I got a one-volume HHGTtG a few years ago, but have yet to reread it. It'll be a nice surprise when I do, since about all I still remember is the bits about flying, and the restaurant with the cows who want to be eaten.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.
Mal ,'Serenity'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Lyra Jane - Jan 25, 2005 5:04:45 am PST #6933 of 10002
Up with the sun
brenda m - Jan 25, 2005 5:33:49 am PST #6934 of 10002
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
HHGTtG never did anything for me.
Polter-Cow - Jan 25, 2005 5:34:03 am PST #6935 of 10002
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
since about all I still remember is the bits about flying
Heh. The key to flying is throwing yourself at the ground, and missing.
Kate P. - Jan 25, 2005 6:09:31 am PST #6936 of 10002
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love
I'm rereading HHGTTG too (got the one-volume collection for Christmas, yay!)--it's my bedtime easy-reading book. Still makes me giggle.
Megan E. - Jan 25, 2005 10:52:21 am PST #6937 of 10002
Me neither brenda. *sits in corner with brenda*
Strix - Jan 25, 2005 3:07:25 pm PST #6938 of 10002
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Or maybe I just need a direct link to Erin's brain.
try www.talksoutofherass.com
I know travel and travail are from the same root. Lemme cite....yeah, [Middle English travelen, alteration of travailen, to toil, from Old French travailler. See travail.]
And on the Merc stuff, I'm not sure if it comes into the Latin from the Hebrew. "Mercare" means to trade, but I looked up the Mercury ref, and apparently it may stem from Hebew first. EDIT: Oops, "mercari"
The Hebrew word so rendered is from a root meaning "to travel about," "to migrate," and hence "a traveller." In the East, in ancient times, merchants travelled about with their merchandise from place to place (Gen. 37:25; Job 6:18), and carried on their trade mainly by bartering (Gen. 37:28; 39:1). After the Hebrews became settled in Palestine they began to engage in commercial pursuits, which gradually expanded (49:13; Deut. 33:18; Judg. 5:17), till in the time of Solomon they are found in the chief marts of the world (1 Kings 9:26; 10:11, 26, 28; 22:48; 2 Chr. 1:16; 9:10, 21). After Solomon's time their trade with foreign nations began to decline. After the Exile it again expanded into wider foreign relations, because now the Jews were scattered in many kands.
Um. And...
MERCHANDISE transitive verb (1350-1400): derived from the Late Middle English verb ‘marchaundisen,’ which is from the noun ‘marchaundise.’
MERCHANDISE noun (1250-1300): derives from Middle English ‘marchaundise,’ the act of trading, which came from the Old French ‘marcheandise,’ from ‘marcheant,’ merchant.
MERCHANT noun (~1200): derives from Middle English ‘marchaunt,’ ‘marchaund,’ marchant,’ which are from Old French ‘marcheant,’ trader, which derive from ‘Vulgar Latin ‘mercatant’ (stem of ‘mercatans’), past particple of ‘mercatare,’ from Latin ‘mercatus,’ (source of English ‘market’), past participle of ‘mercari,’ (to trade, deal in commodities, from ‘merc-,’ ‘merx,’ ware, goods for sale. Other English descendants of the Latin ‘merx’ are ‘commerce’ and ‘mercury.’ (The Roman god Mercury got his name from his original role as patron of trade and tradesman. In case you were wondering – and I was – the inspiration for the medieval application of the term to the fluid metal was its use as a planet-name (free to wander around vs. a ‘fixed’ star), which dates from the classical Latin period).
(Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, Ayto’s Dictionary of Word Origins, OED)
FYI, using "to merchandise" as a verb was first recorded in 1932.
Lilty Cash - Jan 25, 2005 4:29:10 pm PST #6939 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
I've never read HHGttG. Mayhap I should pick it up.
Volans - Jan 26, 2005 4:18:26 am PST #6940 of 10002
move out and draw fire
Thanks for the loan of brainspace, Erin! I'm actually really happy that "travel" and "travail" are from the same source, since in practice they are so closely related.
And that does clarify the Mercury-merchant thing...I assumed the word "merchant" was later than ancient Rome, but with its roots being earlier, and in fact Hebrew, it's cool to see how the god of commerce got his name from an existing word.
Which actually makes me wonder whether the Romans were aware that their gods were constructs, or did they say "He really exists, but since we aren't given to know gods' names, we made them up" ?
Connie Neil - Jan 26, 2005 5:01:04 am PST #6941 of 10002
brillig
I'm re-readintg Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint for about the third time. I love this book. It's in the SF/fantasy section of the library, but there's nothing really supernatural about it. Love, lust, betrayal, politics, intrigue in Renaissance-type setting. I love it.
brenda m - Jan 26, 2005 5:07:36 am PST #6942 of 10002
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
I just read that a few weeks ago Connie - really liked it.
Which actually makes me wonder whether the Romans were aware that their gods were constructs, or did they say "He really exists, but since we aren't given to know gods' names, we made them up" ?
I would think they would have to have been, given how closely most of them are modeled on the Greeks. But it's been a long time since I read or studied any of this stuff, so I could be talking out of my ass.