[Dialogue] trans..dane

[jameswiegel]

So, at the moment, I no longer remember where this erudite theme started
from.  PLUS, I don't have my order of books yet . . .

My personal opinion on past the po or whatever is that someone was trying to
lighten the mood and sort of crack a round about joke around a heavy topic:
transparency or transparent christianity

What really gets me, though, is how the notion of transparency is spreading,
especially in financial circles -- what a strange place for an awakening of
deep theological consciousness . . .

So back to the po stuff -- this had to do with standing on the other side of
some river and describing the christian religion from over there??

"Food tastes better in a small house."
                                                    Queen Victoria


Jim Wiegel
401 North Beverly Way
Tolleson, Arizona 85353
jameswiegel at mindspring.com
623-936-8671 (h)
623-363-3277 (c)


-----Original Message-----
From: Dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net
[mailto:Dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net]On Behalf Of John Epps
Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 10:18 PM
To: Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
Subject: [Dialogue] trans..dane


A little more on the glossalalia.

The curious thing is how a term that, since it referred to "across the Po
river" and logically should have been "transpodane" as we once used it,
actually got transmogrified (to use a term from Calvin & Hobbs) into the
correct "transpadane" that Gordon so astutely identified. We did discover
the anomaly in producing the JWM book, so you will note that the lecture in
question is now properly named "Transpadane Christianity" thanks to the
etymological sleuthing of John Cock. Anyway, here's my theory, totally
unencumbered by facts.

When French and Italian people pronounced the word for "across the Po," the
accent was on the first and third syllables, not the second. The second
syllable came out as an "uh" (as in the second syllable of cafeteria). I
believe the proper designation for this sound is an upside down "e" in
writing phonetically.

When the British with all their proper emphasis on pronunciation heard the
"uh" sound, they simply heard it as a foreshortened "ah." Then, in
transcribing their auditory illusion, they spelled it "a," which, as every
proper UK enthusiast knows, is pronounced "ah." Hence the original intent
of saying "Transpodane" or "beyond the Po river" (or beyond the farthest
reaches of our insular civilization) came out looking like "Transpadane" or
"beyond the a," which, of course, could mean anything from "b" to "z." That
probably also holds the basic intent of the word. Of course it could also
be interpreted as meaning "beyond a Dane" which would leave out Hamlet but
could include other Scandinavians as well as the rest of the world. But
that's simply speculative.

Now you see why it will take some time before the complete glossary of JWM
inventions is ready.

John Epps

LENS International (M) Sdn Bhd
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on the web at <www.lensinternational.com>
email: <jlepps at pc.jaring.my>
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