Sex or Backbiting?
Most of you know, I do the daily readings from The Lectionary (you can always click on it from my Blogroll, down to the right) as part of my spiritual discipline. I also read the daily meditations on Forward Movement, (also in the blogroll.)
Rarely do I share them with you, but this one is where Christianity and Islam are so closely intertwined that I dance for joy – that much can be forgiven to one who loves, but our tongues get us into a lot of trouble.
I know that backbiting is one of the great sins to be avoided during the upcoming holy season of Ramadan, too.
James 3:1-12 The tongue is a fire…a world of iniquity…a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
I sometimes wonder if the churchfolk who seem obsessed with sexual behavior are reading the same Bible I am. If I said that someone was “living in sin,” I know what parts of the body you’d think I was talking about. Yet if it were James or other New Testament authors talking, they would probably be referring to the tongue.
For every reference in the New Testament to sins involving sex, there must be ten concerning speech. Why? Because while sex is certainly one form of communication, speech is a more potent one in the daily life of a congregation. Words have power.
God creates the world and keeps in touch with it, after all, by his Word; and words are how we keep in touch with each other. But the word that can create can also destroy–a reputation, an institution, a life. Words tell us who and how we are and whether we belong; words bind the community together-or tear it apart. Sexual misconduct is bad–and easy to recognize as bad.
The sniping, backbiting, spite, and deceit that go on in some communities are often hard to see, let alone root out. Yet their effect is more corrosive over the long term. How did our priorities get so mixed up?
PRAY for the Diocese of South Carolina (United States)
Ps 38 * 119:25-48; 1 Kings 9:24-10:13; Mark 15:1-11
Grach
Maybe he uses his grach for barking?
If I were looking for a place to live, this ad would have served it’s purpose. It’s got incredible placement, along Gulf Road, and it is clear what it is advertising, and the phone numbers are nice and big, big enough to write down while you wait at the spotlight. (ooops, stoplight.)
Maybe the “grach” was intentional?
And the the flat has three flowers?
It made me smile. It made me pray to have enough time to grab my camera so I could share the grin with you.
Bottom line, if he paid someone to make this sign, he should get some of his money back. On the other hand, it DOES get your attention.
Louche
In a recent post, I described New Orleans as a “louche” city. I’ve had several back channels asking about the word LOUCHE.
I believe that the original meaning in French was “cross-eyed.”
The Free Dictionary says it means “Of questionable taste or morality; decadent”
It also says it is from the old French “losche” meaning squinty eyed, and from the old Latin “luscus” meaning blind in one eye.
Die Net says it is an “adj : of questionable taste or morality; “a louche nightclub”;”a louche painting” [syn: shady]
The most fun definition was at Geocities , also, in my opinion, the most complete:
[adj. LOOSH] Someone who is louche has questionable taste or morals, or they could be lacking in respectability. If you’re imagining a squint-eyed character who makes you suspicious or anxious you’re not far off from this word’s origins. Louche is a borrowed French word (meaning cross-eyed) derived from the Latin luscus which literally meant blind in one eye. First used in the English language in the early 19th-century, louche refers to character, behavior, or appearance. …
But in looking all this up for you, I found one more definition I had never heard before:
A wine troubled by the presence of suspended particles which cause it to be cloudy.
From Geocities/Cool words
When I described New Orleans as louche, it has the meaning of someone like an aging courtesan, who looks pretty good as you are walking up to her, but when you get close you can see that her dress has seen better days, her make up is a little streaky and she needs a good wash. And there is that questionable morals or respectability. . . 😉
Doncha love new words? And I learned something, too!
Urge for Sex in Mornings?
I am always fascinated by what brings people to my blog. I take a look from time to time at the Search Engine Terms – I love it that WordPress gives us so much information. But today I was baffled – most of these, I can understand, I have blogged on many of these subjects.
I have never blogged on the urge for sex in mornings.
It gives me a big giggle to think so many strange phrases and questions lead to my blog, but I laugh because I can’t think of any serious reason why it works that way. Sometimes life is just weird.
Search Views
find arab times Kuwaiti newspaper Aug 8t 4
St Nicklaus and santa? 2
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KLM Troubles 1
st. niclaus day celebration (germany) 1
gossip and back biting in islam 1
“vinegar” cures chocolate taste 1
Urge for sex in mornings 1
Glitz, Bling, Flamboyance and Glam
Today when Adventure Man called at lunch, I was telling him I bought some bling for fun gifts. He said he didn’t think my family did “bling” and I said we didn’t, but this was just a little glitz, just for fun.
“What’s the difference between ‘glitz’ and ‘bling?’ he asked.
I said ‘glitz’ is like a little decoration, a little frosting, but ‘bling’ is ostentatious.
