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The Greek word for those who held no public office was idiotes. Nowadays, many of those who hold public office are the actual idiots. :D(I'm not sure if idiotes is actually translated as idiot, but it's still kinda funny)
Interesting. Id be interested in hearing more about the etymology of the word. This site suggests the word refers to “citizens who did not get involved in the city?s political life” (i.e. those who did not exercise their right to vote).
That sounds like a more accurate definition. I was just confused. IF a footnote I read was accurate, it later meant those who didn't hold office.
Yeah, it could mean what you are saying…the site I quoted from was pretty vague on it. But it would make sense that if it referred to people who didn't exercise their right to vote, the word idiotes would have been a derogatory term, similar to how it's used today. However, I also realize that the English word “idiot” has historically been used not necessarily as a derogatory term, but as an accepted term to describe the mentally handicapped.
According to my Universal English Dictionary by Henry Wyld the origin of Idiot is indeed the Greek and it means “a private person, one not engaged in public affairs” and “an ignorant, uneducated person”. I like the symmetry and irony of the two definitions. I have to agree with ski here that it seems that most of our elected officials fit definition # 2 when they would be much more suited to fit # 3. I quit trusting our elected officials before I could even vote.
John Skelton 1460-1529, scholar and tutor to HenryVIII, was a brilliant man but a bawdy, rather crude comic poet. He was the first to use “idiocy” in print. Skelton wrote knowing that “Engilishing” of Latin texts would not end with him, but with the reader. In one translation of 1485 he “Englished” 800 Latin terms. Skelton also gave us “contraband” “declamation” “shuttlecock” and “boohoo.”paraphrased-“The Secret Life of Words” Henry Hitchings 2008
John Skelton 1460-1529, scholar and tutor to HenryVIII, was a brilliant man but a bawdy, rather crude comic poet. He was the first to use “idiocy” in print. Skelton wrote knowing that “Engilishing” of Latin texts would not end with him, but with the reader. In one translation of 1485 he “Englished” 800 Latin terms. Skelton also gave us “contraband” “declamation” “shuttlecock” and “boohoo.”paraphrased-“The Secret Life of Words” Henry Hitchings 2008
That is quite interesting. I didn't know that there was one person responsible for a lot of Latin-to-English words. I know that during the 14th or 15th centuries there was more focus on the Latin language, and a number of Italian humanists changed their names to sound more Latin-like (such as Petrarch).
That is quite interesting. I didn't know that there was one person responsible for a lot of Latin-to-English words. I know that during the 14th or 15th centuries there was more focus on the Latin language, and a number of Italian humanists changed their names to sound more Latin-like (such as Petrarch).
Yes Phid, it is quite interesting. Skelton is a very ambitious fellow, he is “coming up” with “Englished” Latin because he wants to be well known and to have his words accepted into the vernacular. Skelton marks the beginning of Modern English, he is the first major writer to have been published entirely in print. Geoffrey Chaucer and William Caxton were edging towards Englishized Latin but were slowed by intellectuals who saw Middle English as less elegant, lacking nuance and meant for the unwashed masses. John Wyclif, of Chaucer's time, reached the largest audience to date with his translation of the Vulgate. Wyclif wanted English speakers to have access to the bible. Its a very difficult job, because scholars loathed the changes and it was excruciating to keep the Latin word order in sync with English affixes. A few gems from Wyclif: “behemoth” “chimera” “puberty” “civility” “zeal” “alleluia” and the very graphic “arse ropes” meaning intestines! -paraphrased “The Secret Life of Words” -HitchingsSt. Jerome has a smoother translation from Greek to Latin in his translation, except that he made what could be considered major contextual changes to the text. Poor black eyed Jerry(Leviticus, Deuteronomy)
