Irish Place-names

Just my luck -- I forgot to wear green for Saint Patrick's Day; but I did take time to read an appropriate blog post for the occasion.  It was written with Ireland in mind, by Juan José Valdés, The Geographer, Director of Editorial and Research for National Geographic Maps.  I recommend you go read the complete text and see the map at blogs.ngm.com (NGM Blog Central).

"English or Gaelic — What's in a [Place] Name?"

"... our maps generally list official place-names first, followed by their secondary name or names in parentheses. Take Ireland for example…"

"According to the Republic of Ireland's constitution, the Irish and English languages share official status. In the Gaeltacht, or predominantly Irish-speaking regions, only Irish place-names have official status. ... In the non-Gaeltacht areas, you will find that English is the official language. Simply put, just about every single place-name in Ireland has a dual name: Gaelic (English) in the Gaeltacht regions or English (Gaelic) in the non-Gaeltacht regions. That equates to nearly 1,000 place-names displayed ... [for] Ireland."  -- blogs.ngm.com

Again, I thank Wikipedia for providing an easy reminder:

"Saint Patrick's Day ... is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland."  -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki

I hope you're wearing green, and enjoying healthy green food (probably not the fast type today, although I did enjoy a quick, leftover tossed green salad.)

Allegory/Parable/Proverb

This post is a work in progress with basic building blocks waiting for mortar and finishing touches.

This morning's Sunday School lesson on Matthew chapter 13 was educational.  Debra's list of words on the board got my attention:

Fable, Myth, Allegory, Parable, Proverb

(Here I add a word she used as somewhat related:) Mystery

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [I cannot copy & paste]:

fable (noun) : a fictitious narrative or statement: as

a: a legendary story of supernatural happenings

b: a narration intended to enforce a useful truth; expecially : one in which animals speak and act like human beings

WhiteSmoke Online Dictionary [easiest for me to use]

myth [noun] 1. a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people

Synonyms: legend, fable, fairytale, allegory, parable, saga, story, fiction, tradition, fancy, fantasy, superstition

allegory [noun] 1. a short moral story (often with animal characters)

2. a visible symbol representing an abstract idea

3. an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor 

-- WhiteSmoke

parable [noun] 1. a short moral story (often with animal characters)

2. (New Testament) any of the stories told by Jesus to convey his religious message; "the parable of the prodigal son"

Synonyms: fable, allegory, lesson, moral tale, story   -- WhiteSmoke

proverb [noun]

1. a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people   -- WhiteSmoke

lds.org / Scriptures / Study Helps / Bible Dictionary

(Parable and Mystery are the only words on the list that are defined in this Bible Dictionary.)

Parables. (1) Most teachers, especially Oriental teachers, have used some form of parable in their instruction, but none so exclusively as Jesus at one period of his ministry. During part of the Galilean ministry the record states that “without a parable spake he not unto them” (Mark 4:34). From our Lord’s words (Matt. 13:13–15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10) we learn the reason for this method. It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds.

(2) The word parable is Greek in origin, and means a setting side by side, a comparison. In parables divine truth is presented by comparison with material things. The Hebrew word, mashal, which parable is used to translate, has a wider significance, and is applied to the balanced metrical form in which teaching is conveyed in the poetical books of the Old Testament. See Matt. 13:35.

(3) ... The application of a parable may vary in every age and circumstance. But if the original meaning is to be grasped, it is important to consider its context and setting. The thought to which it is linked, the connection in which it is placed, the persons to whom it is addressed, all give the clue to the right interpretation.

John has no true parables, but presents two allegories: the good shepherd (10:1–16), and the vine and the branches (15:1–7).

Proverbs, Book of. The Heb. word rendered proverb is mashal, a similitude or parable, but the book contains many maxims and sayings not properly so called, and also connected poems of considerable length.

Mystery. Denotes in the New Testament a spiritual truth that was once hidden but now is revealed, and that, without special revelation, would have remained unknown. It is generally used along with words denoting revelation or publication ...   -- Bible Dictionary

All-around Alliteration

As a brief break from this mundane Monday morning, aforesaid alliteration is my free fast food for the day -- hopefully done without being awfully obnoxious.  It's like "Peter Piper picked a peck of ..." -- you know the rest of the always-alliterative story.  My mighty Merriam-Webster desktop dictionary defines it as "the repetition of initial sounds in adjacent words or syllables" -- (Twitter?)  WhiteSmoke's digital dictionary disappointingly defines the verb alliterate: "use alliteration as a form of poetry".

 A writer or group behind the scenes at CNBC is exceptionally eccentric, atrocious or adept at alliteration, depending on how you feel about it.  Cynical "Squawk on the Street" co-anchor Mark Haines tends to expand on it in jest, just barely tolerating it, including "Commodities Corner".  Then there's this morning's "Facebook Frenzy" Faber Report: some value the company at $65 billion!

Advertising apparently loses little love for alliteration -- as Angie's List, for example.  "Founder" Angie Hicks appears on a full-page ad in Fast Company 3/2011, headlining "Ridiculously reliable reviews on roofers, ..."  Productive products are named alliteratively, such as Fujitsu's ScanSnap S1500 scanner for documents (what I need for my proposed paperless office.)  In the Fast Company 3/2011 issue on "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies", SynCardia places 20th "for giving artificial heart recipients room to roam".  Brett Beach and McCollum's Madecasse is 50th "for building a bean-to-bar chocolate company ..." (making my favorite fast food!)

For family fun sometime, have the children exercise their thinking with alliteration.  By not resisting research, they could learn engaging English or some splendid Spanish -- a paradisiacal, parental paradox.

Zig's "Lost Child"

Since 1978, Zig Ziglar has been one of my favorite writers/speakers.  That happens to be the year he wrote the book, Confessions of a Happy Christian. In my paper recycling process I found an old photocopy of a page with this subtitle, "A CHILD IS LOST".  It reminded me of a documentary I recently saw about the history of the national AMBER Alert; (nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted in 1996.)

"My friend A. C. Carlson, from Minneapolis, sends this thought: When we hear the words 'a child is lost,' a chill falls over many loving, caring people. Hundreds of people who do not know the child will throw themselves into the search for that lost one. Many of them forget all other responsibilities and search for hours, sometimes throughout the night. They look in the wilderness, on mountaintops, in waterways, and any other place where they feel the child might be. Yes, the words[phrase] 'a child is lost' sends chills through many compassionate people. Yet, as A. C. points out, we're living in a world where there are millions of lost people, some of them next door. These lost people surely rate as much love and concern as the lost child. Yet, somehow, because the urgency is not there, we have a great tendency to ignore the lost, especially if they are 'lost' next door."   -- Confessions of a Happy Christian ©1978 by Zig Ziglar.