How Christians Warped English

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Queeb Salaron
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How Christians Warped English

Post by Queeb Salaron »

So I'm writing a paper on this, and I came up with a few examples of Greek- or Latin-to-English translations that have been butchered by Christians. Look these over and tell me what you think. Feel free to add a few of your own.

Daimon -- A god that protects a family or city; local demi-god responsible for protection. (Greek)
Demon -- Because Christians saw Greek polytheism as a pagan religion, they took the concept of Daimon and turned it sour.

Virtus -- Manly displays of brawn on the battlefield.
Virtue -- Because Virtus was something that was highly praised by the Greeks (and, to an extent, the Romans), Christians adopted it into their mantra, claiming that a life of purity was the only TRUE display of Virtus. In fact, the word means the exact opposite.

Passos -- Greek word for suffering.
Passion -- It is a common Christian belief that giving into lust or anger (very similar emotions) leads to suffering. To avoid Passos, one must avoid lust and anger. The three (lust, anger, and Passos) were therefore lumped together as something to avoid.
Passive -- Likewise, to be idle is to be sinful. "Idle hands are the Devil's playground," after all. Sin leads to suffering. Like the derivation of the word Passion, the word Passive is simply a lumping together of the concepts of idleness and suffering. In both cases, suffering is certainly separable from the "sins" that, according to Christians, cause the suffering in the first place.

Those are the ones I have so far. If you think of any more, feel free to list 'em.
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Post by Faram »

Did't know that.

Thank you :)
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Post by Superman »

Well, we can always look to how they try to change the definitions of modern English as well. I will write a word and then write the "Christian" definition after it, even though it is wrong. Look up the real definition, if you want to see it.

CULT: Any church that is not part of the Orthodox Christian "clique." Examples are Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Catholics, etc. <Christians fail to realize that all religions are "cults" under the proper definition.>

RELIGION: What Christianity is not. Christianity is a faith system between Jesus and man. <Note: This is completely stupid. Fundies fail to see that this "faith" is PART of the religion.>

OPENS DOORS: A term used to describe activities that potentially let demons into one's life. Examples are looking at a horoscope, watching a horror movie, etc. <I can't remember how many times church tards told me about this growing up. Fuck, what century are we in again?>


When I think of more, I will post them...
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Post by Einhander Sn0m4n »

Superman wrote:Well, we can always look to how they try to change the definitions of modern English as well. I will write a word and then write the "Christian" definition after it, even though it is wrong. Look up the real definition, if you want to see it.

CULT: Any church that is not part of the Orthodox Christian "clique." Examples are Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Catholics, etc. <Christians fail to realize that all religions are "cults" under the proper definition.>

RELIGION: What Christianity is not. Christianity is a faith system between Jesus and man. <Note: This is completely stupid. Fundies fail to see that this "faith" is PART of the religion.>

OPENS DOORS: A term used to describe activities that potentially let demons into one's life. Examples are looking at a horoscope, watching a horror movie, etc. <I can't remember how many times church tards told me about this growing up. Fuck, what century are we in again?>


When I think of more, I will post them...
Opens Doors!!? WTF!?

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Re: How Christians Warped English

Post by DPDarkPrimus »

Queeb Salaron wrote: Daimon -- A god that protects a family or city; local demi-god responsible for protection. (Greek)
Demon -- Because Christians saw Greek polytheism as a pagan religion, they took the concept of Daimon and turned it sour.
I thought it was "Daemon", with the funny character that is the 'a' and 'e' combined.
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Post by NapoleonGH »

isnt the AE combination a latin device. like in Caesar (the a and e are combined) or Aemelius (a clan name in rome).
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Post by Superman »

Napolean, I took latin a while ago. When you have two vowels together like that, it is called a "dipthong."
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Re: How Christians Warped English

Post by Peregrin Toker »

Queeb Salaron wrote:So I'm writing a paper on this, and I came up with a few examples of Greek- or Latin-to-English translations that have been butchered by Christians. Look these over and tell me what you think. Feel free to add a few of your own.
Shouldn't it be "How Christians mangled English?"

