The Vatican is in a stupor

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/26/2010 02:16 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>At 2:01 PM -0400 6/26/10, Mark Mandel wrote:
>>WAG: Possibly a loan-mistranslation/confusion based on something
>>cognate/similar to "stupefied" in the sense of 'amazed, dumbfounded'???
>>I.e., thinking "How can something like this have been allowed to happen?"

I suspect so too -- a mistranslation from Latin?


>>m a m
>
>Yes, I think the reporter (or whoever) reached down the wrong
>nominalization from the shelf, intended to pull "stupefaction" rather
>than "stupor" as what was expressed.

The Times appears to be quoting directly from a Vatican statement.

Joel


>LH
>
>>On Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at 11:07 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>>
>>>  Belgian police hold members of the Belgian Bishops' Conference for
>>>  nine hours while searching for documents related to sex abuse cases,
>>>  and drill into the tombs of two Cardinals, former Archbishops.  In a
>>>  statement, " the Vatican said its secretary of state 'expressed great
>>>  stupor at the way in which the seizures were conducted yesterday by
>>>  Belgian authorities and indignation at the fact that two tombs were
>>>  violated.' "  [NYTimes, June 26.]
>>>
>>>  Did the Vatican mean "[in] A state of insensibility or lethargy"?  Or
>>>  perhaps dementia, namely anergic stupor or delusional stupor? Or
>>>  "Admiring wonder"?  Or "Stupidity, dullness of
>>>  comprehension"?  [Editorial comment: perhaps "stupidity" for having
>>>  tolerated what known abusers have perpetrated.]
>>>
>>>  Well, perhaps "apathy or torpor of mind (now only, torpor or
>>>  prostration of mind due to sorrow, painful surprise, or the
>>>  like)"  But even this "prostration of mind due to ... painful
>>>  surprise" is characterized as apathy, torpor (the latter being
>>>  "Absence or suspension of motive power, activity, or feeling;
>>>  {dag}inertia (obs.)" or "Intellectual or spiritual lethargy; apathy,
>>>  listlessness; dullness; indifference".  [Editorial comment:  a
>>>  revealing allusion to indifference?]
>>>
>>>  Ultimately, it seems that being in a stupor and having indignation is
>>>  an oxymoron.  Unless being held for nine hours put the bishops into a
>>>  stupor and noisy drilling into the tombs awakened them to indignation.
>>>
>>>  Joel
>>>
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>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org