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The Patriarch-pupil
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>Paulus asked me to chip in on this. I avoid online forums usually (found plenty of reasons here to carry on like this! ;-). But for a friend...<

What an extraordinarily arrogant comment to make but, as you've decided to take up the mantle on Paulus behalf, may I ask why? Is Paulus ill? Rendered speechless perhaps by this particular online forum? May we look forward to Paulus confirming that he agrees with what you say or shall we just take it for granted?

>In some sense, the idea that everything is sacred is nonsense...<

Is it? I suppose it is if you want to split etymological hairs, but you seem to be contradicting yourself when you say, ""Sacred" itself originally means to consecrate, and "to render inviolable, establish, confirm"." In this instance you are drawing our attention to the original meaning of the word 'sacred' while further down in your post you say, "Words are alive, and deserve to be interacted with more than used coldly or dismissed casually." If we are to accept that words are 'alive' should we not also accept that their meanings may no longer be the same as they once were? Do you want us to accept the word 'sacred' in its original sense as defined by Walter Skeat (my copy incidentally cost me considerably less than £80 - but then I did buy it more than forty years ago) or as defined in, say, the OERD (1996)?

>Better, check an etymological dictionary and do a bit of meditation...<

At the risk of falling into, "...obvious flimsy online forum rhetoric." I would refer you to the following (I'm sure you'll know where to find it).

<i>Were man to live co-eval with the sun,
The Patriarch-pupil would be learning still.</i>


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Littlestone
Posted by Littlestone
12th January 2006ce
17:22

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Re: Ritual (gyrus)

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