BTW, don't forget the fact that many of the Devil's names actually are names of Phoenician deities. (eg. Baalzephon, Beelzebub and Beliyar)
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Re: How Christians Warped English

Post by Queeb Salaron »

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
Queeb Salaron wrote: Daimon -- A god that protects a family or city; local demi-god responsible for protection. (Greek)
Demon -- Because Christians saw Greek polytheism as a pagan religion, they took the concept of Daimon and turned it sour.
I thought it was "Daemon", with the funny character that is the 'a' and 'e' combined.
The problem with translating Greek is that there are debates over which letters specifically made which sounds. I'd put the original greek spelling of the word up here, but I can't get the text to display Greek letters. Essentially the "ai" translation is of a dipthong, and the pronounciation of that letter is a bit strange. In some cases it's pronounced as a long e, and in other cases it's more of an ai. I've seen it spelled both ways, but I chose the ai, simply because that's the translation that my hometown hero Blessington uses more frequently than not. And I like Blessington. So there you have it.

On a more interesting note, I looked it up, and it seems as though the LATIN word was spelled consistently with a dipthong pronounced as a long e. So there you have it. But it originated as a Greek word. (Greeks were just cool like that.)
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Post by Companion Cube »

So, like this?:

Dæmon.
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Post by Queeb Salaron »

3rd Impact wrote:So, like this?:

Dæmon.
Yes, exactly.
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Post by Loki »

For a good critique of the English language, look up some of the arguments against using dictionaries as a basis for language. ie. Webster was a known misgynist and interjected his views into his writing, etc.
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Post by NapoleonGH »

which is why we should use the OED as the standard source.
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Post by SyntaxVorlon »

NapoleonGH wrote:isnt the AE combination a latin device. like in Caesar (the a and e are combined) or Aemelius (a clan name in rome).
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Post by HemlockGrey »

On Open Doors...

Once, at church, one of the deacons was talking about the evils of using Oijuie boards. I expressed my blatant disbelief, and the pastor backed me up.

Fine, fine moment...
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Post by LadyTevar »

HemlockGrey wrote:On Open Doors...

Once, at church, one of the deacons was talking about the evils of using Oijuie boards. I expressed my blatant disbelief, and the pastor backed me up.

Fine, fine moment...
Considering my experiences with a Ouiji board (and yes, it was ParkerBros), I'll just say that anyone bringing one of those things in my house will find it going out the window.

When I can move/influence the friggin' thing from SEVEN FT AWAY, not even being one of the two touching it, and saying NOTHING to anyone else in the rom while I'm doing so?

And when I stop, the board goes wild, repeating WhiteWitch DIE WhiteWitch Die?

Just say no to Ouiji.
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Post by UltraViolence83 »

LadyTevar wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:On Open Doors...

Once, at church, one of the deacons was talking about the evils of using Oijuie boards. I expressed my blatant disbelief, and the pastor backed me up.

Fine, fine moment...
Considering my experiences with a Ouiji board (and yes, it was ParkerBros), I'll just say that anyone bringing one of those things in my house will find it going out the window.

When I can move/influence the friggin' thing from SEVEN FT AWAY, not even being one of the two touching it, and saying NOTHING to anyone else in the rom while I'm doing so?

And when I stop, the board goes wild, repeating WhiteWitch DIE WhiteWitch Die?

Just say no to Ouiji.
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Post by The Duchess of Zeon »

LadyTevar wrote:
Considering my experiences with a Ouiji board (and yes, it was ParkerBros), I'll just say that anyone bringing one of those things in my house will find it going out the window.

When I can move/influence the friggin' thing from SEVEN FT AWAY, not even being one of the two touching it, and saying NOTHING to anyone else in the rom while I'm doing so?

And when I stop, the board goes wild, repeating WhiteWitch DIE WhiteWitch Die?

Just say no to Ouiji.
A sound recorder and a few magnets inside of it could easily account for that, and would actually be an exceptionally clever marketing tool, considering the target audience. No offense intended there, of course.
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Post by Joe »

I don't think there's anything really special about those things (just subconscious muscle shit), but I definitely would not want one in the house. Even the skeptical have a dangerous belief engine that can lead to stupid shit.
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Post by HemlockGrey »

I think there's one in my attic.

I don't really see the big deal. You put your fingertips on the little plastic bit, and your fingers twitch in the direction of whatever answer you are subconciously thinking of.
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Post by Dillon »

Here's a good example of religious warping of English:

Atheism

1. a.Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
b.The doctrine that there is no God or gods.

2.Godlessness; immorality.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Atheism
Last edited by Dillon on 2003-05-17 03:05am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by DPDarkPrimus »

So true.
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Post by UltraViolence83 »

Let's forget proper Eniglish and all just speak Ebonics.

Ya foo's wit da wee-gee bored needa get off ma grill y'all! dis treds fo' Eenglish!

I've never tried one of those little boards. I remember seeing them advertised on TV as a kid's game. Be fun to try it, though. I'm attracted to crazy shit.




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