The Language of BOOSH

George Bush - clever speech writer? No, he has flunkies and monkeys to do those jobs for him. And I believe they have come up with a linguistic corker this time, in the State of the Union Address (and elsewhere - iheard on on TV yesterday when he was describing the Iraq elections)

Here's the quote, care of the Whitehouse:

As democracy takes hold in Iraq, the enemies of freedom will do all in their power to spread violence and fear. They are trying to shake the will of our country and our friends, but the United States of America will never be intimidated by thugs and assassins. (Applause.) The killers will fail, and the Iraqi people will live in freedom. (Applause.)

Thugs? Assassins? These are not words of English origin. they are not even French or Latin. Where do these words come from? What images do they evoke?

Let's see - thugs. See the BBC for some excellet info, but a summary is:

The original Thugs were bands of roving criminals in India who strangled and robbed travellers. Originally these gangs committed murder following precise religious rites to honour Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction.

The crime was known as Thuggee, and although it involved a Hindu goddess, there were Muslim Thugs as well.

What about assassins?

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Assassin received a good deal of attention from western scholars, who threw a flood of theories to explain its origin and significance. The mystery was finally seems to have solved by Silvestre de Sacy, who discovered that the word Assassin was Hashishiyya, i.e., the users of hashish.

Alien words to describe those whose values are alien to Bush's own. But also of interst as they originate from the very areas regarded as trouble spots by the West now. perhaps times haven't changed that much after all.

BTW In an act of serendipity, this issue is nicely dealt with in an article from Stanford U.

To boldly blog

Inspired by my previous correspondent, I have composed a witty ditty, although, as Shakespeare said, better to be a witty fool than a foolish wit.

Cyberspace...the final frontier
These are the musings of the Christian Faithblogger
Our continuing mission...
To blog on fruity doctrines, heretical nostrums and new scandalisations
To boldly blog where no-one has blogged before!

The Gay Divorcee

Been on hold for a few months now but finally back into the swing of things.

Here's a nice (re)post from the Evangelical Outpost (such a frontier mentality!) about gay marriage and heterosexual marriage divorce - and which is the lesser of two weeveils.

http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/001152.html#more

Morgan Gallup

I am inthe process of doing a Morgan Gallup Poll.

I did the short one (about 3/4 hour) and now have a huge booklet to fill in over a week.

I think I will commend the TV shows I would like to watch and vote for those, even if i miss them.

That way, I can ensure that the rubbish I catch when I actually do turn on the TV dies a quick death, as I won't say I actually watched the Home and Away double episode while waiting for the tennis.

It's all a numbers game, isn't it?

DRIVING WHEELS IN CAR PARKS MAKE HIM JUMPY

Speaking of Baaaaaaaarrrrrrnesey, congratulations on this act of heroism last week:

Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes has been heralded a hero after thwarting a car theft at a Sydney hospital, police said today.

Barnes was in the Westmead Hospital car park at 11.30am (AEDT) on Thursday when he spotted a man acting suspiciously next to a vehicle.

A moment later a woman shouted that the man was stealing her car, prompting Barnes to chase him across the car park.

The would-be thief ran to the Suzuki he'd arrived in and attempted to drive off, but the rock legend jumped behind the wheel of his own car to block his exit.

And the frustrated punsters among this great State's constabulary couldn't have been more stoked if the carjack had been foiled by Ted Mulray himself (and his eponymous Gang):

"The man rammed Barnes' vehicle and drove away without a second prize," a NSW police spokesman said.

Barnes, who had recently returned from the Tamworth Country Music Festival, was not injured in the accident.

-- "Jimmy the hero", Melbourne Age (Saturday 22 January 2005)

Who needs Roger Ramjet's Proton Energy Pills when you've got Vitamin V to give you the super-strength to rock all night and then combat evil during the day?!