Re: External links (Was Re: [tied] Re: oldest places- and watername

--- On Mon, 11/17/08, tgpedersen <tgpedersen@...> wrote:

> From: tgpedersen <tgpedersen@...>
> Subject: External links (Was Re: [tied] Re: oldest places- and watername in Scandinavia)
> To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Monday, November 17, 2008, 1:16 PM
> > > It has offensive overtones in English, the
> language of this
> > > list.
> > >
> > > GK: Not to me it hasn't. But this is an
> interesting
> > > issue. I've always wondered how the various
> components
> > > of "political correctness" get started.
> Could it
> > > be as simple as this? Somebody somewhere puts
> forth his or
> > > her little idea with emphatic certainty. Others
> yield
> > > ("Gee I didn't realize...") and
> another item
> > > is added to the new decalogue... In my old
> Webster's of
> > > 1949 there is not a hint of "Hamitic"
> being
> > > objectionable. (p. 373: HAMITIC: "Of or
> pertaining to
> > > the Hamites, or the family of languages (HAMITIC
> languages)
> > > including ancient Egyptian, Coptic, and various
> modern
> > > languages. See LANGUAGE,Table. ----n. Any of the
> Hamitic
> > > languages." Any idea as to when and where
> (after 1949)
> > > "Hamitic" acquired "offensive
> overtones"
> > > and which authority sanctioned this?
> >
> > Hamitic refers to Ham, the son of Noah who was cursed.
> >
> > ****GK: In one Biblical passage. Which is contradicted
> by others
> (quite a few others). So do we now get into exegesis? The
> Bible is not
> exactly a useful source here. It doesn't even have a
> single answer to
> the question of Israel's borders, never mind the
> meaning of "Hamitic".****
> >
> > African-American were often referred to by racists as
> "Children of
> Ham", especially in the Bible Belt -a term which has
> become more
> marginalized in recent years.
> >
> > ****GK: I'm supposed to be interested in
> "Bible-belt" opinion?
> (:=))) The notion of "son of Ham" also appears in
> one of Shevchenko's
> greatest poems("Hajdamaky") where it is applied
> to a Ukrainian
> peasant... What's next? Somebody coming up with the
> notion that "Jew"
> is a racist concept because the Bible recognizes them as
> "the chosen
> people"****
> >
>
> So next time I'm in a McDonald's,
> should I be asking for an Afrasianburger?
>
>
> Torsten

Only if you're ordering a Hamiticburger