from "blood libel" to "pogrom"

Mon Jan 17 20:11:18 UTC 2011

I see.  "Blood libel" is really a specifically encoded term.  I'm so glad i've never heard it and hope to never hear it again.  Palin needs to write that on her other palm as things not to say.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel

Blood libel (also blood accusation[1][2]) refers to a false accusation or claim[3][4][5] that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays.[1][2][6] Historically, these claims—alongside those of well poisoning and host desecration—have been a major theme in European persecution of Jews.[4]
The libels typically allege that Jews require human blood for the baking of matzos for Passover. The accusations often assert that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted, and, historically, blood libel claims have been made to account for otherwise unexplained deaths of children. In some cases, the alleged victim of human sacrifice has become venerated as a martyr, a holy figure around whom a martyr cult might arise. A few of these have been even canonized as saints, like Gavriil Belostoksky.
In Jewish lore, blood libels were the impetus for the creation in the 16th century of the Golem of Prague by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel. Many popes have either directly or indirectly condemned the blood accusation, and no pope has ever sanctioned it.[7] These libels have persisted among some segments of Christians to the present time.

Tom Zurinskas, from Conn 20 yrs, then Tenn 3, NJ 33, now FL 8.
Free English-based phonetic converter, URL and text , at truespel.com

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> Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:18:19 -0500
> From: Berson at ATT.NET
> Subject: Re: from "blood libel" to "pogrom"
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
> Subject: Re: from "blood libel" to "pogrom"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Tom, if you are really unaware of the meaning of "blood libel" and
> its historical (and still current) association with persecution and
> slander of Jews, I am astonished. And also that you do not simply go
> to the Wikipedia article.
>
> (As someone wrote here earlier, the omission of this term from the
> OED -- not even in any quotation! -- is inexcusable. I notice that
> it's also absent from my Webster's New World Dictionary of 1991.)
>
> Joel
>
> At 1/15/2011 04:41 PM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
> >"Blood libel" is a new term to me in all my years. What has one
> >word have to do with the other?
> >
> >Tom Zurinskas, from Conn 20 yrs, then Tenn 3, NJ 33, now FL 8.
> >Free English-based phonetic converter, URL and text , at truespel.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > > Poster: Laurence Horn
> > > Subject: Re: from "blood libel" to "pogrom"
> > >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > At 11:42 PM -0500 1/14/11, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > > >Now, now. There you go again! Was the "war" on poverty really a war? Of
> > > >course not! When America's young people say the latest musical
> > bebop number
> > > >or something is "killer!" do they mean it really kills? No again!
> > > >
> > > >So obviously any mean criticism of a political position is just as much a
> > > >"blood libel" or a "pogrom" or "genocide" (good one!) as anything else.
> > >
> > > i.e. "A pundit's reach must exceed his (or her) grasp, or what's
> > a metaphor?"?
> > >
> > > LH
> > >
> > > >
> > > >As St. Humpty might have said to Alice: "Prove me wrong, O ye
> > > >prescriptivists!"
> > > >
> > > >JL
> > > >
> > > >On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 10:02 PM, Laurence Horn
> > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > >> -----------------------
> > > >> Sender: American Dialect Society
> > > >> Poster: Laurence Horn
> > > >> Subject: Re: from "blood libel" to "pogrom"
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >>----------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---------------
> > > >>
> > > >> At 9:51 PM -0500 1/14/11, Wilson Gray wrote:
> > > >> >On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 5:43 PM, Victor Steinbok
> > > >> > quoted:
> > > >> >
> > > >> >> pogrom
> > > >> >
> > > >> >Clearly, this person has not the least idea of what a "pogrom" is - or
> > > >> >should that be, ... of what is a "pogrom"?. Well, that's not very
> > > >> >surprising, given that the one-volume edition of the Bol'shoi
> > > >> >russko-angliiskii slovar' / Comprehensive Russian-English Dictionary
> > > >> >gives the the meaning of _pogrom_ as "pogrom." I.e., there is really
> > > >> >no way of translating the horror contained in those two syllables into
> > > >> >English.
> > > >> >
> > > >> >Of course, from now on, every time that some right-winger has his
> > > >> >feelings hurt, it'll be described as the consequence of a "pogrom."
> > > >> >
> > > >> >It's almost enough to make you appreciate why The One True Faith
> > > >> >labored to keep the Bible out of the hands of the polloi for a
> > > >> >millennium and a half. That is to say, a person really ought to have
> > > >> >some idea of what a "pogrom" is before using the word to describe a
> > > >> >triviality. The writer would, no doubt, use "beheading" to describe a
> > > >> >cutting remark. :-(
> > > >> >
> > > >> If GWB and Obama can variously be seen as the new Hitler (by
> > > >> different seers, to be sure), then this isn't too surprising, given
> > > >> the usual semantic bleaching effects, although it is discouraging.
> > > >> Who was it who used to complain about "defining deviancy down"? So
> > > >> now it's "blood libel" and "pogrom" being defined down. :-( indeed.
> > > >>
> > > >> LH
> > > >>
> > > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >--
> > > >"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle
> > the truth."
> > > >
> > > >------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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