“I consider myself ‘flamboyant.’ he said.
“Oh no!” I protested. “Flamboyant is over the top, it’s that color that is just a little too bright, the gesture that is a little too large, the voice or laughter just a little to high, a little too loud.”
Then it nagged at me until I had to go look it up. As it turns out, bling MIGHT be expensive, but it has the origination of new riches that the owner is afraid he might lose, so he turns it into jewelry that he can keep close to his person, as well as showy and ostentatious. So, I was wrong.
As it turns out, all the following words have a connotation of excessiveness, ostentation and a little over the top.
glitz (glts) Informal n.
Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: “a garish barrage of show-biz glitz” Peter G. Davis.
tr.v. glitz·ed, glitz·ing, glitz·es
To invest with an ostentatiously showy quality: “have started to glitz up their shows with filmed backdrops” Bill Barol.
[Back-formation from glitzy, flashy, showy, probably from German glitzern, to glitter, from Middle High German glitzen, to shine, from Old High German glzan; see ghel-2 in Indo-European roots.]
glitzi·ness n.
glitzy adj.
From The Free Dictionary.
Bling
“Bling-bling” (usually shortened to simply “bling”) is a hip hop slang term which refers to expensive jewelry and other accoutrements, and also to an entire lifestyle built around excess spending and ostentation. In its essence, the term refers to the exterior manifestation of one’s interior state of character, normally displayed through various forms of visual stimuli.
The first apparent use of the term ‘bling bling’ in mainstream culture was in reference to the L-3 badge (real gold) and also a hip hop track of the same title, by rapper B.G., along with Baby Birdman, Juvenile et al [1], celebrating their wealth (as many of their tracks do). “Bling Bling,” released in 1998, led later in the 2000’s to the term proliferating through mainstream hip hop and eventually spilling over into popular culture as a sarcastic term used to mock the perceived vacuousness of hip hop culture. Comedians such as Ali G in the UK, exploited this for humour.
Bling can also be plastic, or fake, jewelry. Many people who cannot afford, or do not wish to buy, real diamonds, gold, etc, opt for fake glass or plastic jewelry. This makes them look big, and bling-bling.
In 2005, the rapper B.G. remarked that he ‘wished he’d patented the term’ so that he would have profited from its extensive use. In interviews, he has stated that the term refers to the imaginary sound that light makes when it hits a diamond. However, the term was in use for several years prior as a reference to getting rich quickly inspired by the sound made when collecting gold coins in popular Nintendo video games such as Donkey Kong and Mario Brothers and when collecting gold rings in Sega’s Sonic Hedgehog.
The culture of ostentatious display of wealth was ingrained in street culture long before the 90’s, however: it is thought that wearing expensive jewelry was the one way in which young previously impoverished men, who had acquired riches through crime, could be sure of holding on to their wealth by keeping it about their person. This marks out the wearer of such jewelry as a person with ghetto roots, as it shows that the source of their wealth or their personal prejudices prevent them from investing in more stable assets such as cash in the bank or property. Hence ‘bling bling’, while widely regarded as a faddish slang phrase, has been seen by some as manifestation of a deeper socioeconomic problem in the US, trivialised by mainstream media and hip hop. For comparison, see chav.
Related meaning
In the Middle East, counterfeit brand-name goods (such as Rolex watches) may be known as bling bling specials.
From The Free Dictionary.
flam·boy·ant (flm-boint)
adj.
1. Highly elaborate; ornate.
2. Richly colored; resplendent.
3. Architecture Of, relating to, or having wavy lines and flamelike forms characteristic of 15th- and 16th-century French Gothic architecture.
4. Given to ostentatious or audacious display. See Synonyms at showy.
n.
See royal poinciana.
[French, from Old French, present participle of flamboyer, to blaze, from flambe, flame; see flame.]
flam·boyance, flam·boyan·cy n.
flam·boyant·ly adv.
From The Free Dictionary.
Aren’t these great words?
And last but not least:
Definition:
Glam
Glamorous; wearing fashionable clothes and make-up, particularly when done to excess.
Example:
1) She’s so glam that people think she’s a model.
2) I love David Bowie and all of those glam rockers.
Etymology:
‘Glam’ is short for ‘glamorous’. Glam and glamorous refer to the magical attraction and excitement produced by celebrities.
From English Daily – Slang
Backbiting
Our New Testament reading for today included this passage:
Galatians 5: 13-15
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
I love the way this passage describes the truly awful way the things we can say about one another can destroy. “Devour” is a very strong word, and fits perfectly with backbiting, doesn’t it?
I remember one of my first Ramadans, and my friends who were explaining Ramadan to me explained how one of the most important things during Ramadan was absolutely NO BACKBITING.
