blink-182 - [I Miss You]-- It comes from a Babylonian word, "Me;" meaning "Command, Word, directive, etc." Something that, when given, the hearer had no choice but to obey. There are other levels of meaning, too.
Or
Tori Amos - [Assholes Are Cheap Today (live)]--- Cute little things. Later.
Are you sure that's from Babylonian, I could have sworn that A. the word is I.E. in origin, which would make its existence in Akkadian, Sumerian or any of the other Babylonian languages extremely interesting for me personally. B. The earliest cited use of that phoneme in the OED comes from ancient Greek.
I'm not trying to be contrary or something, but that kind of a statement really needs some backing up, because of it's philological implications.
Well, Mysterious Stranger, you have a point: It was used in both Sumerian And Babylonion Contexts,in regards to the God Enki, with a bit of a carry over, there.
The OED gets things Wrong, sometimes, in terms of full etymology. I've watched it happen, and it's irksome. Woprds not fully extrapolaterd to their roots. Like "Material." Doesn't talk about all connections.
Also, for further directions in which to read the unfortunately unbibliographed and unannotated "Snow Crash," by Neal Stephenson. Fiction, yes, but drawing from nonfictional and/or anciet sources.
Very interesting connections, there. And no, i'm not saying that they're all true. Simply Interesting.
In addition to being mentioned in Neal Stephenson's work, it should also be pointed out that it is a recurrent theme in the Beatles song, ”I, Me, Mine". On a more serious note however: agreed, the OED is prone to occasional errors, but in general, I think it does its rather immense task extremely well. Sadly, I'm no expert on ancient semitic languages, so I'll defer to your opinion. cheers.
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timeasmymeasure
citation please?
Date: 2004-04-14 03:43 am (UTC)I'm not trying to be contrary or something, but that kind of a statement really needs some backing up, because of it's philological implications.
Re: citation please?
The OED gets things Wrong, sometimes, in terms of full etymology. I've watched it happen, and it's irksome. Woprds not fully extrapolaterd to their roots. Like "Material." Doesn't talk about all connections.
Also, for further directions in which to read the unfortunately unbibliographed and unannotated "Snow Crash," by Neal Stephenson. Fiction, yes, but drawing from nonfictional and/or anciet sources.
Very interesting connections, there. And no, i'm not saying that they're all true. Simply Interesting.
shameless Beatles plug
Date: 2004-04-15 04:16 am (UTC)cheers.
Re: shameless Beatles plug