View Full Version : The Tower Of Babel Connection
LostCause
2006-05-09, 21:46
So I'm in class giving a facial when suddenly it hits me and I turn to the girl with bad high lights working next to me and say:
"Do you think that the story of The Tower Of Babel and the word 'babble' have any correlation?"
And she says "Huh?"
"Nevermind." I say and I finish up and take my lunch break in the library. I look it up online and it turns out I'm right.
It's an arbitrary fact, but I thought someone might like to know.
Cheers,
Lost
Elephantitis Man
2006-05-09, 22:05
...duh. http://www.totse.com/bbs/rolleyes.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/rolleyes.gif)
The_Rabbi
2006-05-09, 22:48
Yes, very cunning indeed.
crazed_hamster
2006-05-12, 12:45
How'd you give them a facial?
SurahAhriman
2006-05-12, 12:53
quote:Originally posted by crazed_hamster:
How'd you give them a facial?
As I read her post, I knew someone of the four posts before me would beat me to commenting on that.
Good thread, Lost. I love etymology, in spite of the five minutes it just took me to figure out how to spell it.
Merlinman2005
2006-05-12, 13:02
quote:Originally posted by SurahAhriman:
As I read her post, I knew someone of the four posts before me would beat me to commenting on that.
Good thread, Lost. I love etymology, in spite of the five minutes it just took me to figure out how to spell it.
At least you took the time to learn the correct spelling. Props.
Not that I get pissed whenever I see a word's off by a couple of letters, though. It's just softer on my brain to see shit spelled right.
SurahAhriman
2006-05-12, 13:05
quote:Originally posted by Merlinman2005:
At least you took the time to learn the correct spelling. Props.
Not that I get pissed whenever I see a word's off by a couple of letters, though. It's just softer on my brain to see shit spelled right.
I wanted to make sure I was using the right word, so I typed "etemology" into wikipedia, then had to deal with firefox giving me shit of the "I'll only open new tabs for every page you try to go to" variety. But I agree. When you can have a window in your browser set to dictionary.com, learning how to spell like a human isn't difficult.
Clarphimous
2006-05-13, 03:34
Yes, LostCause. That's where we get the word in English. Very perceptive of you.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Babel
Babel
capital of Babylon, 1382, from Heb. Babhel (Gen. ix), from Akkadian bab-ilu "Gate of God" (from bab "gate" + ilu "god"). The name is a translation of Sumerian Ka-dingir. Meaning "confused medley of sounds" (1529) is from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.
The Biblical city Babel is thought to be the city we know as Babylon. All the major Mesopotamian cities had a ziggurat dedicated to their particular gods. Babylon's city god was Marduk, sometimes called Bel-Marduk (meaning Lord Marduk) or simply Baal. So the tower of Babel in the Bible was actually a holy place for a pagan god, not an attempt to reach Yahweh. Although it was always believed back then that the gods lived in the skies, so that's why they built those huge towers. So they could be closer to the gods. This story in the Bible is something of a myth -- a mixture of historical truth with legend.
Lou Reed
2006-05-13, 09:32
[QUOTE]Originally posted by LostCause:
"Do you think that the story of The Tower Of Babel and the word 'babble' have any correlation?"
"Huh?"
Are cain and abel the same person? Why'dya wanna get a look at me LOst
[This message has been edited by Lou Reed (edited 05-13-2006).]
Clarphimous
2006-05-13, 16:22
Oh Zeus, I can't read posts for shit. http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/frown.gif)
Lost, as much as I love you. Sometimes, you should think before you post.
LostCause
2006-05-17, 06:46
quote:Originally posted by bushy:
Lost, as much as I love you. Sometimes, you should think before you post.
Pretention is not my bag. I'm not trying to turn this forum into a graveyard. I thought it was funny.
Cheers,
Lost
Alright then, onwards.
: just stop modding it.
[This message has been edited by bushy (edited 05-19-2006).]
Digital_Savior
2006-05-19, 20:17
Lost, this was pretty common knowledge to me...I guess you don't attend church much ? That's not an insult, but it's pretty standard Christian doctrine that the name "Babel" is the foundational origin of the word "babble."
However, the etymology is Middle English in origin. Babelen being the root.
Interesting, nonetheless.
[This message has been edited by Digital_Savior (edited 05-19-2006).]
SurahAhriman
2006-05-19, 22:25
quote:Originally posted by Digital_Savior:
Lost, this was pretty common knowledge to me...I guess you don't attend church much ? That's not an insult, but it's pretty standard Christian doctrine that the name "Babel" is the foundational origin of the word "babble."
However, the etymology is Middle English in origin. Babelen being the root.
Interesting, nonetheless.
Seriously, how often does etymology come up during a sermon?
LostCause
2006-05-19, 22:57
quote:Originally posted by SurahAhriman:
Seriously, how often does etymology come up during a sermon?
Hahaha. Not often in a sermon, but in private study it's actually quite important because there's so many different translations.
Cheers,
Lost
Digital_Savior
2006-05-20, 03:15
quote:Originally posted by SurahAhriman:
Seriously, how often does etymology come up during a sermon?
In a Biblical Literalist church like I attend, all the time.
As Lost already said, it is vitally important to the understanding of the text.