Answers.com says this:
Back·bit·ing
n.
Secret slander; detraction.
Backbiting, and bearing of false witness.
so I wonder if this is exactly the same in Arabic as in English. The impression I got is that backbiting in Arabic is more like gossip. Backbiting seems to imply that it is not true, but gossip can hurt even if it has a thread of truth. My impression from what my friends were telling me was that saying anything negative or unkind about another during Ramadan was severely discouraged, true or not.
Can you clarify this for me?
Blarney Blarney Blarney
There is a two syllable word that starts with “b” and has to do with bulls and excrement and you use it to imply that someone is saying something that is not true. It is not a polite word, but there is a perfectly good two syllable word that also starts with a “b” and that is “blarney.”
When Adventure Man is chatting me up about something, and I can see where it is going, him spinning all these illusions and wanting my buy-in and this is the perfect “b” word to use: Blarney, Blarney, Blarney. We always end up laughing.
And Blarney is the word-a-day for today:
This week’s theme: toponyms coined after places in Ireland.
blarney (BLAHR-nee) noun
1. Flattery.
2. Misleading talk.
[After the Blarney stone, a stone in Blarney Castle in Blarney village,
near Cork, Ireland which, according to legend, gives the gift of the gab
to anyone who kisses it.]
A Word a Day is in the blogroll to the right, or you can subscribe to A Word a Day here.
Little Diamond’s Peeve
Little Diamond, my niece living and working in Beirut, has a pet peeve, which I remembered as I was writing a comment on an earlier piece.
“I HATE it when people write ‘discrete’ when they mean ‘discreet!” she exclaimed, inflamed.
OOOps. I don’t know if I do it of not. Now, I look it up every time so I won’t inflame Little Diamond.
dis·creet (dĭ-skrēt’)
adj.
Marked by, exercising, or showing prudence and wise self-restraint in speech and behavior; circumspect.
Free from ostentation or pretension; modest.
[Middle English, from Old French discret, from Medieval Latin discrētus, from Latin, past participle of discernere, to separate, discern.
dis·crete (dĭ-skrēt’)
adj.
Constituting a separate thing. See synonyms at distinct.
Consisting of unconnected distinct parts.
Mathematics. Defined for a finite or countable set of values; not continuous.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin discrētus, past participle of discernere, to separate.
Here is where it get’s tricky:
dis·cre·tion (dĭ-skrĕsh’ən)
n.
The quality of being discreet; circumspection. See synonyms at prudence.
Ability or power to decide responsibly.
Freedom to act or judge on one’s own: All the decisions were left to our discretion.
The first is used to describe behavior. The second is used to describe the state of being separate. They have identical pronunciation, thank God. You can see they are from the same root.
The third is a type of behavior made by a person having the freedom to choose separately. I am guessing it is more related to discrete than to discreet, but usually when you behave with discretion, you behave discreetly.
Yeh, we are word-nerds.
Signs of the Times
Sent by a good friend, some oldies but goodies, and some new ones. Even though I had seen some before, they still gave me a good grin, and I hope they give you a good grin too.
Sign over a Gynecologist’s Office:
Dr. Jones, at your cervix.”
******************************
In a Podiatrist’s office:
“Time wounds all heels.”
**************************
On a Septic Tank Truck in Oregon:
“Yesterday’s Meals on Wheels”
*********************** ***
At a Proctologist’s door:
“To expedite your visit please back in.”
**************************
On a Plumber’s truck:
“Don’t sleep with a drip. Call your plumber.”
***************** *********
At a Tire Shop in Milwaukee:
“Invite us to your next blowout.”
**************************
At a Towing company:
“We don’t charge an arm and a leg. We want tows.”
**************************
On an Electrician’s truck:
“Let us remove your shorts.”
**************************
On a Maternity Room door:
“Push. Push. Push.”
******* *******************
At an Optometrist’s Office
“If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.”
**************************
On a Taxidermist’s window:
“We really know our stuff.”
**************************
On a Fence:
“Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive.”
**************************
At a Car Dealership:
“The best way to get back on your feet — miss a car payment.”
**************************
Outside a Muffler Shop:
“No appointment necessary. We hear you coming.”
**************************
In a Veterinarian’s waiting room:
“Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!”
**************************
At the Electric Company:
“We would be delighted if you send in your payment. However, if you don’t, you will be. ”
**************************
In a Restaurant window:
“Don’t stand there and be hungry,
Come on in and get fed up.”
*********************** ***
In the front yard of a Funeral Home:
“Drive carefully. We’ll wait.”
**************************
At a Propane Filling Station,
“Thank heaven for little grills”
**************************
Chicago Radiator Shop:
“Best place in town to take a leak.”
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