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Re: Names with a meaning anotnimous with "chaste"?
that doesn't matter... the fact that they were thinking about Saint Cecilia and about the Cecilius family is meaningless... Also... Being a prostitute would have been worse than being blind? not to survivalists.
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Well, I emphatically disagree that what people are thinking about when they choose a name is "meaningless." It actually has a lot more meaning to their lives and the lives of their children than any ancient etymology does. And I don't think a large percentage of people in most cultures over the last few centuries have "survivalists."
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most people pick a name from a babyname website that is mostly blatant lies, or from babyname books that are on the same level... the second greatest quantity pick names based on how they sound... third come the namesakes....and names weren't invented in the last few centuries... survivalists existed at the time that names where being invented on a quicker rate
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What do you mean by "survivalists"?
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people who survived through harsh circumstances and who appreciated survival.
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Right, ok. That's not actually what "survivalist" means or what it would convey to a native English speaker. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalism"Being a prostitute would have been worse than being blind? not to survivalists."I will answer this using your intended meaning (people living a subsistence lifestyle whose daily life was a struggle).For people living a hand-to-mouth existence in Roman times (or most other times before today), literacy would have been minimal to non-existent. The meaning of any name given might never have been known to the family, much less have been of any importance.Further up the social scale, it's important to remember that there's a difference between a natural affliction and a lifestyle choice. People went blind quite frequently, and "blind" could also have a positive metaphorical meaning in some circumstances; but generally it was not the fault of the person going blind. Sexual promiscuity, on the other hand, was a deliberate negative moral choice which could lead to serious social consequences for the whole family.
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Actually, in many cultures, many name meanings are obvious even to "non-literate" people ...
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The name Étaín is possibly derived from Old Irish ét "jealousy"... Isn't that term negative?I know what survivalist means, nonetheless from the strict deffinition the meaning I gave it wasn't too far fetched considering that the modern meaning of survivalist wasn't applicable in the far past.Literacy wasn't required to know the meaning of names... তন্ময় ভট্টাচার্য্য has already provided name that have a name that can be considered antonimous with chaste.
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*sigh*Do you actually want answers or just to argue with people? Because frankly the nature of your responses has put you firmly on my "not worth talking to" list.
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I wanted answers... It was everyone else who came with a desire to argue.
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Yes, obviously it's all these other posters who have a problem...
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Do you have statistical data on this? I would be really curious to know what percentage of parents today pick names from baby name books or websites. I have a feeling it is actually quite small. And certainly, in the past, say up to the last quarter of the 20th century, name websites did not exist and the usage of name books was pretty negligible.
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nope statistical data so, take my words with a grain of salt, but if I am wrong the fact remains that people almost never use etymology (or correct etymology) to decide their children's names.
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By the way, in English the official spelling is "antonymous."
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I made a typo... and you correct my ortography? To err is human... But thanks anyway.
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Well, you know we all did end up with the misspelled word appearing over 30 times on the board home page. My eyes were starting to ache, so I was glad that the correction was finally made. You certainly did not hesitate to correct people immediately when you thought they were mistaken. And it's "orthography." 8-)
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correcting a title is easier than correcting the body of the message, thanks for the correction 'though.
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