Terms Which Have Disappeared

[Fading Fast]

I wonder if the same people who make smart nuanced arguments about why a country like ours - whose traditions and history are deeply entwined with Christianity / whose "culture" one could say has a Christian imbuing - should shift toward Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas would make the same argument that, say, a predominately Arabic country, with Christian and Buddhist minority cultures, should not use Arabic expressions for, say holiday greetings, and, instead, find generic ones to make the Christian and Buddhist minorities feel more included. Or, would these same people be arguing that we should respect the history and traditions of a predominately Arabic country and let them continue using their Arabic expressions.

IMHO, either view has an argument. One, all countries and cultures should "homogenize" their traditions and customs to make every minority within that country feel included or, two, a country should keep its historical traditions and customs out of respect to its history and majority and that the minorities in those countries should understand that is part of the bargain one strikes living in a country with a different majority culture.

 

[3fingers]

I wonder if the same people who make smart nuanced arguments about why a country like ours - whose traditions and history are deeply entwined with Christianity / whose "culture" one could say has a Christian imbuing - should shift toward Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas would make the same argument that, say, a predominately Arabic country, with Christian and Buddhist minority cultures, should not use Arabic expressions for, say holiday greetings, and, instead, find generic ones to make the Christian and Buddhist minorities feel more included. Or, would these same people be arguing that we should respect the history and traditions of a predominately Arabic country and let them continue using their Arabic expressions.

IMHO, either view has an argument. One, all countries and cultures should "homogenize" their traditions and customs to make every minority within that country feel included or, two, a country should keep its historical traditions and customs out of respect to its history and majority and that the minorities in those countries should understand that is part of the bargain one strikes living in a country with a different majority culture.

I would agree that both arguments can be made. My point of annoyance is with the small number who get offended by others offering a greeting when there is no ill will or proselytizing involved. If being offered a cheerful greeting is the worst thing that happens to you this week, you are doing pretty well.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Holiday greetings, in general, have gone too far. I have been offered "Happy Labor Day", and I wonder how I'm supposed to have a "Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday" or a "Happy Columbus Day"?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I thought "Happy Memorial Day" was as ridiculous as it gets, until I heard some goof on the radio say "Happy Yom Kippur!"

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Keep Saturn in Saturnalia!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Let's keep the boxing in Boxing Day!

 

[Fading Fast]

I would agree that both arguments can be made. My point of annoyance is with the small number who get offended by others offering a greeting when there is no ill will or proselytizing involved. If being offered a cheerful greeting is the worst thing that happens to you this week, you are doing pretty well.

You, IMHO, are spot on. Ninety percent of the world's problems - at least of these types - could be solved if people would operate from a presumption of good will by others. Living in NYC, which has a large Jewish population, occasionally, I'm wished a Happy Hanukkah or good this or that for other Jewish Holidays.

My response if it is from someone I hardly know / probably won't interact with again is to thank them and wish them the same. If it is someone who might be embarrassed later to learn that I'm not Jewish, I'll thank them, wish them the same and mention that I'm not Jewish, but love all Holidays.

Something is off in someone's meter if being sincerely wished a good holiday that they don't celebrate in anyway offends.

 

[Fading Fast]

Let's keep the boxing in Boxing Day!

Louis vs Schmeling II?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep. Aryan supremacy goes down in 2:44. You don't hear the phrase "The Great White Hope" anymore.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yep. Aryan supremacy goes down in 2:44. You don't hear the phrase "The Great White Hope" anymore.

Yup, that was a serious can of a-whooping Louis opened up on Schmeling in the second fight. As I know you know, to be fair to Schmeling, he was more a pawn than anything else in the Nazi Superman stuff. Also, cool that Louis and he connected again after the war.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Schmeling became a Coca-Cola bottler after the war and did quite well at it -- one of the few sports celebrities of his time to have a genuinely successful post-athletic career.

He and Louis became good friends in their later years, to the point where Schmeling was not only one of Louis's pallbearers in 1981, he helped pay for the funeral.

It's hard for people today to understand what Louis-Schmeling II meant to the United States in 1938 -- it was one of the most-listened-to radio broadcasts in the history of the medium. It's also one of the most thrilling sports broadcasts ever -- Clem McCarthy pretty near pops an artery doing the blow-by-blow. The only people in the US unhappy about the outcome -- with the exception of Fritz Kuhn and the KKK -- were the advertising department at General Motors, who had paid a very large sum to sponsor what turned out to be a fifteen-minute broadcast.

 

[scottyrocks]

This brings to mind a question I have always had. Is it acceptable for a non Jewish person to wish you a Happy Hanukkah? I have not been well acquainted with very many Jewish people, as there simply are not many in this area. The one I knew best wished me a Merry Christmas and I wished him a Happy Hanukkah, but I'm not sure how observant he was. I am just curious if this is widely done.

Acceptable? Sure, why not. I say Merry Christmas, and mean it, but am not of that faith. I also happily accept greetings of Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday(s).

Also, keep in mind that the only reason Hanukkah (or Chanukah, take your pick) gets any notoriety at all by the non-Jewish populace is because it happens to fall during the Christmas season. It is actually considered a minor holiday.

Aside from an occasional mention on the news (and the airing of The Ten Commandments (1956), no other Jewish holiday except maybe Passover gets any press, again, maybe because it falls near Easter.

It's all about being pleasant and being in the spirit of things, afaic. Why everyone can't be like this all year puzzles me.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Have a noisy Purim!"

 

[BlueTrain]

Acceptable? Sure, why not. I say Merry Christmas, and mean it, but am not of that faith. I also happily accept greetings of Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday(s).

Also, keep in mind that the only reason Hanukkah (or Chanukah, take your pick) gets any notoriety at all by the non-Jewish populace is because it happens to fall during the Christmas season. It is actually considered a minor holiday.

Aside from an occasional mention on the news (and the airing of The Ten Commandments (1956), no other Jewish holiday except maybe Passover gets any press, again, maybe because it falls near Easter.

It's all about being pleasant and being in the spirit of things, afaic. Why everyone can't be like this all year puzzles me.

Well, actually, it's the other way around. Easter falls near Passover. Passover came first.

And by the way, does anyone say "sound as the dollar" anymore?

 

[3fingers]

And by the way, does anyone say "sound as the dollar" anymore?

Hmm. I don't think that one would inspire the confidence it once did.

 

[LizzieMaine]

To say nothing of "Sound as the Bank of England."

 

[scottyrocks]

"Have a noisy Purim!"

Thank you. I shall spin a gragger in your honor.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Well, actually, it's the other way around. Easter falls near Passover. Passover came first.

Considering that The Last Supper was a Passover Seder...

 

[Fading Fast]

Sound as the dollar / Sound as the Bank of England

There must have been an equivalent expression, at the time, for the Roman Empire - anyone happen to know it?

 

[3fingers]

There must have been an equivalent expression, at the time, for the Roman Empire - anyone happen to know it?

You can bet your last denarius on it?
My only Roman expression is "Deader than Julius Caesar. " I use that one quite often.