Swiss Cheese (1783) & Cretins & Chalets

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 03/20/2002 7:49:15 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Bapopik at AOL.COM writes:

> MONSTER1:  You're a cretin!  (Pronounced like "petting."--ed.)
>  MONSTER2 (Voice of Billy Crystal):  That's _cretin_!  If you're going to
> insult me, at least get the word right.
>
>  (People from Crete--home of Minos--should be interested in this Swiss
> etymology--ed.)

You are confusing "cretin" = person with malfunctioning thyroid (OED2 from
CHRISTIAN meaning "'human creature' as distinguished from the brutes, the
sense being here that these beings are really human, thought so
derformed...") with Cretan, someone from Crete.

I suspect you were confused by the old logical conundrum of the Cretan who
stated that all Cretans were liars.

I once got an e-mail from a Cretan (quite intelligent and, I believe, a
truthteller) saying that he lived within a few kilometers of the Labyrinth
and "if you are ever in Crete, drop me line".  Presumably he was trapped in
the Labyrinth and hoping for an Ariadne.  Sort of gives a new meaning to
being "off thread".

     - Jim Landau