I stumbled upon this interesting tidbit while reading The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey… In their day, Greek actors were called hypocrites. Yancey states that “Jesus would later borrow the word to describe one who played a false role in public” (p.59, Zondervan, 1995). And of course, we use the word today to describe one who pretends to be what he is not.
So tonight the truth is staring me in the face. I am a Word Nerd. I love etymologies and I love to read the dictionary. I think word histories are fascinating. I guess we all have our own areas of Geekhood. My husband likes nitty-gritty strategy games. Charity likes magazines like The Economist. I like words.
7 Comments
da brudder Sep 22, 2003 8:31 PM
you’re normal, becca. that’s *not* geeky or odd. and the economist is a fantastic magazine. have you ever read it?
rebecca Sep 22, 2003 11:24 PM
nope, never! guess i should try, huh?
i just mean that we all enjoy things that make us uniquely us. not everyone would get excited about researching the history of “hypocrite”! : )
bethany Sep 23, 2003 8:34 PM
well, that’s cause words are interesting. i can see how strategy games would be, too, though i have no head for them. but a magazine called “the economist”?? ew. :)
sarah Sep 23, 2003 8:36 PM
i know what you’re talking about rebecca! the other day, i researching something, and pulled out “Vine’s expository dictionary of new testament words.” while my intent was to find the history behind one word, i caught myself reading for several minutes over every word i saw. i agree that words are definately cool…:-)
rebecca Sep 23, 2003 10:24 PM
i’m glad there are other word lovers out there! i’m in good company…
charity Sep 24, 2003 10:08 AM
hey! don’t knock the economist! especially if you’ve never read it! :)
lindsay Sep 24, 2003 6:12 PM
for the word lovers (including me)–
check out this cool site:
pseudodictionary.com