GinnyTosken

Joined

• started 33 topics
• posted 663 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by GinnyTosken

• 
  22

  Some Latin Fun with Steph

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi steph,.

  did you graduate:.

  a) magno cum levamento.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  Dunsscot,

  A knowledge of Latin or any foreign language is only evidence of a particular kind of intelligence. But Howard Gardner and Robert J. Sternberg show that there are many different types of intelligence.

  I disagree that a knowledge of Latin or any foreign language is evidence of a particular kind of intelligence. It is more likely evidence of schooling or exposure to other languages and cultures. In Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner focuses on poetry and literature in his chapter on linguistic intelligence; foreign languages are given only a mention in passing.

  In my reading of his work, Howard Gardner's main point is that reason, intelligence, logic and knowledge are not synonymous. Neither is academic success the only criterion to measure intelligence.

  I am not familiar with Robert J. Sternberg, so I looked him up on the net. I found this especially interesting:

  He points out, as does Dr. Gardner, that traditional educational systems value "componential" intelligence most highly, and that tests are designed largely to assess this type of intelligence--composed primarily of linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities. Two other kinds of intelligence, "contextual" (the source of creative insight) and "experiential" (the "street smarts" of intelligence) are of enormous value to society, yet not reinforced nor given much opportunity to develop in many traditional classrooms. Dr. Sternberg's wit and playful sense of humor keep his audiences laughing as he presents powerful information and practical suggestions for educating students more broadly for a world in great need of creative thinkers and those who enjoy completing tasks to the best of their ability.

  I have enjoyed reading Howard Gardner's books, and given the reference to Sternberg's wit and playful sense of humor, I think I will enjoy his work, too. Thank you for mentioning him.

  I am only asking this question for fun. Are you having fun yet? :-)

  I have mixed feelings. The part of me that is playful and competitive and curious would like to give the right answer to your question.

  Another part of me does not want to play your game because based on what I've seen of your writing elsewhere on this board, I don't quite believe your question is just for fun. If I give what you consider a wrong answer, I wonder if you will gloat over me as you have over AlanF because you know Latin and he does not? I suspect your intent. Wouldn't it be easier if we just compare S.A.T. and I.Q. scores and get it over with?

  I've looked through the Handbook of Rhetorical Devices, and I'll give your question one last go. Even though summa cum laude and magna cum laude are adverbial phrases, perhaps you consider them an example of hyperbaton?

  When . . . writing . . . all the natural instincts are at work the way some people play a musical instrument without a lesson and, others, even as children, understand an engine.

  LILLIAN HELLMAN, An Unfinished Woman, as quoted in Frames of Mind

  Ginny
• 
  14

  How do you spell God?

  by GinnyTosken in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this summer i wanted to give my son a religious education.

  by "religious education" i mean that i wanted to educate him about various religions without indoctrinating him to believe any specific way.

  i want him to be knowledgable enough to be culturally literate and able to make an informed decision about his spiritual needs.. we have been reading together in genesis, but i also browsed at the library to find a book that might give us more detail about specific religious beliefs.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  CPiolo,

  I was just writing you to say, "Great article! Thanks for sharing!" Is this mutual toadying or what?

  I'll try here to display the link to your parenting article in clickable format:

  http://www.secularsouth.org/show.php?column=facts_for_thought&story_id=21

  Ginny
• 
  14

  How do you spell God?

  by GinnyTosken in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this summer i wanted to give my son a religious education.

  by "religious education" i mean that i wanted to educate him about various religions without indoctrinating him to believe any specific way.

  i want him to be knowledgable enough to be culturally literate and able to make an informed decision about his spiritual needs.. we have been reading together in genesis, but i also browsed at the library to find a book that might give us more detail about specific religious beliefs.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  Teejay,

  I agree with your friend. I believe that a religious upbringing is not essential to producing a healthy, well-adjusted adult. In fact, I believe that some religions produce quite the opposite.

  When I see what JWs do to their children, even though I realize that their intentions are good, I wish there were laws protecting children from being subjected to damaging religious beliefs. In the realm of religion, children are still viewed pretty much as property. At the same time, I understand how controversial it would be for a government to decide which religions are healthy and which are not.

  As I said, I do not want to indoctrinate my son; I want to educate him. I am thinking specifically of the Continuum of Influence chart from the Ethics of Influence site:

  http://www.workingpsychology.com/ethics2.html

  I want him to eventually decide for himself what he believes, with as much information as possible. Meanwhile, I'd like him to know what people are talking about when they mention Adam and Eve, Noah, the Flood, etc.

  I usually work Sundays, but if I didn't, I would do as your friend does and take him to different churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples. Before I began working Sundays, we usually attended the Unitarian Universalist Church, which presents material from many diverse sources. I think a person can also feed this spiritual hunger by simply looking up at the stars, meditating, listening to good music, dancing, hugging, laughing, reading, etc.

  So far, he is a kind little boy with a wicked sense of humor. I feel very lucky because besides loving him as my son, I also enjoy his company as a human being.

  Ginny
• 
  22

  Some Latin Fun with Steph

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi steph,.

  did you graduate:.

  a) magno cum levamento.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  Dunsscot,

  Not knowing your intent, I don't see that your phrases are a clear and cohesive example of any particular rhetorical device. Parallelism, perhaps?

  Is a degree or a knowledge of Latin and rhetorical devices somehow a proof of intelligence?

  Big long words name little things.
  All big things have little names
  Such as life and death, peace and war
  Or dawn, day, night, hope, love, home.
  Learn to use little words in a big way.
  It is hard to do,
  But they say what you mean--
  Use big words.
  That often fools little people.
  --Arthur Kudner

  Ginny
• 
  22

  Some Latin Fun with Steph

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi steph,.

  did you graduate:.

  a) magno cum levamento.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  Jayhawk,

  You're welcome. My public education didn't come with Latin lessons either. I just happen to enjoy languages and found an old Latin textbook at Goodwill.

