greatest sorrow   Good Friday .  The confusion arises from how we perceive the word 'Good'. Here it is used in the archaic sense of 'holy' or momentous. Good Friday, called  Feria VI in  Parasceve  in the  Roman Missal ,  he hagia kai megale paraskeue  (the  Holy  and Great Friday) in the  Greek Liturgy ,  Holy Friday  in Romance Languages,  Charfreitag  (Sorrowful Friday) in  German , is the  English  designation of Friday in  Holy Week     source In other words,  Good marks the uniqueness of the Passion . It affirms the centrality of the crucifixion and resurrection to the Christian faith. Short essay :  Where does the word Easter come from? Passover? Good Friday?

Where does the word Easter come from?

Image
The word Easter is not in the New Testament. Nor does it feature in most translations of the Bible into vernacular languages.  Isn't Easter  linked to Passover? There is no direct linguistic link in English  between the  words  Easter  and   Passover .  This contrasts with the convention in Romance languages. Pâques, in French, covers both  Easter  and Passover . In Spanish,  Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the most common phrase used to describe the festival. So where does the word  Easter come from?      Scholars agree that Easter  has pre-Christian roots. Beyond that there is little consensus. According to the great Anglo-Saxon scholar the  Venerable Bede , the Old English word eastre came from Eostre, "a goddess associated with spring."   April was called Eosturmonath  ("Easter-month") because in pagan times the month was dedicated to Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring.   The Canadian Oxford Dictionary suggests a link to the Germanic goddess

What is Passover? Where does the word come from?

Image
The Seder is the special meal that celebrates Passover

What is Hanukkah? Why the different spellings?

Image
Hanukkah is a Jewish religious festival that begins in late November or early December.

Where does the word Halloween come from?

Image
Photo by  freestocks.org  on  Unsplash Halloween or All-Hallows-Eve takes place on the night of 31 October in anticipation of All-Hallows-Day (1st November) . It has emerged from a combination of Christian and pagan traditions. Etymology Hallow is the old English word for saint. Halloween is a Scottish variation dating back to the 1700s. The 'een' suffix is a contraction of 'evening'. 'Hallowed evening' or 'holy evening' was later understood to mean eve or 'night before' as with Christmas Eve  All Hallows Day is now called All-Saints-Day in the Catholic calendar. It commemorates Christian martyrs   All Souls Day follows on 2 November. On All Souls Day Catholics pray for the 'souls of the (faithful) departed'. Photo by  Tony J  on  Unsplash Halloween FAQ - brief history of Halloween customs - free 3 min read Halloween often features in Victorian ghost stories. Read and/or listen to E. Nesbit’s ‘Man-Made-in

What is iconoclasm?

Image

What is a pundit? Where does the word come from?

Image
The word pundit comes from the Hindi/Sanskrit word 'pandit'. It originally meant someone knowledgeable in (Hindu) religion. Now it generally refers to anyone using specialist expertise to provide commentary or analysis in the media. Examples include football pundits, political pundit etc. A version of this post is included in the new ebook:  100 English Language FAQ   - only £0.99/$1.50

What is Dudeism?

Image
Look, let me explain something to you. I'm not Mr. Lebowski.  You're  Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude . So that's what you call me. That, or His Dudeness … Duder … or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing.   On the face of it, the eponymous hero of  The Great Lebowksi  (1998) is an unlikely religious leader. According to the Cohen brothers film's tagline, the Dude is 'a lazy, time-wasting slacker'.  And by his own admission, Dude struggles to stay on top of life's vicissitudes. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's. And, uh, lotta strands to keep in my head, man. Lotta strands in old Duder's head. Luckily I'm adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regimen to keep my mind limber. At the centre of these 'what-have-you's' is the theft of a rug which - as every Dude admirer knows - 'really tied the room together'. And The Dude's quest to track it down forms the cen

Where does the word/name Emmanuel come from?

Image
The word Emmanuel is the Hebrew for 'God is with us'.  For Christians the birth of Jesus is the physical incarnation of this:   Mt:1:23: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Luke:1:26-39: 26: This is made explicit in  Hark the Herald Angel Sing: Glory to God in the ... Jesus our Emmanuel . ...  It is also the the theme of the most beautiful carols: