by Roseanna White | Dec 12, 2016 | Word of the Week
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| Because my blog is sadly lacking in cat pictures, which we all know is the primary purpose of the internet… |
We have two cats in our family; Lilly is without question our daughter’s, and Ivy is more apt to hang out with the rest of us. She’s especially fond of sitting on my stomach while I’m watching TV and getting as close to my face as I’ll let her–which isn’t all that close, or my eyes get pretty itchy. 😉 The other night as my husband was petting her, he said, “Okay, so, which came first? Pet the noun, or pet the verb?” (Yes, our whole family asks these kinds of questions, LOL.)
I wasn’t sure, but suspected that the noun came first. Which indeed it did.
The origins of the word are a bit misty. An exact date of its first use isn’t known, but it was likely in the 1400s or perhaps earlier. We do know it was used almost exclusively in Scotland and northern England until the mid 1700s. The first recorded instance that could be found, it’s actually referring to an indulged child (around 1500), though etymologists suspect “tamed animal” is still the primary meaning back then.
Both actually derive from the adjective petty, which just means “small,” from French petit. (It wasn’t originally a disparaging word, though had taken on meanings of “of little importance” and “small-minded” by the later 1500s.)
As for the verb to pet, that’s surprisingly new! Didn’t come into use until about 1818 in the sense we think of most, “to stroke.” From the 1620s until then, it was a verb, but it meant “to treat as a pet.”
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
by Roseanna White | Dec 8, 2016 | Thoughtful Thursdays
If this autumn has hammered anything home in the United States, it’s that everyone has an opinion. Not that I didn’t already know this, but seriously. I heard more opinions this election cycle than I can ever recall witnessing before. Every time we touched a toe into the waters of social media, wham! There they were. The opinions of every. Single. Person we know.
I know very well I wasn’t the only one overwhelmed by it.
And it isn’t over.
There are protests. Speeches given at the end of plays. Countless shows on TV and the internet dedicated to talking heads.
Everyone, in 2016, has a voice. And everyone, in 2016, has the means of making it heard.
I certainly can’t sit here on my blog, having tabbed over from the books I’m writing, and say there’s anything wrong with that. I have a voice. I have somehow managed to convince thousands of people to listen to me, at least for a few hours while they have my stories in their hands. And so, I’ve been pondering for weeks why it bothers me so much to be bombarded with other people’s opinions every time I emerge into the world of communications.
Then it struck me. And it’s two-fold.
America was founded on the idea of individuals having a voice, having a God-given right to it. But it was also founded on the idea of giving those people particular means of expressing it–the vote, and a free press. In centuries past, if you wanted your voice to be heard other than through whom you voted for, you had to go out and seek someone willing not only to listen to it, but to publish it for you.
Today, you need only have an account on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
In centuries past, you had the RIGHT to be heard–but you had to WORK for the PRIVILEGE of having people LISTEN.
Because it comes down to this.
This is what many people I’ve seen on social media seem to forget. That, yes, they can say whatever they want–but people aren’t being cruel or bigoted or stupid or careless or [insert derogatory adjective here] if they don’t immediately change their own view to match and applaud the speaker for their brilliance and sound reasoning and excellent point and [insert praise of their intellectual prowess here].
Because there are too many voices. It’s become a cacophony. It’s deafening and confusing and, worse, focused all too often on destruction rather than edifying. Most of the voices hammering their way to the forefront aren’t trying to build anyone up–they’re trying to tear down whoever doesn’t agree with them.
By all means, America and the world, exercise your voice. It’s your God-given right to have it and use it. But remember that it is not everyone else’s God-given obligation to listen. We can’t. And let’s also keep in mind that just because an opinion is OURS doesn’t mean it is RIGHT or that anyone who disagrees is STUPID. This is another all-too-familiar refrain these days, isn’t it? That if you don’t agree with me, you must be an idiot.
Well, I mean, sure, but… 😉
We don’t live in a humble society. But I think we could use a dose of it. We could all benefit from the reminder that we are not by default right. And more:
One of the things we have to teach our toddlers, who are just finding their voice, is that they can’t always use it, right? That it’s okay to jabber at us at home or in the car, but not while we’re on the phone. Or while the baby’s napping. Or in church. There’s a correct time and place. And volume. And way to share what they’re thinking, with manners and concern for those around them. It’s not okay to throw down the gift someone has given them and proclaim it stupid and say they don’t want it.
But that’s exactly how society today behaves. We’re all a bunch of toddlers throwing a tantrum on the floor, proclaiming that this is the way it is, and you need to listen now, now, now.
That famed passage in Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
I posit that it’s a truly wise person who knows the difference.
by Roseanna White | Dec 7, 2016 | Ancient World, Holiday History, Holidays, Remember When Wednesdays
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard over the years that Constantine is the one who decided Christmas would be celebrated on December 25, because it was already a pagan holiday, and this would make it easier on his people to convert to Christianity. I pretty much believed this for years . . . until I looked it up for myself.
I had to look into this when I began my research for
Giver of Wonders. There are two different major holidays celebrated by Rome, which Constantine is accused of trying to integrate into Christmas, or vice versa. One of these holidays actually wasn’t even celebrated until
after the days of Constantine, when the date of Christmas was definitely set. So that rules that one out.
The other is Saturnalia, which had been celebrated in Roman culture for centuries. It was a festival of lights (does sound familiar…) and one of gift-giving (also familiar). So is there truth to that accusation? Did Constantine choose that date for Christmas and then integrate our holy day into a pagan festival?
Nope.
In reality, Constantine didn’t do anything but legalize what was already custom. The church had been observing the birth of Christ on December 25 for many years already by the time the emperor converted, and even by the time that date was canonized by the Council.
Why December 25th then? Those who study history and the Jewish calendar are pretty sure Christ could not have been born in winter. There were shepherds in the hills, after all, which wouldn’t have been the case in December. So what gives?
Well, I don’t know why those in the know ignored some very sound logic when determining the date. But here’s what I do know: they had a reason for selecting December 25 that had nothing to do with any pagan holidays. See, at that time in history, Dec 25 was the winter solstice (did you know the date of the solstice had moved??). That’s why the pagans celebrated on that day–it’s why pretty much every religion had a celebration on that day.
But Christians? Why did we?
Well, it’s because the Christian scholars and priests of that era (educated, it may be worth noting, in Greek and Roman schools–there were no Christian-only schools at the time) believed that the God who created the universe created it with order and symmetry. They believed, for example (as did their Greek and Roman compatriots) that important men had a star appear to herald their birth. (So it would have been odd if the Gospels hadn’t included this for Jesus!) They believed their lives and births were written in the very cosmos–which is pretty cool, really. Right?
Well they also believed that this symmetry extended to the length of their life as well, and that the best and most important men in history lived in a full number of years.
Um . . . huh?
It’s weird. I know. This belief certainly didn’t survive the millennia, LOL. But that’s honestly what they thought. That Jesus, as the greatest man ever, would have lived a whole number of years, no random months and days added on.
So that would mean born and died on the same day, right? And we know he died on Passover–which was, as it happened, the Spring Equinox. So he must have been born on it . . . right?
Wrong. Life was not counted from the date of birth–it was counted from the supposed date of conception. So the belief was that the Holy Spirit must have conceived Jesus in Mary on the Spring Equinox (March 25). Which meant that He would have been born 9 months later.
So our quick math scrolls that calendar ahead 9 months to . . . voila! December 25.
This, my friends, is the honest-to-goodness reason why Christmas was set on December 25, way back in the 200s, well before Constantine took power and converted to Christianity.
Now, did some of the pagan traditions–candlelight and gift-giving–work their way into the day? Perhaps. Though gift-giving on Christmas wasn’t actually that prevalent until centuries later. Gift-giving, in the 3rd and 4th centuries, was actually done on Dec 6–the Feast Day of St. Nicholas (yesterday!), to remember the saint who gave so generously of his wealth, and anonymously. Dec 6 was a day to give and have no one know who gave. But it was close to Christmas. And over the years, the traditions blurred together. Especially, honestly, after the Protestant Revolution, when Luther declared “No more feast days of saints!” The people weren’t willing to give up their St. Nicholas Day . . . so they began saying it was the Christ Child who gave gifts on his birthday instead (Christ-kindl in German, which is where Kris Kringle came from!).
So there we have it. It may not be the actual date on which Jesus was born–probably isn’t–but it was a date selected because the people doing the selecting believed that the greatest Man in history would have been conceived and died on the same day.
by Roseanna White | Dec 5, 2016 | Book News, Giveaways and Contests
To celebrate the release of Giver of Wonders ~ and the season of giving and sacrifice and love that it celebrates through our Lord and Savior ~ I’m giving away a stocking full of special treats!
What will it contain?
Well, that’s a secret. But I’ll tell you that a copy of
Giver of Wonders will be tucked inside, along with some treats for you ~ and some to give away.
The giveaway will run from December 2-20, 2016. Open to both US and international readers, though the stocking can only be shipped to US addresses; in the event of an international winner, she will be given a digital copy of the book and a special gift courtesy of Amazon. 😉
a Rafflecopter giveaway
by Roseanna White | Nov 28, 2016 | Word of the Week
A quick but fun one, especially in context. =)
So, y’all probably know my current series is about thieves. I’m have SO much fun with this. And working pretty hard to make sure each main-character-thief views the world differently than her/his “sister” did in the previous one. But one thing they’re all destined to have in common is noting the rather huge difference in 1914 between the upper class and the common worker. As I was searching for the right words to describe something, I wanted to use posh.
Upon looking it up to make sure it was old enough, I discovered that, in fact, its first appearance in print was actually in 1914! Here’s the fun part, though. Despite claims from the 50s that the word is actually an acronym for “port outward, starboard home” (to describe accommodations on luxury steamers), it’s not–it is, in fact, taken from thieves’ jargon!
Posh actually dates from the 1830s as a word for “money,” particularly a coin of small value (thought to come from the Romany posh, which means “half”). By the 1850s, it was also being applied to people–the so-called dandies. From there, it was another 60 years or so before it became an adjective, though in 1903 we see an occurrence or two of the variation push.
So that of course seals it, that it came from thieves. I had to use it. 😉
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.