  Iay inkthay atthay Igpay Atinlay isay uchmay oremay unfay anywayay, on'tday ouyay?

  Ginny

  http://www.idioma-software.com/pig/condom.htm
• 
  22

  Some Latin Fun with Steph

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi steph,.

  did you graduate:.

  a) magno cum levamento.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  I'll give it a try, Jayhawk.

  Dunsscot was joking about how Stephanus graduated. One way is "magna cum laude," with great praise, or with high honors. Dunsscot suggested:

  magno cum levamento = with great pity

  simulo parentali = goaded by his parents

  cum gradibus quam minimis = Dunsscot's translation, with the lowest possible G.P.A.

  interventu divino = [with] divine intervention

  in stupore = in a stupor

  in oculo porci = in a pig's eye

  in alto stercore = in deep shit

  He takes Stephanus's comments cum grano salis, with a grain of salt.

  My bumper stickers said, "If Caesar were alive, you'd be chained to an oar" and "May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy."

  Duns then quoted, "Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love, and let us count the opinion of censurious old men as a penny."

  Semper ubi sub ubi. (Bad pun--"Always where under where.")

  Ginny

  P.S. Valete in Dunsscot's closing means farewell.

  (Don't ask me. I just work here.)
• 
  9

  Wrestling with God? Pop goes the Hip?

  by bboyneko 2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey anyone else come across this passage in genesis and wondered what the heck happened??.

  new american standard bible (nasb).

  footnotes are in paranthesis and bold.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  Jayhawk,

  Neither am I a Bible scholar; I just read footnotes.

  I don't know if "feet" has the same connotation in the New Testament as the Old. I have seen no footnotes suggesting that feet washing meant anything other than a humble act after dusty travels. Perhaps the meaning depends on context.

  Ginny
• 
  9

  Wrestling with God? Pop goes the Hip?

  by bboyneko 2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey anyone else come across this passage in genesis and wondered what the heck happened??.

  new american standard bible (nasb).

  footnotes are in paranthesis and bold.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  I don't know enough to comment about El and Yahweh, but the mention of hips and thighs brought to mind this post I shared on H2O some time ago. I offer it for your reading enjoyment.

  Ginny

  Feet, thighs, and hands

  About a year ago, I found a dilapidated copy of The Oxford Annotated Bible at Goodwill. I have so enjoyed what I’ve learned from the notes that I decided to treat myself to the updated version, The New Oxford Annotated Bible. My Goodwill copy was last updated in 1962; this new one was updated in 1994.

  Happy with my new treasure, I began thumbing through to see what is new. The note for Exodus 4:25 caught my eye. The verse reads:

  But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it, and said, “Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!

  The note reads:

  Here it is assumed that the circumcision of the infant son was efficacious for Moses, who was evidently uncircumcised. Feet, a euphemism for the genitals (Isa 7.20).

  “Feet” a euphemism for genitals? This seemed a bit far-fetched. I set aside my curiosity about why Jehovah would try to kill Moses and flipped over to Isaiah 7:20:

  On that day the Lord will shave with a razor hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will take off the beard as well.

  Again the same note—“feet” is a euphemism for genitals. While it would make more sense in this context, it still seemed a stretch. I went to the Bible browser and did a search for “feet.” Look at Judges 3:24:

  After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “He must be relieving himself in the cool chamber.”

  The Hebrew for “relieving himself” is literally “covering his feet.”

  It makes one wonder what is really going on in Ruth 3:7:

  And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly, and uncovered his feet and lay down.

  Hmmmm. Are there other Biblical euphemisms, I wondered? I began searching the net.

  I discovered that “thigh” is also used euphemistically.

  And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh,”

  This means “put your hand under my testicles.” Patriarchal Semites swore binding oaths by placing a hand on each other’s private parts, a habit still common among the Arabs. The “fountain of life” was considered sacred. Words like testament, testify, and testimony still attest to the oaths sworn on testicles.

  Some scholars believe that Genesis 32:25 is euphemistic. The sinew that shrank on the hollow of Jacob’s thigh is his penis. He literally and figuratively limped away from the wrestling match.

  In some contexts, even “hand” can even be a phallic euphemism. This is from a passage in the Manual of Disciples from the Dead Sea Scrolls:

  One who walks before his neighbor naked when he does not have to do so shall be punished six months . . . one who brings his ‘hand’ out from beneath his robe when it is torn, so that his nakedness is seen, shall be punished thirty days. One who laughs foolishly, making his voice heard, shall be punished thirty days. One who brings out his left hand to gesticulate with it shall be punished ten days.

  Who ever thought Bible study could be so interesting?

  Ginny
• 
  14

  How do you spell God?

  by GinnyTosken in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this summer i wanted to give my son a religious education.

  by "religious education" i mean that i wanted to educate him about various religions without indoctrinating him to believe any specific way.

  i want him to be knowledgable enough to be culturally literate and able to make an informed decision about his spiritual needs.. we have been reading together in genesis, but i also browsed at the library to find a book that might give us more detail about specific religious beliefs.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken

  Thanks to you, too, CPiolo!

  I peeked at the reviews on Amazon and have made a note of the title and author. The World's Religions sounds like just what I was looking for. I've always enjoyed reading the links you've shared, so I'm eager to take a look at this book.

  Ginny
• 
  22

  Some Latin Fun with Steph

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi steph,.

  did you graduate:.

  a) magno cum levamento.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GinnyTosken